Yemen Delivers Moroccan Pilot’s Dead Body to Red Cross

Yemen’s Interior Ministry handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross the body of the Moroccan Pilot of an F-16 fighter jet that was downed by Ansarullah revolutionaries during a Saudi-led coalition air strike on Sa’ada.

The Ansarullah fighters shot down a Moroccan F-16 fighter jet during a Saudi-led air raid on the province of Sa’ada on May 11.

The Moroccan air force had announced in a statement earlier that an F-16 warplane taking part in the Saudi-led air raid on the impoverished country had gone missing.

Ansarullah have complied with the law of war although Saudi Arabia does not abide by the international laws, and delivered the pilot’s body to the Yemeni interior ministry, the ministry said.

AlMasalah website said Yemen’s interior ministry has delivered the body to the Red Cross.

A source in Sana’a Airport said the delivery of the pilot’s body sends a message to the Saudi-led coalition that the Yemeni side will remain loyal to its obligations under international law irrespective of the Saudis’ defiance of the international rules and regulations.

The body was delivered after mediation efforts by the former UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar.

Saudi Arabia launched its bombing campaign against Yemen on March 26 in an attempt to restore power to fugitive President Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

The Monarchy’s attacks have so far claimed the lives of at least 3,815 civilians, mostly women and children, according to FNA’s independent tally.