This file picture shows a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone in flight. (Photo via social media)

Sanaa, September 30 (RHC)-- The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) says the country’s air defense forces have successfully shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone while it was conducting hostile activities in the airspace over the northwestern province of Sa'ada.

Yahya Saree said in a televised statement on Monday that the unmanned aerial vehicle was targeted with a locally made surface-to-air missile.  According to Saree, this is the eleventh such aircraft that Yemeni air defenses have shot down since the start of the operations in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israeli regime’s genocidal war.

The Yemeni spokesman went on to note that the Israeli enemy, with U.S. support, launched 17 airstrikes on several civilian structures, including sea port facilities and power plants, in Yemen’s western province of Hudaydah on Saturday, leaving five people dead and another 57 injured.

Saree further noted that such criminal aggression will never deter Yemenis from performing their religious, humanitarian and moral duties toward Palestinian and Lebanese nations.

This crime will be responded by Yemeni Armed Forces enhancing their retaliatory operations in the near future, the spokesperson pointed out.

On September 16th, Saree said Yemeni forces had downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the southwestern province of Dhamar.  Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.