ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group announced Saturday that its air defenses have successfully downed a U.S. MQ-9 drone which was conducting "hostile missions" over central Yemen's al-Bayda province.

The downed drone is the 13th U.S. drones intercepted by Houthis' air defenses during the group's latest military operations aimed at defending Yemen's sovereignty and supporting the Palestinians in Gaza, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a video briefing, without elaborating on the methods or weapons involved in the downing.

The U.S. side has yet to comment on the incident.

The Houthis and the U.S. military have been attacking each other since November 2023, when the Houthis began launching anti-ship missiles and drone attacks on what they said were "Israeli-linked" cargo ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since January, the U.S.-British naval coalition stationed in the region has conducted regular air raids and missile strikes against Houthi targets to deter the group.

The Houthi group seized several northern provinces in late 2014 when the civil war in Yemen broke out, forcing the internationally recognized Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. Enditem

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