The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has announced its responsibility for taking down a high-tech MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations.

In a statement released on Friday night, the Islamic Resistance revealed details behind a supposed drone crash in the Diyala Governate, in Iraq, which took place on Thursday night.

Although people were able to rush to the scene of the crash on Thursday, no official statement was released regarding the incident, which was met with a blackout, especially among Western and US-based media outlets.

On Friday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, in a statement, said its fighters targeted a US MQ-9 drone at 6:45 pm (local time) on January 18, 2023. The Iraqi Resistance revealed that the drone had taken off from the US Ali Salem airbase in Kuwait and was shot down over the Diyala Governate, which came in line with the faction's continued operation against the "US occupation in Iraq and the region" and in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The statement also said that the operation came in defense of Iraq's sovereignty and response to the constant violations of the country's airspace by US forces.

🛑| 🇮🇶BREAKING: Islamic Resistance in Iraq announces:

In defense of the sovereignty of Iraq and its airspace violated by the aircraft of the US forces, yesterday, they targeted an American MQ-9 drone in Diyala Governorate, with the appropriate weapons.

The drone was coming… https://t.co/y9sH4bJ2sT pic.twitter.com/uCtj7kXxGO

— Arya - آریا 🇮🇷 (@AryJeay) January 19, 2024

To this moment, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has not released a statement, which it usually does in similar incidents, thus contradicting its common practice. 

Read more: Pentagon records 140 resistance ops against US bases in Iraq, Syria

Second MQ-9 downed by Axis of Resistance

This is the second US-operated MQ-9 drone shot down by factions of the Axis of Resistance since October 7.

On November 8, 2023, several thousand kilometers away from Diyala, the Yemeni Armed Forces published footage of an operation that they had launched on the day to take down a US-operated MQ-9 reaper drone in Yemeni airspace.

The MQ-9 drone is capable of carrying multiple missiles and has been reportedly used in high-profile assassination plots conducted by the United States in the region. The system costs the US tens of millions of dollars, as Fox News reports its price at $32 million. The fact that multiple factions of the Axis of Resistance have now proved their ability to take down the high-tech system sheds light on the Resistance's ability to confront the world's most advanced military, using available and limited resources. 

Read more: Iraq laid out plans for withdrawal of foreign forces, PM says