Saudi military helicopter crashes in Yemen, at least 12 killed

A Saudi military Black Hawk helicopter has crashed in Yemen, leaving at least 12 servicemen dead, Sputnik International reported.

According to Al Ekhbariya TV channel, the crash took place in the Marib province during a combat mission. The casualties include four officers and eight non-commissioned officers.

Saudi Press Agency said the cause of the crash has not yet been established.

Some reports suggest that the aircraft was shot down accidentally.

Yemen has been suffering from a brutal conflict between the government and the Houthi movement backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh since 2014.

In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries started carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at the request of governmental forces.</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi helicopter came down during military operations in Yemen on Tuesday, killing 12 officers aboard, Saudi media reported, and a Yemeni defense ministry news website said the cause was friendly fire.

The death toll was one of the largest in a single incident involving Saudi forces since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 to try to roll back the dominant Houthi group and restore President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi to power.

The official Saudi news agency SPA quoted a statement from the Saudi-led coalition as saying the Black Hawk came down in Marib province, east of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

“As a result, four officers and eight non-commissioned officers from the Saudi armed forces were martyred,” it said, adding the possible cause of the crash was under investigation.

But the Yemeni defense ministry’s 26 September news website quoted an officer in Yemen’s military high command as saying the helicopter was shot down 5 km (3 miles) from its landing spot because of “a technical fault that caused a misreading of the air defense system, which resulted in the destruction of the plane before it landed”.

It provided no details on who fired at the helicopter.

The Houthi-run Saba news agency said the helicopter crashed in an area known as al-Tadaween, northeast of the Marib provincial capital, and that 13 officers and soldiers had died.

In September 2015, a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis at a coalition military base in Marib killed more than 60 soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The Saudi-led coalition has recently made gains against the Houthis in western Yemen but fighting on other fronts, including Marib, has been static, with little ground changing hands.

The Houthis seized much of northern Yemen including Sanaa in a series of lightning military operations that began in 2014, eventually forcing Hadi to flee.

The coalition accuses Iran of trying to use the Houthis to expand its influence in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries. Iran denies this. The Houthis regard their move on Sanaa as a revolution against corruption.</s>DUBAI: A Saudi Black Hawk helicopter crashed during military operations in Yemen on Tuesday, killing 12 officers, Saudi news agency SPA reported.

It quoted a military statement as saying the plane came down in Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa.

"As a result, four officers and eight non-commissioned officers from the Saudi armed forces were martyred," SPA said.

It gave no details on the cause of the crash, saying it was under investigation.

The death toll was one of the largest in a single incident involving Saudi forces since a coalition of Arab states began military operations against the armed Houthi movement in 2015 to try to restore Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

A ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards a coalition military base in Marib in 2015 killed more than 60 troops from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The Saudi-led coalition has recently made some gains against the Houthis in western Yemen, but fighting on other fronts, including Marib, has been static, with little ground changing hands.

The Houthis seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in a series of military operations that began in 2014, eventually forcing Hadi to flee.

The Saudi-led coalition accuses Iran of trying to use the Houthis to expand its influence in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries. The Houthis regard their move on Sanaa as a revolution against corruption.</s>A Saudi military Black Hawk helicopter has crashed in Yemen, killing at least 12 military personnel, Saudi's SPA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The cause of the crash was not known and is being investigated, SPA said.</s>Four Saudi officers and eight soldiers were killed in a plane crash during a mission in the eastern Yemeni Province of Mareb, the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen, yesterday, said.

 A Black Hawk helicopter crashed killing the 12 personnel on board, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing a coalition statement.

 The coalition is currently investigating the cause of the crash.

 Saudi Arabia started an air campaign against the Houthi rebels in

 Yemen in March 2015, fearing that rebels will give their regional rival, Iran, a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula. The alliance comprises a number of Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.

 Houthi rebels seized the capital Sana’a in September 2014 and continued to advance through the country, before the Yemeni army backed by the Saudi-led air campaign managed to regain the southern city of Aden, which currently hosts the government and the presidential office.

This post was syndicated from Nigerian News from Leadership News. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi-led military coalition says one of its helicopters has crashed in eastern Yemen, killing 12 Saudi officers.</s>DUBAI: A Saudi Black Hawk helicopter crashed during military operations in Yemen on Tuesday, killing 12 officers, Saudi news agency SPA reported. The death toll was one of the largest in a single incident involving Saudi forces since a coalition of Arab states began military operations against the armed Houthi movement in 2015 to try to restore Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Channelnewsasia.com.</s>(UPI) — Military officials said one person was killed Monday after a U.S. Army helicopter crashed on a golf course south of Washington, D.C.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk chopper went down at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown, Md., just before 2 p.m., military officials said. The aircraft belonged to the U.S. Army and was based at Fort Belvoir, Va.

Fort Belvoir, home to the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion and more than a dozen UH-60 Black Hawks, said three people were aboard the chopper when it made a “hard landing.”

Military officials said one died at the scene and the other two were flown to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington.

A witness in the course’s pro shop said the helicopter was flying low and spinning before the crash, perhaps indicative of trouble with the tail rotor, which controls a helicopter’s horizontal movement.

“One of them was lagging behind the other two. It started spinning. At first, we thought it was doing tricks,” witness Elizabeth Willing told The Bay Net.

“It disappeared behind the tree line and then we heard a big bang,” witness Kat McCurdy added.

Leonardtown is 45 miles southeast of the nation’s capital.

The crash marks the second time in two weeks that a military aircraft crashed in the area. An F-16C jet crashed near Andrews Air Force Base on April 6. The pilot ejected safely.</s>SPA reported that the crash happened while armed forces were carrying out operational duties in the province of Marib in Yemen.The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said that it was "one of the deadliest incidents for the kingdom's troops since the Yemen war began more than two years ago," reported Reuters.The cause of the crash is under investigation, the coalition added.US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday for discussions on the Yemen war with Saudi leaders.The single deadliest incident for coalition forces killed 45 troops from the United Arab Emirates in September 2015, when a rebel missile hit a weapons depot, also in Marib. Ten Saudis were also killed in that incident.</s>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said one of its helicopters crashed in eastern Yemen on Tuesday, killing 12 Saudi officers in one of the deadliest incidents for the kingdom's troops since the war began more than two years ago.

The Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Marib, the coalition said, adding that it is investigating the circumstances. The incident happened as U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to discuss the Yemen war with Saudi leaders.

The coalition of mostly Arab Sunni countries has waged a campaign to dislodge Yemeni Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital and some other areas in 2014 and forced the internationally-recognized government to flee the country.

The U war has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 civilians and led to the displacement of some 3 million Yemenis. Dozens of Saudi soldiers have been killed in cross-border attacks from Yemen.

The single deadliest incident for coalition forces killed 45 troops from the United Arab Emirates in September 2015, when a rebel missile hit a weapons depot - also in Marib. It was the deadliest day for its military in the UAE's 44-year history. Ten Saudis were killed in the blast too. Bahrain also lost five soldiers, though it was not clear if they were killed in the same incident.

Mattis told reporters while heading to the kingdom that he will push for a political resolution to end the conflict. He said the Trump administration's goal is for the crisis "to be put in front of a U.N.-brokered negotiating team and try to resolve this politically as soon as possible."

He also echoed past Saudi accusations that Houthis have been receiving arms from Iran, saying that the Iranians have supplied Houthis with missiles they use to fire on Saudi Arabia.

Mattis is the highest-level Trump administration official to visit the kingdom. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defense minister, met Trump at the White House last month.

Multiple rounds of U.N-brokered peace talks have failed to bridge the gap between the warring parties in Yemen. President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi insists on the implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions which stipulate that the Houthis pull their militias from the cities and hand over heavy weapons, while the Shiite rebels demand on a power-sharing deal before taking any security-related steps.

Hadi's government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, has regained control over southern Yemen, but has however failed to restore law and order in that part of the country as the extremist Islamic State group and al-Qaida militants have grown in numbers and expanded their footprints.

Over the past weeks, fighting has been intensified in the western coastline regions. Coalition officials say they are preparing for an all-out assault to take control over the vital Red Sea port city of Hoedida, considered the lifeline for Houthis and their landlocked base in northern Yemen.

Associated Press Writers Maggie Michael in Cairo and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Twelve Saudi Arabian military officers die after their Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk crashes in Yemen's Ma'rib Governorate.