Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that a reconnaissance helicopter belonging to the Ministry of National Guard had crashed in the Najran region in the south of the country, resulting in the deaths of the two officers on board. Saudi authorities attributed the incident to a technical malfunction.
The announcement followed a statement by the Yemeni Armed Forces claiming that they had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter off the coast of Najran while it was conducting hostile operations near their border positions.
Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, the official spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, stated that the aircraft — an AH-6i model — crashed within Saudi territory in the Najran region due to a technical failure, killing its two-officer flight crew.
On Saturday evening, the Yemeni Armed Forces had announced the downing of an Apache helicopter belonging to the “Saudi aggression” off the coast of Najran, noting that the aircraft had been carrying out hostile actions toward their forces’ positions along the border.
The Yemeni Armed Forces claim that, since the recent Saudi escalation against the country, they have shot down dozens of drones, as well as an F-15 fighter jet and a Typhoon aircraft, within the airspace of various Yemeni provinces.
Source: Unews translated by Al-Manar English website