Saudi Warplane Crashes in Southern Yemen, Pilot Killed

Local Editor

A Saudi warplane has crashed in Yemen's southern province of Abyan for unknown reasons, killing the pilot onboard.

The Typhoon warplane crashed into a mountain in Al Wade'a district on Wednesday, Yemen's Saba news agency reported.

The report identified the pilot as Mahna al-Biz.

Last week, a UAE pilot was also killed in another warplane crash in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia along with his allies -- Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan-- has been pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to crush the popular Ansarullah movement and reinstate the former Yemeni government, a close Riyadh ally.

Ansarullah fighters, backed by the Yemeni army and popular forces, had been defending the country against the all-out aggression.

On the battlefield, Yemeni army forces on Wednesday targeted Saudi-led mercenaries in the southwestern province of Lahij with Katyusha rockets.

The missile units of Yemeni forces also shelled the positions of the forces loyal to former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah. They also shelled Saudi military forces in Saudi Arabia's southwestern Jizan region.

According to a report by Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah network, Yemeni snipers killed four Saudi-led mercenaries in al-Hamly area, in Moze district in southwestern province of Taizz.

More than 12,000 people had been martyred since the onset of the Saudi 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 the war.

On Monday, the UN human rights chief called for urgent investigation into Saudi Arabia's airstrikes against civilians in Yemen.

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

According to data provided by the World Health Organization and Yemen's Health Ministry, the country's cholera outbreak, the worst on record in terms of its rapid spread, has infected 612,703 people and killed 2,048 since it began in April, with some districts still reporting sharp rises in new cases.

The United Nations says the Saudi war has left some 17 million Yemenis hungry, nearly seven million facing famine, and about 16 million almost without access to water or sanitation.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team