Jizan, Asharq Al-Awsat- Military have asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Saudi forces dealt major blows to the Huthi infiltrators yesterday and succeeded in destroying vehicles carrying large numbers of armed infiltrators near the border strip and also destroyed vehicles carrying infiltrators toward the border village of Al-Jabiri in addition to destroying several caves which were used for smuggling qat and sheep before the outbreak of clashes and which the infiltrators used later on as hideouts for themselves and for their weapons and ammunitions.

According to the source, the Saudi forces secured the border village of Jabiri and villages near the border strip against any anticipated infiltration attempts and noted that clashes took place near the villages with a group of armed rebels who intended to penetrate the borders. It added that the Saudi army forces deployed in Jabal Rumayh, Jabal al-Dud, Jabal Dokhan, and the entire border strip demonstrated full readiness to foil any combat operations by the Huthi rebels, either by firing shells or foiling infiltration attempts. Apache and “F-15” aircraft meanwhile continued their intensive raids on the infiltrators’ positions while other forces carried constant combing operations in the border villages.

Meanwhile, the Saudi security forces in the Jizan area have increased the field patrols in the area to monitor the infiltrators violating the residence rules in provinces and villages. Major General Ahmad Qazzaz, the Jizan police commander, told Asharq Al-Awsat the intensification of the security patrols in the provinces, villages, and remote areas led to a drop in the number of infiltrators who come to the area to improve their income. He added that the forces acted to prevent infiltrations into Saudi territories before the clashes and were continuing to arrest the infiltrators, noting that infiltration attempts in the area dropped when the security patrols were intensified and said “the more the security patrols are active in the area the less problems there are.”