Houthi rebel attacks kill 500 Saudi-led coalition fighters; an embarrassment to coalition’s Pakistani chief

Sana/Tehran: Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdul Salam claimed that the Houthi rebels killed 500 soldiers in a crushing attack on the military base near the Saudi border. The Houthi rebels have also captured nearly 2,000 fighters from Saudi-led coalition, he added. The coalition fighters were under the command of former Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif.

The Houthi rebels presented detailed information on the Saudi base attack, before the international media on Sunday. The Houthi rebels have carried out attacks on the Najran military base, even in the past. Each time, the base was deployed only with Saudi soldiers. On the sidelines of the developments, the Houthi rebels launched an attack on the Saudi soldiers, with drones and rockets, in the last week. An encounter ensued between the Saudi soldiers and the rebels for 72 hours.

After taking the lead in the conflict, the Houthi rebels moved in towards the base while the Saudi and allied troops retreated. Mohammed Abdul Salam and Yahya Saree, the spokesmen of the Houthi rebels, informed that 500 of the Saudi and allied soldiers were killed in the attack. Furthermore, the Houthis claimed they had taken 2,000 coalition soldiers into their custody as also released videos and photographs of the attack. One video shows the soldiers surrendering to the Houthi rebels.

‘The Saudi and the Arab allies should withdraw their soldiers from Yemen if they care about their soldiers. However, if they continue with the attacks on us, we will take similar action against them as well,’ the Houthi rebels threatened. At the same time, Houthi spokesman Salam claimed that Saudi was left with no other alternative but to concede to the Houthi demands.

Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels announced the release of 350 prisoners from their custody which includes 3 Saudi citizens.

Nevertheless, the Houthis clearly stated that they would make no compromise on the Saudi and allied soldiers, who were kept captive as hostages. Three years ago, Saudi and the Arab-Islamic countries had formed the ‘Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition’ (IMCTC), which was built on the lines of NATO. Also, the command of the Saudi-led military alliance rested in the hands of former Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif, who is leading the military front from 2017.

हिंदी मराठी

Click below to express your thoughts and views on this news: