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US MQ-9 drone successfully downed, Yemen’s Houthis say

Earlier, the US military launched five strikes on three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, an underwater drone and a surface vehicle

DUBAI, February 19. /TASS/. The air defense forces of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement have shot down a US MQ-9 drone, the rebels said in a statement.

"In Hodeidah, the Yemeni air defenses were able <...> to down an American MQ-9 drone with the help of a missile while it was carrying out a hostile mission against our country on behalf of the Zionist entity (Israel - TASS)," the movement's spokesman, Yahya Saria, said in a statement on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that on February 17, the US military launched five strikes on three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, an underwater drone and a surface vehicle. The military said that this was the first observed use of an underwater drone by the Houthis since October 23, 2023.

With the conflict in the Gaza Strip escalating, the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement announced that it would conduct strikes on Israeli territory and block pro-Israeli vessels from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceases its military operation in the Palestinian enclave. The Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since mid-November of last year.

On the night of January 12, US and UK forces launched strikes using aircraft, ships and submarines against Yemeni rebel movement targets in a number of cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah. The targets included missile sites, UAVs and the Houthis’ radar stations. Several more such operations followed.

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