CAIRO
U.S. forces have rescued two Saudi pilots after their F-15S fighter jet crashed during an air mission over Yemen.
"The F-15S suffered a technical difficulty over the Red Sea late Friday," a source in the Saudi Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by the official SPA news agency on Saturday.
"The two pilots have been rescued in cooperation with the U.S. side and they are well and in high spirit," the source added.
In Washington, the Pentagon said the March 26 rescue operation was carried out at the request of Saudi officials.
The USS Sterett, a guided missile destroyer, coordinated the operation as the USS New York searched for the men, according to a defense official. An HH-60 Sikorsky helicopter flew from Djibouti to recover the Saudi airmen in international waters.
Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies launched a military offensive, including airstrikes, against the Shiite Houthi group in Yemen.
Riyadh said the strikes were in response to appeals by embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to "save the people [of Yemen] from the Houthi militias."
Fractious Yemen has been beset by turmoil since last September, when Shiite militants overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.
Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.
