A U.S.-made pilotless plane was shot down by a Houthi missile north of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Oct. 1. (Xinhua Photo)

SANAA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A U.S.-made pilotless plane was shot down by a Houthi missile north of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday morning, Houthi officials and residents said.

The plane, seen by a Xinhua photographer at the scene, was very big and divided into two parts before it caught on fire.

"The drone, General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, was shot down by a guided missile fired from our Rocketry Force," said a statement by the Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa.

"The drone was more likely doing a regular spy mission over the capital," it said.

Such drones were used mainly by the forces of the United States in fighting al-Qaida militants in Yemen.

The same planes were also used by a Saudi-led coalition in fighting and spying over the Houthi rebel military positions since 2015, after the group seized much of the country's north.

Saudi Arabia is leading a mostly Arab military coalition to fight Houthi rebels in Yemen in a bid to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was ousted by Houthis in September 2014.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, and displaced over 3 million, according to humanitarian agencies.