WASHINGTON: The United States has lost seven multi-million-dollar MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Yemen area since March 15, a US official said on Monday.

Washington launched the latest round of its air campaign against Yemen’s Houthis in mid-March, and MQ-9s can be used for both reconnaissance as well as strikes.

“There have been seven MQ-9s that have gone down since March 15,” the US official said, without specifying what caused the loss of the drones, which cost around $30 million apiece. The military’s Central Command claimed on Sunday that US forces had struck more than 800 targets and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters as part of the operation.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025