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Yemen - Source: ONE News -
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Saudi troops exchanged fire with snipers from Yemen Shi'ite rebels who have crossed over the border, a Saudi military source said, days after the rebels said they had withdrawn from Saudi land.
Saudi Arabia declared victory over Yemeni Shi'ite rebels on Wednesday following a ceasefire offer from the rebels.
The world's top oil exporter was drawn into a conflict between Yemen's government and the rebels in November, when Riyadh launched a military assault against the insurgents after they seized some Saudi territory.
"The snipers are still present," a Saudi military source said, adding that exchange of fire was happening on a daily basis.
"These people cannot be trusted, every day they creep in and out, but they do not really pose a threat," he said.
Yemen, which earlier this month declared an open war on al Qaeda and is struggling to contain a secessionist movement in the south, has been fighting the rebels on and off since 2004 but the conflict intensified last summer.
Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said on Saturday he was prepared to accept government conditions for a truce, which include removal of rebel checkpoints and clarification on the fate of kidnapped foreigners, but the authorities have yet to give an official response.
The growing instability in Yemen is a worry to Western powers, who fear the country could become a failed state, allowing al Qaeda to strengthen its operations there.
Britain hosted talks on Yemen in London last week after an attempt to bomb a plane on Dec 25 on its way to Detroit drew the world's attention to al Qaeda in Yemen.
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