Yemeni snipers kill 8 Saudi troopers, mercenaries in retaliatory attacks

Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have shot dead eight Saudi troops and pro-Saudi militiamen loyal to resigned Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the kingdom’s southwestern border regions of Jizan and Asir.

They killed three Saudi troops in the Tabat al-Zabreh area of Jizan region, located 969 kilometers south of the capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday evening, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.

Army troops and Popular Committees fighters also launched an attack on an outpost in the Tabat al-Ghomameh area of the same Saudi region, killing a Saudi trooper there.

Separately, four Saudi-sponsored militiamen were fatally shot at the Alab border crossing in Saudi Arabia's southwestern and border region of Asir.

Later, Yemeni soldiers and their allies fired a missile at the gatherings of Saudi soldiers in the al-Rabu'ah town of Asir, though no words on possible casualties and the extent of damage were reported.

Troops also launched a salvo of Katyusha rockets at the al-Mostahaddeth base near the Reqabah al-Hamad region, as well as artillery rounds at al-Ash base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern region of Najran. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On Thursday morning, Yemeni forces fired a medium-range ballistic missile at Shaab al-Jinn military outpost close to Mandeb Strait, killing and injuring scores of Saudi mercenaries.

Yemeni forces and their allied fighters usually carry out retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia, which has been waging a war on the impoverished country since March 2015.

ME