Yemeni forces down UAE spy drone in southern Yemen: Media reports

Yemeni forces shoot down a spy drone belonging to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Mukayris region in southern Yemen, according to local media.

The Yemeni al-Masirah repoted that the drone was shot down in Mukayris, which is situated between the Abyan and Bayda provinces, on Tuesday.

Last month, Yemeni forces brought down two Saudi surveillance drones; the first one in the northwestern province of Sa’ada, and the second one in the southeastern province of Dhamar.

In early May, Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters seized another Saudi surveillance drone, which had parachute-landed due to a technical fault, in Sa’ada.

Saudi Arabia regularly uses drones for spying missions against the Yemeni military forces across its southern neighbor.

Saudi Arabia began military strikes against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the country’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Over 4,300 people have lost their lives in the Yemeni conflict, the World Health Organization said on August 11. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.