Yemeni army forces have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force, and which was flying over the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah.

Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced the downing of the Chinese-made CH4 armed spy plane in the border district of Haradh in Hajjah province, on 4 May.

According to local media, the CH-4 drone has a kilometer range of 3,500 to 5,000, and endurance of 30 to 40 hours. It is also capable of carrying six missiles and weights between 250 to 345 kilograms.

Saree said on Twitter that the air defenses “managed to shoot down the plane with a homemade surface-to-air missile in the early hours of the morning, while it was violating the armistice and carrying out hostile actions in the airspace of the Haradh district in Hajjah province.”

تمكنت دفاعاتنا الجوية بفضل الله من إسقاط طائرة تجسسية مسلحة صينية الصنع CH4 تابعة لسلاح الجو السعودي بصاروخ أرض جو محلي الصنع في الساعات الأولى من صباح اليوم، وذلك أثناء قيامها بخرق الهدنة والقيام بأعمال عدائية في أجواء مديرية حرض بمحافظة حجة.

— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) May 4, 2022

He added that the aircraft belonging to the Saudi Air Force breached the UN-brokered ceasefire, which was placed in effect last month.

The Director General of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled al-Shayef, said in a briefing: “The National Salvation Government has made great strides to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni nation, but the Saudi-led coalition is not serious about observing the UN-brokered ceasefire.”

The UN announced a truce in Yemen for a period of two months, that could be extended, starting from the first day of Ramadan.

As part of attempts to ease the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition announced they would release 163 Ansarallah prisoners, in what it called a ‘humanitarian initiative’ to accelerate efforts to end the war.

According to Al-Maliki, the decision to release the prisoners was aimed at supporting UN efforts for a ceasefire agreement that was reached on 2 April.