Yemeni army surrounds town under Houthi control

By Omar Alothmani and Hacer Baser

AL-JAWF, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni army announced late Thursday that it has surrounded a southern town under the control of Iran-backed Houthi militias.

According to the army’s September Net website, the acting commander of the 6th Military Region, Maj. Gen. Amin al-Waeli, said the army units surrounded the Houthi-controlled town of al-Hazm in Al-Jawf governorate.

Noting that they also took control of some military areas that are of strategic importance in Al-Jawf in recent days, he added that tens of Houthi militias were dead and wounded.

Al-Waeli said military vehicles of the militias were also destroyed.

The Houthis have yet to comment on the issue.

The town of al-Hazm is completely under the control of Houthi militias while al-Jawf city is partly controlled by Houthis and partly by the army units.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi group overran much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.

The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen and supported the country’s pro-Saudi government.

*Writing by Sena Guler