The government said Friday it carried out airstrikes against “infiltrators” from Yemen that were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the military action against the gunmen in the Mount Dokhan region and other areas within Saudi territory until the border with its restive neighbor was secure. Saudi jet fighters droned overhead in the border area for over 13 hours Friday. A curfew was imposed in areas suspected of illegal presence of the infiltrators. As the military strikes intensified Friday, an unidentified number of armed infiltrators were said to have surrendered. The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), said that the offensive was prompted by “infiltrators” from Yemen who attacked a Saudi border post Tuesday killing one guard and injuring 11 others in the Jabal Al-Dokhan area. The infiltrators set alight six vehicles of the Border Guard in their attempt to pass through border villages, the statement said. The Saudi forces arrested Friday a number of infiltrators from Yemen disguised in women's clothes to avoid inspection and arrest, a tactic of the Al-Qaeda network. They are being questioned. Concerns have been raised about the possibility that Yemen-based Al-Qaeda militants could capitalize on the tense situation by smuggling fighters across the long border. The Border Guard also arrested over 30 infiltrators along the Yemeni border Friday. Border volunteer women were seen providing fleeing families with meals and directions to shelter camps. Prince Muhammad Bin Nasser, Emir of Jizan, said Friday that more tent shelter camps will be set up and a number of schools and wedding halls will be turned into shelters for evacuated people from troubled border areas. “We will not allow any incursion on our internationally-recognized border line with Yemen,” he said during his inspection tour of Al-Khobah Friday. The leadership has been firm on its stance on the sovereignty of the country, ordering “calculated, strict, and quick action” against the infiltrators without jeopardizing the lives of citizens and expatriates, he said. Informed sources said that the rebels infiltrated the Kingdom to get positioned close to the seashore to receive arms cargo and to buy weapons from gun shops along the border selling smuggled weapons including Kalashnikov assault rifles, RPG, G3 assault rifles, and explosives. The prices of weapons, however, have skyrocketed after the Yemeni government's crackdown on border gun shops. The price tag of a pistol at the scattered border gun shops is set between $100 and $200, grenades between $20 and $40, and a semi-automatic rifle between $200 and $500, and RPG between $400 and $1,000. The rebels have been reportedly battling the Yemeni government forces for the past few months in Yemen's northern Saada province in the latest flare-up of a sporadic five-year conflict. A Yemeni army official said Friday that their “real” battle with the northern rebels, known as Huthis, has not started yet, vowing “unpleasant surprises” for them soon, according to the website of the Yemeni army. The SPA statement, however, stressed the Saudi military action was confined to areas within the Kingdom's borders. “The attacks and the infiltrators' presence on the Saudi land were a violation of Saudi sovereignty, giving the Kingdom the full right to take all measures to put an end to this illegal presence,” the statement said. “The operations will continue until all positions inside Saudi territory are purged of all hostile elements…All necessary measures have also been taken to prevent this from happening again in the future,” the statement added. Saudi Armed Forces along with the Border Guard stepped up border security Friday, and according to the statement “Silenced the origin of the infiltrators' fire,” and tightened control over the areas where the infiltrators tried to establish presence. Border villages were also evacuated. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that 20 Saudi soldiers have been wounded in sporadic clashes along the border. – Okaz/SG with agencies and that more than 100 Yemeni rebels have been arrested inside Saudi territory.
