WASHINGTON : A team of elite US Green Beret commandos deployed to the Saudi border of Yemen last year to help find and destroy Huthi rebel missile caches, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Since Yemen’s brutal conflict erupted three years ago, Huthi rebels have fired multiple ballistic missiles toward Riyadh and other Saudi cities. According to the Times, which cited US officials and European diplomats, the Army special operations soldiers arrived in December to help Saudi counterparts locate launch sites and destroy the Huthis’ missile supplies.

The unannounced move shows a deepening US involvement in Yemen’s war that has seen the country spiral toward famine and claimed almost 10,000 lives.

Citing operational security, the Pentagon said it could not comment on the makeup of forward-deployed forces.

The Pentagon’s “limited non-combat support, such as intelligence sharing, focuses on assisting our partners in securing their borders from cross-border attacks from the Huthis,” military spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

The Times said there was no indication the commandos had crossed into Yemen. Saudi Arabia has since March 2015 led a US-backed coalition of Arab states fighting to roll back the Huthis in Yemen and restore its neighbor’s internationally recognized government to power. Officials told the Times the US troops are training Saudi forces to secure the border.

The Saudi troops are also working closely with US intelligence experts in the southern Saudi city of Najran, the Times said.

The Huthis, who hail from northern Yemen, control Sanaa and much of the country’s north - which borders Saudi Arabia - and the key Hodeida port on the Red Sea coast. US lawmakers have sounded growing alarm about America’s support for the Saudis in Yemen, while President Donald Trump has bolstered ties with Riyadh and fostered a close relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Qatar accuses Saudi over arrest of citizen

DOHA (AFP): Qatar accused Saudi Arabia on Thursday of a "flagrant violation" of the law after the kingdom's authorities arrested a Qatari returning from Yemen, the latest Gulf crisis flashpoint. Doha called for the immediate release of Mohsen Saleh Saadoun al-Qurabi, adding that the Saudis were responsible for his safety and security in a statement released by the ministry of foreign affairs.

"The arrest and detention of the Qatari citizen, Al-Qurabi by the Saudi authorities as he was returning from Yemen on April 21, where he visited his family and without committing any wrongdoing and without any charge, is a flagrant violation of national laws," read the statement.

 It said that the 63-year-old suffered from "chronic health problems that require continuous health care". Saudi officials contacted by AFP declined to comment. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that Yemeni government forces had arrested Al-Qurabi as he attempted to cross the border from Yemen into Oman. The channel described the Qatari as an intelligence officer and said he was arrested "on suspicion of supporting the Huthis", Iran-backed rebels who control the Yemeni capital.

The arrest is the latest incident in an 11-month Gulf political crisis which has seen a group of Saudi-led countries break all ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and seeking closer ties with Iran.

Qatar claims the Saudi-led countries are seeking regime change in Doha.

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition in Yemen against the Huthis in a devastating conflict which has claimed almost 10,000 lives and triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Qatari troops were previously part of the Saudi coalition but returned home after the start of the Gulf diplomatic crisis.