Yemeni official says Saudi Arabia lacks information on pilots of downed F-15
Abdul Qader al-Murtada said Riyadh is seeking information through a third party after Yemen reported shooting down a Saudi fighter jet over Marib province.
A senior official in Yemen’s Sanaa-based government said Saudi Arabia is using a third party to seek information about the pilots of an F-15 that Yemeni forces claim to have shot down over Marib. The claims, including the pilots’ status, have not been independently confirmed in the supplied evidence.
TEHRAN — Saudi Arabia is seeking information through a third party about the fate of the pilots of an F-15 fighter jet that Yemen said was shot down over Marib province, according to Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the prisoners’ affairs committee in Yemen’s Sanaa-based government.
Al-Murtada said there was no direct communication channel between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, prompting Riyadh to use an intermediary to seek information about the pilots. He described the reported effort as an indication of Saudi interest in learning what happened to the crew.
Yemen’s armed forces said on Wednesday that they had brought down a Saudi F-15 while it was carrying out what they described as hostile operations in Marib’s airspace. In a statement, the forces said the aircraft had been hit by a domestically produced surface-to-air missile.
Yemeni forces also said they had intercepted a formation of Saudi F-15 and Typhoon fighters using locally made missiles. According to the statement, the aircraft left the area while searching for the wreckage of the downed jet.
The claims about the shootdown, the pilots’ status and Saudi Arabia’s alleged efforts to obtain information were reported by Iran’s IRNA news agency, citing the Al Masirah television network. No independent confirmation or response from Saudi authorities was provided in the source material.