Saudi AH-6i Helicopter Crashes in Najran, Killing Two Crew; Coalition Cites Technical Malfunction, Houthis Claim Shoot-Down
A Saudi AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of southern Saudi Arabia due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led coalition's spokesman, Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, said in a statement on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The helicopter came down in an area under the jurisdiction of the Saudi Ministry of National Guard, the statement added. It did not say when the crash occurred or identify the two crew members killed.
The Houthis offered a different account. According to Anadolu Agency, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Saturday, in a statement carried by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, that Houthi forces had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was carrying out operations against Houthi positions along the border. The claim could not be independently verified, and the aircraft type named by the Houthis differs from the AH-6i cited by the coalition; whether the two accounts refer to the same helicopter incident cannot be confirmed at this stage.
Najran lies in southern Saudi Arabia, on the border with Yemen. The Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and other areas in 2014, and a Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government. Fighting resumed after a 2022 truce broke down in July, with missile, drone and cross-border strikes continuing since.
(GSM, with reporting from Reuters and Anadolu Agency)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：AH-6「小鸟」轻型攻击直升机在荒漠地带起飞（资料图；本次坠毁的为该系列出口型号 AH-6i）。美国国防部公共领域图片，经维基共享资源。Image: AH-6 Little Bird light attack helicopters taking off in desert terrain (file photo; the crashed aircraft was the AH-6i export variant of the same family). U.S. Department of Defense photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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