RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Authorities say a Saudi border guard has been killed in an exchange of fire with Shiite rebels in Yemen.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said in a statement carried Sunday by the official Saudi Press Agency that the clashes took place on Saturday.

Al-Turki blamed Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, for launching the attack and said the soldier died before reaching the hospital.

Cross-border fire has killed repeatedly killed Saudi security agents and civilians since a Saudi-led coalition launched a campaign in Yemen against the rebels in March 2015.

Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been at war since the Houthis swept into the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Some 10,000 people in Yemen have been killed or wounded in the conflict.