Yemenis recruited to join Saudi border forces to battle Houthis

Yemeni authorities in the southern port city of Aden started to recruit new fighters on Sunday to join the Saudi Border Guard Forces against Shiite Houthi rebels, officials told Xinhua.

High-ranking pro-government officials said more than 5,000 young fighters will be enlisted from the government-controlled southern provinces and trained to battle the rebels.

The newly-recruited Yemeni fighters will be deployed in the Saudi-Yemeni borders, particularly in the Saudi border region of Najran that has witnessed intensified fighting and periodic Houthi bombardments.

The sources said the first batch of 350 Yemeni fighters left Aden on Sunday morning for an island in Eritrea, an African country across the Red Sea, where they will be transferred to the Saudi borders.

"The well-trained Yemeni fighters will play a vital role in confronting Houthi militias in the Saudi borders," an intelligence officer told Xinhua.

He also said Saudi Arabia has provided financial aids to support the recruitment campaign.

Hundreds of southern Yemenis were seen lined up in front of the army recruiting stations in Aden on Sunday as the registration would continue for the next few days.

On Friday, local Houthi-affiliated media said pro-Houthi fighters fired missiles at the Saudi borders and damaged the kingdom's oil facilities, but Saudi officials denied such reports.

Officials said most of the missiles targeting the military sites along the borders were intercepted and destroyed by the Saudi air forces despite increased air attacks from Houthis.

In February 2015, Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies invaded Yemen's capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a war in Yemen against the Houthis since March 2015 to show its support for the elected Hadi government, which is internationally recognized as the country's only legitimate regime. Endit