Sanaa: Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday offered to release as many as 350 hostages whom they claimed to have captured during attacks over the past three days in the southern Saudi region of Najran.
As per Al Masirah TV, the Houthis offered to release 350 hostages, including three Saudi Arabia nationals, reported Sputnik.
Earlier on Friday, the rebel group said in a statement that it had conducted an attack near Najran and captured hundreds of Saudis, including mercenaries from Pakistan, Iraq, and Sudan.
Earlier on Sunday, the Houthi rebels broadcast video footage they said was of a deadly attack in Najran that killed hundreds of soldiers, with thousands of others surrendering before the armed group, including three brigades of troops led by former-Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif.
A spokesman of the Houthis, Yahya Saree, described the attacks as an ambush on the Saudi forces that then developed into an “all-out” cross-border offensive that trapped the troops inside Saudi Arabia.
“More than 200 were killed in dozens of [missile and drone] strikes while trying to escape or surrender,” Saree said.
The spokesperson added that the offence committed 72 hours earlier had targeted three “enemy military brigades”, leading to the capture of “thousands” of troops, including Saudi army officers and soldiers, and hundreds of armoured vehicles.
The released video showed armoured vehicles being hit by blasts and soldiers surrendering before the Iran-aligned rebels.