Yemen: The historic scandal of the advanced MQ-9 drones in Yemen continues to haunt the U.S. military, as the number of downed drones in Yemeni airspace has reached 12 incidents within a single year, placing the U.S. military in an embarrassing position regarding transparent communication about the situation.

The Associated Press reported that the U.S. military "acknowledged awareness of the videos showing a burning drone falling from the sky and a field of flaming debris in Al-Jawf Governorate, Yemen."

It added that the U.S. military "stated that it is investigating the incident, refraining from providing further details."

Last September, when the Yemeni Armed Forces announced the downing of three MQ-9 drones in a single week, the Pentagon displayed notable confusion in its response, admitting to the downing of one drone "in the Middle East" without specifying the exact location. It initially attempted to downplay the incident by discussing the retrieval of debris, later acknowledging the downing of two drones in Yemen within less than a week.

At that time, as reported by the Associated Press, a Pentagon spokesperson declined to provide the total number of drones of this type downed in Yemen, stating, "For operational security reasons, I cannot provide a specific number," in an apparent attempt to evade disclosing the large and unprecedented number of MQ-9 losses in Yemen.

The MQ-9 is one of the latest U.S. attack and reconnaissance drones, heavily relied upon by the U.S. military for surveillance and precision strikes due to its advanced specifications. The price of a single MQ-9 exceeds $32 million, excluding additional armaments, equipment, operating, and maintenance costs. This means that the Yemeni Armed Forces have inflicted more than $384 million in direct losses on the U.S. military in one year through the downing of these drones.