Araweelo News Network

File photo shows a Royal Saudi Air Force Typhoon fighter jet.

Sana’a(ANN)-Yemeni air defense forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly shot down a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force, a report says.

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 on Friday evening.

The report added that earlier this month, the Yemeni forces, using a surface-to-air missile, had also shot down a US-made General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force.

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.

 

Earlier on Friday, Saudi warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes against Safra city’s al-Ammar neighborhood in the northwestern province of Sa’ada, killing at least three civilians and wounding two others.

Since March 2015, the Saudi regime has been heavily bombarding Yemen as part of a brutal campaign against its impoverished southern neighbor in an attempt to reinstall Yemen’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is in control of large parts of Yemen, including the capital. The Saudi campaign, however, has failed to achieve its goals.

Over the past two years, Houthis have been running state affairs and defending Yemeni people against the Saudi aggression.

Latest figures show that the war has so far killed over 12,000 Yemenis and wounded thousands more. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

Certain Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, are key partners to the campaign, which lacks any international mandate and has faced increasing criticism.

Saudi Arabia has also imposed a total embargo on Yemen, causing severe shortages of food and medicine. A recent cholera epidemic has been blamed on those shortages.