Yemen and the Red Sea

Houthis say they shot down three Saudi drones over Yemen in 24 hours

This version is a correction.

ATTACK
Location
Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda governorates, Yemen — two claimed shoot-downs in different provinces, neither located
Actors
Houthis · Saudi Arabia
Importance
Standard

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Monday 7 September that his fighters had downed three Saudi drones in the previous 24 hours, naming a CH-4 armed reconnaissance drone over al-Jawf and a Saudi-owned Wing Loong II over al-Bayda. Saudi Arabia did not comment.

Al Jazeera reported Saree's claim alongside the Yemeni government's own account of air raids on Houthi positions. Saree named two of the three aircraft: a Saudi CH-4 armed reconnaissance drone shot down over al-Jawf province, where government forces are pushing on Al-Hazm, and a Saudi-owned Wing Loong II armed reconnaissance drone shot down in al-Bayda governorate. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the claims, no wreckage imagery was published with the report, and the third aircraft was not identified.

Why it matters

Saudi surveillance drones are what makes the air campaign over al-Jawf possible. Whether or not the count holds, the claim is the Houthis answering the new government air offensive in the currency that matters over the northern front.

Verification: unverified

Evidence: Yemen gov't forces launch air strikes on Houthi targets

A Houthi claim and nothing more: Saudi Arabia gave no immediate comment, no wreckage or imagery accompanied the report, and only two of the three aircraft were identified. Filed as a single event at national scope because the two named shoot-downs are in different governorates and neither has a published location.