A Saudi-led Arab-run plane crashed in the Yemeni province of Saada, controlled by Houthi rebels, Al-Arabiya news agency reported. Shortly before the announcement, the rebels claimed to have shot down a coalition fighter.
An Arab coalition plane crashed in northern Yemen’s Hussein rebel-controlled Sa’ada province, Al-Arabiya channel said on Sunday, saying the two pilots had managed to make it clear.
The rebels claimed via the Saba agency, which they control, that the aircraft had been shot down by their air defenses.
The Qatari channel Al Jazeera said, referring to the Houthis, that it would be precisely the hunter of the coalition shot in the sky of the province of Saada.
Bordered with Saudi Arabia , the province of Saada is considered the stronghold of the Houthis, these rebels also known as Ansar Allah. She regularly undergoes air raids of the Arab coalition.
Since 2014, Yemen has been in the midst of an armed conflict between Houthi rebels and military loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh – who was killed on December 4 – and government forces and Popular militias supporting incumbent President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The rebels control the north of the country and the capital Sanaa where they set up their own organs of power. The Saudi-led Arab coalition has been conducting raids on areas controlled by Houthi rebels since March 2015. The conflict in Yemen killed more than 10,000 people, about half of them civilians, according to the UN.
