Saudi have heavy casualties in Yemen fight

CNN:

Fighting that has spilled from Yemen into Saudi Arabia has killed 73 members of the Saudi security forces since November 3, a Saudi spokesman said Tuesday.

Another 26 Saudi soldiers have been reported missing since clashes broke out between Saudi forces and Houthi rebels from northern Yemen, said Abdul-Rahman Al-Hazza, spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Information.

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Fighting in the Saada region of northern Yemen has spilled into Saudi Arabia, forcing schools to close and sending thousands of people fleeing, the United Nations has said.

In the last six weeks, Saudi forces have conducted air strikes and shelled targets to try to keep Houthi rebels off Saudi territory, said Chris Boucek, an associated in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The number of missing seems unusually high. It could be from special forces troops inserted into the rebel held areas. The Saudis tend to be aggressive fighters willing to make attacks on defended positions rather than pound them with supporting arms. The Saudis have no shortage of supporting arms. They need to use them to destroy a weaker force.