News / Yemen

Yemeni snipers kill 8 Saudi troopers, mercenaries in retaliatory attacks

Thursday, 05 January 2017 7:30 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 05 January 2017 7:55 AM ]

This file photo shows Saudi border guards at the Saudi-Yemeni border in southwestern Saudi Arabia. (Photo by AP)

Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have shot dead eight Saudi troops and pro-Saudi militiamen loyal to resigned Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the kingdom’s southwestern border regions of Jizan and Asir.

They killed three Saudi troops in the Tabat al-Zabreh area of Jizan region, located 969 kilometers south of the capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday evening, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.

Army troops and Popular Committees fighters also launched an attack on an outpost in the Tabat al-Ghomameh area of the same Saudi region, killing a Saudi trooper there.

Separately, four Saudi-sponsored militiamen were fatally shot at the Alab border crossing in Saudi Arabia's southwestern and border region of Asir.

Later, Yemeni soldiers and their allies fired a missile at the gatherings of Saudi soldiers in the al-Rabu'ah town of Asir, though no words on possible casualties and the extent of damage were reported.

Troops also launched a salvo of Katyusha rockets at the al-Mostahaddeth base near the Reqabah al-Hamad region, as well as artillery rounds at al-Ash base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern region of Najran. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On Thursday morning, Yemeni forces fired a medium-range ballistic missile at Shaab al-Jinn military outpost close to Mandeb Strait, killing and injuring scores of Saudi mercenaries.

Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah fighters, dressed in army fatigues, march in a parade during a gathering in the capital Sana’a on January 1, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Moreover, Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters launched a domestically-manufactured Zelzal-2 (Earthquake-2) missile at a position of pro-Saudi militiamen in the al-Saaq region of the central Yemeni province of Shabwah. No reports of casualties were available.

Saudi warplanes carried out three airstrikes against Usaylan district in the same Yemeni province early on Thursday, with no immediate word on possible casualties. Saudi jets also bombarded al-Omari region in the Dhubab district of the southwestern Yemeni province of Ta'izz.

Yemenis inspect damage in an area near a communications tower hit by Saudi airstrikes in the port city of Hudaydah on November 27, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Yemeni forces and their allied fighters usually carry out retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a war on the impoverished country since March 2015.

The Saudi war on Yemen, which has killed at least 11,400 Yemenis, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate a former government.

The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

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