Yemen army suffers losses in Al-Hudaydah, Al-Bayda

By Shukri Hussein and Ali Aweida

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - At least 15 soldiers were killed Wednesday in Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah and Al-Bayda provinces.

According to an army-linked website, seven soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a landmine in Al-Hudaydah’s Al-Khokha district.

“The vehicle struck a landmine after conducting a security patrol in a village near Al-Khokha,” the website reported.

Last week, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched a wide-ranging operation to retake Al-Hudaydah -- and its strategic seaport -- from Houthi rebels.

In a related development, a military source told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that another eight soldiers had been killed fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen’s central Al-Bayda province.

The source, who asked not to be named, said the army had recently launched fresh operations aimed at recapturing Al-Bayda from the rebels.

According to the same source, the army has so far managed to capture the strategic Mount al-Khaliqah region, which overlooks Al-Bayda’s Al-Yasbal area.

Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as proxies for Shia Iran -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

The following year, UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait failed to end the destructive conflict.

The violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.