Helicopter Crash in Saudi Arabia’s Najran Region Kills Two Crew Members

Saudi Arabia: A reconnaissance helicopter belonging to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of National Guard crashed in the southwestern Najran region on Sunday, killing both of its crew members, the Saudi-led coalition said.

Major General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, stated that an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed inside Saudi territory due to a technical malfunction. The aircraft was operating in an area under the jurisdiction of the National Guard Ministry. The two officers on board were killed in the incident.

Al-Maliki offered condolences to the families of the deceased, describing them as martyrs and praying for mercy upon them.

The crash occurred amid heightened tensions along the Saudi-Yemeni border. Najran has faced repeated threats from Iran-aligned Houthi forces in recent weeks. On Saturday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was conducting operations against Houthi positions.

The Saudi side identified the crashed aircraft as an AH-6i and attributed the incident to a technical fault rather than hostile action. Al-Maliki responded to the Houthi claim by posting images of similar helicopters and stating that any such aircraft would soon return to the battlefield.