Nine Saudi soldiers are missing in the kingdom's borders with Yemen amid fighting between the country's forces and Shia Houthi fighters.
A Saudi defense ministry spokesman told the official SPA news agency on Thursday the Yemen-based fighters may have taken the soldiers prisoner, and that Houthis are 'entirely responsible for their wellbeing.'
The source provided a list of Saudi soldiers reported missing:
1. Lt. Col. Sa'eed Bin Muhammad Bin Ma'toug Al-Amri
2. Corporal Ayidh Bin Ali Bin Sa'eed Al-Shehri
3. Sergeant Ahmad Bin Ali Bin Ali Madadi
4. Staff Sergeant Muhammad Bin Mohsin Bin Sultan Al-Amri
5. Sergeant Ahmad Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad Al-Amri
6. Staff Sergeant Miflih Bin Jam'an Bin Miflih Al-Shahrani
7. Corporal Ali Bin Salman Bin Ali Al-Hiqwi
8. Sergeant Khalid Bin Saleh Bin Omar Al-Owdah
9. Private First Class Yahya Bin Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Khuza'iy
The conflict in northern Yemen first began in 2004 between Sana'a and Houthi fighters, but relative peace had returned to region until August 11, when the Yemeni army began a major offensive, dubbed Operation Scorched Earth, against the province of Sa'adah.
The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia Zaidi imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup.
The Houthis, however, say they are defending their people against government marginalization policies which they believe have been adopted under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists, who consider Shias heretics.
The Saudi Arabian government has aggravated the conflict even more by launching its own offensive against northern Yemen based on an allegation that Houthi fighters have killed two of its soldiers on the border.
The fighters say Yemeni villages are being targeted with deadly phosphorous bombs, which cause massive injuries among the Shia civilian population.
Saudi officials have not given any figures for soldiers or civilians killed in the fighting. Unofficial estimates, however, say at least nine Saudi soldiers and four civilians have been killed since Riyadh began targeting Houthi positions inside Yemen.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that since 2004 up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada to take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.
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