Houthis say surface-to-air missile struck Saudi Typhoon over Saada, Anadolu reports

Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that a surface-to-air missile (SAM) struck a Saudi Typhoon fighter jet over Yemen’s northern Saada province. Saree said the missile hit the aircraft directly and that the strike put the jet at risk of crashing; Anadolu published the Houthi claim late on a Wednesday.

Saree also said the Typhoon had taken off from an airbase in Taif, in western Saudi Arabia. Anadolu reported that Saudi authorities had not immediately commented on the Houthi assertion. The agency said the Houthis additionally claimed, earlier the same day, to have launched a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

Anadolu included those statements as part of a tally it compiled from official statements, saying 10 attacks struck five airports between Oct. 5 and 11, killing 20 people, injuring hundreds and disrupting air travel.

The Houthi account in Anadolu’s dispatch centers on Saree’s direct attribution of the SAM strike to Houthi forces and on his description of the target as a Saudi Typhoon. Anadolu’s text does not provide independent verification of the hit, nor does it quote any Saudi military source confirming damage to aircraft or crew.

The article states only that Saudi authorities had not immediately responded to the claim.

Anadolu placed the incident in the context of an uptick in strikes it recorded on airports earlier in the month and noted the long-running conflict backdrop: Saudi Arabia leads a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2015, while the Houthis have controlled Sanaa and other provinces since 2014.

Those contextual details were presented by Anadolu alongside Saree’s most recent claims rather than as separate corroboration. The account names who is making the claim and what was claimed: Saree said a Houthi-fired SAM directly hit a Saudi Typhoon over Saada and endangered the aircraft’s ability to remain airborne.

The article does not include casualty figures tied to this specific event, damage assessments from independent observers, or confirmation from Saudi military officials. Anadolu’s tally of airport attacks and its casualty and injury totals refer to a broader set of incidents between Oct. 5 and 11 rather than to the Saada claim alone.

Taken on its own terms, the Anadolu report is a record of the Houthis’ public claim about a SAM strike on a Saudi military jet over Yemeni airspace and of the agency’s wider count of recent airport attacks and their reported human toll.

It documents the Houthi statement, the identification of the aircraft and departure base, and the absence of an immediate Saudi comment in Anadolu’s reporting.