Saudi Arabia Launches Ballistic Missile After F-15 Shot Down and Wreckage Video Released

[Anchor]

The conflict between the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, which is shaking global oil supply chains, is escalating. The Houthi rebels released footage showing the downing of a Saudi fighter jet, prompting Saudi Arabia to even deploy a ballistic missile.

Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.

[Reporter]

The shattered wreckage of a fighter jet is engulfed in flames, and the Saudi Arabian flag is clearly visible on the tail fin, which barely retains its shape.

On the 16th local time, the Houthi rebels released the video, announcing that they had shot down a Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 fighter jet over the airspace of northeastern Yemen.

[God is the greatest. Death to America, death to Israel.]

The Houthi rebels also claimed to have launched large-scale drone and missile attacks on oil facilities in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, and the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.

Yanbu is a key Saudi hub for exporting oil through the Red Sea instead of the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

[Yahya Saree / Houthi Military Spokesperson: We attacked Aramco facilities with dozens of missiles and drones, and the strikes were precise and accurate.]

Saudi Arabia, which has been mobilizing fighter jets to bomb hundreds of Houthi strongholds, even fired a Chinese-made Dongfeng-15 ballistic missile.

Some analyses suggest the attack failed due to a malfunction, but the letters DF, signifying Dongfeng, are clearly visible on the missile fuselage that fell in the Yemeni desert.

Foreign media analyzed that Saudi Arabia, which had denied importing Chinese missiles out of consideration for the United States, used a ballistic missile in actual combat for the first time after possessing them for decades.

It is also reported that Saudi Arabia has run out of defensive interceptor missiles due to the Houthi offensive and requested assistance from France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and Egypt, but was refused.

The United States, facing a shortage of interceptor missiles due to the war with Iran, is also in a position where it cannot help.

Isolated with its oil exports blocked, Saudi Arabia is exploring ways to export crude oil through ship-to-ship transfers near the port of Sohar in Oman. Forecasts have emerged that if the suspension of the attacked Saudi pipelines continues for a month, global oil supply will decrease by 4%.

(Reported by Kim Sinai | Video Editing by Park Chunbae | Design by Choi Jaeyoung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.