Qasef-1 suicide UAV
On July 5, the Yemeni Air Force (YAF) [loyal to the Houthis] announced that it had bombed the main headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition in the southern Yemeni city of Aden with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to the YAF, the attack was conducted after a “careful observation mission.”
A source of the YAF told the Yemeni al-Masirah TV that several personnel of the Saudi-led coalition were killed and injured as a result of the “airstrikes.”
While the YAF claims that its UAVs conducted “airstrikes” on the headquarters, experts believe that a type of suicide UAVs named “Qasef-1” was used in the attack. The Qasef-1 is a copy of the Iranian-made “Ababil-2” UAV armed with 30kg warhead, according to a report of the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group.
From its side, the Saudi-led coalition announced that its air defense systems shot down a UAV of the Houthis over Aden. The UAE-based al-Arabiya TV confirmed that the UAV was trying to attack the headquarter of the coalition in the area of al-Buraiqah, northwest of the city.
The Saudi-led coalition will likely respond with a series of airstrikes on the Houthis’ positions in the cities of Sanaa and al-Hudaydah. The airports of these two cities were used by the YAF as airbases for its UAVs on many occasions.
