News / Yemen

Yemeni retaliatory attack leaves 8 Saudi soldiers dead in Jizan

Monday, 11 February 2019 4:03 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 11 February 2019 4:24 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. (Photo by AFP)

At least eight Saudi troopers have been killed when Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, launched a surprise attack against them in response to Riyadh’s war on their conflict-stricken country.

A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni soldiers and their allies targeted the Saudi forces in the Madafin area of the kingdom’s southern border region of Jizan, situated 966 kilometers south of the capital Riyadh, on Monday evening.

Earlier in the day, Saudi troops had launched a salvo of artillery rounds and mortar shells against residential neighborhoods in the Munabbih district of Yemen’s northwestern province of Sa’adah.

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

Separately, Saudi-led military aircraft struck Sirwah district in the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib. No reports of fatalities were immediately available though.

A Yemeni man checks debris of a building destroyed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen's capital Sana’a on February 1, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

Elsewhere in the Dawran Ans district of the southeastern province of Dhamar, Saudi-led warplanes launched four aerial assaults, though no reports of casualties were quickly available.

Battle tanks belonging to Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi also shelled al-Monqim village in the al-Durayhimi district of the western Yemeni province of Hudaydah. No casualties have so far been reported.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing Ansarullah.

A Yemeni woman carries a malnourished child awaiting treatment at a center in the Khokha district of the western province of Hudaydah on January 19, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

According to a report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

Saudi Arabia Yemen Middle East Ansarullah Yemeni forces Sa'ada Hudaydah Popular Committees Ma'rib Yemeni troops Saudi aggression Jizan airstrike Saudi mercenaries Saudi soldiers Saudi troops