73 Saudi Soldiers Killed in Saada Since Nov 2
The civilian casualties of Saudi airstrikes must number over a thousand. Saudis say operations are winding down:
(CNN) — Fighting that has spilled from Yemen into Saudi Arabia has killed 73 members of the Saudi security forces since November 3, a Saudi spokesman said Tuesday.
Another 26 Saudi soldiers have been reported missing since clashes broke out between Saudi forces and Houthi rebels from northern Yemen, said Abdul-Rahman Al-Hazza, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Information.
The assistant Saudi minister of defense, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, announced the casualty figures Tuesday, al-Hazza said..
“Scaling back” is a good idea at this point…
Reuters Major operations in the border area have almost entirely ended. There are still incursions, and the use of snipers but we are constantly prepared to confront them,” Prince Khaled bin Sultan, assistant minister of defence, said on state television.
“There were 73 martyrs and 26 missing,” he said, adding that 12 of the missing were believed to be dead but their bodies had not been recovered.
Saudi Arabia launched its assault against Yemen’s Shi’ite Muslim rebels, known as Houthis, in the area near its border with Yemen last month after the insurgents staged a cross-border incursion that killed two Saudi border guards.
A rebel spokesman said the war was far from over.
“This was a confession that there is a real war going on … for which the Saudi regime carries the responsibility,” said rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam, accusing the Saudi air force of attacking civilian targets.
