Yemeni forces target Jordanian F-16 fighter jet over Saudi Arabia

Yemeni air defense forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly intercepted and shot down a single-engine, supersonic and multirole F-16 fighter jet of the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

An unnamed Yemeni military source told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Wednesday that the aircraft was targeted as it was flying in the skies over Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Najran on Friday.

It had purportedly taken part in the Saudi-led military coalition strikes against Yemen.

This is while the General Command of Jordanian Armed Forces confirmed in a statement that one of its fighter jets had gone down inside Saudi Arabia, without providing any information about the cause of the crash.

The statement added that the pilot, identified as Adnan Naeem Abdulaziz Nabas, managed to eject before the plane crash. The Jordanian pilot will reportedly return to Jordan this evening in coordination with the Saudi air force.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates official news agency, WAM, reported that an Emirati soldier has been killed while fighting in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led military coalition.

The report identified the slain trooper as Khalid Ali Ghareeb al-Balushi.

SS