Al Mukalla: Yemeni army commanders in southern Yemen deny that Al Houthis fighters are close to recapturing the strategic Al Anad military base in Lahj province.
Local media reports have recently raised the alarm about the rebels’ ability to shell the base after seizing control of locations on Jales mountain that overlooks the base.
“There is no immediate threat to the base,” Major General Ahmad Sayef Al Yafae, the commander of Aden-based 4th Military Region, told Gulf News on Sunday.
“We have forces that would not only defend the base but also push them out of their locations there,” he said.
Fierce fighting has broke out between the government forces and Iran-backed Al Houthi militants on many fronts as the rebels seek to make territorial gains as peace talks Kuwait have failed to make considerable progress towards ending more than a year of conflict.
Al Yafae said that Al Houthis have mounted various assaults on his forces’ locations near Bab Al Mandab straight and Karash region in Lahj using advanced arms they received from Iran.
“Al Houthi fighters have also recently used Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles in battles in Ban Al Mandab. They sometimes abruptly shell our forces with canons and mortar and regain control of an area, but we quickly recapture them,” he said.
The army commander said that Al Houthis with the support of army units loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh have stolen advanced weaponry that Yemen previously received from the US to fight on Al Qaida’s front lines in southern Yemen.
“The US had given Yemen modern weapons and military equipment including advanced snipers and night vision goggles worth USD500 to fight Al Qaida. They first stored them to fight off government forces if they advanced into Sana’a. But after peace talks in Kuwait, they diverted them to frontlines in Bab Al Mandab,” he said.
Al Yafae said that the base is currently hosting units from Southern Resistance, reservists, army troops and Arab military training experts.
“There is not a single American soldier there or combatant Arab forces.”
Elsewhere, Yemeni government forces recaptured many hilly locations in the Al Matoun and Al Ghayel districts in Jawf province after “heavy” clashes with Al Houthis fighters. In the besieged Tiaz, residents said that Al Houthis launched consecutive attacks to capture the 35th Brigade headquarters.
