Two officers killed in Saudi helicopter crash in Najran

Two officers were killed when a Saudi National Guard reconnaissance helicopter crashed in the southwestern Najran region due to a technical malfunction, the Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday.

Coalition spokesman Maj-Gen. Turki Al Maliki said the AH-6i helicopter crashed inside Saudi territory near the border with Yemen.

In a statement posted on X, Al-Maliki confirmed the deaths of the helicopter’s two-officer crew and offered condolences to their families, praying for God’s mercy upon the victims.

The incident comes as Saudi Arabia remains on heightened alert amid renewed attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group.

The border region of Najran has previously been targeted in Houthi attacks.

Earlier, the Houthi group claimed that it had shot down a Saudi Apache military helicopter near the Najran region in southern Saudi Arabia while it was conducting operations against Houthi positions.

The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, made the claim in a statement carried by the Houthi-run version of Yemen’s Saba news agency on Saturday, saying Houthi forces had targeted the helicopter as it carried out what he described as “hostile operations” along the Saudi-Yemeni border.

Saudi officials had not immediately commented on the claim.

The announcement comes amid escalating hostilities in Yemen and continued Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia since July.

The attacks have reportedly targeted civilian aviation facilities and energy infrastructure within the Kingdom.