Yemen tribesmen down chopper, kill 8 soldiers

Yemeni tribesmen shot down an army helicopter, killing eight soldiers, on Tuesday during a clash over a main oil pipeline blown up by saboteurs, a tribal chief said.


Armed tribesmen clashed with troops in Wadi Abida, in the eastern province of Marib, as gunmen prevented maintenance teams from fixing the export pipeline blown up last week, the chief told AFP.

Among the eight killed on the helicopter was Brigadier General Hussein al-Mashaba, head of Yemen's force tasked with protecting oil installations, the source said.