Massive blow for Houthi rebels as second in command killed in air strike

The second-highest-ranking Houthi leader has been killed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike, the Yemeni rebels announced yesterday.

Saleh Al Samad, head of the Houthis’ supreme political council, was killed on Thursday, the rebel-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported.

Al Samad was killed in Hodeidah province, the television channel said on its Twitter account.

Al Masirah reported that the Houthis had appointed Mahdi Al Mashat, the director of Abdelmalek Al Houthi’s office, as Al Samad’s replacement.

Al Samad was second on the coalition’s list of most wanted people in Yemen, after Houthi leader Abdelmalek Al Houthi.

The coalition had offered a US$20 million (Dh74m) reward for any information that led to Al Samad’s capture, according to Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya TV.

The Al Arabiya news website reported that he had been killed in a raid on Al Buraihi in southern Hodeidah, quoting unnamed sources.

The sources told Al Arabiya that Al Samad had been under house arrest in recent weeks after differences between rebel factions.

Al Samad’s death came as government forces backed by the coalition escalated their attacks on the Iran-backed rebels in Hodeidah and Taez provinces in southern Yemen.

The UAE Armed Forces, which play a leading role in the coalition, are currently supporting an offensive near the Red Sea port city of Mokha as part of a campaign to break a rebel siege on Taez city. Scores of Houthi commanders were reported killed in fighting in Taez on Saturday.

The rebels have at the same time increased their attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, with missile launches across Yemen’s northern border almost every day.

Saudi air defences yesterday intercepted two ballistic missiles fired at a Saudi Aramco facility in the southern coastal city of Jazan.

Al Masirah TV said they had targeted a port belonging to the Saudi state oil giant, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, and no immediate comment from Aramco.