(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Saudi troops clashed with Yemeni Houthi fighters yesterday in the heaviest exchange of cross-border fire since the start of a Saudi-led air offensive last week, while Yemen's foreign minister called for a rapid Arab intervention on the ground.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of Arab states since last Thursday in an air campaign against the Shia Houthis, who emerged as the most powerful force in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country when they seized Yemen's capital last year.
Residents and tribal sources in north Yemen reported artillery and rocket exchanges along several stretches of the Saudi border.
Explosions and heavy gunfire were heard and Saudi helicopters flew overhead, they said.
Saudi Arabia said yesterday it would only send ground troops into Yemen against the Houthi militia if such operations became necessary, after the fiercest day of clashes on the border since it began air strikes began last week.
"There could be a limited ground operation, in specific areas, at specific times. But don't expect there to be a resort automatically to a ground operation," said Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition.
"I don't want us to concentrate on the land operation as if it is a 'must' ... if it is possible to achieve the goals through other means," he said.
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