Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement-backed military forces have successfully downed another US MQ-9 Reaper spy drone, marking the second such incident this week. The information was confirmed by Brigadier General Yahya Sari, spokesperson for Yemen's armed forces, and reported by Iran-based Press TV.

In a televised statement on Tuesday, General Sari stated that the drone was engaged in hostile activity within the airspace of Yemen's Bayda province when it was shot down using a locally made surface-to-air missile. He also announced that video footage of the incident would be released soon.

While the US military has not yet acknowledged the downing of the drone, US-based Fox News reported that a total of two Reaper drones were shot down by Yemeni forces this week. Since October 7, a total of five Reaper drones, valued at approximately $30 million each, have been downed by Yemeni forces, totaling an estimated $150 million.

The first drone was reportedly shot down on Thursday night in Yemen's Marib province. The escalation in drone shoot-downs follows the Hamas government's significant military operation against Israel on October 7. In response to Israel's subsequent large-scale attacks on Gaza, which have resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths and more than 70,000 injuries, Yemeni forces began targeting Israeli and allied vessels in the Red Sea.

The Houthi rebels and Yemeni military have announced their intention to target any vessels heading to Israel and have continued to attack drones and ships belonging to the US and Western countries in protest of the ongoing violence.