Saudi helicopter crash near Yemen border kills 2; Houthis claim Apache takedown

Two crew members were killed after a Saudi AH-6i helicopter crashed in the country's Najran region near the Yemen border due to a technical malfunction, the Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday.

The announcement came a day after Yemen's Houthi group claimed it had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter in the area, leaving it unclear whether the two sides were referring to the same aircraft, Reuters reported.

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The incident comes amid an escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, with the kingdom reporting interceptions of drones and missiles in several areas and heightened security concerns in the capital.

Saudi coalition cites technical malfunction

Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, said in a statement that the AH-6i helicopter crashed in an area under the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia's National Guard Ministry.

The coalition attributed the crash to a technical malfunction and confirmed that both crew members had died. The incident marks the first reported fatalities of this kind in Saudi Arabia since the latest escalation in its conflict with the Houthis.

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

Saree claimed the aircraft had been carrying out what he described as hostile activities targeting Houthi positions along the border. The claim contrasts with the coalition's account that an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed because of a technical fault.

Neither side's statements established whether the Houthi claim and the coalition's announcement concerned the same aircraft, Reuters reported.

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Saudi Arabia faces wider wave of attacks

The helicopter crash comes as Saudi Arabia faces a broader wave of attacks attributed to the Houthis. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted several waves of drones over Riyadh during the weekend and destroyed ballistic and cruise missiles in other areas, including attempts to target the Red Sea port city of Yanbu and the Khamis Mushait border area.

The escalation follows Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport earlier in October. According to Bloomberg, the strikes had left about 17 people dead and more than 300 injured, while airports in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Dammam had also come under fire. The head office of Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco in Dhahran was also hit.

The attacks have disrupted activity in the Saudi capital. Schools in Riyadh extended remote learning by another seven days, while the city's financial district had yet to indicate that it was safe for workers to return, Bloomberg reported.

Saudi Arabia's allies have also offered support. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi urged parliament to authorise measures to support the kingdom's defence if Riyadh requested assistance. He said the purpose would be defensive rather than to initiate an attack.

The conflict has also added to pressure on energy supplies, with the Houthis targeting ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key oil-export corridor. Brent crude rose to $110 a barrel on Friday, its highest level since May.