On Sunday, the Saudi-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government announced the death of two pilots after their reconnaissance helicopter crashed near the border with Yemen due to a technical malfunction. This is the first time that Riyadh has announced military losses since the escalation with the Houthis weeks ago.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki confirmed in a statement that the helicopter crashed in the Najran region “as a result of a technical malfunction,” adding that “the accident resulted in the martyrdom of its air crew, consisting of two officers.”
At dawn on Sunday, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces affiliated with the Ansar Allah group, Yahya Saree, announced the downing of a Saudi Arabian armed reconnaissance plane, a Carryal, while it was carrying out what he described as hostile actions in the airspace of Hajjah Governorate, northwest of Yemen.
Saree said in a statement that the plane was shot down using a suitable weapon, noting that this is the fourth plane of the same type that has been shot down since the start of the recent escalation, and the seventh since it entered Yemeni airspace.
On the other hand, residents of the capital, Riyadh, received a warning on their phones at dawn on Sunday morning about the existence of a “hostile air threat,” according to what was reported by the French news agency, which the authorities quickly lifted minutes later.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced the interception of a new wave of drones, while its ally, Egypt, is considering providing assistance to the Kingdom in defending itself against repeated attacks launched by the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia accused Iran of encouraging the Houthi escalation, while Tehran confirmed its support for a political solution between Riyadh and the Houthis, and offered to mediate between the two sides. On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of the internationally recognized Yemeni government rejected the Iranian initiative, considering that Tehran is “a party to the war against the Yemenis, in which there is no mediator.”
As a result of the war in the Middle East, a truce that had been in effect in Yemen since 2022 collapsed in July. The battles resumed, and the Houthis achieved progress on the ground and took control of the western coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait region.
For about two weeks, Saudi Arabia has been subjected to almost daily attacks carried out by the Houthis with missiles and drones, the most violent of which was the attack on Riyadh Airport on October 10, which resulted in 13 deaths and about 300 wounded.
The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia had launched, during the last 24 hours, dozens of air strikes, which resulted in a “large number” of deaths and injuries.
A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday that “four drones were intercepted and destroyed during the past hours in the regions of Riyadh, the Eastern Province, and the South.”
In Cairo, the Egyptian House of Representatives will hold a plenary session on Sunday afternoon, in response to the call of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the day after he announced his country’s readiness to take “any necessary measures” to defend Saudi Arabia if asked to do so.
Al-Sisi said, during a graduation ceremony for classes from the Egyptian Military Academy on Saturday, that Egypt cannot stand by and watch when Saudi Arabia’s security is undermined, indicating that any potential intervention will be aimed at defending the Kingdom, and not attacking or waging a war.
