RIYADH — A Saudi fighter jet has crashed in the conflict-torn Yemen, the Riyadh-led military coalition said Saturday, as the Houthi rebels said they downed the plane. The Tornado aircraft came down on Friday in northern Al-Jawf province during an operation to support Yemeni government forces, coalition's spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). He did not specify the fate of the crew or the cause of the crash. The rebels' Al-Masirah television said the jet was downed by the rebels using an "advanced surface-to-air missile". The rebels reported multiple coalition airstrikes on Saturday in the area where the plane went down as local residents gathered near the debris, according to Al-Masirah. However, the SPA report quoted Col. Al-Maliki as saying: "At (2345) Friday, 14 February 2020, a Royal Saudi Air Force Tornado fighter jet crashed while conducting close air support to units of the National Army of Yemen. "The coalition fighter jet was conducting back-up and support operations to the National Army of Yemen when it crashed in the area of operations in Al-Jawf Governorate, Yemen." The coalition intervened against the Iran-backed rebels in 2015, first with air and naval forces and later with ground forces as well. On Wednesday, the coalition said it will put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind deadly airstrikes on Yemeni civilians.
