Najran, 18 October, 2026 (Ghufran): Two crew members were killed after a reconnaissance AH-6i helicopter crashed in Saudi Arabia’s Najran region due to a technical malfunction, the Saudi-led military coalition said on Sunday. Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki confirmed the incident in a statement, adding that the helicopter crashed in an area under the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia’s National Guard Ministry. The crash occurred as the kingdom remains on heightened alert amid renewed attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi fighters. Najran, located in southwestern Saudi Arabia, has faced attacks in recent weeks as fighting between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis has intensified. On Saturday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed on social media platform X that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was conducting what he described as hostile operations against Houthi positions along the border. Responding to the claim on Sunday, Major General al-Maliki shared a photograph of several Apache helicopters lined up and said the aircraft would soon return to the battlefield, disputing the Houthi account. The incident comes amid a renewed escalation of the Yemen conflict, which flared up again in July following a years-long lull. Saudi Arabia has since faced sustained Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting oil installations, tankers and transport hubs. An attack on Riyadh’s airport last week reportedly killed 13 people, further raising security concerns. On Saturday, Saudi authorities also announced the interception and destruction of four drones over the Riyadh region, the Eastern Province and southern areas of the country. Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has expressed Cairo’s readiness to take necessary measures to protect Saudi Arabia if requested by its leadership. Sisi said Egypt did not seek to intervene in regional wars but would not stand by if the kingdom’s security and stability were threatened.