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Bahrain F-16 crashes in Saudi near Yemen border after 'technical issue'

The coalition said that the crash was caused by a technical error and that the pilot has been located safely
A Bahraini jet on the tarmac in Saudi Arabia which is serving as the base for anti-Houthi operations in Yemen (AFP)

A Bahraini fighter jet taking part in the Saudi-led coalition battling rebel forces in Yemen crashed on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error," the alliance said.

The F-16 jet crashed in the kingdom's southwestern region of Jizan near the border with Yemen, the coalition said in a statement on the official SPA news agency.

The pilot was located safely, it said.

https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/682122855849529344

Bahrain announced on Tuesday that three of its soldiers had been killed close to the Saudi - Yemeni border. No further details about the incident were released but cross-border fire from the conflict in Yemen has previously killed both soliders and civilians. 

Bahrain is part of the Saudi-led mainly Arab coalition that has been bombing Yemen since March in an attempt to roll back Houthi forces and their allies and return the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to power. 

Over the weekend, a member of his government in exile - foreign minister Abdel Malik al-Mikhlafi - said that his forces were now in control of 70 percent of the country, although the Houthis remain in control of the capital Sanaa. 

Fresh peace talks are scheduled to start in Geneva on 14 January. They come after a tense round of negotiations, also based in Switzerland, failed to secure a deal earlier this month. 

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