Heavy clashes have been reported at the Saudi-Yemeni border as Saudi forces battle Yemeni rebels for the fifth straight day.
Saudi commanders said troops were shelling suspected Houthi positions on Saturday and plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the Jebel al-Dukhan peak that marks the frontier near the border town of Al-Khubah.
A medical official said seven Saudis, four of them women civilians, had been killed and 126 people wounded since the fighting erupted on Tuesday.
The Shia Houthis, fighting their own government over alleged discrimination, had also claimed to have captured some Saudi soldiers on Friday.
Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera that the men were seized after Saudi ground forces crossed into Yemeni territory.
If such a ground incursion were proved true, it would indicate a deepening involvement by Saudi Arabia in a battle that is being viewed as a proxy conflict with regional power Iran.
Abdel-Salam said the captured soldiers would be interviewed. "They will be treated with respect," he added.
He also urged Riyadh to end the "unjust Saudi aggression" and to stop Yemeni forces from using bases inside Saudi territory to attack the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claim, but has previously said that its operations against the Yemeni fighters have been limited to air raids and artillery strikes.
Saudi support
Khalid al-Dakhil, a political analyst at the King Saud University, said that it is impossible for Saudi Arabia to ignore the conflict between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.
"The Houthis seem to be very determined in pinning down the Yemeni army and the Saudi government cannot afford to just sit by and watch what is happening. They have to support the Yemeni government", he told Al Jazeera.
"The co-operation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia runs for a long time now, even before the Houthis.
"I don't think the Houthis have any chance of succeeding in the end. They will be isolated, they will be squeezed between two armies and I think eventually they will run out of any luck."
Aljazeera
Saudi commanders said troops were shelling suspected Houthi positions on Saturday and plumes of smoke could be seen rising above the Jebel al-Dukhan peak that marks the frontier near the border town of Al-Khubah.
A medical official said seven Saudis, four of them women civilians, had been killed and 126 people wounded since the fighting erupted on Tuesday.
The Shia Houthis, fighting their own government over alleged discrimination, had also claimed to have captured some Saudi soldiers on Friday.
Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a spokesman for the Houthis, told Al Jazeera that the men were seized after Saudi ground forces crossed into Yemeni territory.
If such a ground incursion were proved true, it would indicate a deepening involvement by Saudi Arabia in a battle that is being viewed as a proxy conflict with regional power Iran.
Abdel-Salam said the captured soldiers would be interviewed. "They will be treated with respect," he added.
He also urged Riyadh to end the "unjust Saudi aggression" and to stop Yemeni forces from using bases inside Saudi territory to attack the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claim, but has previously said that its operations against the Yemeni fighters have been limited to air raids and artillery strikes.
Saudi support
Khalid al-Dakhil, a political analyst at the King Saud University, said that it is impossible for Saudi Arabia to ignore the conflict between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.
"The Houthis seem to be very determined in pinning down the Yemeni army and the Saudi government cannot afford to just sit by and watch what is happening. They have to support the Yemeni government", he told Al Jazeera.
"The co-operation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia runs for a long time now, even before the Houthis.
"I don't think the Houthis have any chance of succeeding in the end. They will be isolated, they will be squeezed between two armies and I think eventually they will run out of any luck."
Aljazeera
