Yemeni forces down Saudi Apache helicopter using 'new technology' : Spokesman

Yemen's Armed Forces have downed a Saudi Apache helicopter using "new technology" and have filmed the operation, the force's spokesman has said.

"Yemen's air defenses have managed to down a Saudi Apache helicopter with a surface-to-air missile using new technology which we will unveil in the near future," Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced on Friday.

"It was shot down this morning in the Majaza area facing [Saudi Arabia's] Asir while carrying out hostile operations," Saree said.

The spokesman added that the helicopter had been fully destroyed and that its two Saudi crew members had been killed.

"The Armed Forces will counter all hostile attempts until complete coverage for Yemen's airspace can be provided," he said.

The development comes against the backdrop of a string of major Yemeni military victories in the past months.

Earlier this week, Yemeni forces claimed to have successfully carried out a major drone and ballistic missile attack targeting Mukha port in Yemen’s southern province of Ta'izz.

Some 350 Saudi-led forces were either killed or wounded during the attack, Saree said at the time.

Late September, Yemeni forces declared the conclusion of a major military offensive targeting Saudi-led forces in the kingdom’s southern border region of Najran, killing at least 200 enemy troops and capturing another 2,000, according to officials.

Two weeks earlier, Yemeni forces bypassed the oil-rich kingdom's foreign supplied air defenses and launched a highly successful attack on two Saudi oil facilities, temporarily halting more than half of the country's oil production.

Reports have since emerged showing that Riyadh has been seeking to negotiate an end to what has turned into a “quagmire” for the kingdom.

The US has also been reportedly reaching out to Yemen's Ansarullah Movement in a bid to assist Riyadh and work a way out of the conflict.

MG