Saudi and Emirati military commanders killed in Yemen

A senior Saudi military commander and an Emirati colonel were killed on Monday in what reports say a missile attack that targeted an area near Bab al-Mandab in Yemen.

The Saudi commander of operations in Aden, Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan, and Emirati Colonel Sultan al-Kitbi were killed on Monday along with other Arab coalition forces during military operations near Bab al-Mandab in Taiz province.

The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed the deaths of the two senior officers.

Colonel Sahyan received a medal of courage from Yemeni President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi a day before he was killed on Monday.

Earlier attacks

Sources from the Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that they had targeted on Sunday night the coalition's command centre in Shi'b al-Jinn near Bab al-Mandab using a "Tochka" (Russian-made ballistic missile).
The official Yemeni news agency, which is currently run by the Houthi rebels, reported that 42 people were killed in Bab al-Mandab, while two Patriot missile systems were damaged and three Apache helicopters and 40 military vehicles were destroyed. Al-Araby al-Jadeed could not verify this information.

So far at least 80 people, mostly soldiers and border guards, have been killed in Saudi Arabia because of the Yemen conflict, according to AFP. The UAE says it has lost almost 70 soldiers so far.