Houthis Cross Saudi Border

Houthi rebels attacked Saudi border posts in the region of Najran Thursday night, starting protracted firefights that killed three Saudi troops and several dozen Houthi militants before the Saudis were able to repel the advance. The attack was the first significant incursion into Saudi Arabia by the Houthis.

At this time, the Saudi government has not revealed how far into Saudi Arabia the militants advanced. In retaliation, the Saudis launched airstrikes in rebel positions, including the house of a Houthi commander, in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.

Saudi security forces claim that over 500 Houthis have been killed attempting to assault the Saudi-Yemeni border since airstrikes on Yemen began.

Northern Yemen is the stronghold of the Houthi rebel movement, and as such the Saudis have stepped up border security immensely, even enlisting the aid of 10,000 tribesmen from Jizan to help stand guard.

In 2009, Saudi ground forces, with the assistance of Jordanian special force, engaged with Houthi rebels in the Saada district of Yemen, the central hub of Houthi rebel activity.  This time the Saudis have heavily reinforced the border, and seem intent on avoiding intervention on the ground.

The Saudis have thus far resisted calls by former Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and other Yemeni government officials in exile to launch a ground invasion of Yemen. The Saudis clearly hope that the development of a Yemen tribal proxy can dislodge the Houthis, but whether this will be sufficient remains to be seen.