Army claims to capture Houthi positions in NW Yemen

By Mohamed al-Samie

SANAA (AA) - Dozens of Houthi fighters have been killed in clashes with Yemeni army forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen’s northwestern Hajjah province, according to a Tuesday army statement.

For the third consecutive day, the statement read, coalition-backed army forces had continued operations aimed at “liberating” Houthi-held parts of Hajjah’s Midi district.

Within the past two days, the statement added, the army had penetrated Hajjah’s Houthi-held southwestern regions amid frequent clashes with Houthi militants.

The clashes, which were still underway as of midday Tuesday, had left “dozens” of Houthis dead or injured, according to the statement.

Houthi spokesmen, meanwhile, have yet to confirm or deny the army’s claims.

For the last three months, the Yemeni army has imposed a siege on the Midi district, while engaging in sporadic clashes with Houthis fighters in Hajjah.

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

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen.

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