Claim: Video shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ordering retaliatory attacks on Yemen’s Houthi group.
Fact: The video can be traced back to 2019.
On 11 October 2026, a user on X named Atif Rauf shared a clip of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman holding a phone receiver and saying something in Arabic. The caption reads:
“شہزادہ سلمان نے حوثیوں پر جوابی اور فیصلہ کن حملہ کا حکم دے دیا”
[Translation: “Prince Salman has ordered a retaliatory and decisive attack against the Houthis.”]
Houthi-Saudi clashes
On 8 September 2026, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry released a statement condemning recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group on its “civilian and economic assets in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran.” According to the ministry, the attacks injured 73 civilians, including women and children.
Reuters published a pre-recorded video message from Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree. According to the transcription published with the video, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and called it a retaliation for the “unjust and brutal aggression against their people, targeting the provinces of Marib, Al Bayda, Hodeidah, Taiz and Al Jawf with dozens of airstrikes and committing major crimes.”
In his message, Saree specified that the Houthis carried out a large-scale military operation “targeting Aramco facilities in Abha and Najran, the Economic City, Aramco facilities in Jizan, and the Khamis Mushait Air Base.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the “cowardly attack” by the Houthis and expressed Pakistan’s “unwavering” solidarity with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and “the brotherly people of Saudi Arabia”.
On 14 September, Saree claimed another large scale drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Airbase. On the same day, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, held urgent discussions with the US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, after he arrived in Jeddah with his delegation, to discuss “the latest developments in the region.”
On 16 September, the spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Turki al-Maliki, released a statement on his X account saying they had shot down a drone from the Houthis that was heading towards Makkah.
PM Shehbaz condemned the attack in “the strongest possible terms”. The premier wrote on his X account, “Pakistan stands unwaveringly, shoulder to shoulder with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the defence of its sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as well as for the security and sanctity of the Haramain Sharifain – a duty that every Pakistani carries close to their heart.”
On the other hand, the Houthis rejected the news as “a lie”. A member of the group’s political bureau Hazim al-Assad penned on his X account, “The claims about targeting Makkah are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone.”
Tensions escalated further after a missile hit Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on 10 October. According to the Saudi civil aviation authority, the attack killed 4 Saudi nationals, 2 Bangladesh nationals, and 1 person each from the US, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. A day later, on 11 October, a projectile hit the airport’s terminal 4 and triggered a fire, killing a Pakistani national and injuring 11 others. Both the attacks have been claimed by the Houthi group.
On the third consecutive day, Houthis stated that they once again launched an attack, targeting the airport on 12 October. However, the Saudi-led coalition confirmed that a ballistic missile had been intercepted and destroyed.
The attacks came after the Houthis said the airport in the capital city of Sanaa had been hit on 11 October. The Houthi-run health ministry also stated that a Saudi strike in the city killed a child and injured 6 others. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree has “vowed” to continue operations inside Saudi, “imposing the equation of ‘a blockade for a blockade’ and ‘an escalation for an escalation’ until the aggression ceases and the siege on their dear people is lifted”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first looked for credible news articles reporting on the footage and the crown prince ordering retaliation against Houthis himself, but couldn’t find anything.
A reverse-image search of the clip led to a YouTube channel named AlRaiynews that posted the video under investigation on 2 April 2019, predating the claim. A journalist named Osama Altaf, contributor to Al-Arabiya, translated the Arabic transcription of the video in Urdu as following:
سعودی عوام کی پہاڑوں جیسی اونچی ہمت اور عزیمت کے ساتھ میں آپ سے سعودی عرب میں اسمبلڈ ہونے والے پہلے طیارے کی اڑان کرنی کی اجازت طلب کرتا ہوں جو ہمارے پیارے وطن کے ویژن ۲۰۳۰ کی تحقیق کا آغاز ہے
اللّٰہ کے نام سے اور اسکی برکتوں کے ساتھ اڑان بڑھو دنیا کے سب سے قیمتی زمین کے ٹکڑے پر
[Translation: “With the mountain-like resolve and determination of the Saudi people, I seek your permission to launch the flight of the first aircraft assembled in Saudi Arabia – a milestone that marks the beginning of the realization of our beloved nation’s Vision 2030. In the name of Allah, and with His blessings, take flight, soaring above the most precious piece of land on Earth.”
The search also led to a clearer version of the clip in a video posted by Al-Ekhbariya, a channel based in Saudi Arabia. The video, titled فوق هام السحب .. طموحنا عنان السماء (Above the clouds – our ambition reaches the heavens), was posted on 1 April 2019. Pakistani publications like ARY News and Urdu Point also reported on the kingdom launching its “first locally assembled Hawk jet training aircraft”.
The old date and context of the clip confirms that the video does not show the Saudi crown prince ordering retaliation against Yemen’s Houthi group.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral X post with as many as 112,300 views and 587 reshares.
It garnered more reach after it received 231,000, 545,000 and 2.3 million views via separate posts on Instagram.
Conclusion: The video does not show Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ordering retaliation against Yemen’s Houthi group. The clip is from 2019 when Saudi Arabia launched its first locally-assembled Hawk jet training aircraft.
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