SANAA, Sept 30 (NNN-SABA) – Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea said, in a live broadcast by Yemen’s Houthi TV, al-Masirah, over 2,000 soldiers of Saudi-led coalition forces were “captured” in a major offensive on Saudi’s border province of Najran.
“Around 500 other coalition soldiers were killed or injured during the attack,” Sarea added.
He said that the military operation was supported by missile forces and drone strikes on Najran airport.
“During the attack, we fired 10 ballistic missiles at Najran airport, to paralyse the enemy air force and launched 31 drone strikes at airports in Saudi provinces of Asir and Jizan,” Sarea said.
He added that “one of the drone attacks also targeted a sensitive site in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.”
However, the Houthi spokesman did not specify the exact number of Saudi soldiers who were captured, or the name of the claimed targeted site in Riyadh.
The footage also showed dozens of U.S.-made armoured vehicles which, Sarea said, were “seized in the 72-hour operation.”
He said, an area of about 350 square km was also controlled by the Houthi forces.
Sarea did not tell the time of their military operation in Najran, but some Houthi officials said, it took place in late Aug.
Yaseen al-Tamimi, pro-coalition writer and analyst, said, the Houthi attack took place on Aug 27, in Wadi Jabarah area of Kataf district, in the northern edge of the Yemeni province of Saada, near Saudi southern border province of Najran.
Tamimi said, most of the captured were soldiers of the internationally-recognised Yemeni government, which is part of the coalition.
Abdulkadir al-Murtada, head of the Houthi war prisoners affairs, said that, “hundreds of bodies of the enemy fighters are still dumped in mountains and valleys of Najran front, after the operation.”
Saudi Arabia has made no confirmation on the Houthi alleged attack.
Last week, the Houthis offered a peace initiative to Saudi Arabia, demanding an all-out halt of war and the lift of economic blockade, and in return, they will stop all cross-border missile attacks against the kingdom.
The initiative came after the Sept 14 attack on Saudi Aramco that knocked out half of Saudi oil output.
