Emirati Apache helicopter crashes in northern Yemen, two pilots killed

A Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter operated by the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) has crashed in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf, killing the two pilots on board, as the Saudi-led coalition presses ahead with its atrocious aerial bombardment campaign against the impoverished Arab country.

The UAE's official WAM news agency reported on Tuesday evening that the four-blade and twin-turboshaft aircraft went down due to a technical glitch.

The report identified those onboard the helicopter as Major Ali al-Mismari and First Lieutenant Badr al-Murshedah.

Yemeni sources, requesting anonymity, said the helicopter had crashed in the Khabb wa ash Sha'af district of Jawf province, located approximately 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of the capital Sana'a.

Yemen's official Saba news agency reported on August 11 that a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter of the UAEAF had crashed in the Amqeel area of Ar Rawdah district in the south-central Yemeni province of Shabwah.

The general command of the UAE’s armed forces confirmed that four of its soldiers were killed after their helicopter was hit by a technical fault.

However, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition engaged in a war in Yemen, later said the pilot made an emergency landing in the area due to “a technical defect while returning from an operation in Yemen.”

Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstate former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of the Riyadh regime.

The UAE is one of the main allies of Riyadh in its deadly war against the Yemeni nation. The United States has also been providing arms and military training as well as bombing coordinates to the Saudi-led coalition since the beginning of the protracted war, which has failed to achieve its goals.

More than 12,000 people have been killed since the onset of the campaign more than two and a half years ago. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The Saudi-led war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic across Yemen.

According to the World Health Organization’s latest count, the cholera outbreak has killed 2,167 people since the end of April and is suspected to have infected 841,906.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has described the current level of hunger in Yemen as “unprecedented,” emphasizing that 17 million people are now food insecure in the country.

It added that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, do not have enough food and rely entirely on external assistance.

A recent survey showed that almost one third of families have gaps in their diets, and hardly ever consume foods like pulses, vegetables, fruit, dairy products or meat.

More than 3 million pregnant and nursing women and children under 5 need support to prevent or cure malnutrition.

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