Saudi authorities foil weapons-smuggling attempts from Yemen

Authorities foiled two attempts to smuggle weapons into the kingdom along the long porous border with Yemen, a Saudi newspaper reported Thursday. In one haul, a border patrol confiscated 15 hand grenades and “10 guns shaped like pens that can be used for assassination operations,”the Okaz daily said. The weapons were intercepted Wednesday in the southern Jazan area. In the second case, police in the Baysh area intercepted a car packed with explosives and a variety of weapons Tuesday, Okaz reported. Security officials from the area refused to comment on the quantity of explosives intercepted , Okaz said. The daily – which like other Saudi papers is privately owned but government-guided – gave no further information about Tuesday’s case. In the Jazan case, the paper quoted an unidentified security official as saying the smugglers were Yemenis who opened fire at border security officials. The Saudis returned fire, and chased the smugglers into Yemen. Full Story