Southern Forces Inflict Heavy Losses on Houthis on the Al-Bayda Border
Yemeni military sources said that southern forces are launching a counter-offensive against Houthi militias in Al Bayda, two days after the militias tried to penetrate Yafa fronts.
The sources added that the Houthi militias in the Yafa front were killed and injured amidst an advance by the Southern armed forces and the control of Houthi positions in Az Zahir district in al-Bayda province in central Yemen.
The source confirmed that the southern forces seized weapons ammunition belonging to the Houthi militias, whose groups were severely defeated after the arrival of reinforcements from the southern forces to the lines of contact between Al-Bayda and the southern governorates of Lahij and Abyan.
The southern forces have reinforced their position along the lines of fire with Houthi militias in the areas of Abyan and Lahij governorates that extend to more than 40 kilometers. Meanwhile, reports of a planned military operation by the southern forces deep inside Al-Bayda governorate have revealed that the militias are using as a springboard for attacks on Abyan and Lahij governorates.
On Friday, Brigadier General Nasser Al-Shohti, a military official in the Yafa front, said that Houthi militias had mobilized their forces significantly towards Al-Had Yafa’a district, as part of an ongoing military escalation for several reasons, including the show of force’s muscles from Al-Bayda province.
Al-Shohti stressed the importance of liberating al-Bayda from the grip of Houthi militias to secure southern Yemen, because Houthi militias are using their strategic location, which connects eight provinces, north and south, to maintain their dominance in the north
Lt. Col. Mohammed al-Naqib, a spokesman for the southern forces, said in a statement Friday that the forces fought fierce battles along the border strip on the Yafaa front after the Houthi terrorist militia repeated their acts of aggression.
Houthi’s attacks were met with an immediate and firm response from the southern forces, causing heavy losses in their ranks, he said.
The Houthi losses have provided conclusive evidence of the southern forces’ ability to deal decisively with any hostile act carried out by the militias under any circumstances, regardless of its size, build-up and intensity of fire, he said.
Al-Bayda province is a base from which Houthi militias carry out attacks in four provinces: Marib, Shabwa, Abyan, and Lahij. Al-Bayda is also a stronghold for the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, which is acting in coordination with Houthi militias and fighting alongside them.
