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6 Saudi soldiers slain in Yemeni reprisal rocket attack

Tuesday, 09 February 2016 5:39 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 11 February 2016 4:22 AM ]

The file photo shows a Saudi soldier walking near ammunition at a position close to the Saudi-Yemeni border, in Saudi Arabia's southwestern province of Jizan. (AFP photo)

Six Saudi soldiers were killed in a retaliatory rocket attack Tuesday by fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement of Yemen and allied military units.

Yemen’s al-Masirah TV said the six soldiers were killed earlier in the day after the allied Yemeni forces launched the rocket attack on a military base in al-Sharqah region in the southern Saudi province of Najran.

Yemen’s official Saba agency said Yemeni forces launched a missile attack on a military airport in the neighboring Saudi province of Jizan, with no immediate information available on casualties.

Saudis also suffered losses in rounds of artillery fire from Yemen's north, which targeted al-Khashal and al-Ma’dhab military bases in Jizan, Masirah said.

Houthis say the attacks, which they say only target military positions in Saudi Arabia, are part of the drive to avenge Riyadh’s deadly campaign against Yemen, which has taken more than 8,300 lives since March 26, 2015.

Houthis and allies are also engaged in fighting inside Yemen with pro-Saudi militants and followers of the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, with clashes reported in southern and northern provinces on an almost daily basis.

Yemeni media said the army units on Tuesday managed to kill a number of pro-Hadi forces, including a notable commander identified as Amin al-Okaymi, in an attack on their main place of gathering in al-Khanjar military base in the northern province of Jawf.

Yemeni forces also targeted militants in Ta’izz Province in the south, destroying a Saudi military vehicle in the al-Waiziyah district.

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