“Two soldiers from the border guards were martyred during an exchange of fire at a border point in Asir region” in Saudi Arabia’s southwest, said the ministry’s spokesman cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.
“They were subject to heavy fire from a mountainous region inside the Yemeni border, which made it necessary to respond in the same manner. The situation was controlled with support from the ground forces,” the spokesman said.
The deaths come a day after the ministry announced the first Saudi casualty — a soldier shot from the Yemenis side of the border in the same area — since a coalition led by Riyadh launched air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen on March 26.
Saudi Arabia has 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes assigned to the Yemen operation, according to a Saudi adviser, but says it has no plan for now to send ground forces into the neighbouring country. -AFP
