Yemeni drones hit Saudi communications systems

Yemeni drones have hit communications systems belonging to Saudi-led forces which have been attacking the country’s key port of Hudaydah, al-Masirah television network has reported.

“Drones belonging to the Yemen army and popular committees, in an important operation, attacked communications systems of the invading and occupying forces in the western coast of Hudaydah,” the television said Sunday.

“The attack came after careful observation of the enemy’s movements,” it said, stating that the operation was set to “deepen crisis among the invading forces and undermine and confound their options” in the offensive.

The report also said a number of mercenaries fighting for Saudi Arabia had been killed in an air raid after attempting to flee the battlefield in Hudaydah.

Meanwhile, media outlets close to the coalition admitted that five members of the Abu-Haroon battalion of the so-called Fifth Amaliqa Brigade had been killed and several others injured after their position was mistakenly bombed by Saudi aircraft.

The battle for Hudaydah on the Red Sea, which began last month, has hit a brick wall in the face of stiff resistance put up by Yemen’s Houthi fighters and their allies.

The UAE has been helping coordinate the battle to retake Hudaydah which is Yemen’s largest port on the Red Sea. Its strategic view of the battle is bigger than just the port because the Persian Gulf Arab state has also been working in Somalia and Eritrea to expand its influence in the region.

After going on for several weeks, the battle for Hudaydah was paused in the first week of July to allow for a potential diplomatic solution as Saudi-led forces were dealt serious blows on multiple fronts.

Saudi Arabia and its supporters in the West have come under attack over the humanitarian crisis which the offensive has sparked. The British daily The Independent has characterized the assault as “a deliberate act of cruelty by the Trump administration,” highlighting US support for Riyadh.

With the Hudaydah battle being drawn into a stalemate, Saudi media said militants led by the kingdom were pushing towards an ancient town in the west.

According to Al Arabiya television, they had taken new areas in the Kataf district in Sa’ada Province and killed 10 Houthi fighters after fierce clashes.

Clashes were raging on the edges of the town of Zabid after Saudi-led forces gained control of the al-Zour and Khashba Mountains and cut off Houthi supply lines in the al-Atfain and al-Muleil front east of Sa’ada, the network claimed.