The Yemeni army’s air defense unit stationed in the northwestern province of Sa’ada announced that it shot down the Saudi fighter jet in Najran early on Saturday, the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.
The attack came after Yemen’s army and popular committees launched a long-range ballistic missile dubbed “Borkan-2 (Volcano-2)” at Riyadh on Friday evening.
The Friday launch came just hours before US President Donald Trump’s arrival in Riyadh for a two-day visit to the Arab kingdom, his first foreign trip since he became president.
Following the missile strike, the spokesman of the Yemeni army said that the attack conveyed a clear and important message that “we are all ready to respond” to the aggression.
Such attacks by the Yemeni forces are carried out in retaliation for the continued massacre of civilians by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Since March 25, 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
According to Yemen’s Legal Center of Rights and Development, the Saudi campaign has claimed the lives of over 12,000 Yemenis and left more than 20,000 others wounded.