Sana’a: Local sources in Lahej say Al Houthi militants and troops allied to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh are in complete disarray and were fleeing the battlefield as Yemeni forces backed by coalition troops advanced towards Taiz.
Coalition forces tightened their grip on the Al Sharaijah area last week capturing dozens of Al Houthi militants. Other militants surrendered to the national army, many of whom were children forced by Al Houthis to fight.
Meanwhile, an Al Houthi delegation was to travel to Oman on Saturday for preliminary consultations on UN-sponsored Geneva peace talks aimed at resolving Yemen’s complex civil war, a spokesman for the Iran-allied militia said.
Yemen’s war pits a Gulf Arab coalition and local forces loyal to the legitimate President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Al Houthis and their allies among army units who back ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Al Houthis, who seized Sana’a last year, accepted the invitation to consultations in Oman after receiving a “positive response” to their suggestions for the talks agenda.
“We hope [the dialogue] will be serious and constructive, leading to a halt in aggression, lifting of the siege and revival of the political process,” Al Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam wrote in a Facebook post announcing the trip.
“Based on all that, we will depart Sana’a International Airport today, God willing, for the Omani capital of Muscat.”
The delegation was also invited to meet European envoys to clarify the Al Houthi political vision for Yemen, he said.
Hadi returned from Saudi Arabia to the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday to rally forces loyal to him and oversee a campaign to retake the central city of Taiz, a presidential spokesman said.
The war in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, has killed at least 5,700 people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Al Houthi militants in northern Yemen attempted to storm the Saudi border near Jebel Razeh on Saturday morning but were repelled by Saudi guards, and around 30 combatants were killed, according to local residents.
Al Houthis also lost six men in central province of Marib when armed tribesmen ambushed their convoy to prevent the militia transiting their territory, tribal sources said.
