JEDDAH — Tens of Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh are being killed during their attempts to breach the Saudi-Yemeni border, Saudi Defense Minister Adviser Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asiri told Al Arabiya’s sister channel Al-Hadath.
“Attempts by the militias to infiltrate the borders of Saudi Arabia have not yet stopped,” he said. “The Saudi border will never be part of any settlement in Yemen,” he added.
Meanwhile military sources said Thursday, 40 people were killed in fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces around southwest Yemen’s main city of Taiz.
Col. Sadeq Al-Hassani, spokesman for the loyalist forces, said that 27 Houthis and 13 pro-government fighters were killed as a rebel offensive aimed at reimposing a siege of the city was repelled on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, five Houthis and allied rebels were killed when loyalists backed by Saudi-led Arab coalition air strikes and artillery fought off a rebel assault in the nearby Kahbub area, pro-government officials said.
The Kahbub fighting centered on a mountainous area overlooking the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.
The area is guarded by forces from the coalition, which intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s government. — Agencies
