Yemen’s Houthi militia has now downed over a quarter billion dollars’ worth of General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers. Sputnik asked a leading regional affairs observer what will happen if the humbling trend continues.
The latest Reaper shootdown took place last Saturday while the drone was carrying out intelligence-gathering activities over Marib province in central Yemen, according to the Houthis. The US military initially refused to confirm the loss, holding out until Friday, when an anonymous DoD official told US state media that an Air Force MQ-9 had been “struck but then landed safely and was recovered by US partner forces on September 9” somewhere in the Middle East.
The Pentagon did not elaborate on where exactly the drone touched down, who recovered it or what shape it was in.
The damaged Reaper is at least the eighth $32 million-apiece US reconnaissance and strike UAV downed by the Houthis since last November.
On August 4, the Houthis blew a Reaper out of the sky over Saada, northwestern Yemen. An informed source told Sputnik the militia used a modernized Soviet 2K12 Kub air defense system to do. The Houthis are known to have adopted the Kub to fire Yemeni-made Fater-1 interceptor missiles.
On May 29, the Houthis destroyed an unmarked Reaper, possibly belonging to the CIA, over Marib, releasing footage of warriors wearing sandals standing on top of the downed drone......More Below
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
