DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has regained control of territory seized by Yemeni rebels in a cross-border incursion last week that prompted a military response from Riyadh, a top official was quoted as saying.

‘The situation is calm ... especially in Jabal Dukhan, of which full control has been regained,’ Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, assistant minister for defence and aviation, said on Saturday, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Saudi Arabia on Thursday launched air strikes on rebels in northern Yemen after the Shia insurgents crossed the border into the kingdom and said they had taken control of an area called Jabal Dukhan, which means ‘mountain of smoke.’

On Saturday, Prince Khaled said three members of the Saudi security forces were killed and 15 others were wounded in fighting on the Saudi-Yemeni border, according to SPA.

Four Saudi soldiers were missing, Prince Khaled said, but said they had not been taken prisoner. He also said Saudi security forces had also arrested a number of rebels.

The rebels, referred to as Houthis after the clan of their leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said on Friday they had captured some Saudi soldiers.— Reuters