Cairo: Yemeni government forces have seized a series of strategic mountains in the far northern province of Sa’ada, the stronghold of Al Houthi militants near the Saudi border, an army officer said on Thursday.
The seizure of the Mazher Mountains overlooking Sa’ada’s district of Baqim came after a “qualitative” military campaign against Al Houthis, Brig. Yasser Al Harthi, a commander in the Yemeni army, told Al Arabiya television.
In recent weeks, a Saudi-led Arab coalition has stepped up attacks on Sa’ada as part of a multi-front campaign against Al Houthis in Yemen.
The Iran-aligned militants have used Sa’ada as a launch pad for firing ballistic missiles across the border into Saudi Arabia.
Government forces were now in full control of the Mazher Mountains and a route leading to a village of the same name cutting off Al Houthis’ supply road, Al Harthi said.
“The village of Mazhar overlooks the centre of Baqir from the east. The National Army is seeking to retake it from Al Houthis in order to advance on Baqim,” he added.
The Sa’ada offensive is timed with a major army onslaught aimed at expelling Al Houthis from the Red Sea city of Hodeida in western Yemen.
Hodeida is strategically important because of its 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 Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting to restore the internationally-recognised government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi accuses Al Houthis of taking advantage of their control of the harbour to obtain weapons from their Iranian patrons as well as confiscate aid intended for Yemenis in order to sustain their war efforts.
The coalition is poised for a resumption of fighting after a week-long pause in support of UN peace efforts.
The coalition believes Al Houthis have exploited the temporary truce in order to reinforce their military positions inside the city.
Hodeida Governor Al Hassan Ali said in remarks published Thursday that the planned fight comes after Al Houthis turned down the government’s demand for their peaceful withdrawal from the city and its port.
“Military action is the only language understood by Al Houthis, who are good at procrastination,” Ali told pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat.
The government links Al Houthis’ complete pullout from Hodeida to peace talks that UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is seeking to revive between the country’s warring sides.
Al Houthis have been in control of Hodeida since October 2014, a month after they overran the capital Sana’a in a coup against Hadi’s government.
In 2015, the Arab Coalition initiated a campaign in Yemen against Al Houthis after the militants advanced on Yemen’s southern city of Aden, the temporary capital of the country after their takeover of Sana’a.
The coalition said on Thursday that it shot down a drone that targeted the alliance’s command headquarters in Aden.
Al Houthis claimed responsibility for operating the drone.
