Yemen's Houthis say attacked Saudi border frontline, no immediate Saudi confirmation

By Maher Chmaytelli

 

FILE PHOTO: Houthi followers attend a gathering to receive food supplies from tribesmen in Sanaa, Yemen September 21, 2019. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - 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 Sunni 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 U.N.-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.

 

"Operation 'Victory from God' is the largest military one since the brutal aggression began. The enemy suffered heavy losses ... and wide swathes of territory were liberated in only a few days," Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam tweeted.

 

The Houthis, who had recently stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities, have claimed responsibility for the largest-ever attack on Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14.

 

Riyadh dismissed the claim, saying the assault did not come from Yemen and instead blamed its regional foe Shi'ite Muslim Iran. Tehran denies the charge.

 

The Houthis said on Sept. 20 they would halt missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia if the alliance stopped its operations. The coalition has yet to respond to the proposal.

 

The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who control Sanaa and most big urban centres, deny being puppets of Tehran and say they are fighting a corrupt system.

 

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Mark Potter and Clelia Oziel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-29

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If this report is correct, it speaks volumes as to the ineffectiveness of Saudi military units and their inability to repel an attack. Especially since they have a large well equipped military.

Probably ran away that’s why they want trump to make our military save them

5 minutes ago, Tug said:

Probably ran away that’s why they want trump to make our military save them

Maybe they should just build a border wall and each keep to their own side.

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3 hours ago, CharlieBri said:

If this report is correct, it speaks volumes as to the ineffectiveness of Saudi military units and their inability to repel an attack. Especially since they have a large well equipped military.

The World Sheriff is coming to the rescue, LOL.

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

captured many troops and vehicles

I wonder if they captured and U.S. munitions, drones and missiles?

It would be karma if the Houthis' military turned those against the Saudi military and oil infrastructure.

4 hours ago, CharlieBri said:

If this report is correct, it speaks volumes as to the ineffectiveness of Saudi military units and their inability to repel an attack. Especially since they have a large well equipped military.

You can arm people to the teeth but you cannot instill courage. They're supposedly going to parade all the captured troops and equipment in the next day or so for the world to see. I hope they use the captured soldiers as human shields perhaps stifling the bombing runs on weddings and prisons that the ksa loves to do.

The US will obviously ignore the Houti and blame Iran. 

Well you can start to worry if the US government labels this action a strategic security threat.  Certainly a convenient excuse for Trump to deflect his pending impeachment.

8 hours ago, chilli42 said:

Well you can start to worry if the US government labels this action a strategic security threat.  Certainly a convenient excuse for Trump to deflect his pending impeachment.

 

I don't know about labeling a specific attack as anything. Saudi Arabia collapsing or falling into chaos - yeah, that would certainly be a strategic security threat. On a global level.