Saudis regain mountain from Yemen rebels

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia has captured 250 Yemeni rebels in reasserting control over a strategic border mountain, local media reported.

The Dubai television station al-Arabiya on Monday broadcast images of Saudi soldiers holding captured Houthi rebels in the kingdom's first unilateral military action in years, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said Saudi forces entered the border skirmish last week after the rebels overran Jebel Dukhan, a mountain along the Saudi Arabia Yemen border, killing a border guard and wounding 11 others. Saudi Arabia responded by bombing Houthi positions, entering Yemen's 5-year-old civil war for the first time.

"The situation is calm, especially in Jebel Dukan, of which full control has been regained," Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Riyadh's assistant minister for defense and aviation, told reporters Saturday.

The Times said the Houthis claimed Sunday Saudi troops had "collapsed" and retreated -- presumably referring to areas on the Yemeni side of the mountain.