RIYADH: A land mine blast on the Saudi-Yemen border has claimed the life of a senior Saudi officer, the coalition carrying out airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen said on Thursday.

Lt. Col. Abdullah Al-Balwi died Wednesday “as a result of the explosion of a land mine in Twalig mountain” in the Saudi border district of Jazan, the Saudi-led coalition said.

The blast occurred during a “combing” operation, it said, the SPA reported.

The officer died on the fourth day of stalled UN-brokered negotiations in Geneva between Yemen’s warring sides.