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UAE Air Force helps to shoot down Iranian drone in Yemen conflict: media

Xinhua, January 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

Arab Coalition Forces destroyed an Iranian military drone at Yemen's Red Sea coast "with the help of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force," UAE state news agency WAM reported Saturday, quoting "a Yemeni military source."

The unmanned aerial vehicle was at a mobile launching platform, "intended to target Yemeni forces participating in the liberation of Mokha city and port," said the report.

The drone was "about to take off" for its mission when it was destroyed by an air-to-surface missile in coordination with the UAE Air Force operating in Yemen, WAM quoted General Ahmed Saif Al-Yafei, deputy chief of General Staff of Yemeni Armed Forces.

The general claimed further the rebel militias have started using the smuggled weapons from Iran to Yemen, including this unmanned aircraft.

He also stressed that the presence of these Iranian weapons in Yemen, which clearly show the "blatant Iranian interference" in Yemen's crisis, and attempts to "destabilize" the region.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition comprising nine Arab states to support Yemen's "legitimate" government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The coalition has been air striking on a daily basis the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi group across Yemen since March 26, when Hadi fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh to take refuge. The coalition said its intervention aims to restore Hadi's authority in the country. Endit