Okaz quoted security sources as saying that border guards in the southern Jizan province exchanged fire early Wednesday with a number of Yemeni arms dealers in the high mountains.

The guards seized 15 grenades and 10 guns in the shape of pens as the dealers fled into Yemeni territory, the daily said.

Two weeks ago, security forces killed a Saudi arms dealer caught in possession of around 100 automatic rifles and 100 magazines in the southern province of Najran, also bordering Yemen.

Saudi border guards arrest thousands of infiltrators and smugglers and seize large quantities of drugs, firearms and ammunition every year along the 1,800-kilometre (1,125-mile) border which the kingdom shares with Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed a June 8 agreement to combat cross-border arms smuggling and terrorism, following reports that explosives used in last month's Riyadh suicide bomb attacks may have come from Yemen.

The pact between the two Arab neighbours is aimed at limiting terrorist activity and controlling smuggling operations.

WAR.WIRE