Qatar’s first fatality in Saudi-led war in Yemen

Qatari foreign minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah announced the death via Twitter.

DOHA // Qatar announced its first casualty in the Yemen conflict on Wednesday.

A soldier fighting with a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen against the Shiite rebels there has been killed, Qatari foreign minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah announced via Twitter. He did not identify the soldier or say how or when he was killed.

“The Qatari armed forces today announced the martyrdom of Mohammed Hamid Suleiman, a soldier from the Qatari armed forces in the line of duty with Arab coalition forces ... in the Republic of Yemen,” Qatar news agency said.

Qatar has not formally announced its troops are among the Saudi-led forces trying to restore Yemen’s government.

The fighting in Yemen pits Shiite Houthi rebels and allied army units against forces loyal to the internationally recognised government, as well as southern separatists and militants.

The United Nations says more than 5,600 Yemenis have been killed since the Gulf Arab intervention began in March 26.

The Saudi-led force joined the fighting in March, backing the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

Its Arab partners have suffered casualties, such as in a September missile attack that killed at least 55 Emirati troops, 10 soldiers from Saudi Arabia and five from Bahrain.

* Associated Press and Reuters