Shelling from Yemen Kills 3 in Saudi Border Region

Shelling from across the border in Yemen killed three people in Saudi Arabia Friday and wounded 28, the civil defense agency said.

The agency described the deceased as residents of the Saudi border district of Jazan, while Saudi news channel al-Ekhbaria said they were foreigners.

The civil defense added that four Saudis were among the wounded, without giving the nationalities of the others.

Al-Ekhbaria showed pictures of blast-damaged cars and shrapnel-punctured walls.

The attack brings to at least 64 the number of people killed in Saudi Arabia from border shelling and skirmishes since a Saudi-led coalition began a campaign against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen six months ago.

Most of the border casualties have been soldiers.

The latest shelling came as local anti-rebel fighters backed by Gulf Arab ground troops from the coalition pressed their offensive in Yemen.

The want to push the rebels out of Marib province and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized last year.

Riyadh formed the alliance in March, to support exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in response to fears that the Huthis would take over all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Sunni Saudi Arabia's Shiite regional rival Iran.

The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen since late March.