Militants loyal to Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi stand by a tank they used in fighting against Houthi fighters in the southern port city of Aden
RIYADH/Sana’a: A mortar shell fired by Yemen’s Houthi militia across the border into Saudi Arabia killed three of the kingdom’s army officers on Friday, a Defence Ministry statement carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA said yesterday.
The statement also said that more than 500 Houthi fighters have been killed in clashes on the border since the conflict began on March 26. The statement gave the first reported death toll for border clashes since the coalition launched air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen last month.
Earlier, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Al Assiri told journalists at his daily briefing in Riyadh there had been 1,200 coalition air strikes between March 26 and midday yesterday.
He said the raids had neutralised the air and ballistic capabilities of the rebels and their allies, and “will continue”.
Assiri also told reporters: “At the appropriate time, we will take action on the ground.”
Saudi state news agency cited the defence ministry as saying the three Saudi soldiers died on Friday and two were wounded when mortar rounds hit their border observation post in Najran province. Last week, three Saudi border guards were killed in an attack by the Houthis, who control parts of northern Yemen along the frontier. With the air campaign and fighting on the ground in Yemen showing no sign of easing, the Red Cross yesterday delivered a second planeload of aid to Sana’a in as many days.
Reuters/AFP
Doha: The UAE has condemned a Pakistani decision to stay out of the conflict in Yemen, rejecting Saudi demands for Islamabad to join its military coalition against Houthi rebels, said a Dubai-based English daily.
“The Arabian Gulf is in a dangerous confrontation, its strategic security is on the edge, and the moment of truth distinguishes between the real ally and the ally of media and statements,” Khaleej Times quoted Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash’s tweet on Friday after a unanimous resolution passed by a special session of Pakistan’s parliament.
“Pakistan must have a clear stance for the sake of its strategic relations with the Gulf states. Positions that are contradictory in such fateful issues have a high cost,” Gargash’s tweet said.
