Yemen Downs Another Reaper, Targets USS Truman

Date: 09 April 2025 - 22:06

News ID: ۱۳۸۳۲۲

SANAA (Dispatches) --
Yemen’s armed forces on Wednesday conducted new missile operations against U.S. and Israeli targets after shooting down another advanced American drone.
In a statement, the Yemeni army said it carried out a military operation against an Israeli military target in Tel Aviv, using a Yaffa drone.
Yemeni forces also conducted a drone attack against the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the north of the Red Sea, it added.
The army said it will continue the retaliatory operations in support of the oppressed Palestinians until the Gaza war ends.
Despite intensified American airstrikes, Yemeni missile and drone operations have continued to target U.S. warships in the Red Sea, and the country’s armed forces are still capable of shooting down U.S. drones.
Earlier Wednesday, the army said Yemeni forces shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone engaged in “hostile missions” in the country’s airspace.
“With the help of Allah Almighty, our air defenses were able to shoot down an American MQ-9 drone while it was carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of al-Jawf Governorate, using a suitable, locally manufactured missile,” it said.
“This is the third drone our air defenses have successfully shot down in ten days, and the eighteenth during the battle of Promised Victory and Holy Jihad in support of Gaza,” it added.
The average unit cost of an MQ-9 is estimated at $33 million, which means the American loss from the downing of the drones in Yemen is already about $600 million.
The downing, the statement said, is a response to the ongoing American aggression against Yemen and its horrific massacres against Yemeni people just hours after the U.S. launched a number of deadly aerial attacks on various areas.
Late Tuesday, the United States carried out 22 deadly airstrikes across several provinces around Yemen shortly after targeting the country, including the capital Sana’a.
The western province of Hudaydah was badly hit, killing 11 people, including five women and four children. At least 16 others were also injured, many of them critically.
The day before, at least four were killed and 20 others injured in a U.S. strike on a home in the capital, Sanaa.
The aggression came after the U.S. signaled on Monday that it is planning to step up its violent campaign of airstrikes on Yemen, which have killed dozens since last month, including women and children.
“It’s been a bad three weeks for the Houthis, and it’s about to get worse,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said in the Oval Office, while seated near U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump said following the meetings, “We’ve really hit them hard. Night after night, and we’ve gotten many of their leaders and their experts. They’re experts on missiles. I mean, they actually make missiles. Nobody thought that, but they make missiles. It’s highly sophisticated.”
It has been known for years that the Ansarallah movement – which is merged with the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) – locally produces its missiles and drones.
The U.S. bombing of Yemen started under former president Joe Biden’s government in January 2024, at the height of the YAF’s campaign of pro-Palestine naval operations against Israeli-linked shipping. It has now been renewed with severe intensity under Trump’s administration following Sanaa’s pledge to reimpose the naval blockade on Israel.
Yemen also restarted missile and drone attacks on Israel after the renewal of the war on Gaza, and has once again been responding to Washington’s attacks with operations targeting U.S. warships in the Red Sea – including the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
Since mid-March, over 70 Yemenis have been killed and over 140 injured in the U.S. attacks.
On Saturday, Trump posted a video on his X account of a U.S. strike on what he said was “Houthis gathered for instructions on an attack.”
Yemeni authorities revealed that those targeted were tribal leaders gathering to commemorate the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The deadly U.S. war on Yemen – which has compounded an already severe humanitarian crisis – has cost nearly $1 billion, but has failed to significantly impact Ansarallah and the YAF, according to sources who spoke with CNN and the New York Times over the past few days.
While U.S. officials, including Trump, have boasted that the strikes have been effective and have taken out command infrastructure and key figures in Ansarallah, Washington has not specified the names of any Ansarallah or YAF leaders that have been targeted.
Sanaa has also not confirmed whether any of its key figures have been killed.