Al Mukalla: The prime minister of Yemen has said that his forces have taken control of 85 per cent of Yemen territory thanks to massive air and logistic support from the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
At a meeting with Saudi, Emirati, Sudanese and Bahraini military officials in Aden, Ahmad Obaid Bin Dagher said the government of president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has denied Iran all means to have a foothold in Yemen and purged Al Houthi, Al Qaida and other militant groups from most of the country, vowing to mount a new push to wrest the capital from rebels.
“We are in control of 85 per cent of the land and are moving towards [achieving] the great victory,” Bin Dagher said, referring to liberating Sana’a from Al Houthi militia. The current military gains are a “product” of the Saudi-led coalition military involvement in general and the “active” role of the UAE in particular.
“Yes, Iran’s scheme in the Arab world has failed and their dreams of controlling Yemen and international shipping lands have been shattered,” Bin Dagher said.
Earlier this year, the Yemeni president said that government troops regained control of 80 per cent of Yemen’s land and his forces were fighting their way into new regions along the country’s western coast.
By the end of last month, Hadi’s government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, recaptured strategic areas west of Yemen, including Mokha town, Khalid Ben Waleed military camp and a number of small coastal posts on the Red Sea.
Government forces have also taken control of all border crossings with Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Meanwhile in the province of Marib, local media reports said on Wednesday that an Al Houthi field commander was killed by an air strike in the district of Serwah, Al Houthi’s last urban bastion in the province.
Al Masdar Online, an independent news site, said that Esmail Mohammad Al Sha’abani, also known as Abu Jihad, the commander of Serwah front, suffered critical injuries from the air strike and died at a government-run hospital in Sana’a.
Al Sha’abani took charge of Serwah front in June after the death of Hussain Al Saqqaf in clashes with government forces.
In the northern province of Hajjah, the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that the Al Houthi commander of Medi city, Mohammad Esmail Al Medani, was critically injured by an air strike.
Dozens of other Al Houthi fighters were killed or injured in a wave of heavy airstrikes against their positions in the same city.
