The drone was brought down using an appropriate weapon while conducting hostile operations over the province, Yemen’s Armed Forces said.

The incident came as Hazam al-Asad, a member of the political bureau of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, reported a series of battlefield gains by Yemeni forces.

Al-Asad said Yemeni fighters had captured the strategic heights of Jabal Matran and Jabal Thamran, allowing them to gain control over key axes in Hayfan, al-Mawasit, Sama, al-Turbah and al-Salu.

He also said Abdulrahman al-Shamsani, commander of the 35th Armored Brigade of Saudi-backed “mercenaries,” had been killed in the fighting.

According to al-Asad, Yemeni forces seized the brigade’s barracks along with large quantities of military equipment and armored vehicles.

He further said the villages of Quds and Bani Yusuf, as well as the al-Salu front, had been fully liberated.

Al-Asad added that the districts of al-Mawasit and Sama had been completely cleared and that key routes in the area had been secured.