Saudi Arabia: Military training aircraft crashes, killing 2

By

The Associated Press

Smoke billows from the Fajj Attan Hill on April 20, 2015, following a reported airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on an Army arms depot, which was under Houthi rebel control at the time. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry says a military training aircraft has crashed, killing the instructor and a student pilot.

The official Saudi Press Agency quoted the ministry as saying the accident happened Sunday morning and involved a plane affiliated with the King Faisal Air Academy, a military flight school in the capital, Riyadh.

It gave no further details.

Saudi Arabia’s air force relies on American and British-made fighters, though the military operates training aircraft produced in other countries as well.

The oil-rich kingdom has for several weeks been carrying out airstrikes against Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen. It is also part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.