The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi militias on Sunday said two pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed because of a "technical malfunction" near the border with Yemen, the first military fatalities since hostilities restarted in July.
"An AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter belonging to the national guard crashed and was destroyed in Saudi territory in the Najran area as a result of a technical malfunction, resulting in the death of its crew of two officers," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
After a four-year, uneasy truce, Yemen's conflict reignited in July and intensified when the Iran-backed group seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month.
The Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government has launched repeated air raids on Houthi territory.
The Houthis have hit Saudi targets including vessels in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh's international airport, where 13 people were killed in a single attack last week.
Intercepting Houthi ballistic missiles
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition also said early that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Yemen's Houthis toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The coalition spokesman announced the interceptions in a statement on X.
Shortly before the announcement, Saudi Civil Defence issued "potential danger" alerts in the capital Riyadh and the southwestern cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait through its national early warning system.
The agency later announced that the danger had passed.
Earlier on Saturday, al-Maliki said coalition forces had intercepted and destroyed four drones over several hours in the Riyadh region, Eastern Province and southern Saudi Arabia.
The coalition also released footage it claimed showed strikes destroying two ballistic missile launchers in Saada, northern Yemen, after they had been used to fire missiles toward Saudi Arabia.
