Mecasr received word that Saudi border troops and Shiite rebels in northern Yemen came to blows along the shared border yesterday. The news is not surprising as tensions between the predominantly Sunni Saud and Shiite rebel group, the Believing Youth, are at an all time low following allegations that Saudi Arabia is funding the Yemeni government's war effort against the rebels. Details of the attack aren't clear; however, from what we have been able to stitch together it seems that the Saudis were constructing a border fence in the area and that locals objected to it saying it would hurt their commercial activities. In fact the Saudis are publicly planning to build hundreds of kilometers of fencing along their border with Iraq and Yemen shortly and this may be the start of that construction period, sped up because of the recent outbreak in hostilities in Yemen (the Yemen government launched Operations Scorched Earth on 11 August). The violence yesterday left dozens of casualties according to PressTV the Shiite Iranian media website. News from the Yemenis and Saudis is scant and we are unlikely to get any further clarity from them any time soon so concerned are they with their image in the West regarding human rights. Mecasr expect that more such incidents may be reported (or occur and go unreported) in the short term while the battle for supremacy in northern Yemen goes on. Rebel elements are unlikely to directly target Saudi officials because they are already fully stretched against the Yemeni Army - we can expect a few cross border potshots, however.
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