JEDDAH: A brigadier general who was injured in a gunbattle on the Saudi-Yemen border has died, the Armed Forces announced early Sunday.
In a brief statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Armed Forces said Brigadier Ibrahim Omar Ibrahim Hamzi died in hospital for injuries he sustained “while carrying out his duties.”
No details about the clash were given, but the Interior Ministry on Saturday said a Saudi Border Guards fought with hostile forces from the Yemen border on Friday evening.
The ministry’s spokesman said that the clash was preceded by a land mine explosion that damaged vehicles carrying Saudi troops along the border in Jazan province. As reinforcements came to transport the troops from the damaged vehicles, they came under fire from the Yemen side and a colonel and a sergeant were killed.
Four others also sustained slight injuries, said the ministry, without mentioning if a high-ranking officer was among them.
A number of Saudi soldiers have also been “martyred” since March when the kingdom formed an Arab coalition to fight Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Arab countries in support of the internationally-backed government of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in its fight against Iran-backed Shiite Houthis and forces loyal to ousted Yemeni president Abdullah Saleh.
Coalition forces have in the past weeks started liberating parts from Yemen from the rebels, starting in the southern port city of Aden.
On Saturday night, Coalition jets bombarded rebel positions in the capital, Sanaa.
Around 70 people have been killed in Saudi Arabia from border shelling and skirmishes since the coalition campaign began. Soldiers have accounted for most of the border casualties.
The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen since late March.
(Additional input from Agence France Presse)
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