Yemen war: Houthi rebels claim mass capture of Saudi troops

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

A Houthi spokesman told the BBC that three Saudi brigades had surrendered near the Saudi town of Najran.

He said thousands of soldiers had been captured and many others killed. Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim.
...
Colonel Yahiya Sarea said Saudi forces had suffered "huge losses in life and machinery".

All those captured would be paraded on the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV network on Sunday, he added.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-49866677

[marble falls]

1. Pretty shocking if true.

[jpak]

2. 3 brigades? That's a lot of troops

I'll believe it when I see it....

[Maxheader]

21. My thoughts too..

But this may be why the saudis have used their jets..the 'enemy' is just to fierce for
the saudi boots...

[OnlinePoker]

3. Saudis only have 11 - 17 brigades depending on where you look

So as much as a quarter of their military may have been captured?

[bluedigger]

4. If true, this is a huge victory for the Houthi, and catastrophic loss for the Saudis.

The Saudis will have to negotiate.

[OnlinePoker]

5. Please, U.S., come in and rescue us. n/t

[jpak]

7. Send them gold-plated bone saws

yup

[riversedge]

8. As I read this, I was thinking Trump would be stupid enough to send US Troops!!

[Wellstone ruled]

6. If this is true,

this is a major game changer in the whole of the Middle East. The Down Fall of the House of Saud will happen.

[yaesu]

9. I don't think the Saudi brigades are made up of many Saudis

probably foreign or mercenaries from poor countries, probably have zero care for who they are fighting for.

[Kaleva]

10. From what I gather, it's 1 Saudi regiment and 3 brigades of Saudi backed forces

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Thanks - I think the US meaning of 'brigade' needs to be ignored here

The claim is, as your video says, of many fighting on the Saudi side.

(I like the spokesman in camoflauge against a camoflauged background ...)

[paleotn]

11. Not terribly surprised...

ff they're no better than they were at Khafji back in 1991. The Saudi military may have the best equipment money can buy, but they have no heart. They have no soul.

[Aristus]

14. When I was in the Gulf in 1991, the Saudi troops

struck me as rich kids playing army.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

13. I'm sure the Saudis will fight until the last

Last edited Sun Sep 29, 2019, 08:59 AM - Edit history (2)

Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, etc is left standing.

[safeinOhio]

18. Good one

Nail, meet hammer.

[Kaleva]

15. An excerpt from an 2015 article

"And a number of CENTCOM and SOCOM officers believe the Saudis are in over their heads in trying to reverse Houthi gains in Yemen through military intervention.

“We had a great opportunity to engage with the Houthis on this, but we gave in to the Saudis,” Horton said, “and frankly, they cannot begin to manage this. They have all the toys but few people who know how to effectively use them. Their NCO and officer corps are largely untested, and their enlisted men are drawn from the lowest rungs of Saudi society. If they get bogged down in Yemen, I wonder about the loyalty of many of the soldiers and NCOs. The Egyptians will not fare much better.”"

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/17/us-generals-think-saudi-strikes-in-yemen-a-bad-idea.html

[dalton99a]

16. Video clip:

Link to tweet

[OnlinePoker]

17. 2000? From these images, maybe 300. n/t

[safeinOhio]

19. Are they ready yet to invade

Iran?

[padah513]

20. If true

It certainly shines a different light on the drone situation. If the Houthis have the wherewithal to capture that many enemy soldiers during a battle, then maybe they did shoot 10 drones into the Saudi oil fields. Until I see proof though, I'll take all of this with a grain of salt.

[Hotler]

22. Did our military advisers train them, or did a subcontractor tran them? nt

[GulfCoast66]

23. No at all surprising. Motivation matters in war.

Mercenaries rarely win against forces fighting for a cause.

Napoleon taught Europe that lesson. European armies at the time were largely made up of mercenaries who could fight bravely but were rarely prepared to give their all.

Napoleon, using the nationalism of the French Revolution raised the first ever European National Army and went on to defeat all of Europe. Until his opponents did the same.

The Saudis have no real sense of patriotism because their Nation is a recently created Mirage not based on the will of the populace.

I know little about the Houthis. Probably not good Social Democrats wanting any type of society we would find acceptable. But they sure seem willing to kill and die for their cause. The Saudi’s not so much.

I seriously doubt they capture 3 US sized Brigades of soldiers. But if the did, then they should just invade SA! Because if the captured over 8000 Saudis then the are the Boss of that battlefield.