Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has flatly denied claims that Houthi missiles damaged Pakistan Air Force jets stationed in Saudi Arabia. The ministry called the reports “absolutely fake” in a statement posted from its fact-checking account on X.
The claims alleged that a Houthi strike hit King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran, damaging three PAF JF-17 aircraft and forcing their evacuation. No credible or official source has backed up that version of events.
Background: Why Pakistani Jets Are in Saudi Arabia
Pakistan deployed a contingent of fighter and support aircraft to King Abdulaziz Air Base back in April. The move came under a joint defence cooperation agreement signed between Islamabad and Riyadh last year.
At the time, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence described the purpose plainly: sharpen coordination between the two militaries and raise operational readiness on both sides. The deployment sits alongside a wider defence relationship the two countries have been building for years.
What’s Actually Happening on the Ground
The claim didn’t come out of nowhere. Houthi forces have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent days, part of a regional escalation tied to the broader US-Israeli confrontation with Iran spilling into Yemen. Saudi air defences say they’ve intercepted several Houthi drones and missiles aimed at targets including areas near Mecca.
Separately, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed a Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 was shot down over Yemen’s Marib province on September 16, though Riyadh has not confirmed this. Italy also reported a Eurofighter damaged in a Houthi strike on a Saudi base. None of that reporting, however, involves Pakistani aircraft.
The Ministry’s Response
Pakistan’s information ministry said no reliable or official source had reported any damage to JF-17s. It went further, accusing the accounts spreading the claim of pushing what it called “blatant Indian propaganda” tied to a “Hindutva deceit and deceptive mindset.”
The ministry published a screenshot of one of the circulating posts, marking it as false. Independent outlets that looked into the claim, including Daily Times, reached the same conclusion: there’s no verified evidence any PAF aircraft were hit.
Impact: A Pattern of Unverified Claims
This isn’t an isolated episode. Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement have traded competing, often unconfirmed, claims for years — downed jets, intercepted missiles, damaged bases. Verifying any single claim quickly gets complicated when it lands in the middle of an active regional conflict.
For Pakistan, the stakes are a bit different. Its military presence in Saudi Arabia is tied to a formal defence pact, so a false claim about damaged aircraft doesn’t just spread misinformation — it touches on a bilateral relationship Islamabad has been actively building up.
What Comes Next
Expect the information ministry to keep monitoring and rebutting similar claims as the Yemen-Saudi conflict continues to escalate. Given how quickly unverified reports spread on social media during active conflicts, further disputed claims involving Pakistani forces in the region seem likely.
FAQs
Did the Houthis shoot down an F-15?
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed on September 16, 2026, that Houthi forces shot down a Saudi F-15 over Yemen’s Marib province using a locally made surface-to-air missile. Saudi Arabia has not officially confirmed or denied the claim, though wreckage footage released by the Houthis shows tail markings that a CNN military analyst described as consistent with a Saudi F-15SA. The cause of the crash has not been independently verified.
How many PAF jets were destroyed?
None, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Social media posts claimed three JF-17 jets were damaged and evacuated after a Houthi strike on King Abdulaziz Air Base, but the ministry rejected this as “absolutely fake” and said no credible source had reported any such damage.
Did Pakistan shoot down Israeli jets?
There is no credible reporting confirming that Pakistan shot down any Israeli aircraft. This claim is not supported by any of the verified sources covering the current Pakistan-Saudi-Houthi situation, and no official statement from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, or Israel has referenced such an event.
