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Yemeni air defenses shoot down Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Ma’rib

This file picture provided by the media bureau of Yemen’s Operations Command Center shows Yemeni men searching the wreckage of a Saudi-led CH-4 reconnaissance drone after it was shot down by Yemeni air defense forces and their allies in the skies over the Medghal district in Yemen's central province of Ma’rib. (Photo via Twitter)

Yemeni army forces have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition flying in the skies over Yemen's central province of Ma’rib.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a post published on his Twitter page that Yemeni air defense forces shot down the Chinese-made CH-4 reconnaissance drone with a surface-to-air missile as it was carrying out hostilities over the al-Jubah district in the early hours of Wednesday.

The CH-4 drone has a 3,500- to 5,000-kilometer range and a 30- to 40-hour endurance. It is also capable of carrying six missiles and a payload of up to 250 to 345 kilogram.

The unmanned aerial vehicle can fire air-to-ground missile from altitude of 5,000 meters, therefore it can stay outside of effective range of most anti-aircraft guns.

Back on September 27, Yemeni army forces and their allies shot down a US-built Boeing Insitu ScanEagle spy drone belonging to the Saudi-led military alliance as it was flying in the skies over the Medghal district of Ma’rib province.

On Tuesday, Saudi-led warplanes conducted more than a dozen airstrikes against various residential neighborhoods across Ma’rib province.

Local sources said the military aircraft launched 16 raids against the al-Jubah district, though no reports about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused were quickly available.

The warplanes also struck al-Abdiyah district on two occasions, and carried out an aerial raid against Sirwah district. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Saudi-led forces violate Hudaydah truce over 250 times in 24 hours

Separately, the Yemeni military said forces of the Saudi-led military coalition and their mercenaries violated 253 times during the past 24 hours a ceasefire agreement between warring sides for the western coastal province of Hudaydah.

An unnamed source in Yemen’s Liaison and Coordination Officers Operations Room reported that the violations included 19 reconnaissance flights over various regions, including Kilo 16, Hays, al-Fazza, al-Jah and al-Jabaliya neighborhoods, in addition to 29 counts of artillery shelling and 205 shooting incidents.

Delegates from the Ansarullah movement and representatives loyal to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi attended the peace negotiations in Rimbo on the outskirts of Stockholm in December 2018. The talks resulted in the announcement of a breakthrough agreement.

The document included three provisions: a ceasefire along the Hudaydah front and the redeployment of armed forces out of the city and its port; an agreement on prisoner exchange; and a statement of understanding on the southern Yemeni city of Ta’izz.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched a war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.

Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees, however, have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.


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