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Yemen air defense downs Saudi Apache copter: Local media

Wednesday, 05 August 2015 7:51 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 05 August 2015 1:35 PM ]

Yemenis watch as smoke billows following clashes between militants loyal to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthis in the Dar Saad suburb of the southern Yemeni city of Aden, July 19, 2015. (© AFP)

An Apache helicopter gunship operated by Saudi military forces has been downed by the Yemeni air defense forces in western Yemen, local media say.

Yemeni media outlets said on Wednesday that the Yemeni army’s air defense forces downed the helicopter with a surface-to-air missile in the district of Harad in the western province of Hajjah.

However, Saudi Arabia’s news website akhbaar24.com has denied the downing of the helicopter, saying it had made an emergency landing due to technical issues near the al-Tawal border crossing between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

In late May, Yemeni air defense forces shot down a Saudi F-16 fighter jet in the northwestern province of Sana’a as it was conducting airstrikes against the country.

Saudi warplanes have been carrying out raids against Yemen since March 26, with the Riyadh regime defying international calls for a halt to its deadly military campaign, which has led to a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the impoverished Arab state.

On August 4, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the civilian death toll in Yemen has soared to at least 1,916, with another 4,186 civilians injured since the escalation of conflict in the Arabian Peninsula state in March.

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