Yemeni Forces Close to Retaking Southern Ta’iz

“The Yemeni army has taken full control of 60 percent of the entire Ta’iz province in three tough battles with pro-Saudi mercenaries and they are very close to winning back the entire province very soon,” Senior Ansarullah Commander Hossein al-Houthi said.

Meantime, the Yemeni sources disclosed that a senior pro-Saudi commander along with a number of his forces has been killed in al-Jawf province.

“Taleb al-Qoh was killed when a roadside bomb targeted his military vehicle,” the Arabic-language media quoted an unnamed military source as saying on Tuesday.

Al-Houthi reiterated that the Yemeni army and popular forces repelled the pro-Saudi mercenaries’ attempt to advance in Jahmaliyeh region in Ta’iz province, and said, “The Yemeni army’s artillery units also pounded the pro-Saudi mercenaries’ fortifications in Jabal al-Han in the city of al-Zobab, injuring a number of militias.

In a relevant development on Monday, a senior Yemeni commander announced that the country’s army and popular forces have continued their advances in Ma’rib province, killing several pro-Saudi mercenaries in fierce clashes.

“Tough clashes are still underway in Eastern Ma’rib province,” Senior Ansarullah Commander Ali al-Houthi told FNA.

He noted that 20 pro-Saudi mercenaries have been killed, and said, “Several military vehicles of the enemy have also been destroyed.”

Al-Houthi said that the Yemeni army and popular forces also confiscated a large amount of weapons and military hardware from the pro-Saudi mercenaries.

“The mercenaries started pounding people’s houses in al-Hamdeh, al-Rozeh and al-Hazm regions with mortar shells following this defeat,” he added.

Meantime, at least 10 pro-Hadi militias were killed and 17 others were wounded in Koufel military base after a hand-made bomb exploded.

Also on Sunday, the Yemeni army and popular forces hit the gathering centers of the pro-Saudi military positions in Ta’iz province in Western Yemen with several ballistic missiles.

The pro-Saudi militias stationed in Ta’iz sustained heavy losses after they came under attack by, at least, two Zalzal-2 ballistic missiles.

Eyewitness said a large number of pro-Saudi mercenaries were also wounded in the Yemeni missile attacks.

They said that several military vehicles of the militias were also destroyed in the ballistic missile attacks.

Also on Sunday, Yemen’s Army, backed by popular forces, launched heavy missile and artillery attacks on the gatherings of the Saudi-led forces and Saudi Army bases in the kingdom’s Southwestern regions of Jizan and Najran in retaliation for recent killings of Yemeni people in attacks by the Saudi-led coalition.

A military source told Al Masirah TV network the retaliatory attacks on Al-Hamad and al-Thawilah military bases in Najran region were carried out by the Yemeni army’s missile and artillery units in cooperation with fighters from allied Popular Committees.

The Yemeni Army and its allies also launched mortar attacks on several gatherings of Saudi-backed mercenaries, West of al-Tuwal Crossing in Najran region, the source added.

In a separate development, the Saudi-led forces’ gatherings in al-Khouyeh and Jalah military base in Najran also came under intensive attacks as the Yemeni forces unleashed a barrage of artillery fire against the Saudi Army positions, in an apparent retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s incessant aerial bombardment campaign against the Yemeni people.

More than 12,800 Yemenis, including women and children, have been killed in the course of the Saudi military aggression against neighboring Yemen since March 2015.

This is while international right groups have repeatedly condemned Riyadh over its onslaught against Yemen. They have also warned of a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country.

The Saudi campaign was launched with the aim of reinstating Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Hadi, a loyal Riyadh ally, resigned last year and fled to the Saudi capital. He later returned to the country’s port city of Aden.

Hadi has rejected a United Nations peace roadmap, saying the initiative favors Ansarullah movement, while the movement is the main popular base which  has been defending the country against the Saudi invasion.