Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed on Monday in Yemen, where there is an ongoing conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and Iran-backed rebels, according to reports provided by the alliance.
The Mirage jet went down at dawn following "a technical fault," according to a statement given by the coalition and published by Saudi state news agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates announced that one of its jets was missing.
It is the first reported crash of an Emirati jet from the coalition since the Saudi-led offensive against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.
Accounts given by security officials and witnesses in Aden to AFP reported that a combat aircraft had crashed into a mountain as coalition jets operated nearby following clashes between Yemeni forces and jihadists.
Footage filmed near Aden showed locals pointing to debris, saying it belonged to the crashed jet.
Daesh and Al-Qaeda have taken advantage of the on-going hostilities between pro-government forces and Iran-backed insurgents to strengthen their presence in the south, including in Aden.
A government official informed AFP that a coalition fighter jet targeted and bombed the home of a local Daesh commander in the early morning, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.
Apache helicopters were also reported to be involved in the fighting on Monday, according to security officials.
"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machinegun fire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden's Mansura district, one witness said.
The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.
In Yemen, over 6,100 people have been killed since the coalition launched its campaign, half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.
Saudi Arabia mounted an Arab air campaign against the rebels after they closed in on embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.
Hadi and senior officials spend most of their time in Riyadh as security situation in Aden continues to worsen.
The Houthi rebels took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa unopposed in September 2014 and went on to expand their control across the south Arabian Peninsula country.
