On Saudi border with Yemen, troops watch for Houthi movement

By Angus McDowall JIZAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Far from war-damaged Sanaa and Aden, Lieutenant Colonel Hamed al-Ahmari stood atop a Saudi border post and gestured across a valley to a Yemeni mountainside held by the Houthi militia, whose positions the kingdom’s jets have bombarded for 12 days. “We are in the front line,” said Ahmari, wearing the grey camouflage fatigues of the Border Guards, a force whose uniform has been augmented since the air strikes started on March 26 with a flak jacket and helmet. What once may have been a debatable point — Yemen’s messy war has many front lines — has gained credibility as the war has ground on: Three Saudi border guards have been killed along the frontier in that period, as the kingdom’s air strikes and artillery fire targeted Houthi positions near its territory, as well as forces elsewhere in Yemen. Concerns about the border with Yemen were central to the kingdom’s campaign to stop the Houthis controlling its southern neighbor, something Riyadh fears would strengthen its main foe, Iran, and heighten security risks.
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