A photo of a crashed plane has recently spread on social media, with the claim that it is an American plane that was shot down in Yemen, “Breaking: Photo of the American MQ-9 plane that was shot down in Saada Governorate, northern Yemen”.
Kashif verified the image via “Google Images” tool and found that it is old and was circulated last May as an American plane shot down by the Yemeni armed forces in Ma’rib Governorate, but it was recently incorrectly linked to the American drone that fell in the airspace of Sa’dah Governorate on Monday, 30/9/2024.
The Asharq Al-Awsat website published the same photo on 21/5/2024, and the photo description included the following text: “The wreckage of a drone that the Houthis claimed to have shot down in Marib”.
The “Yemeni News” account on “X” also published the circulated image on 17/5/2024, accompanied by the following text: “The Yemeni armed forces in Sana’a shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, on Thursday evening, in the sky of Ma’rib Governorate”.
The Yemeni War Media announced in a statement published on 17/5/2024 that the Yemeni armed forces shot down an American MQ-9 spy plane in the airspace of Ma’rib Governorate on Thursday, 16/5/2024, adding that the American plane was targeted with a locally-made surface-to-air missile.
The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel reported that an American MQ9 drone was shot down east of Saada Governorate.
The Israeli occupation army targeted the port and airport of Hodeidah, western Yemen, with dozens of missiles on Sunday, 29/9/2024.