Alwaght- Yemeni air defense forces have shot down a warplane belonging to the Saudi-led military alliance involved in the aerial bombardment campaign against the country.
Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network has quoted a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying a Panavia Tornado warplane was targeted on Sunday evening as it was flying over Kitaf wa al-Boqe'e district in the country’s northwestern mountainous province of Saada.
The source added that the UK-supplied aircraft was struck with a surface-to-air missile fired by Yemeni forces.
The jet had purportedly taken part in airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in Yemen. The development was also reflected on the official Twitter page of al-Masirah.
On December 30, 2017, Yemeni army forces and their allies managed to shoot down a Saudi unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it was on a reconnaissance mission in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah.
In late October, Yemeni air defense forces and Popular Committees' fighters targeted a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Yemen's air defense unit told the country's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the aircraft had been targeted with a surface-to-air missile as it was flying in the skies over Nihm district east of the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a.
In June, Yemeni air defense forces also intercepted and shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet in the skies over Sana’a.
According to Yemeni military officials, the invading aircraft had taken part in deadly airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in the Arab country.
Nearly 14,000 Yemenis, mostly women, children and the elderly, have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen in 2015. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war. The Saudi-led war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic and famine across Yemen.