Two sides waging a devastating war over remote lands

SUDDENLY there is a roar of gunfire from the mountainside opposite.

The Yemeni army replied with mortars targeted at the rebel outpost hidden in the sheer rock face barely half a mile away.

We dived behind rocks for cover as the surprised commander ordered us to move back. Fridays are traditionally quiet on the battleground here, as both sides pay respects to their faith. Not this Friday.

On the front line of this most devastating of wars the two sides battle for territory in one of the most remote areas on earth.

They fight over huge swathes of land, partly desert, partly mountain ranges.

We travelled in the back of a pick-up truck on tiny narrow rock-strewn mountain passes with drops of several hundred feet on either side.

DESTROYED

Just getting to the front line was terrifying. In the 45C heat the cameras on our mobile phones stopped working as swirling dust tornadoes hit our vehicle.

The Yemeni driver did intricate three point turns on tiny hairpin bends. When his clutch slipped we held on for our lives, looking down below at jagged rocks and the wreckage of a truck and, presumably, its driver who hadn’t made it.

It was surreal to see tanks guarding strategic areas as camels grazed nearby. There were tanks everywhere protecting every checkpoint on the roads.

We passed through remote hamlets where every house had been destroyed.

Somehow the tiny community mosque was intact and, incredibly, a muezzin was calling the faithful to prayer as we passed.

This barren dusty wasteland has seen some of the fiercest fighting in Yemen. It has left the area devastated.

The Yemeni army appeared to be made up of young men.

Some lived in tents but some of them had made makeshift homes out of stones and plastic sheeting.

General Mohssem Ahmed, commander of the 7th Brigade of Yemen said: “We will fight for Yemen and we will die for Yemen.”