UAE Air Force helps destroy Iranian military drone in Yemen

The UAE Air Force has helped the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting in Yemen destroy an Iranian military drone in the country, a Yemeni military source told official news agency WAM.

The drone was at a mobile launching platform and was targeting Yemeni government forces in the north Mokha port city in Yemen, the report said.

Yemeni forces detected the aircraft during surveillance and it was destroyed just before its launch by an air to surface missile, General Ahmed Saif Al Yafei, deputy chief of General Staff of Yemeni Armed Forces said.

The presence of Iranian weapons in Yemen “clearly show the blatant Iranian interference in Yemen’s crisis, and attempts by Tehran to destabilise the region and threaten peace in Yemen,” he said.

Al Yafei called on the international community to “foil Iranian attempts to exacerbate the worsening internal security situation in Yemen”.

A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen since March 2015, in a bid to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

The conflict has killed thousands and left numerous people homeless in Yemen.

Several dozen Saudi soldiers have also been killed in clashes along the border.