Six people were injured and six homes and vehicles were damaged in Najran, as Saudi authorities reported further missile and drone interceptions and conflicting accounts of a military helicopter crash.
Six Saudi citizens were injured after a projectile launched by Yemen’s Houthi group struck a residential area in the southern Saudi city of Najran, Saudi authorities said Sunday. The incident damaged three homes and three vehicles, according to the General Directorate of Civil Defence.
Civil Defence teams responded to the scene and carried out the necessary procedures, the directorate said in a statement reported by the Saudi Press Agency. It condemned attacks targeting civilian property, describing them as violations of international humanitarian law.
The incident comes amid heightened military tensions along Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition has reported several missile and drone interceptions in recent days.
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Sunday that two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia had been intercepted and destroyed.
Saudi authorities had earlier issued potential-danger alerts in Riyadh, Abha and Khamis Mushait before announcing that the threat had passed.
The coalition also reported intercepting four drones over the Riyadh region, the Eastern Province and southern Saudi Arabia on Saturday. It released footage that it said showed strikes against two ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s Saada region.
Conflicting Accounts of Helicopter Crash
Separately, the coalition announced that a reconnaissance AH-6i helicopter had crashed in the Najran region, killing both crew members.
Al-Maliki said the aircraft crashed because of a technical malfunction in an area under the jurisdiction of the Saudi National Guard Ministry.
Yemen’s Houthi group, however, claimed it had shot down a Saudi military helicopter near Najran. The group released footage that it said showed a missile striking an AH-6i helicopter, but the video did not clearly establish what happened.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify the Houthi claim. Saudi authorities had not immediately commented on the group’s account.
The competing claims followed a statement Saturday by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree, who said the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran. It remained unclear whether that claim referred to the same incident involving the AH-6i aircraft.
The conflicting accounts highlight the uncertainty surrounding the helicopter incident, with the coalition attributing the crash to a technical malfunction and the Houthis claiming responsibility for shooting down a Saudi aircraft.
Egypt Offers Support to Saudi Arabia
Meanwhile, Egypt’s presidency announced that Cairo would provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible support to protect its security and stability.
The announcement came as Saudi Arabia reported continued security threats involving missiles and drones, alongside the projectile strike in Najran and the fatal helicopter crash.
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