At least 12 killed as Saudi military aircraft crashes in Yemen

A Saudi military Black Hawk helicopter has crashed in Yemen, killing at least 12 military personnel, Saudi’s SPA news agency reported on Tuesday.

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 is said to be 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.

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

This is a developing story…