Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim downing of US Reaper drone

A Houthi fighter celebrates in front of what they said is debris of an American MQ9 aerial vehicle (Houthi Media Office, via AP)

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed to have shot down another of the US military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Predator with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.