Yemeni army shoots down Houthi-operated drone in Marib

The Yemeni army announced on Saturday the downing of a drone by Houthi militias in Marib, for the first time since the UN truce took effect on April 2.

According to a brief statement from the Yemeni army, the forces succeeded in intercepting and shooting down the plane of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in the southern airspace of the oil province.

This is the first downing of a Houthi-operated aircraft officially announced since the UN-backed humanitarian truce came into effect, which has been extended for a second consecutive week amid mounting Houthi violations.

According to an image, the Houthis used an Iranian-developed mortar-laden Rajoum drone, other than the planes that were fired by the coup, to attack Yemeni army and joint and southern forces positions throughout the truce.

In another violation of the truce, the Yemeni army said that two of its soldiers were killed and wounded during Houthi militia shelling targeting their positions in eastern Al-Jawf province, eastern Yemen.

According to the statement, Houthi militias targeted Yemeni army positions east of the city of Al-Hazm in Al-Jawf, killing one soldier and wounding another in a serious development that shows the extent of the putschists’ persistence and their intentions to break the humanitarian truce.

Since the truce took effect on April 2nd, the Yemeni army recorded 1,230 Houthi violations in all fronts and areas of fighting in Marib, Taiz, al-Jawf, Hajjah, Dhale and Saada governorates.

The humanitarian truce between the Houthi militias and the internationally recognized Yemeni government came into effect at 16 h GMT Saturday, Yemen time, on the first day of Ramadan.

The two-month truce has been widely welcomed by Yemen, the international community, the UN and the region, but Houthi militias are betting on buying time and using the UN truce to regroup and bring more masses of fighters to the line of fire, experts said.