JAZAN: The Interior Ministry is in contact with its Yemeni counterpart to find out if any Saudis figuring in the list of 85 wanted terrorists or any other wanted Saudis are among the dead or detained in Thursday’s operations against Al-Qaeda by Yemen’s security forces, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told Arab News on Saturday.
Yemeni security forces struck several Al-Qaeda hideouts and training sites near Sanaa and in the southern Abyan province in Yemen on Thursday, killing up to 34 suspected militants. At least 17 suspected militants were arrested. The suicide bombers were in the Arhab district northeast of the capital.
Four Yemenis were found in a hospital in Aden and placed under arrest, Reuters reported quoting a ministry source on Saturday. Their families had taken them there after the attack in Abyan, the report said.
“The armed forces have been firmly stationed in positions along the border against the enemies and have been achieving considerable progress. There has been no incidence of retreating from their positions,” Maj. Gen. Saeed Al-Ghamdi told Arab News on Saturday. “The infiltrators are only armed bands. Though trained in guerilla warfare, they are not capable of confronting Saudi forces. That is why they have retreated to several kilometers from the Saudi border at many locations.”
The officer said the infiltrators are holed up in locations three kilometers from the border in Yemeni territory in Al-Malaheet.
“The security forces’ morale is being boosted every day with the repeated victories they have been achieving,” he said. He also said the Saudi forces used weapons and vehicles that suited the rugged terrain in the mountainous region of the border. “The terrain of the war will not be a obstacle in the defense of the country. The soldiers have been adapted to the nature of the land and the tactics of the enemy,” he said.
Saudi troops stationed at the border with Yemen reported on Saturday receiving “a large number” of Yemenis fleeing fighting between Yemeni forces and rebels in the mountains of Al-Malaheet and Razah. The Yemenis arrived at a border checkpoint in Al-Milaihi and were transferred to internally displaced refugee camps in Yemen after they were checked medically. The Yemenis were taken to the Tawwal point of entry and transferred back into Yemen.
There are also reports of cross border incursions by militants the Saudi forces say are “African mercenaries” hired by the Houthis. There have been some skirmishes reported on the Saudi side and Saudi forces have reportedly used Apache helicopters to fight back and comb the areas for infiltrators. Mercenaries have reportedly infiltrated through the areas of Juwat Qusai and Wadi Al-Khat.
— With input from Muhammad Humaidan
