The military spokesman for the "Ansar Allah" Houthi group announced that his forces had shot down a Chinese-made drone belonging to the UAE Air Force, which was flying in the sky of the Ain district of Shabwa governorate, southeast of Yemen, while the coalition announced the implementation of raids in Ma'rib.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement that "an armed Wing Loong 2 spy plane belonging to the UAE Air Force was shot down by a locally-made surface-to-air missile, while it was carrying out hostile actions this morning, Tuesday, in the airspace of the Ain District."
Neither the Saudi-led coalition nor the UAE contributing to it issued an immediate comment regarding the downing of the drone.
On the other hand, the coalition announced this evening, Tuesday, that it had carried out 22 targeting operations against the Houthis in Marib during the past 24 hours, which resulted in the destruction of 14 military vehicles and the killing of more than 120 members.
The coalition said that it had carried out 37 targeting operations in Shabwa, stressing that "the targeting destroyed 25 military vehicles, and eliminated more than 230 terrorist elements."
The governor of Shabwa and the spokesman for the coalition also announced that the entire areas of Shabwa, which were controlled by the Houthis, had been taken over.
Yesterday, Monday, the Giants Brigades announced the completion of the third phase of what it called Operation Cyclone of the South, by controlling the Ain district of Shabwa governorate, considering the governorate free of Houthi forces.
The media center of the Giants Brigades said in a statement that the control of the Ain district came on the tenth day of operations, and thus "all the districts of Shabwa governorate were liberated."
The statement expressed thanks to the coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Giants Brigades announced full control of Shabwa before the Yemeni army announced that (communication sites)
This comes at a time when neither the Yemeni government nor the army forces confirmed the restoration of control over the entire district of Ain, west of Shabwa governorate, noting that the Yemeni army said earlier that its forces had taken control of areas in the district of Ain after violent battles with the Houthis.
The forces of the Giants, backed by units of the Yemeni army forces, took control of the areas of "Akd al-Mujjab" and "Najd Markad", as well as the 153rd Masha'a Brigade camp in the Ain district, which was the last stronghold of the Houthis in the oil province.
More than 7 years ago, war broke out in Yemen between the government army backed by the Saudi-led coalition forces on the one hand, and Houthi militants accused of receiving support from Iran on the other, after the Houthis took control of Sanaa and most of the Yemeni governorates.
Until the end of 2021, the war in Yemen had killed 377,000 people directly and indirectly, according to the United Nations.