Al Mukalla: Two days after seizing control of a military camp east of the strategic Mocha in the province of Taiz, Yemen government forces on Saturday pushed Al Houthi militants from a road that links the town with the Red Sea city of Hodeida, military officials said on Saturday.
Brigadier General Abdo Abdullah Majili, Yemen army spokesperson, told Gulf News that the government forces backed massive air support from the Saudi-led coalition took control of Hodeida-Mocha road, cutting off a major supply route to the remaining Al Houthi pockets in the nearby areas.
“This means that Al Houthis will not be able to receive military reinforcements from Hodeida,” Majili said.
Top military officers who last week announced the liberation of the town of Mocha say they are facing stiff resistance from Al Houthi militants in the town who have refused to leave.
“Government forces are yet to completely push them from the city. There are still a large number of landmines and some Al Houthi snipers are hiding inside residential districts,” Majili said.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition on Friday carried out limited navy and air strikes near Mocha to support the ground forces, said Majili.
On Thursday, Yemen army and allied resistance fighters stormed Brigade 170 east of Mocha town and seized a large stash of arms hidden there, including the Russian anti-tanks missiles.
Meanwhile, in the rugged regions on Taiz, Majili said government forces were battling Al Houthis in several mountain of the Al Wazyia district.
Similarly, fighter jets from the Saudi-led Arab coalition on Saturday launched heavy air strikes on Al Hodeida, Jawf, Saada and the northern province of Hajja.
In southern province of Abyan, an army officer was killed on Saturday in an ambush in the town of Lawder, local media said.
Aden Al Ghad news site said that suspected Al Qaida militants opened fire at Rushedi Hussein Al Alwani, the commander of Security Belt Forces in Lawder, killing him and three of his bodyguards.
Meanwhile in Mukalla, the Yemeni army announced on Friday night it had rounded up several Al Qaida operatives and seized an arms cache found inside a house in the port town of Sheher.
The 2nd Military Region said on its official Facebook page that the unidentified Al Qaida member was arrested in Mukalla’s Fowa district and the army carried a preemptive raid on a house in Sheher, leading to uncovering an arms depot including landmines, ammunition, RPGs and explosive materials.
The government forces, trained and armed by the UAE, liberated the entire coast of Hadramout from Al Qaida militants in April last year.
