SAUDIS MAY SEND TROOPS

Washington: Saudi Arabia does not have “formal” troops on the ground in Aden, Yemen, but sending them remains a possibility, the Saudi ambassador to the United States said on Thursday.

“The issue of using ground troops is always something that is on the table,” Saudi ambassador Adel al- Jubeir said at an event in Washington.

The Huthis, allied with Army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have seized swathes of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Mr Hadi fled to Aden from the capital after the Huthi Shia rebels seized power in February, and the palace came under fire from warplanes twice during his stay. He went into hiding last week as the rebels bore down on what was his last stronghold, later surfacing in the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia announced Thursday its first casualties since launching the offensive, with one soldier killed and 10 more wounded by gunfire from across the Yemeni border. In the coastal city of Mukalla in southeast Yemen, Al Qaeda militants stormed a Hadramawt provincial prison and freed more than 300 inmates, including one of their leaders, a security official said. Khalid Batarfi had been held for more than four years, the official told AFP. Two guards and five inmates were killed in clashes, the official said.

Batarfi is among Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s top regional commanders, known for his role in a 20112012 battle with government troops.