RIYADH: Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is proposing a 15-day cease-fire that would coincide with the withdrawal of Houthi militias from all government institutions and military installations and all cities and provinces — even the province they call home.

Hadi’s proposal, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, was given to the UN envoy for Yemen on Thursday, and Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was heading to Oman on Friday to discuss it with Houthi representatives, according to a UN diplomat.

Meanwhile, an Apache helicopter from the Saudi-led forces crashed along the Saudi border, killing the two pilots, the coalition said Saturday.

“The two pilots fell as martyrs when their aircraft crashed while they were defending the borders of Saudi Arabia from these (Houthi) aggressors,” the coalition said in a statement. It said an inquiry had been launched into the causes of the crash.

Separately, high-ranking security officials said Saturday that Al-Qaeda militants have seized control of key areas in and around Aden. Also on Saturday, several bombs exploded outside a building used by the intelligence services in the city, causing fires to break out but no casualties, a local official said.