ABU DHABI // Two fighter pilots who died when their plane crashed during operations in Yemen were on Monday named as Zayed Ali Al Kaabi and Mohammed Obaid Al Hmoudi.
In a statement released via state news agency Wam, the UAE Armed Forces said the brave soldiers were martyred participating in Operation Restoring Hope, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen to support the legitimate government.
Their Mirage fighter jet came down due to a “technical fault” and the two pilots were killed in the crash, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported earlier in the day.
The pilots are understood to be from Dibba Al Hosn in Sharjah and Merbah in Fujairah, although this has not been confirmed.
› Read the families' tributes here: Families pay tribute to 'brave' Emirati pilots killed in Yemen
“The Armed Forces extends its deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of the martyrs,” said the Wam statement.
Bystanders apparently found the remains of the Mirage fighter near Yemen’s port city of Aden, while amateur video and photos posted on a local news website showed onlookers rifling through the debris and standing on a piece of the plane’s distinctive triangle-shaped wing.
*With input from Associated Press
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