Army presses ahead with Taiz offensive

DOZENS OF AL HOUTHI REBELS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN FIERCE CLASHES

Fighting raged yesterday for the third consecutive day on different battlefields in Yemen’s southern province of Taiz, as thousands of soldiers commanded by Brigadier General Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh intensified their push on Al Houthi-controlled areas in the province.

Media outlets loyal to assassinated president Ali Abdullah Saleh reported dozens of Al Houthis had been killed over the last couple of days in fierce clashes with Brigadier General Saleh’s forces in different locations north and east of government-controlled Mokha town on the Red Sea.

Backed by massive air support and military logistics from the Saudi-led coalition, thousands of soldiers, who defected from Al Houthis, mounted an offensive designed to expel Al Houthis from mountainous locations that overlook strategic coastal areas controlled by government forces in Hodeida and Taiz provinces. The Saudiled coalition said the offensive would clear the road for other anti-Al Houthi forces to push towards the city of Hodeida along the country’s western coast.

Yemen Today television and other media outlets loyal to Brigadier General Saleh aired footage showing armed vehicles crossing into mountains and a plain as soldiers flashed victory signs from their new locations in Taiz province. Graphic photos of dead Al Houthis scattered on the battlefield were widely circulated on social media. Fighter jets from the coalition launched dozens of air strikes, hitting Al Houthi military supplies and gatherings as they tried to push back Brigadier General Saleh’s forces. Brigadier General Saleh and dozens of military commanders deserted Al Houthiheld Sana’a after Al Houthis killed their leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in December. The forces reassembled in military camps in government-controlled cities where they received modern arms from the UAE Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, fighting also raged in the central province of Baydha as government forces seized control of two mountains in Qanea region on the borders of Baydha and Marib provinces. The state-run Saba news agency reported government forces stormed Alor and Masouda mountains on Qanea battlefield, adding the coalition’s fighter jets cleared the way for ground forces to advance after killing Al Houthi militants along the contested mountains.

Air strikes also killed Khaled Saylan, Al Houthi logistic officer, and a number of his associates in an air strike against their gathering in Al Shera region in the district of Al Tafa, in Baydha province. As many as eight militiamen were killed on Friday when the coalition’s fighter jets struck their bases in Serwah district, Marib province.