Bahrain Mirror- AFP: Two Air Force pilots with a United Arab Emirates contingent fighting in Yemen have been killed in a plane crash, state media reported Tuesday.

The WAM news agency said the pilots were killed when their military plane crashed due to a "technical failure" while on a mission to Yemen.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting to prop up Yemen's government against a rebel alliance backed by Iran.

The coalition regularly conducts air raids on rebel-held areas and on targets linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the radical network's Yemen branch.

More than 8,600 people have been killed since the Saudi-led coalition joined the Yemen war in 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

Another 2,100 have died of cholera this year.

The war has pushed Yemen -- the poorest country in the Arab world -- to the brink of famine.

Arabic Version