Houthis Release Video Of Saudi F-15 Jet Being Shot And Its Wreckage In Flames

Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said that they "succeeded" in shooting down a Saudi fighter jet while it was carrying out "hostile operations". They claimed to have targeted the jet using a locally made air-to-air missile.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah's aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations in support of its military mobilisations in the airspace of Marib province," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.

A video released by the Houthis shows the downing of the Saudi F-15 fighter jet and its wreckage in Marib province.

مشاهد نوعية لإسقاط طائرة مقاتلة سعودية من نوع F15 وحطامها في محافظة مأرب - 16 سبتمبر 2026م pic.twitter.com/rk0suliePT

— الإعلام الحربي اليمني (@MMY1444) September 16, 2026

The four-minute video shows a compilation of clips starting from the targeting of the jet, which then shifts to nighttime scenes of intense fire and rising smoke on the ground, probably as the immediate aftermath of the crash.

Later daytime segments show scattered, twisted, and blackened metal wreckage lying across rocky desert terrain, including close-ups of burned structural pieces and a large upright vertical stabiliser bearing markings consistent with Saudi aircraft.

Armed men dressed in a mix of military gear and Yemeni clothing appear around the debris, some carrying rifles and one gesturing toward the remains. 

Houthi fighters can be seen racing across the desert in pick-up trucks, at one point firing on an advancing vehicle.

"We are conducting now, God willing, an operation to... cut off the enemy," one of the fighters can be heard saying.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam's holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region.

"The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone launched by the Terrorist Houthi Militia before it entered the Prohibited Airspace Area of the Holy City of 'Makkah Al-Mukarramah'", read the statement, using another name for Mecca, posted on X by the coalition's spokesman Turki al-Maliki.

Al Maliki described the incident as a "terrorist act" and that the security of the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims was a "red line". He said that this was the second attempt to target Mecca, referring to a ballistic missile launch in July 2017.

However, the Houthis rejected Saudi Arabia's claim and called the allegation "fabrications and lies".

"The fabrications and lies promoted by the criminal Al Saud regime regarding the targeting of the Honorable Mecca cannot deceive anyone, for it is they who desecrate it with debauchery and licentiousness and by importing prostitutes, and there is no threat from Yemen to the sanctities," the statement read.

The latest confrontation has unfolded against the backdrop of the wider West Asia conflict, with renewed Houthi attacks and Saudi airstrikes adding another front to the regional crisis.