Militants struck a border post between Yemen and Saudi Arabia in an attack that left two soldiers and three of the gunmen dead, officials said on Saturday.
The violence began on Friday when a suicide car bomber struck the Yemeni side of the border post in the al-Wadia area on Friday, killing one Yemeni soldier and wounding another, according to Yemen’s official news agency.
SABA said other gunmen then fled in two cars toward Saudi Arabia after border guards opened fire.
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Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said that Saudi guards exchanged fire with gunmen in the same area, killing three of them and arresting another. He said a Saudi border guard commander was killed.
Gen. Al-Turki said border guards suspected that one or two gunmen managed to flee and that security men were combing the area and some nearby buildings.
SABA linked the attack to al-Qaeda, but weapons smugglers and human traffickers also are active in the area.
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Gen. Al-Turki said in May that security authorities arrested 62 militants, including some suspected of working with al-Qaeda militants in Yemen on plans for smuggling weapons and preparing attacks against Saudi clerics and senior government officials, among other targets.