On Thursday morning, Yemen’s Air Defense Force shot down an aircraft belonging to the Saudi-led coalition with a surface-to-air missile after it took part in airstrikes against residential villages in northern Saada. The Saudi-led coalition confirmed that it lost a Tornado fighter jet, but claims the aircraft fell due to a technical issue and that the pilot survived the crash.
A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told MintPress that the fighter jet was targeted after it launched airstrikes against residential villages in the Alaf district in Yemen`s northwestern province of Saada.
The incident was reported on the Yemeni Army’s official website, September 26th. A statement on the site read, “The hostile plane fell after returning from carrying out hostile missions in Saada province,” but gave no further details.
This is not the first time Yemen’s military has successfully downed a coalition aircraft. In fact, Yemeni forces have successfully shot down high-tech coalition aircraft on several occasions.
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- On Jan 7, 2018, Yemen’s Air Defense Forces shot down a twin-engine multirole Panavia Tornado combat aircraft while it was flying over the Kitaf al-Boqe’e district in the mountainous province of Saada.
- In late March, Yemen’s Air Defense Forces successfully shot down an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force with a surface-to-air missile as it was flying over Saada.
- On October 2017, Yemen’s Air Defense Forces targeted a British-made Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force as it flew over the Nihm district, east of Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa.
- On June 2017, Yemen’s Air Defense Forces intercepted and shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Sanaa after the aircraft took part in deadly airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in the city.
Watch | Houthi Forces inspect the wreckage of a Saudi F-16 fighter jet shot down in 2015
In another to blow to the U.S. backed Saudi-led coalition, Yemen’s Rocketry Force struck a group of mercenaries gathering on the west coast with a Tochka ballistic missile on Wednesday evening, hours after it had launched a separate short-range ballistic missile on the same front. A source inside Yemen’s military told MintPress that the missile was fired following the procurement of accurate intelligence by reconnaissance aircraft.
On Tuesday, Yemen’s Army fired their domestically-made ballistic missile, the Badr-1, at Jazan Economic City, located nearly 1,000 kilometers southwest of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.
The U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition has launched well over 16,000 airstrikes on Yemen, killing civilians and targeting hospitals, schools, markets, and camps for the internally displaced. Yemen’s military has responded by firing salvos of missiles at military and economic targets inside Saudi Arabia, including on the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Top Photo | Yemen’s Houthi fighters inspect the wreckage of one of the two Saudi F-16’s they shot down in May, 2015. Khaled Abdullah | Reuters
Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist. He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni media.
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