ISLAMABAD – A spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, Lt.Col. Turki Al-Maliki, called the Houthi claims of intercepting and downinga Saudi aircraft “baseless and unfounded”, cited by the kingdom’sstate-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA)link.
Al-Maliki noted that what was published earlierlinkinthe day was in reference to a previous and unsuccessful attempt that tookplace on 1 July, 2018, describing the newly made claim by the Houthis as “acontinuation of its deliberate falsification methodology”.
On Wednesday, the Houthi militia alleged that they had “intercepted” anF-15 jet belonging to a Saudi-led coalition member force.
Yemen’s armed Houthi political opposition faction have repeatedly claimedresponsibility for attacks on Saudi’s planes, drones and facilities.
The latest major attack – which Houthis have also claimed responsibilityfor – occurred on 14 September, after combat drones caused major damage andfires at two major oil facilities run by the kingdom’s state-owned SaudiAramco petrochemical giant. The September attack reportedly interrupted andsuspended the nation’s oil production for over a week.
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Yemen has been engulfedlinkina violent conflict between the government headed by YemeniPresident-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi oppositionmovement, also known as Ansar Allah.
Since March 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition of mostly Persian Gulfcountries has been carrying outlinkairstrikesagainst the Houthis at Hadi’s request, Sputnik has reported.
