Dubai: A top general of forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government has been killed in fighting with Iran-aligned Al Houthi troops east of the capital Sana’a, sources on both sides of the conflict said.
Major-General Abdul Rab Al Shadadi, commander of Yemen’s Third Military Region — which has its headquarters in the city of Marib east of Sana’a — was the most senior member of the Yemeni forces to be killed in nearly 19 months of civil war in Yemen.
On Saturday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel quoted a statement from the Hadi government as saying Al Shadadi died in hospital after being badly wounded in Marib.
A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting to restore Hadi to power since March 2015, after the Iran-aligned Al Houthis seized Sana’a and forced the internationally recognised government into exile.
UN-sponsored talks to stop the fighting, which has killed more than 10,000 people, ended inconclusively in August.
Last month, a source in the Saudi-led coalition said the head of Al Houthi special forces, Major-General Hassan Al Malsi, was killed while leading a squad of Al Houthi fighters trying to infiltrate Yemen’s southern province of Najran.
Tehran continues to supply Al Houthi rebels with arms despite international calls to stop.
Saudi Arabia sees regional rival Iran as the paramount threat to Middle East stability because of its support for Shiite militias that Riyadh says have inflamed sectarian violence.