Houthis release video claiming to show downed Saudi F-15 fighter as Iran-backed rebels press their lightning advance

Houthi rebels on Wednesday released video of what they said was a Saudi F-15 fighter jet they shot down over Yemen as the recent lightning advance by the Iran-backed rebels piles further pressure on global energy supplies.

According to a Houthi statement, the sophisticated US-built jet “was downed using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile” as it “conducted hostile operations” over Marib Governate in west-central Yemen.

Video released by the group shows an electronic image of a missile hitting what appears to be a fighter jet followed by Houthi fighters inspecting wreckage in a desert landscape. At one point, the men raise what appears to be a tailfin of an aircraft, which bears a Saudi flag insignia and the identification number 5539.

has not been able to verify or geolocate the footage. And Saudi Arabia has not made any official comment on the Houthi claims. WNN has approached Saudi and US authorities for comment.

WNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, a retired US Air Force colonel, said the markings on the tail of the downed F-15SA in the video were “consistent” with Saudi Arabian F-15 aircraft.

The alleged downing coincides with a wider regional escalation of the war between Iran and the United States, including rapid recent developments in Yemen, which has been torn apart for years by civil war.