UAE says 4 soldiers killed in Yemen helicopter crash

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates says four of its soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in Yemen while taking part in a Saudi-led campaign targeting Shiite rebels there.

The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported the fatalities early Saturday.

WAM said the helicopter crashed in Yemen’s Shabwa province due to a technical malfunction.

Shabwa has seen U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s local branch of al-Qaida amid the Saudi-led war. In June, the U.S. military’s Central Command said a strike there killed Abu Khattab al-Awlaqi, the emir of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

The U.S. considers that al-Qaida faction one of the most dangerous threats to the West.

The Saudi-led coalition began its war in Yemen in March 2015 against Shiite rebels known as Houthis who hold the capital, Sanaa.