Life normal in Najran despite border firings

Shahd Alhamdan Saudi Gazette NAJRAN — Although Najran has suffered several cross-border rocket attacks by the Houthi rebels, who deliberately target civilians, Saudis and expatriates are leading normal lives, enjoying the summer vacation by visiting public parks. Speaking to Saudi Gazette during a trip to the volatile region, Civil Defense spokesman Ali Omeer Al-Grman said more than 10,000 rockets were fired at the city since the war started, killing at least 31 people. He said the Houthis deliberately targeted civilians, especially in the recent weeks after the collapse of the peace talks. As many as 1,074 houses have been affected by the shelling, he added. The attacks also impacted commercial stores and people's cars. At least 108 stores and 420 cars have been destroyed since the attacks began. The Civil Defense official also spoke about the government’s compensation efforts. “If a person loses his house in a rocket strike, the government gives him a temporary shelter for three days and then compensate him for his loss,” Al-Grman said, adding: “The government is also is fixing all places that have been damaged. The restoration process will enable the victims to return to their houses and to be normal, as you can see.” [caption id="attachment_80644" align="alignright"] A Pakistani worker wounded in a missile attack receiving treatment in King Khaled Hospital in Najran. — SG photo[/caption]He explained that citizens in Najran continue to lead their normal lives by going to work and visiting malls and other public places. Because of the school vacation, some of them have left the city to spend their summer in other cities. Manea Al-Gubairi, a teacher in his late 40s, said, “The Houthis are now intentionally attacking citizens and targeting civilian institutions. The Houthis have failed in their fight against Saudi soldiers, so they attack civilians, including children." On Friday, rebels made a rare hit on Saudi infrastructure when a Katyusha hit the Saudi Electricity Company's Najran Power Plant at the base of a mountain. There were no injuries but it punctured an oil tank, starting a fire that left much of the facility blackened and twisted. The tank still spewed fuel on Saturday as fire crews and officials inspected the damage. Katyushas are short-range rockets without sophisticated guidance systems. With assistance from the Ministry of Culture and Information, Saudi Gazette had a chance to visit King Khaled Hospital in Najran and meet several patients wounded in different attacks. Saleh Al-Abbas weeps outside the room where his 9-year-old son Mahdi lies with his head and face bandaged. A Katyusha rocket struck their home around breakfast on Saturday and Mahdi's cousin Yahya, aged three, is dead. A doctor said three Pakistani workers were also injured in the attack that saw Mahdi wounded and his cousin killed. One of the Pakistanis, Imran Khan Aslam Khan, lies with eyes closed, his head bandaged and a tube in his mouth after surgeons removed shrapnel from his brain and heart. "Now he is OK," the doctor said as surgeons work on another wounded Pakistani. In another ward, several men are recovering from a separate attack on their automotive garage. "I was in the workshop when suddenly the shells hit," Suleiman Abdulthabit, a 25-year-old Yemeni mechanic, says quietly from his bed, touching the back of his head to show where some shrapnel hit. Earlier this month civilians suffered their heaviest losses when four Saudis and three Yemenis died in what officials said was a Grad rocket strike. It leveled a car dealership in the industrial area where the power plant is located. Streets surrounding the destroyed dealership are flooded with leaked fuel, the cars are now twisted metal, and shrapnel has deeply scarred a wall across the street. Saudi Arabia has deployed high-tech Patriot missile batteries against long-range ballistic missiles the rebels have fired occasionally toward Najran and elsewhere in the south. Katyushas are harder to detect, officials say, although authorities regularly send out SMS and television announcements to help people protect themselves. But attacks can come anytime and residents say there is little they can do. "We just don't gather at the sites after the missiles or the rockets land," said Najran resident Fahad Juraib, 48. He and others are stoic as they get on with their lives. Najranis are dealing with the war "very casually... There is no crying, no screaming, no loud voices," Juraib says. There is only a quiet hope. "They wish the war would stop." — With input from AFP