Saudi Arabia sends Special Forces into Yemen: Report

Saudi Arabia has reportedly sent Special Forces into Yemen under the pretext of escorting some fugitive former Yemeni officials back into its war-torn southern neighbor, in another violation of Yemeni sovereignty.

The forces, which numbered 50, accompanied the officials on their way from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, into the southwestern Yemeni province of Aden, the Bawabatii news website reported on Friday.

The report said the forces, who have undergone special training over the past 48 hours, will continue to accompany the fugitive officials in Yemen.

The Yemeni figures include former Deputy Speaker Mohammad Ali Al-Shadadi; ex-Transport Minister Badr Mubarak Ba-Salma; General Ali Al Ahmadi, the former chief of the National Security Bureau, who is also the country’s ex-interior minister and former head of the navy, according to the website.

The Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV, meanwhile, reported intense fighting in Aden Province between the Yemeni army, backed by Popular Committees, and the supporters of fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Hadi, along with the cabinet of former prime minister Khaled Bahah, stepped down on January 22.

On February 21, he escaped house arrest in Sana’a and fled to Aden, the provincial capital and his hometown, where he withdrew his resignation and highlighted his intention to resume duties. He later fled the southern port city to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi regime launched military aggression against impoverished Yemen on March 26 – without a United Nations mandate – in a bid to undermine the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and to restore power to Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.

More Saudi strikes

On Friday, Saudi strikes reportedly hit an airbase near the Yemeni capital’s Sana’a International Airport.

Yemen’s al-Masirah television, meanwhile, reported Saudi aerial attacks in Sa’ada Province in northwestern Yemen, adding that the Yemeni army and popular forces had fired 16 missiles at targets inside Jizan Province in southwestern Saudi Arabia in retaliation.

The Ansarullah’s Twitter page also reported 27 Saudi aerial attacks against Bakil al-Mir District in northwestern Hajjah Province.

On Wednesday, Rupert Colville, the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said more than 3,800 people have been killed in Yemen since March 26.

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