Houthi fighters killed in NW Yemen near Saudi border

By Mohamed al-Samei

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - At least seven members of the Shia Houthi militia were killed -- and another four captured -- in Yemen’s northwestern Hajjah province near the border with Saudi Arabia, according to a statement released Monday by the Yemeni army.

"Army forces backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition have launched a limited military operation against Houthi positions in Hajjah province’s Harad directorate," the statement read.

"Our forces have retaken several military sites in Harad and are now advancing on the center of the directorate," it added.

"At least seven Houthis and allied fighters were killed, while four others were captured and several Houthi vehicles destroyed," the army asserted.

Yemen’s Houthi-run Al-Maseera news channel, for its part, reported that Saudi-led coalition warplanes had conducted more than 40 airstrikes on Monday morning in Hajjah province.

The broadcaster did not elaborate further.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled Saudi-backed government.