Key army base back in government hands
Commanders say victory will help ease pressure on government forces west of Taiz city
Forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally-recognised president, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took control of a large military base west of the southern city of Taiz after fierce clashes with Iran-backed Al Houthi fighters, a top army commander told Gulf News yesterday.
Major General Fadhel Hassan, commander of the Adenbased 4th Military Region, who visited the liberated camp, said that his forces drove Al Houthi fighters from Khalid Bin Waleed military camp and advanced quickly towards the rugged mountains to chase pockets of fleeing rebel fighters.
“We gained control of Bin Waleed military camp and a number of nearby hills,” Hassan said.
Government forces, backed by massive air support from the Saudi-led Arab coalition that is helping Yemenis restore their legitimate government, launched Operation Golden Arrow earlier this year along the western coast of the country. The aim was to prevent rebels from smuggling in arms from Iran. Since then, Yemeni forces liberated most major Red Sea ports in the Taiz province, including Mokha, and slowed Al Houthi advances.
Al Houthis rigged Khalid Bin Waleed military camp with thousands of landmines and deployed snipers on nearby hilltops before fleeing.
Hassan said the seizure of the military base in Taiz could herald the crumbling of Al SAUDI ARABIA Houthi pockets of resistance in Taiz and other locations as the camp is located in the middle of a road that links Taiz and the port city of Hodeidah and it supplies fighters with arms and ammunition. “The camp is one of the biggest military camps in Yemen and is historically symbolic to the ousted president as he served there before taking office [in 1978].”
The military commander said the capture of the base will help ease pressure on government forces in the besieged city of Taiz and other areas and military reinforcements will be able to be easily deployed to help forces in other areas west of the city.