Shi'ite rebels claim downing of Saudi's U.S.-made Apache attack helicopter
CAIRO — The Iranian-backed Shi'ite rebel movement has reported the
downing of a U.S.-origin attack helicopter operated by Saudi Arabia.
The Believing Youth said its fighters shot down a U.S.-origin AH-64
Apache attack helicopter of the Royal Saudi Air Force. The Shi'ites said the
Apache, on a mission along the border with Yemen, was destroyed on Jan. 15, Middle East Newsline reported.
Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the Shi'ite rebel report, issued amid
intensified air strikes on northern Yemen.
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If true, this
would mark the first downing of a Saudi helicopter in Riyad's war with the
Yemeni Shi'ites, which began in November 2009.
In late 2009, the Believing Youth captured at least two villages in
southern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border. Later, Saudi Deputy Defense
Minister Prince Khaled Bin Sultan acknowledged that the villages had been
held by the Shi'ite rebels for more than a month.
The Believing Youth was said to have received anti-tank and
anti-aircraft missiles from Iran. In 2009, the Shi'ites downed at least
three Yemen Air Force fighter-jets, all of them MiGs.
