Army soldiers, allies kill 18 Saudi mercenaries in southern Yemen

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have launched an operation against militiamen loyal to the resigned and Saudi-backed president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in the country’s southwestern province of Ta’izz, killing more than a dozen of them.

An unnamed military source told the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network early on Saturday that 15 Saudi mercenaries were killed and 18 others sustained injuries when Yemeni forces thwarted their assault against the Dhubab district of the province, situated 346 kilometers south of the capital Sana’a.

The source added that three vehicles belonging to the Saudi mercenaries were also destroyed.

Earlier, the media bureau of the operations command in Yemen published pictures showing the aftermath of a rocket attack by Yemeni forces against a position of pro-Saudi armed men in an area of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers east of Sana’a.

Four Saudi-sponsored militiamen were killed and several others were injured on Friday evening, when Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters lobbed a barrage of artillery rounds at their gathering in the Thua'bat area of Salh district in Tai’zz province.

• Yemeni sniper fire kills 2 Saudi soldiers in Jizan

Saudi relentless airstrikes 

Saudi fighter jets dropped cluster bombs on several residential buildings in Dhabuah village of Nihm district in the western-central Yemeni province of Sana'a, leaving a woman dead and five people, including three children, injured.

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, says the nearly two-year-long conflict in the impoverished Arab country has claimed the lives of 10,000 people and left 40,000 others wounded.

McGoldrick told reporters in Sana’a on Monday that the figure is based on lists of victims gathered by health facilities and the actual number might be higher.

The Saudi war on Yemen, which local sources say has killed at least 11,400 people, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate the former government.

The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.

• UNICEF: Saudi campaign has killed 1,400 Yemeni kids

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Yemen Meritxell Relano stated last week that almost 1,400 children had been killed and 2,140 injured as a result of the conflict in Yemen.

He added that some 2,000 schools had been destroyed, damaged or used for military purposes or as shelters for displaced families.

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