News / Yemen

Scores of Saudi mercenaries slain, injured in Yemeni army offensives

Thursday, 23 August 2018 4:31 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 23 August 2018 4:55 PM ]

Saudi-sponsored Yemeni militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, sit at the back of an armed pick-up a on the frontline of Kirsh between the province of Ta’izz and Lahij, southwestern Yemen, on July 1, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Scores of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have lost their lives when Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Committees launched separate offensives against their positions across the crisis-hit Arab country.

An unnamed Yemeni military source told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni troops and their allies launched an attack against a gathering of Saudi mercenaries in the al-Maslub district of the northern province of al-Jawf on Thursday afternoon, leaving many of them dead or injured.

Yemeni soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees also dealt a heavy blow to Saudi-backed militia forces on the outskirts of the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers east of the capital Sana'a, when they struck their fortifications there.

Elsewhere in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda, Saudi mercenaries suffered a major setback when Yemeni soldiers and their allies targeted their military camp.

Also on Thursday, Yemeni forces launched a barrage of mortar shells at a position of Saudi-backed militiamen at the al-Alab border crossing of Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Asir.

There were no immediate reports about possible casualties or the extent of damage caused.

Yemenis dig graves for the children who were killed when their bus was hit during a Saudi airstrike targeting the Dahyan market the previous day in the northwestern province of Sa’ada on August 10, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen in March 2015.

The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

A high-ranking UN aid official has warned against the “catastrophic” living conditions in Yemen, stating there is a growing risk of famine and cholera there.

“The conflict has escalated since November, driving an estimated 100,000 people from their homes,” John Ging, UN director of aid operations, told the UN Security Council on February 27.

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Saudi Arabia Yemen Middle East Houthis Yemeni forces bayda province Popular Committees Yemeni troops Saudi aggression Saudi mercenaries Asir Ma'arib Jawf Houthi Ansarullah movement