Yemen crisis: Saudi Arabia stops Houthi 'border attack'
- 4 hours ago
- From the section Middle East
Saudi troops have repelled a major attack on their border by Houthi rebels from Yemen, Saudi state media says.
Air strikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition have targeted the Shia Muslim rebels since late March.But this is the first major assault on Saudi territory since the strikes began. The Saudi reports say "dozens" of rebels were killed.
As fighting continues, aid groups say a lack of fuel is severely hampering their operations in Yemen.
Identifying the attackers as Houthi rebels and groups allied to them, SPA said Saudi ground exchanged fire with them and called in air strikes.
The rebels - who control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa - have been fighting forces linked to the government for several months.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have been carrying out air strikes since late March with the declared aim of restoring exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Petrol shortages
Earlier on Thursday, a Saudi border guard was killed by a mortar shell close to the border with Yemen in the south-west Saudi province of Jizan.Thursday's attacks brought the Saudi death toll from the last five weeks to 14. Two weeks ago, the United Nations said 551 civilians had been killed in the conflict - about half the estimated death toll at the time.
The warning was echoed by the International Committee for the Red Cross, that said a lack of fuel - as well as restrictions on imports - meant hospitals were struggling to provide an adequate level of care.
The WFP has called on all parties involved in the fighting to allow fuel and food to be imported.
Purnima Kashyap, the WFP's country director in Yemen, said: "This is a country where half the population are considered food-insecure, meaning that many families do not know where their next meal will come from.
"It is essential that we continue to reach these families with food."
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