Al Mukalla: Yemen’s army battling Al Qaida in southern Yemen have liberated the entire province of Abyan from the militant group and Daesh-linked operatives after more than five years of lawlessness, army officials said on Sunday. “We have completely cleared Abyan from Al Qaida after deploying our forces in Al Mahfad region, Al Qaida’s last stronghold in the province,” Brigadier Nasser Al Anbori, the commander of Special Security Forces in Aden, Lahej and Abyan told Gulf News.
Backed by heavy aerial support from the Saudi-led coalition, army troops have recently launched a major offensive to oust the militants, who have long-exploited the continuing civil war to expand in the south, from Abyan. Al Anbori said the defeated Al Qaida militants took refugee inside Abyan’s rugged mountains while other fled to the Al Houthi–controlled Baydha province.
“With the help of the coalition and the UAE Red Crescent we will focus on resorting peace and development to the liberated regions in Abyan, ”he said.
By seizing Abyan, Al Qaida militants have lost all of their bastions in south Yemen.
Meanwhile, Yemen government army troops and allied tribesmen on Sunday launched a fresh military offensive on Al Houthis positions in a strategic slope outside the capital, Yemen army spokesperson told Gulf News.
Brigadier General Samer Al Haj said government forces are advancing on the Sana’a front despite the tough geography and thousands of landmines planted by the rebel forces.
Government forces heavily shelled Nagil Bani Ghaylan to pave the way for ground forces to advance.
“If we purge Al Houthis from Nagil Bani Ghaylan, all key locations in the capital would be within the range of army cannons,” Al Haj said.
Al Houthi rebels have suffered heavy loses in the province of Sana’a.
Meanwhile, in Taiz, Al Haj said that Al Houthis and forces loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh intensified attacks on army positions on the western side of the city.
“They are trying to recapture their previous locations in the western side of the city and hence re-impose their siege to the city,” he said.
On Saturday, Yemen’s internationally-recognised government said it welcomed a plan agreed by the United States, Gulf Arab states and the United Nations to restart peace talks with a goal of forming a unity government.
“We are prepared to deal positively with any peaceful solutions, including an initial welcoming of the ideas of the Jeddah meeting,” it said.
Al Houthis are yet to respond to the proposal, but in what was viewed as a tacit rejection continued its missile attacks into Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday Al Houthis must cease shelling across the border with Saudi Arabia, pull back from the capital Sana’a, cede their weapons and enter into a unity government with their domestic foes.
