The Saudi army has lost 113 troops since the kingdom launched a sweeping offensive against neighboring Yemen's Shi'ite rebels in early November, a military commander said in comments published Thursday.
The kingdom's well-funded but largely untested military joined the fray after Shiite rebels from Yemen crossed the border into Saudi Arabia on November 5, killing two Saudi border guards.
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The Al Riyadh newspaper quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Zaid al-Khawaji as saying the dead include a senior Saudi officer whose body was found with those of two soldiers after a battle last week to drive rebels out of a border village.
The latest toll is a significant jump from last week, when assistant defense minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan said the Saudis had 82 dead and 470 wounded. |