Iranian drone reportedly destroyed in Yemen

By Ahmed al-Masri and Shukri Hussein

SANAA (AA) - Saudi-led coalition forces reportedly shot down an Iranian drone in northern Yemen on Saturday, according to a Yemeni military official.

The drone was destroyed by an air-to-surface missile in the northern city of Mocha in coordination with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force operating in Yemen, the official UAE news agency (WAM) quoted General Ahmad Saif Al Yafei, deputy chief of general staff of the Yemeni armed forces, as saying.

He said Houthi rebels have begun to use weapons smuggled from Iran to Yemen, including unmanned drones.

“The presence of Iranian weapons shows Iran’s flagrant interference in Yemeni crisis and Tehran’s attempts to destabilize the region and threaten peace in Yemen,” he said.

There was no comment from Iran or the Houthis on the claim.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled Saudi-backed government.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses the Houthis of being a proxy force for Shia Iran.