Col. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition invading
Yemen, finally addressed weekend reports of thousands of Saudi troops
being captured, saying that the Houthis’ claims were “misleading.”
The Houthis announced Saturday, and elaborated on the operation Sunday, saying around 500 Saudi soldiers were killed, and thousands of others were captured.
Malki’s statement suggested no fighting in the border region took place
at all, despite the Houthis showing videos of the operation.
Malki suggested that rather than sustaining losses, the Saudis had
actually killed 1,500 Houthis over the past several weeks. He did not
elaborate on how or when that happened, though heavy Saudi airstrikes
have been ongoing in north Yemen.
The Houthis have been showing off vehicles and arms captured in their
offensive, and while the Saudis are claiming none of this happened, they
don’t seem to have an explanation for how such a huge claim would be
“misleading.”
Saudi Coalition Denies Yemeni Houthis’ Claims of Capturing Troops
Col. Malki also claims 1,500 Houthis killed in recent weeks
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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