DHALEA CITY (Yemen), July 5 (NNN-Xinhua) — Fighting between pro-government Yemeni forces and the Houthi rebels continued, as both warring sides attempt to seize more military sites in the country’s southern part.
The pro-government forces launched a series of military operations within weeks that succeeded in pushing the Houthis back to position on the northern outskirts of Dhalea province.
Military officials told Xinhua during an exclusive interview near the frontlines in the northern parts of Dhalea that “anti-Houthi offensives will not be ceased in the upcoming period.”
“We decided to continue the military offensives because the Houthis didn’t prefer to stop attacking our territories,” said Mohamed Welayl, a pro-government army officer.
“Houthis are bringing more reinforcements to Dhalea’s outskirts and on the other side, we will continue in targeting them,” he said.
Other army officers stationed in Dhalea’s northern part said that the battles will not see an end until liberating all the areas in neighboring central province of Ibb that is controlled by Houthis.
Sporadic fighting and exchange of artillery bombardment continued to escalate between the two warring sides in areas near Dhalea’s district of Qataba.
Scores of houses were left abandoned and partially damaged as a result of rockets, mortars, artillery shells fired by the two warring rivals or Saudi-led airstrikes.
The fighting also forced many families to flee their villages and head to stay in temporary displacement camps in Dhalea, without adequate food assistance.
The Houthis advanced rapidly and seized key districts in Dhalea but failed to stay longer or proceed advancement further into other government-controlled provinces as they planned previously, according to pro-government army officials.
They said that the Houthi rebels resorted to sporadically fire rockets and artillery shells that land randomly on residential neighborhoods of Dhalea city.
In April, the Iranian-allied Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of Dhalea.
The areas in the north and west of Dhalea, 138 km north of Aden, have been witnessing the non-stop fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters for about four years.
Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 after Houthi rebels revolted and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. — NNN-XINHUA