SANAA, Jan 25 (NNN-SABA) – Dozens of Houthi militia fighters and loyalist soldiers were killed, in heavy fighting, outside the rebel-controlled Yemeni city of Sanaa, local army commanders said.
Brig. Gen. Abdu Abdullah Majili, a Yemeni army spokesperson, told Arab News that, a large number of Houthis were killed, after army troops resumed an offensive, aimed at cutting supply lines and expelling rebel fighters from the city.
“The national army is making major territorial gains on the battlefield. Dozens of Houthi militia fighters have been killed and the national army soldiers are counting the dead,” Majili said from the city of Marib.
A number of loyalist troops died in fighting, to seize control of several mountain locations in Nehim.
Clashes intensified outside Sanaa, a day after a drone and missile strike killed more that 110 government soldiers, at a mosque near a military training camp. The army vowed to punish Houthis for the deadly attack.
Nehim is the closest battlefield to Sanaa, but there have been no major territorial gains since 2016, when government forces pushed deeper into Houthi areas and seized control of the Faradhat Nehim military base.
Military commanders say, the difficult terrain and thousands of land mines planted by rebels have slowed their advance.
Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes on Houthi military sites and reinforcements.
In Marib, Yemen’s minister of interior said, a cell linked to the Houthis that gathered information about military movements in the city had been dismantled.– NNN-SABA
