Al Mukalla: Hundreds of highly trained soldiers loyal to Yemen president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi joined other forces battling Iran-backed Al Houthis militants in the province of Sana’a.
These forces were partly credited for recent territorial gains in the province, including the recapture of strategic Faradhat Nehim military camp, in a district near Sana’a, military officials said on Sunday.
Colonel General Abdul Rahman Al Sabri, the commander of pro-government Special Task Forces, told Gulf News that at least 600 elite forces have been deployed on the front lines in Sana’a, in a major morale boost.
“The forces have been subjected to intensive military training in Marib and Al Aber military camps. They are equipped with modern arms and military skills.”
Yemen government forces have recently scored a key victory in the fight against Al Houthis by advancing deeply into the province of Sana’a for the first time since March.
Al Sabri said that recently-deployed special forces are part of two military regiments that are being prepared to take part in the fighting as forces are slowly approaching the capital.
“We are training hundreds of more troops in Marib and we have asked the coalition to provide us with more modern arms. Those forces would join in fighting when government forces get closer to the capital.” The trainers are both Yemeni and men from the Saudi-led coalition.
Al Sabri said the huge numbers of landmines planted by the retreating Al Houthis are slowing down their advances. “We have asked for more experts to remove landmines from the battlefields.”
As government forces are heading towards the capital, Al Houthi militants and their allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh have sent more troops to blunt government forces advance, Al Sabri said.
“The battlefields are like tissue box. When you take out one tissue another one pops up. When we kill a soldier another one comes up.”
After capturing the camp and the surrounding hills, Hadi’s forces are battling the militants in the Bani Ghylan region, five kilometres from the camp.
“The coalition’s warplanes have played a great role in paving the way for our forces.”
In the north, local media reports said on Sunday a Katyusha rocket fired by Al Houthis killed a boy and injured two in the government-controlled Hazem city, the capital of the northern Jawf province.
Al Masdar Online, an independent news site, said the rocket landed at a religious school as the students were about to go home.
In the south, an army general battling militants in Karash region told Gulf News that his forces recaptured some villages and surrounding hills after fierce battles with Al Houthis.. Major General Fadhel Hassan said his forces took control of Al Maysra region and part of Al Soud Mountain in Lahj province.
A nationwide military operation against Al Houthis kicked off in March when Saudi Arabia led a coalition of allied countries aimed at restoring the legitimate government of President Hadi and curb Al Houthis’ expansion throughout Yemen.
