The Saudi forces will continue their airstrikes against the infiltrators until they move back from the Saudi frontier, Assistant Minister of Defense for Security Affairs Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz said Tuesday. “We are not going to stop the bombing until the infiltrators retreat tens of kilometers inside their border,” Prince Khaled said on a visit to Saudi troops in southwestern Jizan province. “As you stand fighting in the battlefield of honor sacrificing your lives to secure your homeland and its integrity, I am confident you are making a great victory,” he said addressing the troops. Prince Khaled said he was amazed by the troops' tactical skills and management of the battle. Prince Khaled, meanwhile, said that four Saudi troops were still missing. An unspecified number of infiltrators attempting to enter the Shada Mountain area of Asir were killed by Saudi Border Guards Tuesday, unofficial sources said, with others surrendering. The sources said that officers detected their presence using infrared night vision equipment. The Saudi Air Force, meanwhile, continued to target infiltrators along the Saudi-Yemeni border while commandos combed valleys and mountain passes, with media sources reporting Tuesday that 40 infiltrators were killed and hundreds surrendered. Apache helicopters were used to strike a warehouse said to contain “advanced weaponry and machineguns.” Airstrikes also destroyed locations in the Al-Rumaih and Al-Esha mountains which had seen a presence of infiltrators before they fled the area. The army is still combing the area for a complete removal of the infiltrators. Syria and Saudi Arabia's partners in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) voiced support for the Kingdom. “The GCC is always ready to stand alongside Saudi Arabia in the face of dangers and aggressions,” Omani Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Alawi said at a GCC ministerial meeting in Doha Tuesday. In Damascus, a government official quoted by state-run SANA news agency said: “Syria supports the legitimate right of the kingdom to defend its sovereignty and the integrity of its territory.” Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, emphasized the the GCC stand, supporting the Kingdom's measures to confront the infiltrators. – Okaz/SG Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal thanked GCC leaders for their supportive stand toward the Kingdom in its fight against the infiltrators.
