Yemeni rebel group claimed on 13 October that it had destroyed the USA-made M1A2S Abrams main battle tank during the storm Saudi military post in the Jizan province in southern Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s rebel media released footages on Saturday showing that border Saudi military post was captured in the southern Jizan province deep inside of Saudi Arabia.

Also, Iranian-backed Houthi militants claimed to have hit Saudi M1A2S Abrams main battle tank. They have released videos of their troops destroying Saudi tanks and other targets. Militants fired on a tank, as a result of which Abrams lost the ability to move. The crew of the tank was injured and tried to escape, but one of the tankers was killed. After that, the militants set fire to the damaged tank.

In June 2006, Saudi Arabia requested the foreign military sale of 58 M1A1 tanks and the upgrade of these and the 315 M1A2 already in the Saudi inventory to the M1A2S configuration. The upgrade involves rebuilding to a ‘like new’ condition, similar to the US Army Abrams integrated management programme (AIM).

The M1A2S is a Saudi Arabian variant upgrade of the M1A2 based on M1A2 SEP, with some features, such as depleted uranium armor, believed to be missing.

In December 2009, GDLS received a $17.6m contract from Saudi Arabia for purchase of long-lead materials used for converting 15 M1A2 Abrams tanks to M1A2S tanks.

Yemen fell into civil war in 2014, when Houthi rebels and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched an extensive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

UN-brokered peace talks between the government and Houthi rebels have failed to resolve the conflict, in which 10,000 people were killed and around three million displaced, according to UN estimates.