Al Houthi drone seized in Hodeida

YEMENI FORCES RETAKE STRATEGIC SANA’A HILLTOPS FROM MILITANTS

The anti-drone defence unit of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition has seized an explosive drone belonging to the Al Houthi militia. The Iranian-made Qasef-1 drone was intended to be used against Yemeni Legitimate Forces on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

During the examination of the unmanned aircraft, the coalition’s specialised teams discovered a large quantity of explosive materials, meant to be used in terrorist operations against selected targets in desperate attempts by the Iranian-backed Al Houthi militia to achieve false victories and raise their deteriorating morale, in the wake of their subsequent defeats in Yemen’s west coast.

Yemeni government forces have shelled pockets of Al Houthis near Hodeida amid an increasing military buildup intended to expel the Iranaligned militia from the Red Sea city, military sources said yesterday.

Arms depot hit

Republican Guards shelled and blew up an arms depot belonging to Al Houthis on the outskirts of the district of Tahita, retaken from the extremists in July, the military media centre said, according to news portal Barakish Net.

The shelling came after a close monitoring of fleeing Al Houthis in the area located south east of Hodeida.

Sounds of explosions were heard and flames were seen rising from the site for more than two hours, indicating that the depot had contained large amounts of weaponry, according to the report.

An unspecified number of militiamen were killed while trying to escape.

Helicopters of the coalition took part in hunting the fleeing militiamen and unleashed precise strikes against them, the centre added.

Government troops are fighting Al Houthis on the eastern and southern outskirts of Hodeida in preparation for storming the city and liberating it and its vital harbour from the rebels.

The capital Sana’a, under Al Houthi militants’ control since late 2014, is also a major focus of the coalitionsupported government forces campaign.

Yemeni army forces have retaken control of strategic hilltops on the edges of Sana’a, field sources said yesterday.

The progress in the district of Nahm east of Sana’a was made on Tuesday following a massive attack mounted by government forces on Al Houthi gatherings in the area, the sources told September Net, a news portal linked to the Defence Ministry.