E-Media
Jazan - Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, announced that the Saudi armed forces is in complete control of Al-Dood mountain and its peaks, a region he described as the most militarily strategic.
In a statement to journalists following a field tour of the frontlines of the Saudi armed forces on the southern border strip, Prince Khalid said "Saudi soldiers are enjoying high morale; it (the surrounding area) will be purified and that any hostile force existing in it will be vanished".
He disclosed that nearly 75 Ethiopians and 70 Somalis were arrested as prisoners of war (PoWs) on the border strip, noting that investigations will be opened into the incident and that PoWs will receive Islamic Sharia treatment, Saudi Press Agency said.
He denied reports that the Saudi armed forces has received from the Yemeni army five repatriated Saudi soldiers. "I don't think this is true as we don"t care to unconfirmed reports. The most confirmed report is that we have nine soldiers considered missing (in action), but we cannot say where they are".
He confirmed the policy of purifying any inch of the nation's land and no-interfering in others land, adding that any infiltrator or sniper who dares to enter this area will face either killing or surrender.
Asked how long he expects the operation will take, he said " we are not in a hurry as the most important thing to us, as per the instructions of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is to maintain as much as possible the souls of our soldiers and the control of the situation at the same time, describing the situation now as "good". "We have to lessen our human losses and inflict the enemy the greater possible losses at the same time", he said.
He also gave an account on the situation of the displaced, noting that the Ministry of Interior has forged plans to relief and accommodate them.