DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Saturday it had carried out a major attack near the border with the southern Saudi region of Najran and captured many troops and vehicles, but there was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabian authorities.
The Houthis’ military spokesman said in a statement that three “enemy military brigades had fallen” in the attack, which he said was launched 72 hours ago and supported by the group’s drone, missile and air defence units.
Houthi-run Al Masirah TV quoted the spokesman as saying the Iran-aligned movement had captured “thousands” of enemy troops, including many officers and soldiers of the Saudi army, as well as hundreds of armoured vehicles.
The spokesman for a Saudi-led military coalition that has been battling the Houthi group for over four years in Yemen did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.
Yemeni government troops, supported by coalition air strikes, have in recent months been fighting Houthi forces in the Kataf region of the northern Saada province near the Saudi border. Local sources have said the Houthis had captured scores of Yemeni forces in the battles.
The violence could hamper United Nations’ efforts to ease tensions and pave the way for talks to end the war that has killed tens of thousands and pushed millions to the brink of famine in the long-impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation. The Muslim coalition, which receives arms and intelligence from Western countries, intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from power in the capital Sanaa in 2014. A UN-brokered prisoner swap deal agreed between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government last December involving some 7,000 detainees on each side has yet to happen.
The government has returned the services of BS-20 officer of Information Service Shafqat Abbas to the Ministry of...
Previously, the prime minister had given four days to the committee to fix responsibily for the import of wheat
The petitioner stated that the electoral body had no authority to interpret the constitution
CM was briefed that in first phase, 12 schools for special children would be completely revamped this year
Anti-Corruption Establishment filed appeals against 58 sentences handed down by the courts from January 1, 2018 to...
These statistics reflect that on an average, 700,000 youngsters add up to the total number of out-of-school children...