RIYADH: Three soldiers laid down their lives as Saudi forces thwarted a Houthi infiltration attempt in the Harath district of Jazan. The infiltrators planned to target two watchtowers with machine guns and missiles, said the SPA.

Saudi soldiers confronted them, forcing them to flee. A large number of them were killed, said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, security spokesman for the Interior Ministry. An exchange of fire with the rebels resulted in the martyrdom of Pvt First Class Maree As'oos Ibrahim Darraj, Pvt First Class Mohsen Mohammed Ahmed Mareedi and Pvt First Class Osama Mohammed Ali Al-Amri.

This news comes as Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Asiri, spokesperson for the coalition, announced that the Saudi-led coalition has destroyed 80 percent of the Houthi arms.

“The 10-country alliance led by Saudi Arabia has practically achieved its strategic objectives in the conflict,” he told reporters.

He noted that the coalition is conducting operations and that its planes are identifying Houthi positions. “Naval forces are preventing attempts to smuggle goods through the ports of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea on a daily basis.”

He said: “It is no secret that the number of arms seized by the Houthis is much more than what is found in the armory of some Arab countries in their entirety.”

He said that in the past 10 years, the rebels managed to store “tremendous quantities of weapons, in addition to locally manufactured arms, thus further contributing to the strength and intensity of the war.”