American drone operated by Saudi-led coalition shot down by Yemen’s army

An American drone operated by the Saudi-led coalition has been shot down by Yemen’s army over the northern province of Hajjah.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on Sunday afternoon that air defense forces had targeted the AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma drone with a proper missile as it was hovering over the Harad district close to the border with Saudi Arabia’s Jizan region.

The American aircraft is a small and hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicle. It can be equipped with an electro-optical infrared camera and is primarily used for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes.

Later in the day, Saudi-led military aircraft launched four airstrikes against several areas in Ajasher desert in Yemen’s northern province of Jawf.

The warplanes also pounded Emarat area in the Kitaf wa al-Boqe’e district of the northwestern mountainous province of Sa’ada on three occasions.

No casualties have been reported.

Elsewhere, dozens of militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and patronized by Riyadh were killed or injured in a counteroffensive by Yemeni allies in Najran, southwestern Saudi Arabia.

A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said mercenaries fighting for Saudi Arabia mounted a multi-pronged attack in Sawh area of the region but were confronted by Yemeni troops in hours-long fierce battles.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia embarked on a bloody campaign against Yemen with the declared aim of putting Hadi back into the seat of power, and eliminate the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Riyadh has not been alone in the campaign. It has been flanked by regional allies and enjoys arms supplies from its Western backers.

Over 100,000 people have been killed. That is according to some semi-official figures.

The Saudi regime has failed to fulfill the objective of its deadly campaign.

The war has also destroyed and shut down Yemen’s infrastructure. The Yemeni population has been subjected to large-scale hunger and diseases aggravated by the naval blockade imposed on the country by the coalition of aggressors.