YEMEN’S Houthi-led government claimed yesterday that it had shot down another of the US military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones.

The Yemenis aired footage of wreckage that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

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

US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bryon J McGarry, a Defence Department spokesperson, acknowledged on Saturday that “a US Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen,” adding that an investigation was taking place. 

The Yemenis described the downing as happening on Thursday over the country’s Saada province.

Footage released by the Yemenis included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Each Reaper drone costs around $30 million (£24m).

The Yemenis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends its brutal war against the Palestinians in Gaza, which has killed at least 34,000.