Yemen's Houthis announce capture of hundreds of Saudi soldiers in Najran

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday announced the fall of three Saudi-led coalition brigades and the capture of hundreds of Saudi soldiers in a large-scale military operation in the Saudi border province of Najran, Houthi TV al-Masirah reported.

Armed supporters of Houthi rebels take part in a gathering to mobilize more fighters into battlefronts against Saudi-backed government forces, in Sana'a, Yemen, August 1, 2019. [File Photo: IC]

"Three Saudi-led coalition brigades fell completely along with their military equipment and troops," the television said, citing a statement by the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea.

"Hundreds of the enemy troops were captured, including Saudi soldiers and officers, while dozens of the enemy troopers were killed and injured during the operation in Najran front," Sarea said.

"The operation lasted for 72 hours," he said.

"Hundreds of kilometers of Saudi Najran province were seized control by our forces," the Houthi spokesman said in the live broadcast through al-Masirah, adding that all captured soldiers were moved to "secure places after coalition airstrikes tried to targeted them."

Sarea promised to release more details and footage on the operation in the next press briefings.

There was no Saudi confirmation on the alleged attack yet.

Hours earlier, the Houthis dismissed reports of reaching a partial cease-fire deal with Saudi Arabia as "fake news," renewing their peace initiative of an all-out halt to war by both Houthis and the kingdom and the lift of economic blockade imposed by the coalition.

The initiative came two weeks after the Houthis claimed devastating missile attacks on Saudi-owned largest oil producer Aramco that knocked out half of Saudi oil outputs.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition against Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen for more than four years in support of the exiled internationally-recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.