Islam Times - Yemeni forces down US-made spy drone

Islam Times - Yemeni armed forces said on Friday their air defenses had downed a US-made ScanEagle spy drone near the Saudi border.

The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said broke the news, saying that the spy drone was shot while on a mission over the battle front near the southwestern Saudi province of Asir, Al-Masirah reported.

Yemeni forces have managed to down numerous US-made drones in recent years, notably destroying a US-operated advanced MQ-9 Reaper attack drone most recently in August.

The US has been a major backer of Saudi Arabia ever since it formed a so-called military coalition campaign against Yemen in March 2015 in a bid to bring the government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

Resistance by Yemeni forces, led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement, has, however, pushed the Saudi war to a stalemate, largely stalling Riyadh's ambitions in the country.