The media bureau of Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement said in a statement on Sunday that Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from the Popular Committees, shot down the aircraft as it was on a reconnaissance mission over Kilo 16 district.
Separately, a bomb explosion struck a group of Riyadh's mercenaries loyal to Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi south of al-Maton district in the northern Yemeni province of al-Jawf. Casualties were reported but the exact number remains unknown, Press TV reported.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.