Houthis were not involved in a recent shooting incident on the border with Yemen, a senior Saudi official said here recently.

Brig. Gen. Abdullah bin Mahfouz, spokesman of the Border Guard in Jazan, rejected reports on social media sites that said the Houthis were trying to enter the Kingdom.

He said criminals had shot at border guards to distract them. This was an attempt by criminals to infiltrate into the Kingdom and carry out their criminal activities.

Bin Mahfouz said the country's security forces arrest scores of people daily trying to cross the border into the Kingdom from Yemen. The Border Guard has also intensified patrolling of the Jazan coast.

Bin Mahfouz said that the Border Guard has not detected any abnormal activities at the Kingdom's land and sea borders. He said Maj. Gen. Abdulaziz Al-Subhi has been overseeing operations.

He said the Border Guard sent reinforcements to the frontier during the Eid holidays, because criminals become more active during holidays when some 400 people try to cross the border every day, he said.

According to recently published Border Guard statistics, more than 72,000 people have been arrested trying to enter the Kingdom on its southern border since the beginning of the year.

Lt. Gen. Mohammed Saad Al-Ghamdi, spokesman of the Border Guard, said that there has been no attempt by anyone from Islamic State to attack security facilities on the border. There was high-level coordination between various security agencies to counter any threat, including providing air support, he said.

Leading figures in the town of Al-Dayer from the Bani Malik tribe said that they would stand together to protect the country from infiltrators. Ali Hussein Al-Dubaishi said the Al-Khalid tribe on the Yemeni border lives peacefully with their neighbors.

Mushabbab Al-Habsi and Suleiman Al-Salami of the Habs tribe said that they are cooperating with the Border Guard. They said the Houthis know the Bani Malik tribes.

Yahya Mohammad Al-Zeidani, head of the Al-Zeidan tribe, said the Houthis are aware of the strong relationship that Saudi citizens have with their leadership.