Saudi-led coalition says helicopter crash in Najran kills two crew members

‌A ​reconnaissance AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led ‌coalition's spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement on Sunday.

The helicopter crashed due to a technical malfunction in an area under the jurisdiction of ‌the Saudi National Guard Ministry, the statement added. Yemen's Houthis released footage later ‌on Sunday of what they said was a Saudi AH-6i helicopter being shot down by a missile while carrying out what they described as hostile activities near Najran.

The footage did not ⁠clearly ​show the incident, ⁠and Reuters could not immediately verify the Houthis' claim. There was no immediate comment from Saudi ⁠authorities. On Saturday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on X that the group had ​shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran. It was not clear ⁠if that referred to the same incident.

Al-Maliki commented on Saree's post on Sunday with ⁠a ​photo of several Apaches lined up, saying: "You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon." Najran has been subject ⁠to attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in recent weeks as fighting between the coalition ⁠and the Yemen-based ⁠militant group escalated, with the Yemen conflict becoming another front in the US-led war with Iran.