Saudi air force pilot dies in helicopter crash

Saudi Arabia’s military blamed a “technical error” for a helicopter crash that killed a pilot during a training mission on Sunday.The air force machine went down in the Taif area, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the border with Yemen.A defense ministry statement said the pilot was on a “routine training trip.”Since March 26, a Saudi-led Arab air coalition has been bombing Iran-backed Houthi militia group in Yemen, while also assisting local anti-rebel forces on the ground.

Coalition helicopters have joined the fight.In late August, two pilots died when a coalition Apache gunship crashed in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan district along the border.Houthis said they had shot down an Apache in the same region.On Sunday, anti-rebel forces in Yemen began a major offensive aimed at pushing the Houthis out of Marib province and eventually moving on the capital Sanaa which the Houthis seized last year.