Houthi drone attack kills 2 Bahrainis

A drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed a Bahraini officer and soldier who were patrolling Saudi Arabia’s southern border early Monday, Bahrain’s military command said.

The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge carrying out the attack as efforts to strike a peace deal between Riyadh and the rebels continued.

The military statement, carried by the state-run Bahrain News Agency, says “a number” of Bahraini soldiers were also wounded in the strike, without elaborating.

“This terrorist attack was carried out by the Houthis, who sent aircraft targeting the position of the Bahraini guards on the southern border of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia despite the halt of military operations between the warring sides in Yemen,” the statement said. It did not identify the site of the attack.

Bahrain later repatriated the bodies to the island kingdom, where they were met by an honor guard and top military officials.

A cease-fire had largely stopped the violence, and the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis have appeared close to a peace agreement in recent months. It was unclear if the attack would derail those efforts by Saudi Arabia and its allies.