After a failed first attempt ... Saudi forces storm a border crossing in Yemen's Mahrah

Al-Jazeera reported that Saudi forces stormed the border crossing in Al-Mahra Governorate (east of Yemen) today, Tuesday, a day after a failed first attempt that led to clashes with tribal militants opposed to the Saudi military presence in the province.

The sources said that more than twenty military vehicles with Saudi soldiers and Yemeni gunmen loyal to the Mahrah Governor, Rajeh Bakreet, stormed the border crossing with the Sultanate of Oman.

She added that there is widespread indignation among the popular tribal circles in Al Mahrah Governorate because of this.

The Saudi forces and their loyalists stormed the crossing after the tribes withdrew from the port early this morning, based on tribal mediation and presidential directives, provided that the situation in the port remains under the protection of the security and military institutions of the legitimate government.

A secret cable, which Al-Jazeera Net correspondent obtained a copy of, showed directions from the Yemeni Vice President to the governor of Al-Mahra and the leader of the Al-Ghaydah Axis in the governorate, quickly coordinating and cooperating with the Saudi force, "dealing firmly with saboteurs and smugglers," and imposing law and order, based on the instructions of the Yemeni President.

A tribal source stated that the Saudi forces attempted Monday to storm the Fujit junction, which separated the two districts of Hat, and shipped by force of weapons, amid heavy gunfire that wounded one person.

The source confirmed that Saudi Apache aircraft bombed the vicinity of the Fujit junction in an attempt to open the way for the armored vehicles of the Saudi forces to cross to a freight crossing and storm it, but that the tribal militants refused to cross these forces.

"Saudi occupation"
The peaceful sit-in committee rejecting the Saudi presence in the Yemeni Al-Mahra Governorate expressed its condemnation of the attempted intrusion, and said that what it described as the Saudi occupation and its militia attacked citizens and members of the tribes of the Shipping Directorate.

She added - in a statement to her - that the presence of what the Saudi occupation forces and their militias called in Al-Mahra Governorate violated international laws, and called on the tribes of the province to unite to prevent the functions of the legitimate state in Yemen from being emptied of their duties.

The skilled sit-in committee demanded the legitimate political leadership to break its silence towards the Saudi-Emirati occupation, which it accused of planning to divide Yemen into conflicting entities.

Commenting on the events in Mahara Shipping Department, the writer and political analyst Ali Nasser al-Din said that Al-Mahrah Governorate represents a strategic dimension for Saudi Arabia.

In a meeting with Al-Jazeera, Nasser Al-Din added that Saudi Arabia seeks to secure its borders in terms of skill, noting that this is being done in coordination with legality.

Intent
Last January, an investigation broadcast by Al-Jazeera shed light on Saudi plans that had been prepared since the era of the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to acquire Al-Mahra Governorate, with the aim of securing a port for Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Sea.

The documentary - titled "Skilled .. Clear Intentions" - revealed the backgrounds of the Saudi-Emirati coalition's control of the province under the slogan of restoring legitimacy in Yemen.

The investigation also revealed accusations by the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Muhammad Al Jaber, and the governor of Al Mahrah, Rajeh Bakreet, of being responsible for killing protesters during a sit-in rejecting the Saudi presence there.

Strategic importance
Al-Mahra is the second province in terms of area in Yemen, and it is of great geographical and economic importance, as well as it contains the longest coastal strip and two border outlets that are cashed and shipped, which made it - according to experts - a strategic goal for Saudi Arabia.

Sources say that Riyadh's insistence on entering the skilled reveals a desire to revive its ambitions and endeavors since the eighties of the last century to build an oil pipeline to split the province to the Arabian Sea, which may give the Kingdom an opportunity to transport its oil safely and with less financial costs by sparing its tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz.