Dubai: The Yemeni army has liberated new strategic locations in Al Silw District in the Taiz governorate south west of Yemen with the support of the forces of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition.
According to field sources, government forces managed to seize the headquarters and command centre of the Iran-backed Houthi militia, at Al Najah School in Al Silw District.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni army bombed Al Houthi positions in Jabal Monem west of Taiz with the backing of the coalition forces after fierce battles against the militants who are currently suffering low morale following a string of losses in manpower and supplies.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition entered the Yemeni war in 2015 just months after an Al Houthi coup forced internationally-recognised Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi out of power.
He later was able to escape house arrest and flee to Aden where he temporarily shifted government headquarters.
Since then, the coalition has gained back 86 per cent of Yemeni territory but major population centres still remain under Al Houthi control.
Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of illegally smuggling weapons into Yemen to sustain Al Houthi war efforts.
One such Iranian-made ballistic missile was fired towards Riyadh last month.
Although it was intercepted, Riyadh called it an ‘act of war’.
The war has cost the lives of thousands of Yemenis and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
The latest government push seeks to take advantage of cracks in the awkward Al Houthi alliance with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s supporters who was assassinated by Al Houthis in December.
