SANA’A (Dispatches) -- Ansarullah-led Yemeni forces shot down a Saudi reconnaissance drone over Sa’ada province on Wednesday, as the Saudi-backed regime in Aden struggles to halt battlefield advances and Riyadh reportedly seeks to recruit foreign mercenaries to compensate for its failing proxy forces.
Hazam al-Asad, a member of Ansarullah’s political bureau, said the downed aircraft was a ScanEagle reconnaissance and surveillance drone operated by the Saudi military and manufactured by Boeing, valued at $11.25 million. 
Asad stated that repeated downings of Saudi warplanes and drones have forced Riyadh to increasingly rely on missiles and rockets in attacks on northern Yemen.
The downing came amid renewed Saudi aggression. Al-Masirah television reported that Saudi forces carried out seven missile strikes against the Sahar district of Sa’ada within a single hour. 
The Saudi military has been bombing schools, telecommunication infrastructure, and other civilian sites in Yemen in response to Sanaa’s retaliatory campaign against the kingdom and its proxies.
“Saudi enemy warplanes carried out at least four airstrikes targeting the telecommunications network in Jabal Qarn al-Ajam in Raydah District,” Al-Masirah TV’s correspondent reported Wednesday. 
Strikes also targeted Dhibin and Harf Sufyan, according to the Yemeni media outlet.
Earlier this week, Saudi aircraft launched 38 attacks across Ta’iz, Sa’ada and Hajjah within 24 hours, bringing the reported total to 1,123 since the latest escalation began.
In southern Yemen, Ansarullah-led forces launched a ballistic missile at a military base belonging to Saudi mercenaries in Lahj province, striking the Nation Shield Forces’ 1st Division base in Khor Amira. 
Five Saudi mercenaries were killed and three wounded. Fighting has intensified around mountainous areas in Lahj, with Saudi mercenaries clinging to their last positions in the face of Ansarullah advances.
Separately, Intelligence Online revealed that Riyadh is considering renewed use of foreign mercenaries, including Colombians previously associated with the notorious American company Blackwater, to deter the advances of Ansarullah-led forces. 
Saudi authorities have contacted advisers previously involved in recruiting foreign mercenaries, and Riyadh has expanded frantic efforts to seek urgent assistance from the United States, Britain and France.
The kingdom has also launched a charm offensive to mend fences with the UAE after clashing over Sudan, Yemen and Somaliland. Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman hosted UAE Vice President Mansour bin Zayed in Riyadh on Tuesday, marking the kingdom’s most prominent effort yet to reconcile with its neighbor.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE had previously relied on Colombian and other foreign mercenaries in their war on Yemen, which ended in a humiliating defeat and forced a ceasefire with Sana’a. 
The war erupted anew after Saudi warplanes bombed Sana’a airport in a bid to block the return of a Yemeni delegation from Tehran attending the funeral of martyred Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.