Saudi Arabia trains Yemeni tribal fighters in war against Houthis

Saudi Arabia is providing military training for hundreds of Yemeni tribesmen to fight Houthi fighters, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters

Saudi Arabia is providing military training for hundreds of Yemeni tribesmen to fight Houthi fighters, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A Saudi-led alliance has been bombing the group from the air for over a month, but it remains Yemen’s dominant force.

The kingdom announced last week it would rein in its strikes to give aid and reconciliation efforts more space, but the warring sides have made no visible progress toward talks.

A Yemeni official source told Reuters that this week 300 tribal fighters trained in Saudi Arabia were deployed back to their home area in the Sirwah district of central Marib province to fight the Houthis and managed to push the Shia fighters back.

So far the fighting and air strikes have killed more than 1,000 people, including an estimated 551 civilians since the bombings started on March 26, the United Nations said on Friday. Its children’s agency UNICEF said at least 115 children were among the dead.