The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen claimed on Wednesday to have downed another $30 million U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, backing up their claim with footage of a missile launch and debris in the desert.
French naval officials revealed that a civilian ship attacked and damaged by Houthi missiles on Tuesday was carrying a load of grain bound for Iran, a longtime ally and state sponsor of the Houthi terrorist movement.
The Houthis released footage on Wednesday that purportedly showed a Reaper drone being targeted by a surface-to-air missile as it flew over the desert province of Marib in central Yemen. The video included photos of what appeared to be a crashed Reaper in the desert, with its tail assembly separated and one of its hatches opened.
The footage also depicted Houthi fighters celebrating the shootdown by standing atop the crashed drone. The alleged Reaper appeared intact, raising the possibility that the Houthis will pass it along to their patrons in Iran, who have a history of reverse-engineering advanced technology from other countries to improve their own drone weapons.
If the Houthi claim is confirmed, it would be the sixth Reaper drone destroyed by the insurgents and the third downed in the past month alone. There has not yet been any confirmation of the shootdown from outside sources, including the government of Marib province, which is aligned with the legitimate government of Yemen.
An unnamed U.S. defense official told the Associated Press (AP) on Wednesday that “the U.S. Air Force has not lost any aircraft operating within U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.”
The AP saw this as a carefully worded denial because other agencies besides the Air Force have been known to operate Reapers over Yemen, including the CIA. The drone seen in the Houthi footage did not have any identifying markings on its fuselage.
On Thursday, French naval officials based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said the Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship Laax, damaged by Houthi missiles on Tuesday, was carrying a shipment of grain bound for Iran. This would be awkward for the Houthis, who have been extensively funded and armed by the terror masters of Tehran.
The Laax was originally listed in maritime tracking databases as bound for the port of Fujairah in the UAE. As of Thursday, however, its destination was listed as Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni in Iran. The French Navy confirmed this was the correct destination for the ship and its cargo.
French officials released photos of the Laax that showed significant damage at the waterline and on deck. According to a team of inspectors dispatched from Djibouti, both Houthi drones and missiles hit the ship. The inspectors found no further undetonated ordnance aboard the vessel, a major concern before allowing it to complete its journey.
A private security firm called LSS-SAPU, which has worked with previous Houthi attack victims and had armed guards stationed aboard the Laax, said at least five missiles hit the ship during an assault that lasted for hours.
An assault of such intensity and duration would be another black eye for President Joe Biden’s “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” a multinational security initiative that was supposed to protect international shipping from the Houthis.
The Houthis have declared their intention to attack American and Israeli ships, as well as ships bound for Israel, to pressure the Israelis to end their military operation against Hamas, another terrorist client of Iran. Houthi target selection has proven slipshod over the past eight months, as they have attacked numerous ships that did not fit their declared criteria, including other ships bound for Iran.