Bahrain’s military command says a drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has killed a Bahraini officer and soldier patrolling the southern border of Saudi Arabia.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Bahraini military command said a drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed a Bahraini officer and soldier patrolling Saudi Arabia’s southern border early Monday. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge carrying out the attack, as efforts continue to reach a peace agreement between Riyadh and the rebels.
A military statement carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency said “a number” of Bahraini soldiers were also injured in the airstrike, without elaborating.
“This terrorist attack was carried out by the Houthis, who launched an aircraft targeting Bahraini Guard positions on the southern border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, despite the suspension of military operations between the warring sides in Yemen. sent,” the statement said. The scene of the attack has not been identified.
Bahrain then repatriated the body to the island kingdom, where it was greeted by an honor guard and military leaders.
The small island nation of Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which has led the war against the Houthis. The deadliest attack on Bahrain so far in the conflict was a Houthi missile attack in Marib in September 2015 that killed five Bahrain troops, 52 Emirati troops, and 10 Saudi troops.
A ceasefire has largely halted the violence, and the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis appear to have moved closer to a peace deal in recent months.
It is unclear whether the attack will derail efforts by Saudi Arabia and its allies.
In a statement from Riyadh, the Saudi-led military coalition mourned the dead and blamed attacks by “some Houthis” on electricity distribution facilities and police stations on the southern border.
“In line with the active efforts being made to end the crisis and reach a comprehensive political solution, the coalition leadership affirms its rejection of repeated provocations and, at the appropriate time, We reserve the right to respond at your location.” Brig.-Gen. General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement.
Yemen’s war began in 2014 when the Houthis cleared their strongholds in the north and captured the capital Sanaa and much of the north. In response, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
The fighting quickly escalated into a deadlocked proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, spreading famine and misery in Yemen, already the Arab world’s poorest country before the conflict. The war killed more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, with tens of thousands more killed.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China, further raising hopes for an end to the conflict in Yemen. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia welcomed a Houthi peace negotiation delegation, saying the talks had yielded “positive results.”
A U.N.-brokered ceasefire has already largely halted violence, and Yemen has seen only sporadic clashes since it expired about a year ago. But diplomatic officials warn that the situation remains unstable.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government condemned the attack. Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak said he spoke by phone with Bahrain’s chief diplomat Abdullatif Al Zayani and expressed his condolences and solidarity with Bahrain.
Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia, was rocked in 2011 by riots inspired by Arab Spring protests elsewhere in the region. Many in the country’s Shia majority called for the overthrow of Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy. Bahrain put down the rebellion with help from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, blaming Shiite-majority Iran for much of the violence.