Two killed in Yemeni retaliatory attack on Saudi soil

At least two people have been killed and several others wounded in a retaliatory attack by Yemeni forces on Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Jizan.

According to Saudi media, the casualties came after Yemeni forces launched mortar attacks against the region on Thursday.

Yemeni sources said that several rocket launched by Yemeni army had hit a gathering of Saudi forces in Jizan.

Such attacks are part of a drive by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and allies to avenge more than 15 months of military aggression by Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Saudi jets pounded the Nehm district of Sana'a province and dropped cluster bombs on the Qatab area. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties.

The attacks came as the US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Saudi Arabia and the Ansarullah had agreed to observe a cessation of hostilities from November 17.

Speaking after talks in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, a key Saudi ally in the war, Kerry said he had presented Ansarullah delegates with a document outlining a ceasefire and peace deal.

Yemen’s warring sides had further reached a consensus to work out a “national unity government in a safe and secure Sana'a... as a goal towards the end of the year,” he said.

In reaction to Kerry’s remarks, Ansarullah spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam held the US accountable for the deadly war, saying Washington has been “leading” the military campaign against Yemen.

Yemenis are demanding a halt to Saudi attacks and “unjust” sanctions against the impoverished country, he said.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansarullah's political council, said on Wednesday that the movement’s “position has been and still is with stopping the war and the establishment of a national unity government that incorporates all political components.”

SS