Yemen says Saudi Arabia tried to eliminate pilots of downed jet

A senior Ansarullah official says Yemen will reveal "in due course" information about the fate of two Saudi pilots whose Britain-made Tornado was shot down in Sa'ada Province earlier this month.

A statement carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA after the downing said that the kingdom had conducted a special operation to evacuate the pilots who allegedly survived the incident, but no more information has emerged since then.

On Sunday, Ansarullah politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti revealed in an interview with London-based al-Mayadeen TV that the Saudi air force had tried to eliminate the two pilots after their aircraft was shot down on Feb. 14. 

"The Saudis intended to kill the pilots with their airstrikes on the wreckage of the downed fighter jet," he said.

"Saudi fighters targeted every movement in the area where the aircraft had been shot down, which resulted in the martyrdom of dozens of Yemeni civilians," Bukhaiti added. 

According to the United Nations, 31 civilians were martyred in Saudi airstrikes that hit al-Hayjah area in al-Jawf Province. Yemeni officials said the bombings took place as local people gathered to have a look at the wreckage of the downed plane.  

Saudi Arabia conceded the “possibility of collateral damage” during a “search and rescue operation” at the site of the downing, which left the fate of its crew uncertain.

Yemen's Ansarullah forces released footage of what they called the launch of their “advanced surface-to-air missile” and the moment it struck the warplane in the night sky, sending it crashing down in a ball of flames.

“The downing of a Tornado in the sky above al-Jawf is a major blow to the enemy and an indication of remarkable growth in Yemeni air defense capabilities,” Ansarullah Spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam tweeted.

The downing of the Saudi warplane marks another setback to a military alliance known for its air supremacy and signals Yemen's increasingly potent military arsenal.

ME