SANAA: Saudi border guards killed a Yemeni man and wounded another yesterday when they opened fire on a group of Yemeni tribesmen who attacked construction workers building Saudi Arabia’s security fence on the border with Yemen, a tribal chief said.
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, which is responsible for border security, denied that any clash had taken place on the border with Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, wary of traffickers and militants trespassing from Yemen, have been building a security fence along its 1,800km border with the impoverished country since 2003.
The construction has been often halted by protesting Yemeni tribesmen, who say the fence prevents local tribes from reaching pastures for their livestock.
“We were caught by surprise this morning when construction of the fence had resumed,” tribal chief Hussein Abu Dadra told Reuters.
“We fired on the construction company workers and the border guards fired back. We forced them to stop construction work.”
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al Turki denied the report.
“There is nothing at the border. Everything is normal,” he said.
Yemen is home to one of Al Qaeda’s most active franchises.
REUTERS
