JAZAN: Defense Ministry in Sanaa denied on Thursday Saudi jets hit rebels inside Yemen’s territory.
Al Arabiya news channel in its report said Saudi military jets pounded Houthi rebel bases along the Yemeni border on Thursday in response to an attack by Yemeni insurgents on a border post in Jazan that killed a Saudi border guard.
Jets have been targeting rebel positions near the border with southern Jazan province since Wednesday, the news channel said. “They’ve been hit hard and it’s ongoing.” The operation is a sustained action and could involve a ground assault to “clean out” rebel camps in coordination with Yemen authorities, it added.
As the operation continued, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) denounced the Houthi attacks. “Any move to undermine Saudi Arabia’s security would be considered an attack on GCC security,” said GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah.
In a statement, the GCC chief said Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, is capable of safeguarding its land and borders and stop those who want to carry out destruction. He said such moves by the rebels would fail.
Al-Attiyah said GCC countries together would stand by Saudi Arabia in its ongoing efforts to protect its security and stability and ensure the safety of its citizens and residents.
Al Arabiya television reporter Mohammad Al-Hasan, speaking from Jabal Dukhan, said fighting was in progress. “We hear sounds of bullets and artillery from time to time and we see columns of smoke rising. There was bombing by Saudi warplanes in Jabal Dukhan and some of the surrounding mountains...mainly to the east,” Hasan said, adding that the air raids had stopped several hours ago.
The assault was launched after a small group of Houthi militants entered Saudi territory on Tuesday in the rugged Jabal Dukhan area and occupied two small frontier villages before being driven out by Saudi troops. According to residents in the area, five Saudi civilians including four women died as a result of the fighting.
Villagers identified the women as Maryam Shakiri, Fatma Suleimani, Fatma Hazazi and Siham Hazazi, who were apparently killed in the village of Al-Qarn after a missile fell on their house. The villagers have since been evacuated and said the government was providing them with relief supplies at their camps.
The Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday that some of the Houthi rebels crossed the border, killed a Saudi soldier and wounded 11 soldiers. A Saudi security official told the agency unidentified gunmen entered from Yemen and attacked security guards patrolling the Jabal Dukhan border area on Tuesday. Rebels said that area was among the targets in Thursday’s bombings. The Saudi assault comes nearly three months after Yemen government forces launched a campaign on Aug. 11 against the rebels.
Two Arab diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that jets had been bombarding border targets since Wednesday afternoon, inflicting significant rebel casualties.
The diplomats said army units and special forces have been sent to the border, and that several Saudi towns on the border have been evacuated. A Saudi government adviser said no decision had yet been taken to send troops across the border, but made it clear Riyadh was no longer prepared to tolerate the Yemeni rebels.
“After what happened on Tuesday, it is clear they have lost track of reality and it has got to a point where there is no other way. They have got to be finished,” he said.
The 1,500 km border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia is a security issue and the Kingdom is building a high-tech border fence to prevent infiltration.
— With input from Muhammad Al-Majid and agencies
