(NewsNation) — Houthi rebels released a new video of what they claim is the wreckage of an American military drone they shot down Tuesday over Yemen.
Pentagon officials confirmed the Iranian-backed militants were responsible for taking down the drone, which cost more than $30 million. It’s the second MQ-9 Reaper drone the Houthis have shot down since November.
The drone was shot down by Houthis off the coast of Yemen with a surface-to-air missile, the Pentagon told NewsNation. The footage included a video of men dragging pieces of debris from the water onto a beach.
Images of the debris, which included writing in English and what seemed to be electrical equipment, appeared to correspond to known pieces of the Reaper, usually used in attack missions and surveillance flights. A U.S. defense official acknowledged Tuesday that an MQ-9 “crashed off the coast of Yemen,” without elaborating.
U.S. Central Command said the group also fired a pair of missiles at a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Monday. The ship sustained minor damage and carried on.
For weeks on end, the U.S. and U.K. have been carrying out strikes against the Houthis to degrade their capabilities. The operations have been described as proportionate in the hopes of de-escalating the situation through strength.
Despite the fact the Houthis are refusing to back down, the Pentagon remains confident progress is being made.
“Every single day, I think our dynamic strikes or our coalition strikes absolutely have an impact. But we at no point said that we’re wiping all of their capabilities off the map. We know that they have a large inventory, a large warehouse, and they’re going to continue to use it,” said Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary.
As the Israelis eye an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, the U.S. exercised its veto power Tuesday to strike down an Algerian resolution in the U.N. Security Council that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The U.S. said it believes the resolution will just prolong the fighting and suffering of hostages and Palestinians.
The U.S. has drafted and circulated its own resolution that calls for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, but that also calls for the release of hostages. The issue is that progress is not being made when it comes to cutting a deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
