Three killed in Yemen’s capital by downed drone, Houthi officials say

SANAA (Reuters) – Three people were killed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa after Houthi forces downed a spy drone of the Saudi-led military coalition, Houthi officials and medical sources said on Monday.

The health minister in the Houthi administration that runs Sanaa said another three people were injured when the drone landed in a commercial area, the official news agency reported.

Reuters footage showed wreckage of a drone near Yemen Mall shopping centre and a man lying on the street near a car.

Three medics told Reuters six people had been hit by shrapnel, and that three of them had died.

“Our air defences downed a Chinese-made CH4 armed spy plane belonging to the Saudi air force with a surface-to-air missile,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Twitter.

The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters.

The incident took place during a rare truce between the warring parties that expires on June 2 and which the United Nations special envoy for Yemen is seeking to extend.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 against the Houthis after the Iran-aligned movement ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis.

(Reporting by Yemen team; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Matthew Lewis)