Yemeni rebels attacked a Saudi border town Tuesday with rockets and mortars, causing civilian casualties and reportedly capturing several Saudi soldiers.
In response to the attack by Shiite Houthi rebels on Najran, a Saudi town about 150 miles north of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, Saudi Arabia suspended commercial flights to Najran's airport and closed schools in the area.
Although numerous border skirmishes have been reported since a Saudi-led coalition launched a campaign of against Houthi targets in Yemen in late March, Tuesday’s attack marked the first time that the rebels have struck a civilian area in Saudi Arabia.
According to Yemeni tribal leaders, two Saudi civilians were killed and buildings were damaged in the Houthi shelling, the Associated Press reported. The news agency quoted the tribal leaders as saying the Houthis captured five Saudi soldiers in unclear circumstances.
Saudi authorities did not immediately disclose any details of the reported attack. But the state-run airline, Saudia, said it was suspending flights to and from Najran until further notice, and state television showed footage of burned cars, smoldering houses and debris-covered roads, AP said.
A Saudi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, said in a statement that “all options are open” in responding to the Houthi rebels, who are accused by Riyadh of being proxies for Shiite-led Iran. He made no mention of casualties from Tuesday’s attack or the capture of Saudi soldiers.
At least three Saudi troops and dozens of rebels were reported killed in border clashes last week.
The air campaign so far has failed to halt advances by the Houthis, who were reported Tuesday to be advancing deeper into the southern port city of Aden, the temporary capital of anti-Houthi forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hundreds of families were forced to flee a large section of Aden’s Tawahi district by boat for safer areas, AP reported, as shelling struck residential neighborhoods.
Saudi Arabia said Monday it was considering a temporary halt to the airstrikes to permit aid deliveries to Yemen’s increasingly beleaguered population.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who for talks with government leaders battling Islamist insurgents, plans to visit Riyadh on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the Yemen crisis and the proposed humanitarian pause, among other subjects.
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