Doha // A Qatari soldier serving with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has been killed, Qatar’s first fatality of the conflict.
Foreign minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah announced the death on Twitter, without saying how or when the soldier was killed.
The death was later confirmed by state media, who named the soldier as Mohammed Hamid Suleiman.
“We congratulate ourselves and our nation for the martyrdom of a son of our homeland in Yemen,” the foreign minister said on Twitter. “May God accept him in the highest heavens and bestow patience and solace on his family.”
Suleiman was “on duty with the Arab coalition forces participating in the operation of Restoring Hope in the Republic of Yemen,” reported the Qatar News Agency.
There have been no previous deaths reported among the Qatari force though two soldiers had previously been injured, said officials.
Qatar sent 1,000 troops into Yemen in September as part of the Arab coalition battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have provided the bulk of the forces in Yemen, although hundreds of Sudanese troops have recently been deployed.
The UAE has lost 68 soldiers in Yemen so far, most of them in a missile strike on a military camp in September that also killed 10 Saudi and five Bahraini soldiers.
Qatar’s air force has taken part in the aerial campaign which began in March this year after rebel advances forced Yemen’s president to flee to Riyadh.
Most of the Qatari troops in Yemen are thought to be stationed close to the border with Saudi.
On Wednesday fighting continued to rage as the Houthis tried to retake areas of the Yemen’s southern provinces which were liberated by pro-government.
The rebels are focusing their efforts on the borders of Lahj and Al Dhale provinces. Control of Al Dhale’s Dimt district has switched back and forth over the past week. Two days ago the Houthis returned to attack the district and took over several hills nearby on the borderof Ibb province, Ibraheem Iqbal, a resident in Dimt told The National.
The spokesperson of Lahj province Basem Al Zuraiqi said the Houthis rebels targeted the province heavily on Thursday night, focusing on Al Maqatirah and Al Qabaitah districts.
“The Houthis could take over Al Maqatirah and Al Qabaitah, as there are not so many members of the resistance there,” he added.
He said there were also heavy clashes in Lahj’s Al Madharebah district where many of the residents joined the resistance this morning to prevent the Houthis from controlling their district.
Al Madharebah connects Lahj and Aden with Taez’s Al Wazeyah district and the Houthis are trying to take over the strategic road linking the areas together.
Mr Al Zuraiqi said the Houthis also killed three resistance fighters in nearby AlSabaiha.
He said the pro-government fighters were calling for more arms and vehicles to be sent to the area.
As the fighting continued, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir voiced support on Wednesday for peace talks, which the United Nations says will take place this month in Geneva.
“We hope they will be successful, ”Mr Al Jubeir said in Riyadh.
“We support these negotiations and hope they will achieve peace, security and stability in Yemen,” he said.
Addressing the summit late on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that his special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, “intends to convene a new round of peace consultations in Switzerland ... this month”.
He did not give a specific date but said both the Yemeni government and the Houthis have committed to attend.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
*With additional reporting from agencies