Huthi 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 Huthi 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 Huthi 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.
CNN has not been able to verify or geolocate the footage. And Saudi Arabia has not made any official comment on the Huthi claims. CNN has approached Saudi and US authorities for comment.
CNN 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.
The Huthis have recently stepped up their fighting against Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and have expanded their area of control. Last week, they captured a Red Sea port city in Yemen and an island near an important waterway that has, for months, acted as a backup to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing for the export of Saudi oil and refined products.
The have also ramped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, which Riyadh has responded to with retaliatory strikes.
There are fears mounting that Saudi Arabia could be drawn into a wider conflict as the US-Iran war drags on.
If confirmed, the loss of the Saudi jet would mark only the second time one of the US-built aircraft has been shot down by hostile fire.
A US Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle was previously shot down by Iranian forces earlier in the war.
That shootdown led to a US rescue operation that eventually recovered the crew, but at the loss of several US aircraft that had to be destroyed at a desert landing site where they became stuck.
Three US F-15s were also shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire in the early stages of the Iran war.
The Saudi F-15SA is one of the newest versions of the twin-engine jet that has been in the US Air Force inventory since 1976. The Saudi model is based upon the F-15E Strike Eagle, a mainstay of US air power since it made its combat debut during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Saudi Arabia received their last order of the Boeing jets in December 2020, according to a US Air Force press release.
CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Teele Rebane contributed to this report.
