Yemen’s rebel Shi’ites have been busy today issuing a myriad of press releases regarding their sudden war with Saudi Arabia along the ill-defined border between the two nations.
Notable among their claims was taking credit for shooting down one of the Yemeni government’s warplanes, which joined in the repeated air strikes being launched by the Saudi military with attacks of their own.
Yemeni officials denied that the plane was shot down and insisted it simply crashed on its own. The government’s credibility is in short supply lately, however, as it was still officially denying that Saudi Arabia was bombing northern Yemen as recently as yesterday, even though their Saudi allies were publicly reporting on the progress of the strikes.
The rebels also accused the Saudi government of using phosphorus munitions against them, and showed off a video of a captured Saudi soldier, one of many they say they have seized since the fighting began.
Analysts see Saudi Arabia’s willingness to engage in attacks on foreign soil as a “strong message,” though exactly what it portends of the nation is unclear.