Al Mukalla: Warships of the international counter-piracy operation and the Saudi-led coalition have taken part in the ongoing search process for dozens of Yemenis who went missing since Monday after their vessel sank off the Yemen’s remote island of Socotra.
The governor of Socotra told Gulf News on Thursday that the international warships rescued two passengers and now combing the sea looking for the other missing people who boarded small boats when they boat capsized. “We urge the international navies to step up their search operation as to find the missing women and children before they perish in the sea.” Abdullah Salim Al Socotri said.
Officials said that islanders take risky 30-hour voyages to the province of Hadramout on the mainland to study, get medical treatment or travel abroad as flights from and to the island stopped since the beginning of the war against Al Houthis early last year. A one-way ticket used to cost $100, an already inflated price for the residents of the poor island.
The governor said 31 survivors arrived on the island and several others are on boats and ships taking part in the search operation.
The state-run sabanews.net said president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi called local officials in Hadramout to get the latest information on search efforts
Government forces meanwhile battled Al Houthis and their allied renegade army units loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the provinces of Jawf, Taiz, Marib and other places.
In the southern city of Taiz, residents said on Wednesday and Thursday that the rebel forces fired mortar and anti-aircraft guns at residential areas and loyalists-held sides.
Local army commanders and activists who track Al Houthis attacks said that a civilian was killed and several other injured in the sporadic shelling on the city. Several government forces and Al Houthis were also killed in the fighting as the rebel forces step up attacks to recapture strategic locations in the eastern neighbourhoods of the city.
Government forces have recently launched an offensive to liberate the eastern districts of the city to put an end to the suffering of thousands of besieged civilians.
Similarly, fighting intensified around a military camp in the northern province of Jawf as the government forces fighting their way into Khab and Al Sha’af, the largest district in Jawf.
Locals in the province’s capital, Hazem, said Katyusha rockets fired by Al Houthis landed in some areas in the city.
