NAJRAN — Shells fired by Houthi militias killed five people and injured 11 others in Najran on Wednesday in a second day of cross-border attacks, taking the death toll in two days of shelling to 10. Two civilians in a car and two passers-by were killed when a shell struck a passing car, the Civil Defense said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. A prison security officer was also killed and another wounded when a second shell landed on their patrol on King Salman Street in the city, the statement said. Five people were killed and many others including three schoolgirls were injured in Najran and Jazan by shells and missiles fired by the Houthis on Tuesday. In Najran, the Houthis targeted houses, schools and a field hospital. The victims consisted of a Saudi, a Yemeni and another unidentified man. In Jazan, a Saudi citizen and his wife were killed and three others injured when their house was hit by a shell on Tuesday night. The incident happened at Al-Bahteet village in Al-Harath region of Al-Khoba in the southern Jazan province, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. Maj. Yahya Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan region, said that the directorate's operation room received information at around 11.45 p.m. about the shell hitting the house. Minister of Education Azzam Al-Dakhil directed the Education Department in Najran to suspend classes in all schools and kindergartens for the rest of the academic year. The final exams of secondary schools which were scheduled to be held next Sunday too have been suspended. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Hamad Al-Sharya, Spokesman of the Education Department in Najran, said this measure has been taken for the safety of students and school staff. One resident, who did not want to be identified, said: “This desperate shelling will only make us stronger. We have total confidence that our Armed Forces and Border Guards will keep us safe.” He said the random shelling was evidence that the Houthis were getting desperate after the coalition airstrikes destroyed their camps and arms warehouses. Brig. Ali Bin Mohammed Al-Omari, director of Najran's Civil Defense, described the situation in the city as “calm” and said there was no need to evacuate the border villages. He said 13 families whose homes were damaged by the shelling were accommodated in a number of hotels and furnished apartments in Al-Jawafah District. Al-Omari said the condition of the three injured young girls was stable and added that one of them had had surgery to have shell fragments removed from her back and she is doing well now. He said all three girls were students at the Fifth Primary Girls School in Al-Mukahyam District. An Egyptian who was injured by a shell was admitted to King Khaled Hospital. He said he was not “surprised” by the Houthis shelling schools and houses because “this was their habit”. The mortar shells and missiles fired by Houthis across the southern border on Tuesday failed to deter a large number of residents from going to the mountains for picnics to enjoy the moist air and the nice weather. A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in Yemen on March 26 against Iran-allied Houthi fighters, backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who seized control of parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
