RIYADH: A Saudi warplane from the coalition battling rebels in Yemencrashed on Sunday because of “technical failure”, the coalition and statemedia said, adding that both crew were rescued.
The plane “had a technical failure at 15:40 (1840 GMT) and crashed… in anarea of operations” in Yemen, Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for theSaudi-led coalition, told AFP.
He said the two crew members were rescued unharmed and returned to SaudiArabia.
Maliki gave no further details.
A coalition statement released later by the official Saudi Press Agencysaid the warplane that crashed was Saudi and that the operation to rescuethe crew involved ground forces.
Huthi rebels, who are locked in a war with Yemen’s government, said theyshot down the plane over Saada, their northern Yemeni stronghold, accordingto their Al-Masirah television channel.
The Saudi-led coalition joined the Yemeni government in its fight againstthe Huthis in March 2015, after the rebels seized control of the capitalSanaa.
Despite the coalition’s superior firepower, the rebels still control thecapital and much of north Yemen.
More than 8,750 people have been killed since the coalition intervened inYemen, according to the World Health Organization.