Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement used a locally-made surface-to-air missile to down the F-15, the group’s spokesman has said
Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed on Wednesday to have shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet, releasing a video of the burning wreckage of the warplane. If verified, the video is the first ever evidence of a Saudi jet downed by Houthi air defenses.
In a video statement, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said that the jet was shot down over Yemen’s Marib Governorate using “a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile.” Saree then claimed that Houthi fighters successfully repelled two waves of Saudi F-15s and Eurofighter Typhoon jets that were scrambled to search for the wreckage.
Saree did not say when the incident took place, and the Saudi military has not yet confirmed the loss of the jet.
Video footage released by the Houthis showed a missile crew locking on to the jet and opening fire. A missile could then be seen impacting the jet, which plunged to the ground in a fireball. It is unclear whether the pilot managed to eject from the burning airplane.
Footage from the crash site showed Houthi fighters lifting the tail of the aircraft, which bore the Saudi flag. The militants posed in front of the tail section chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Before Wednesday, the Houthis, also known as the Ansar Allah movement, claimed to have shot down three Saudi fighters, one in 2017 and two in 2018. The group also claimed to have damaged – but not downed – a Saudi jet in 2018. Riyadh denied ever losing a warplane to Houthi fire, and without clear video evidence, these previous claims were impossible to verify.
Saudi Arabia has been waging war against the Houthis since 2015, although the fighting was paused by a ceasefire in 2022. Violence between the Saudis and Houthis erupted again this July, when the Saudi-backed government in Aden struck an airport in Houthi-controlled Sana’a. The Houthis responded with strikes on Saudi targets, while Saudi jets resumed large-scale airstrikes on Yemen. Last week, Houthi forces swept across Yemen’s western coast, seizing the port city of Mocha and solidifying their control over the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
The Houthi offensive threatens Saudi Arabia’s vital oil exports. The Kingdom recently shifted its exports from the Persian Gulf in the east to the Red Sea in the West, as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut due to the US war on Iran. With the Houthis in control of the west, Saudi exports are now threatened from both sides.
According to Saree, Houthi forces also struck a Saudi airbase in Khamis Mushait and Aramco oil facilities in Yanbu with drones and ballistic missiles on Wednesday.
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