U.S. Warplanes Target Sites in Sanaa in Response to Houthi Attempt to Shoot Down Drone Over Marib

U.S. aircraft attacked Houthi sites in Sanaa late Saturday as part of Washington's aerial operations to degrade the Yemeni group's military capabilities.

A military expert told Sheba Intelligence that the Saturday U.S. airstrikes are a reply to the Houthi attempt at downing an American drone via an air defense missile that appeared similar to the missile that shot down the MQ-9 drone in November last year off Yemen coasts.

Sheba Intelligence obtained a picture of the remains of the missile that fell southeast of Marib Airport after it chased the American drone and exploded in the air.

According to the expert, it appears that it reached the end of its range without hitting the drone, causing it to explode, and there was no other explosion and no debris from the drone in the area.

The military expert said, "By identifying the missile in the picture, it resembles a missile within the Russian air defense system, and it is called BUK M-2. The Yemeni army does not possess such a missile, but some countries like Syria own it. The Houthis called this type of missile Barq 2."

The military expert did not rule out that this type of missile is the Iranian Khordad air defense system that shot down an American reconnaissance MQ-4 drone in June 2019.

Moreover, a military source told Sheba Intelligence that the Houthis recently installed air defense systems in Sirwah, south of Marib, indicating that it is likely that the missile that exploded while chasing an American drone over Marib was launched from there.

On Saturday, the head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammad Ali Al-Houthi, said there have been "reckless" American-British attacks on Yemen.

According to Al-Houthi, the American-British attacks aim to break a naval blockade imposed by Yemen on the Israeli-linked ships.