MOROCCO reported yesterday the loss of a fighter plane over Yemen, as fighting continued ahead of a five-day ceasefire.

The armed forces said that the F-16 jet had disappeared at about 6pm local time on Sunday. Its fate and that of its pilot remained a mystery yesterday.

Six Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16s are part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition that has been bombarding Yemen since late March in an attempt to reinstate former president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

While neither side in Yemen’s civil war made any claim of shooting down the plane, the Houthi forces controlling the capital Sanaa and allied units of the Yemeni army have responded to coalition air strikes with anti-aircraft fire.

Although the humanitarian ceasefire was due to begin today, Saudi TV showed footage of tanks and armoured vehicles being moved to the Yemeni border as part of a “strike force,” raising the prospect of a ground invasion.