Two UAE pilots killed as fighter jet crashes in Yemen

Two Emirati pilots have been killed after their fighter jet crashed in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling rebels backed by Iran.

The Mirage aircraft crashed at dawn “due to a technical fault”, said a coalition statement published hours after the United Arab Emirates reported one of its jets missing without giving details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since thecampaign against the rebels began last March.

Coalition warplanes turned their attention towards Yemen’s second city, Aden – home to a growing jihadi presence – for the first time last week.

Islamic State and al-Qaida have taken advantage of the conflict between insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local Isis commander at dawn, killing the target’s 18-year-old son, near the plane crash site.

Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting on Monday, security officials said.

“We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machine gun fire at al-Qaida militants” in the al-Mansoura district of Aden, one witness said.