The United States has lost seven multi-million-dollar MQ-9 Reaper drones in the Yemen area since mid-March, when the latest round of its air campaign against the Houthi rebels began, AFP quotes a US official as saying.

MQ-9s can be used for both reconnaissance — a key aspect of US efforts to identify and target Houthi weaponry that the rebels are using to attack shipping — as well as strikes, and cost around $30 million apiece.

“There have been seven MQ-9s that have gone down since March 15,” the US official said on condition of anonymity, without specifying what caused the losses, the most recent of which took place on April 22.