Shooting at a Base in Yemen Leads to the Death of Two Saudi Soldiers

The Saudi state news agency reported that two Saudi soldiers were killed and another wounded in a shooting incident at a military base in Yemen. The incident occurred on Friday evening at a military base in the city of Sayun, located in the Hadhramaut province of central Yemen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi military coalition, identified the shooter as 'an individual affiliated with the Yemeni Ministry of Defense' and described the shooting as a 'treacherous and cowardly attack.' Saudi Arabia has not provided further details about the shooting, nor have the identities of the attacker and the victims been disclosed. According to a Yemeni military source cited by AFP, the incident began following a verbal altercation between the attacker and the Saudis, which escalated into reciprocal gunfire. No reports have been released regarding the motive of the attacker or additional details about the incident. The Saudi state news agency stated that the Sayun military base is 'a training facility for local forces to combat terrorism and smuggling.' The Hadhramaut province, where Sayun is located, is under the control of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The Iranian-backed Houthis seized this city and other areas in Yemen in 2015 following an attack on the government forces in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia formed a regional coalition to intervene in Yemen and support the legitimate government of the country. According to AFP, since the beginning of a six-month UN-mediated ceasefire in April 2022, hostilities in Yemen have remained at a low level.