US military acknowledges Yemen’s Houthi rebels shot down 2 MQ-9 Reaper drones

Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have shot down two American MQ-9 Reaper drones in under a week, further highlighting the regional spread of the Israel-Hamas war. The United States military said Wednesday that the Houthis shot down the first Reaper on Sept. 10 and the second on Monday. Online video showed the downing and the flaming wreckage on the ground afterward in Yemen’s Dhamar province. As the one-year anniversary of the war approaches, the Houthis continue a campaign to target ships traveling through the Red Sea as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That’s imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen.