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Yemen rebels say they downed Saudi chopper

Yemeni Shia rebels, engaged in border clashes with Saudi forces, said they had downed a Saudi helicopter amid Saudi air raids they said had killed at least 15 villagers.

By (Agencies)

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Published: Sat 16 Jan 2010, 2:20 PM

Last updated: Tue 18 Feb 2020, 9:31 PM

The helicopter was shot down on Friday during a “Saudi advance towards Jebel al-Doud,” rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam told AFP by telephone.
He said the rebels fired “special machine guns” at the aircraft which was seen “on fire in the air before it crashed near Al-Khouba” on the border.
Saudi military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The advance lasted for an hour, and stopped following the downing of the helicopter, Abdul Salam said, adding that shelling continued over night targeting the surrounding border areas.
He said that air raids “striking as far as 100 kilometres (60 miles) or more inside Yemeni territory” killed at least 15 civilians in the Razeh, Shaza and Haydan areas.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that it had regained control of the small Saudi village of al-Jabiri which was occupied by the rebels after fighting broke out on the border in November.
But the rebels, whose stronghold is just across the border from Saudi Arabia in the northern Yemeni province of Saada, denied the Saudi claim, saying that their fighters were still in control of the village.
Saudi Arabia launched operations against the rebels already locked in battle with Yemen’s military after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3.
 
 

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