RIYADH - One Saudi soldier was killed and 11 injured by gunfire in an attack near the country's southern border by armed men from Yemen, the state news agency SPA said on Wednesday.
The attack took place early on Tuesday in the mountainous border region of Jabal al-Dukhan, across from an area where Yemeni forces have been fighting Zaidi Shiite rebels for weeks, SPA said.
"Armed men infiltrated at Jebel Doukhan... and opened fire on the Border Patrol with weapons of different calibre, killing one and injuring 11 others," SPA reported citing an unidentified government spokesman.
The report did not identify the attackers or say whether any had been injured.
On Monday the Zaidi rebels accused Riyadh of permitting Yemen government troops to launch attacks against them from a Saudi security installation in Jabal al-Dukhan.
Saudi authorities have "allowed the Yemeni army to use a Saudi base in Jabal al-Dukhan from which it launched attacks," the rebels said in an e-mailed statement received by AFP.
"We advise the Saudi regime to remain impartial and not allow the Yemeni army to use its territories to attack us, because we would be otherwise forced to retaliate," they added.