Taiz offensive could help break Al Houthi-imposed blockade
GOVERNMENT FORCES MARCHING ON AL HOUTHI-HELD AL RAHIDA FROM THREE DIRECTIONS
Yemeni government forces have attacked Al Houthi-held Al Rahidah town, south of the southern city of Taiz, from three directions as pro-government fighters scored fresh gains in Saada, in the north.
Local commanders have said that government forces, backed air support from the Saudi-led coalition, pushed towards the strategic town of Al Rahidah from south, west and east with the aim of scoring a major territorial victory in Taiz.
Abdul Basit Al Bahar, the deputy spokesperson for Yemen’s army in Taiz, told Gulf News that the first group of troops marched towards Al Rahidah from Karash and Al Sharija and stationed almost several kilometres, south of Al Rahidah.
The second group of army troops and allied forces moved towards the town from Al Qabeta and took control of a mountain that overlooks the eastern edges Al Rahidah.
Soldiers from 4th Infantry Brigade engaged in heavy battles with Al Houthi militants in Haifan district, west of Al Rahidah.
“Al Rahidah is a business hub for different districts. If Al Rahidah is liberated, Al Houthis would be pushed from the southern edges of the city which means partially lifting Al Houthis’ siege on Taiz,” Al Bahar said, adding that Yemen’s army is seeking to cut off arms supplies to Al Houthi pockets in the southern parts of Taiz and destroy their heavy weapons that arbitrarily and heavily shell the city.
Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, have seen the bloodiest battles between government forces and Al Houthis since early 2015 when army units and local resistance fighters took up arms and fought off Al Houthis’ occupation.
Despite their shelling and relentless attacks, Al Houthis have largely failed to push into the city’s downtown which is under government’s control.
Rebels are in control of the eastern, southern and northern suburbs of the city where they block humanitarian aid from reaching the city.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Defence Ministry has said government forces, backed by coalition fighter jets, seized control of a number of mountainous locations in the northern province of Saada, the Al Houthis’ main bastion.
New offensive
Pro-government fighters mounted a new offensive in Al Thaher district, opening up a new front inside Al Houthis’ heavily fortified stronghold.
As many as 15 Al Houthis were killed in the clashes as government forces seized control of Al Asem mountains, a small military camp and several locations in the district.
On Baqoum front, northern Saada, government forces announced controlling several hills in Aleb region.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition entered the Yemeni war in 2015 just months after an Al Houthi coup forced internationallyrecognised Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi out of power.
He later was able to escape house arrest and flee to Aden where he temporarily shifted government headquarters.
Since then, the coalition has gained back 86 per cent of Yemeni territory but major population centres still remain under Al Houthi control.
Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of illegally smuggling weapons into Yemen to sustain Al Houthi war efforts.
In December, one such Iranian-made ballistic missile was fired towards Riyadh for the first time in the three-year war.
Although it was intercepted, Riyadh called it an ‘act of war’.
The war has cost the lives of thousands of Yemenis and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
In a recent meeting with New York Times editors, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman said that Al Houthis have become increasingly isolated politically.
He dismissed the seven missiles Al Houthis fired at Saudi Arabia from Yemen on March 25 as “a last-ditch effort” that only showed they were weak.
Saudi Arabia, he said, is now seeking to end the war through a political process, trying to divide Al Houthis and maintaining military pressure on them.