Houthi militants in Yemen have announced a US-made unmanned reconnaissance scout operating near the Saudi border.

"An air defense system shot down ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UAV) when it collected intelligence data near the port city of Hodeidah," rebel spokeswoman Houthi Yahya Sarea announced today, but did not say. The UAV is under the service of which country.

The coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia has not commented on this information.

Conflict broke out in Yemen since late 2014 when Houthi rebels took over parts of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The Saudi-led military coalition has launched an intervention operation in Yemen since March 2015 to repel the Houthi force, restoring the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in exile. .

In response, Houthi rebels often use missiles, UAVs to attack targets in the territory of the countries participating in the coalition, as well as use suicide boats to raid freight ships and naval ships in the Red Sea.

The force also owns many shoulder-mounted air defense missiles (MANPADS) and has successfully converted R-27, R-73 air-to-air missiles. This weapon is used to take down many modern UAVs in the Arab coalition staff such as the US-made MQ-1, MQ-9 and China's CH-4.

Hodeidah port city location (also known as Hudaydah). Graphics: BBC.