Black Hawk Helicopter Crashes Off Yemen Coast, Hunt on for missing personnel

A Black Hawk helicopter crashed during drills off the coast of Yemen on Friday. U.S. forces in the region rescued five other troops who were on board the aircraft,which came down some 20 miles south of the Yemeni shore at around 7 p.m. local time on Friday.

Forces are still searching for a missing service member. Washington Post quoted U.S. Central Command statement.

"U.S forces in the region are conducting an ongoing search for one U.S. service member who was aboard the aircraft," the military said in a statement.

An American service member remains missing after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Yemen on Friday in what U.S. military officials are calling a training accident.

It is still unknown what caused the incident but the U.S. military said it will investigate the crash incident.

The Pentagon has conducted more than 80 airstrikes targeting al-Qaida loyalists in Yemen this year from its base near Yemen's port of Mukalla to facilitate an ongoing special operations.

The Yemen branch of al Qaeda is the most active terror network, operating in the country torn by bloody conflict between government forces and Houthi rebels, who took over the capital, Sanaa, in 2015.