Cairo: Jets of an Saudi-led coalition have bombed and destroyed a depot of ballistic missiles belonging to Iran-allied Al Houthi militants in north-western Yemen, Dubai-based television Al Arabiya reported on Monday.
The targeted facility was in the province of Hajjah where government forces, supported by the coalition’s air power, have recently made gains against Al Houthis.
The Iran-aligned extremists used to fire these missiles against populous government-ruled areas inside Yemen and towards neighbouring Saudi Arabia, according to Al Arabia.
Yemen has been roiled by a devastating war since late 2014 when Al Houthis toppled the internationally recognised government and overran the capital Sana’a.
In 2015, the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, intervened in Yemen at a request from the government against Al Houthis after the militants advanced on the southern city of Aden, the temporary capital of the country after their takeover of Sana’a.
Since mid-2018, the government forces, supported by the coalition, have pursued a multi-front campaign against Al Houthis in Yemen.
A major battleground is the strategically important city of Hodeida in western Yemen. The Red Sea city has a harbour, which is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, as most of the commercial imports and relief supplies enter through it to the country.
A senior Al Houthi commander was killed in a coalition air strike near Hodeida, the Yemeni news portal Adan Al Ghad reported Monday.
Hesham Abdul Samad and a number of escorts were killed in the strike south of the city, the report said.
Abdul Samad, who hailed from Hajjah, was a prominent commander in Al Houthi military police.
Over recent weeks, dozens of senior militant commanders have been killed in coalition air strikes and fight on the West Coast front.
The government loyalists are fighting Al Houthis on the eastern and southern outskirts of Hodeida amid a massive military build-up in preparation for storming the city and liberating it and its vital harbour from the rebels.
The coalition accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of Hodeida port to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis in order to sustain their war efforts.
In June, the government forces, backed by the coalition, started a major offensive to expel Al Houthis from Hodeida.
The onslaught was temporarily halted in support of UN efforts to revive Yemen’s long-stalemated peace process.
The campaign resumed in September after Al Houthis failed to appear in Geneva for UN-sponsored indirect talks with the government.
