Al Mukalla: Yemen government forces on Thursday pressed on with their military offensive on the western coast of the country near the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait despite thousands of landmines planted by Iran-backed Al Houthis, army commanders said.
Major General Khaled Fadhel, the commander of Taiz Axis, told Gulf News the rebels have laid thousands of landmines in the areas along the coast on the Red Sea in order to slow down advances by government forces.
“Al Houthis cannot fight face to face as they have lost their fighters and arms in the coalition’s precise air strikes. So they plant landmines and deployed snipers,” he said.
The current military assault near Bab Al Mandab is part of a large military operation launched on Friday night supported by the Saudi-led coalition.
Army commanders say the final phase of Operation Golden Arrow would see the liberation of Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city.
Fadhel said that military advisers from the Saudi-coalition are advising government ground forces, adding that the coalition’s massive air raids on Al Houthis have sunk their morale.
“We are clearing the liberated areas from landmines using some machines and explosive experts,” he said.
Government forces have killed dozens of Al Houthis and captured many others in the past couple of days, according to the military commander.
The next target of the operation is to liberate the port town of Mocha, where Al Houthis receive arms shipments from Iran.
Local journalists who visited the liberated areas in Dhobab districts on Wednesday posted photos of bodies of several Al Houthis left behind after the fighting.
Also in Taiz, local activists who document daily clashes in the city said on Wednesday night that five Al Houthi militants and a government loyalist were killed in heavy battles in districts in the city.
Two civilians including a child were also killed by Al Houthi indiscriminate shelling on residential areas in central Taiz.
Fadhel said the government took control of two main mountains in the district of Al Wazyia.
Fighter jets from the Saudi-led coalition on Thursday launched massive air strikes on many military positions controlled by Al Houthis across Yemen.
In the capital, at least five large explosions rocked the capital on Thursday, hitting military camps and suspected arms depots.
The coalition also carried out air strikes on Al Houthi sites in Shabwa, Hajja and Marib’s Serwah, and in their heartland of Saada.
