Yemen’s army says it has shot down an American spy drone by “a locally-made missile” in the province of Ma’rib, amid escalating tensions in the region over Israel’s US-backed genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued on Friday and carried by Yemen news agency SABA, Yemen’s armed forces announced that the country’s air defenses downed the MQ-9 drone using a surface-to-air missile on Thursday night, Press TV reported. 

According to the statement, the drone “was carrying out hostile acts in the airspace of Ma’rib.” The statement stressed that the country’s armed forces are fully prepared to thwart all the enemies’ plots.

The Yemeni military said it was the fourth aircraft, estimated to be worth $30 million, downed as part of its operations against Israel for its genocidal war in Gaza.