Key mountain range seized by Yemeni forces
ARAB COALITION HAS STEPPED UP ATTACKS ON AL HOUTHI STRONGHOLD OF SA’ADA
Yemeni government forces have seized a series of strategic mountains in the far northern province of Sa’ada, the stronghold of Al Houthi militants near the Saudi border, an army officer said yesterday.
The seizure of the Mazher Mountains overlooking Sa’ada’s district of Baqim came after a “qualitative” military campaign against Al Houthis, Brigadier Yasser Al Harthi, a commander in the Yemeni army, told Al Arabiya television.
In recent weeks, a Saudi-led Arab coalition has stepped up attacks on Sa’ada as part of a multi-front campaign against Al Houthis in Yemen.
The Iran-aligned militants have used Sa’ada as a launch pad for firing ballistic missiles across the border into Saudi Arabia.
Government forces were now in full control of the Mazher Mountains and a route leading to a village of the same name cutting off Al Houthis’ supply road, Al Harthi said.
“The village of Mazhar overlooks the centre of Baqir from the east. The National Army is seeking to retake it from Al Houthis in order to advance on Baqim,” he added.
The Sa’ada offensive is timed with a major army onslaught aimed at expelling Al Houthis from the Red Sea city of Hodeida in western Yemen.
Iranian patrons
Hodeida is strategically important because of its harbour, which is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, as most of the commercial imports and relief supplies enter through it to the country.
The Arab coalition fighting to restore the internationallyrecognised government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of the harbour to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis in order to sustain their war efforts.
The coalition is poised for a resumption of fighting after a weeklong pause in support of UN peace efforts.
The coalition believes Al Houthis have exploited the temporary truce in order to reinforce their military positions inside the city.
Hodeida Governor Al Hassan Ali said in remarks published yesterday that the planned fight comes after Al Houthis turned down the government’s demand for their peaceful withdrawal from the city and its port.
“Military action is the only
The village of Mazhar overlooks the centre of Baqiq from the east. The National Army is seeking to retake it from Al Houthis in order to advance on Baqim.”
Brig Yasser Al Harthi | Commander in Yemeni army
language understood by Al Houthis, who are good at procrastination,” Ali told pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat.
Peace talks
The government links Al Houthis’ complete pullout from Hodeida to peace talks that UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is seeking to revive between the country’s warring sides. Al Houthis have been in control of Hodeida since October 2014, a month after they overran the capital Sana’a in a coup against Hadi’s government.
In 2015, the coalition initiated a campaign in Yemen against Al Houthis after the militants advanced on Yemen’s southern city of Aden, the temporary capital of the country after their takeover of Sana’a.
The coalition said yesterday that it shot down a drone that targeted the alliance’s command headquarters in Aden.
Al Houthi militants claimed responsibility for operating the drone.