Clashes and air strikes in south-west Yemen killed more than 40 soldiers, rebels and civilians over 24 hours, officials and medics said on Tuesday. Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition pounded Houthi rebel positions east of the Red Sea port of Mokha and other areas of Taez province since Sunday, a military official said.
Clashes raged after the air raids in the Jabal Al Nar area east of Mokha and north of the city on the road to Hodeidah, Yemen’s main Red Sea port. At least 17 rebels were killed in the air strikes and fighting, medical sources in rebel-held Hodeidah said.
The coalition-backed government says Hodeidah is its next target in a months-long offensive aimed at pushing the Iran-backed insurgents away from the country’s lengthy Red Sea coastline. Another 11 rebels were killed in air strikes on Kamran island and a base in Hodeidah itself, the medical sources said.
Ten soldiers were also killed and 15 were wounded, said medical sources in Aden, the temporary base of the government as Sanaa remains under rebel control. Meanwhile, three civilians were killed and two others were wounded on Monday in a bombing that targeted the convoy of General Ali Muqbel Saleh, commander of the 33rd Armoured Brigade, in Dalea city, a security official said.
In the same context, at least seven fighters from the Shiite Houthi rebels and five from the government troops were killed in fierce clashes in Yemen's northeastern province of Jawf on Thursday, a military source told Xinhua. The clashes, which began early Thursday morning and lasted until night, took place in Hazmat Alhalah area west of Masloub district.
Masloub is one of Houthi strongholds in the province, while Hazmat Alhalah was recaptured by the Yemeni government troops last month. The clashes erupted when Houthi rebels tried to advance to regain Hazmat Alhalah area on the western edge of Masloub district.
The government troops, backed by warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition, repelled the rebel attack and injured dozens from the rebels, the source said on condition of anonymity. He said about ten government soldiers were also wounded in the clashes.
Jawf, about 170 km northeast of the capital Sanaa, has been the scene of almost daily fighting between the Yemeni rival forces, in which the government troops have been trying to recapture the whole province before their advance toward the capital Sanaa, which has been under control of Houthi rebels since 2014.
In September 2014, Houthi fighters backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the capital Sanaa and seized control over most of the country's northern provinces. The rebels tightened their grip over all state ministries and military camps and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to roll back rebel gains and reinstate the internationally recognized government of President Hadi into the capital. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the two-and-half years of war with over 3 million others displaced, according to UN agencies. The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera epidemic and is on the brink of mass famine.
On political side, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani received Minister of State for the Implementation of the National Dialogue Outcome in Yemen Dr. Yasser Al-Raini.
The meeting focused on the developments of the Yemeni crisis and the efforts of the Yemeni leadership to achieve peace and reinstate security and stability in the country. The two sides discussed the efforts of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to revive the political process in Yemen on the basis of the GCC Initiative, the National Dialogue outcome and the UN Security Resolution 2216.
The meeting was attended by the GCC Secretary-General’s Envoy to Yemen Medkhal bin Dakhil Al-Hedhli and GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Negotiations Hamad Al-Ouwaishaq attended the meeting.