Houthis Claim Downing of U.S. Drone and Attack on Ship in Aden Gulf

The Houthi movement, which controls northern Yemen, has announced that its fighters have successfully downed a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone and launched an attack on the U.S. Navy's Groton vessel in the Gulf of Aden using ballistic missiles.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces' air defense has managed to down the U.S. MQ-9 drone with a homemade surface-to-air missile. The naval forces and missile units conducted a joint military operation, during which the Groton vessel was attacked with ballistic missiles in the Gulf of Aden," stated Yahya Saree, a representative of the Houthi forces.

According to the Houthi representative, the ship was targeted for allegedly violating a ban on entering Israeli ports, which had been previously announced by the Ansar Allah movement. The drone was reportedly shot down using a missile collected by the Houthis.

The Ansar Allah movement, which controls most of the Red Sea coastline of Yemen, had previously warned that it would target any ships linked to Israel and urged other countries to withdraw their crews.

The Houthis have stated that their actions are aimed at supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and that they do not interfere with navigation in that region.

The U.S. has been conducting regular airstrikes against Houthi positions as part of efforts to compel them to cease attacks on vessels.