Yemeni forces shoot down Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Jawf

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition while flying in the skies over Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down the Chinese-made CH-4 combat drone with a surface-to-air missile on Tuesday afternoon.

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.

On January 1, the media bureau of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement announced in a statement that Yemeni air defense forces and their allies had shot down a Saudi-led unmanned aerial vehicle as it was on a reconnaissance mission over al-Dayer area of Saudi Arabia’s southern border region of Jizan, situated 966 kilometers (600 miles) south of the capital Riyadh.

Yemeni forces shoot down another Saudi-led reconnaissance drone in Jizan

Shooting down the drones is commonplace now in the region.

The development came a day after Saree said Yemeni forces and their allies had shot down a Saudi-led spy drone as it was flying in the skies over al-Tina area of the Hayran district in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces identified the downed aircraft as a Chinese-made Phantom unmanned aerial vehicle.

Yemeni forces, allies shoot down Saudi-led surveillance drone in Hajjah

Yemeni air defense forces and their allies have shot down another Saudi-led drone as it was on a reconnaissance mission in the skies over the country’s northwestern province of Hajjah.

Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down a Turkish-built Vestel Karayel drone with a precision missile on December 30 last year.

Saree said at the time the aircraft was struck as it was on a surveillance mission over al-Salif coastal village in Yemen’s western province of Hudaydah.

Later in the day, Yemeni forces fired a domestically-manufactured Badr P ballistic missile at a base run by Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Had in Yemen’s southwestern province of Dhale, leaving dozens of the mercenaries killed and injured.

80,000 Yemeni children suffer from persistent trauma, psychological disorders: Ministry

The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights says 80,000 children are suffering from persistent trauma and psychological disorders a result of the continuous Saudi-led aggression.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing Ansarullah movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past four and a half years.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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