Yemen rebels claim to down another US spy drone

SANAA, Yemen

Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to shoot down a US spy drone in the central Marib province on Tuesday, the second in two days.

Rebel spokesman Yahya Saree tweeted that the Scan Eagle drone was brought down as it was conducting hostile activities in al-Mashjah district in western Marib.

The spokesman, however, did not specify the nature of the claimed hostile activities.

On Sunday, the Iran-aligned rebel group claimed to have shot down a US drone in Marib.

There was no comment from US authorities of the Saudi-led coalition on the Houthi claim.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed the lives of 233,000 people.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara