Saudi soldier killed in Yemen border clash: coalition

He was the seventh Saudi soldier to die since Saudi Arabia began bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen last month.

RIYADH // Fighting along Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen has killed a soldier from the kingdom, the Saudi-led coalition spokesman said on Saturday.

The soldier is the seventh to die since coalition aircraft on March 26 began air strikes in Yemen to stop a southern advance by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Brigadier General Ahmed Al Assiri told reporters there was continuous fighting from Friday afternoon until late that night along the frontier in the southwestern Saudi region of Najran.

“One of our Saudi soldiers was killed,” Gen Al Assiri said, adding that the coalition has carried out more than 2,000 aerial sorties during the three-week campaign.

Western diplomats have said Saudi warplanes conducted most of the coalition strikes.

Three other Saudi soldiers and three members of the kingdom’s Border Guard force have also been killed in clashes along the southwestern frontier.

Saudi Arabia has reinforced the border with artillery, tanks and hilltop lookout posts to block the incursion of any Houthi, whose traditional stronghold is just over the border in northern Yemen.

* Agence France-Presse