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Yemenis’ retaliatory attacks leave 4 Saudi soldiers dead

Friday, 29 July 2016 4:57 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 29 July 2016 4:57 PM ]

Saudi soldiers from an artillery unit fire shells towards Yemen from a post close to the Saudi-Yemeni border, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, on April 13, 2015. (© AFP)

Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly launched two separate attacks against Saudi border guards in the kingdom’s southwestern border regions of Jizan and Asir, leaving four soldiers dead.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni snipers fatally shot two Saudi troops in the al-Farizah and Burj al-Abadiyah areas of Jizan, located 967 kilometers (601 miles) southwest of Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Friday afternoon.

The source added that the attack was in retaliation for Riyadh’s relentless aerial bombardment campaign against Yemen.

Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters also lobbed a barrage of artillery rounds at a Saudi military camp in Asir, killing two soldiers. The projectiles also caused a raging fire in the camp.

The developments came a day after four Saudi soldiers, stationed in military watch towers in Asir's Rabuah region, lost their lives after being targeted by rounds of Yemeni sniper fire.

On July 25, Yemeni forces shot down a Saudi Apache military helicopter while it was conducting an operation over a district in Yemen’s central oil-rich province of Ma’rib, located 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of the capital Sana’a. The aircraft’s two pilots were killed as a result.

*Yemeni supporters of the Houthi Ansarullah movement raise their weapons during a rally in the capital Sana’a on June 14, 2015, protesting against Saudi airstrikes against their country. ©AFP*

The Saudi forces involved in operations against Yemen claimed in a statement that the aircraft had “crashed due to bad weather.” They identified the slain pilots as Captain Ayman al-faifi and First Lieutenant Mohammed Hassan.

Also on Friday, at least five Yemeni civilians, including three women, were killed when Saudi fighter jets struck a residential building in Kushar district in the northwestern Yemeni province of Hajjah.

Yemen has been under military strikes by Saudi Arabia since March 26, 2015. The Saudi war was launched in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and to reinstate Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned as Yemen’s president but seeks to grab power.

The Houthi Ansarullah fighters took over state matters after Hadi’s resignation and his escape from the capital.

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