Yemeni Forces Target Militant Bases in Ma’rib, Killing Dozen of Saudi Mercenaries
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemeni army troops and their allied Popular Committee forces staged an attack against Saudi-backed militants loyal to fugitive former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi strongholds in Ma'rib, killing over two dozen.
Citing Yemeni military sources, Yemen News Portal website reported that at least 29 Hadi loyalists and militants affiliated with the Salafist Islah Party were killed on Tuesday in fierce clashes with Yemeni soldiers and their allies.
The sources added that a number of high-ranking militant commanders, some of whom were identified as Saber al-Amiri, Amin Saleh al-Shahari and Ahmad Zaif al-Nahmi, were among the fatalities.
The development took place as Saudi Arabia upped the ante in the war on Yemen by conducting a new round of airstrikes targeting various areas across the crisis-hit country.
Yemen’s al-Masirah television network reported that Saudi warplanes carried out 15 air raids against the Wadi Obaida district, and another 14 against the Sirwah district in Ma’rib province.
Saudi military aircraft also launched five airstrikes against the Jubah district in the same Yemeni province.
There were no immediate reports about possible casualties, and the extent of damage caused.
Earlier in the day, Saudi fighter jets had launched eight airstrikes against the Khabb wa ash Sha'af district and three more against the al-Hazm district in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf.
The raids reportedly caused severe damage to civilian structures and private properties.
Moreover, Saudi aircraft bombarded the Maqbanah district in the southern Yemeni province of Ta’iz, though no reports about possible casualties were quickly available.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing Ansarullah movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
