Saudi Coalition Says Helicopter Crash Killed Two Near Yemen Border; Houthis Claim Apache Shootdown

Two crew members were killed after a Saudi military AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the Najran region near the Yemen border, with the Saudi-led coalition attributing the incident to a technical malfunction. Separately, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed to have shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter in the same border region, leaving uncertainty over whether the two announcements referred to the same incident.

Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki confirmed that the AH-6i went down in an area under the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia’s National Guard Ministry. Both personnel aboard the aircraft died, he said.

The incident comes amid renewed hostilities along the Saudi-Yemen border, where the Houthis have carried out attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Najran region in recent weeks.

Houthis Claim Saudi Apache Was Shot Down

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed in a post on X on Saturday that the group’s forces had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran.

According to Saree, the aircraft had been conducting what he described as hostile activities targeting Houthi positions along the border. The claim differed from the coalition’s account, which identified the crashed aircraft as an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter and blamed a technical failure.

The available statements do not establish whether the Houthi claim and the coalition’s announcement concern the same aircraft or separate incidents. The Houthi claim has not been independently verified.

Saudi Coalition Challenges Houthi Claim

Responding to Saree’s post, al-Maliki shared a photograph showing several Apache helicopters lined up and wrote: “You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon.”

The exchange came as tensions between Saudi-led coalition forces and the Houthis continued along the border. The rival accounts highlight the uncertainty surrounding the helicopter incidents, with the coalition confirming two deaths in a technical crash while the Houthis claimed responsibility for bringing down an Apache.

Further details establishing the circumstances of the crash and verifying the Houthi claim were not available in the statements cited.