30 Houthi and Saleh fighters killed on Saudi border

Saudi military forces yesterday intercepted an attack carried out by Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia group and its allies near the kingdom’s borders, Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya reported.

According to the news channel, the confrontations lasted three hours as Houthi militiamen tried to infiltrate Saudi territory before being pushed back by Saudi artillery and helicopter gunships.

Members of the Saudi-led coalition also took part in the fighting by bombing Houthi positions.

Around 30 Houthi militia fighters and fighters loyal to ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed in the confrontation and several of their missile platforms destroyed, the news channel quoted unnamed security sources as saying.

Houthi officials have yet to comment on the reports.

Houthi and Saleh militias staged a similar attack near Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen roughly one month ago. Yemen has been locked in a bitter battle between Houthi rebels allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.