CAIRO (Sputnik) - Houthi Rebels said they have shot down an unmanned drone over northern Yemen just a day after claiming to bring down a Saudi Apache helicopter, Yahya Sarea, the group's military spokesman, said on Saturday.

"Yemeni air defences were able to shoot down a Chinese-made Wing Loong fighter reconnaissance aircraft in the Hiran district of Hajjah province this evening during hostilities", Sarea said in a post in Twitter.

Sarea added that the operation was caught on tape and that footage will be published shortly.

1.... الدفاعات الجوية اليمنية تتمكن بفضل الله من اسقاط طائرة استطلاع مقاتلة نوع وينق لونق ( Wing Loong) صينية الصنع في مديرية حيران بمحافظة حجة مساء اليوم وذلك اثناء قيامها بأعمال عدائية

حيث تم استهدافها بصاروخ ارض جو سيتم الكشف عنه لاحقا — العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) November 30, 2019

عملية اصابة الطائرة الاستطلاعية المقاتلة ( Wing Loong) بصاروخ ارض جو موثقة بالصوت والصورة بعدسة الاعلام الحربي بفضل الله تعالى. — العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) November 30, 2019

Earlier in the day, Yemeni news outlet Almasirah released footage it said showed the Saudi Apache military helicopter shot down on Friday. Sarea on Friday said that two crew members on board the helicopter died.

#Houthi militias release a video showing their downing of a #SaudiArabia Apache helicopter gunship yesterday at the Saudi- #Yemeni border. pic.twitter.com/sO5cDVudWt — Seyyah News (@seyyahnews) November 30, 2019

The purported spike in hostilities comes after a week which saw peace overtures from the Saudi-led coalition. A statement by the Saudi defence ministry on Tuesday announced the release of 200 Houthi captives from its prisons and the reopening of the airport in Yemen's capital Sanaa for medical patients.

The International Committee of the Red Cross later confirmed the return of 128 Yemeni prisoners from the kingdom.

The armed conflict in Yemen between the government forces and Houthi rebels has been ongoing since 2015. The former is backed by a military coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia.

During UN-led consultations in Sweden in December 2018, the parties agreed to a ceasefire in the port city of Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.