Gunmen kill Saudi security officer near Yemen border

RIYADH (Reuters) - Gunmen who infiltrated into Saudi Arabia from Yemen have killed a Saudi security officer and wounded 11 others, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Tuesday morning in a border region next to the northern part of Yemen, where government forces have been battling Shi'ite Muslim rebels.

The pro-Western Yemeni government is also fighting al Qaeda, which is also seeking to destabilise Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam.

"The kingdom ... will do what it takes to preserve the security of the homeland and protect its borders and deter those infiltrators and their likes from any side they are," the agency said.

The gunmen used "various weapons" in their attack in the mountainous Jazan region, it said, without giving further details. Jazan is far from the top oil exporter's key oil facilities.

Yemeni government officials have said Iranian media backs the rebels, often termed Houthis after their clan and religious leaders, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said Iranian religious figures provide funding.

Veteran ruler Saleh also faces a separatist movement in the south and Saudi Arabia fears the instability will help al Qaeda launch more attacks there.

(Reporting by Inal Ersan)