UAE-TRAINED YEMENI FORCES KEY TO SECURING HODEIDAH VICTORY
▶ New troops arrive in region after failed UN attempt to persuade Houthis to withdraw from city
Members of the Tihama Brigade are returning to Yemen after receiving extensive military training by UAE Forces in Assab, Eritrea.
“A large number of our fighters are on their way to join their colleagues in the joint forces,” Col Mohammed Al Himyari of the Yemeni Tihama Brigade told The National.
“They have been preparing for an offensive to storm the city of Hodeidah,” he said. “I can confirm that our fighters are very enthusiastic to advance and take over the city, which is our own city, not the Houthis’ land.”
According to Col Al Himyari, the Tihama Brigade’s grasp of the city’s layout will be key to the success of the operation.
“Our fighters are mostly from the city and they know all the details inside the city, they know where the Houthis have planted the mines and they know where the Houthi fighters are deployed so they can avert the advancing troops,” the officer said.
On Friday, the Al Amalika Brigade recaptured Al Tahita directorate, south of Hodeidah, their media officer Aseel Al Sakladi told The National.
“Our forces stormed the centre of Al Tahita after a fierce battle with the Houthi,” Mr Al Sakladi said. Brigade members and coalition air strikes killed 37 rebel fighters, he said.
State news agency Wam reported the capture of dozens of Houthis during the battle, while those who fled had abandoned their weapons. Yemeni officials yesterday said fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the rebels on the country’s west coast had killed more than 165 people from both sides.
UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths’ failed attempt on Friday to persuade Houthi fighters to unconditionally withdraw from the city sparked the deployment of Al Amalika troops from Aden to the western outskirts of Hodeidah.
The UN Security Council said that “all parties” should work towards a political solution for Yemen, and repeated a call for Hodeidah to remain open.
The statements came after Mr Griffiths updated the Security Council from the region. The coalition said it had paused its campaign to retake Hodeidah in support of UN efforts as it called for rebels’ “unconditional withdrawal” from the city.
However, the coalition and government forces are continuing their operations in other areas of Hodeidah province and rebel-held areas of Yemen. A coalition air strike yesterday destroyed Houthi communications control systems in Haidan and Razeh districts of Sadaa province, the main stronghold of the rebel group.
The systems were very advanced and operated by foreign experts, Ismail Al Sharafi, a journalist covering the government forces’ operations in Sadaa, told The National.
Residents in Hodeidah said that Houthi rebels had taken to recruiting young boys from poor families in a last attempt to hold their ground.
Ibtihaj Al Kamal, Social Affairs and Labour Minister in the Yemeni government, said that so far this year Houthi rebels had recruited 2,500 children. In response, the Yemeni government welcomed a resolution by the Arab Parliament condemning Houthi recruitment of underage boys.
Mr Al Kamal praised the parliament’s decision as the UN secretary general, the Security Council and world organisations referred Houthi crimes to the International Criminal Court and called for rebel leaders to be held accountable.
The recruitment of children under 15 is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which came into force in 2002.
Hodeidah port is the entry point for about 70 per cent of imports to Yemen, where eight million people face a dire humanitarian situation, and provides a lifeline for the 22 million Yemenis dependent on humanitarian aid.
Aid distribution to Hodeidah civilians by the UAE and the Emirates Red Crescent has been ongoing. According to Wam, 9,900 food baskets have been distributed in 13 liberated districts, with more than 69,300 people last month benefiting from the aid.
On Friday evening, a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards civilian areas of Jazan in Saudi Arabia was intercepted by the kingdom’s air defences, a spokesman for the Arab Coalition said.