Saudi-led coalition says helicopter crash in Najran kills two crew members

• Area of Najran remains subject to attacks by Houthis.
• Fighting between Saudi coalition and Houthis escalates.
• Yemen conflict becomes new front in US war with Iran.

A reconnaissance AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led coalition's spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement on Sunday.

The helicopter crashed in an area under the jurisdiction of the Saudi National Guard Ministry, the statement added.

The southwestern area of Najran has been subject to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis in recent weeks as fighting between the coalition and the Yemen-based fighter group escalated, with the Yemen conflict becoming another front in the US-led war with Iran.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on X on Saturday that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was carrying out what he described as hostile activities targeting Houthi positions along the border.

Al-Maliki commented on Saree's post on Sunday with a photo of several Apaches lined up, saying: "You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon."

The incident occurred as Saudi Arabia remains on heightened alert amid a renewed wave of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia.

Since Yemen's conflict flared up again in July after a years-long hiatus, Saudi Arabia has faced sustained Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting its oil installations, tankers and transit hubs, including an attack on Riyadh's airport last week that killed 13 people.

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that it had intercepted a fresh wave of drones, as its ally Egypt weighed helping the kingdom defend against repeated attacks by Yemen's Houthis.

The interceptions came as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was willing to "carry out any measure to protect" Saudi Arabia if its leaders requested it.

Sisi said Egypt was not seeking to intervene in regional wars but added that it was "inconceivable" for Cairo to stand by while the kingdom was "harmed or its security and stability threatened".