OMM Newsroom
Yemen’s government forces said Wednesday that 1,250 Houthi fighters had been “neutralized” during the “Dawn of Yemen” military operation on several fronts.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said government forces had carried out 2,309 “precise and direct” strikes using aircraft, drones, field artillery, rocket launchers and sniper units.
According to al-Nazili, the operations disrupted Houthi defensive lines, command-and-control centres, frontline positions and supply routes, enabling government forces to advance.
More than 460 military vehicles and other pieces of equipment were also destroyed or damaged, the spokesman said.
In the southwestern province of Taiz, government forces continued airstrikes and ambushes targeting Houthi forces and reinforcements, according to the statement.
Al-Nazili urged residents in Houthi-controlled areas to keep their children away from recruitment campaigns and military positions. He also reiterated an amnesty offered by Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi to fighters who lay down their weapons.
The spokesman accused the Houthis of targeting civilian infrastructure and residential neighbourhoods in Taiz. The Yemeni army also said it had captured five Houthi commanders west of the province, including senior commander Akram Amer, who holds the rank of major general.
The Yemeni government launched the “Dawn of Yemen” operation earlier this month to retake Houthi-held areas, including the national capital, Sanaa. Government-aligned forces have since reported advances on several fronts, including around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
A Saudi-led coalition has backed the operation and intensified airstrikes on Houthi positions. Earlier this month, the coalition said 100 fighter jets had taken part in one phase of the offensive; it later announced that 136 military targets had been destroyed.
The escalation follows renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, including cross-border missile and drone attacks and intensified coalition airstrikes in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen.
Yemen has been in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government from the capital. A Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in support of the government in 2015.
