Top Houthi commander killed in Yemen’s Saada: Reports

By Murad al-Arifi

SANAA (AA) - A senior Houthi military commander has been killed in fighting with Saudi troops in Yemen’s northern Saada province, according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency.

“Major-General Nasser Hussein al-Qubari was killed while carrying out his national duties,” SABA reported on Thursday.

The news agency did not provide any additional details regarding the circumstances of al-Qubari’s death.

According to a Yemeni military source, the slain commander had been responsible for Houthi forces deployed near the border with Saudi Arabia.

“Al-Qubari had been working with Yemeni Republican Guard forces loyal to the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh,” the military source, preferring anonymity for security reasons, told Anadolu Agency.

The source went on to note that both al-Qubari and Saleh -- the latter of whom was killed late last year near Sanaa -- hailed from the village of Sinhan on the capital’s southeastern outskirts.

Impoverished Yemen has been dogged by chaos and violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive military campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains and shoring up Yemen's pro-Saudi government.