2 Filipinos hurt in Yemen attack

Two Filipino workers were injured in a mortar attack at the border of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday.

The incident happened on Sept. 18, in Samtah, a Saudi Arabian town located close to the Yemeni border, Foreign Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Charles Jose said.

“The consulate team visited the two Filipinos injured when a mortar or rocket landed near their accommodations,” the DFA official told reporters in a news briefing. They were not identified.

Jose said the two victims—a female nurse and a construction worker—sustained shrapnel wounds, with the nurse requiring surgery. Both are now recuperating at the hospital, he added.

The conflict at the Saudi and Yemeni border caused by skirmishes between the Saudi armed forces and Yemeni rebels had forced Filipino workers to leave work and return home although a group of Filipino nurses had opted to stay, Jose said.

Those who chose to leave were given monetary entitlements and the assurance that they would not be blacklisted for employment in Saudi Arabia and other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“These nurses shall be given monetary reentry privileges whether they finished their contracts or not,” Jose said.