Al Mukalla: Sudan is committed to engaging actively in the Saudi-led coalition’s military operations in Yemen until its objectives are achieved, the country’s chief of staff said.
Lt. Gen. Kamal Abdul Marouf Al Mahi said in a statement carried by the official Sudanese news agency his country was proud of its forces’ role in Yemen, and was committed to continuing in the coalition until the mission is accomplished. Al Mahi, who visited injured Sudanese soldiers receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia last week, congratulated his forces for their victories in the northern Hajja province, where they took part in a military operation that pushed Al Houthis from the Red Sea city of Medi.
The Sudanese general was apparently responding to media reports on Al Houthi claims about heavy losses among Sudanese forces and his country mulling an exit from Yemen. Military commanders in Yemen said hundreds of Sudanese soldiers are taking part in operations in Hajja province and on the Red Sea battlefield. Sudanese officers also train local security and military forces.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, fighting intensified on Monday between government forces and Al Houthis in Taiz, Hajja, Baydha, Hodeida and Saada.
In the southern city of Taiz, coalition jets escalated air raids against Al Houthi gatherings and equipment around Mokha intersection on the main road between Hodeida and Taiz, with an apparent aim of clearing the way for Yemen army troops led by General Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh to advance.
Local media reports said Tareq’s forces seized control of an important location near the intersection after killing and wounding dozens of Al Houthi militiamen. Local military officers said Al Houthis recalled a large number of militants from territories they hold, and other battlefields, and redirected them to Taiz to fight off Tareq’s forces.
Last week, thousands of highly trained forces, who defected from Al Houthis after the militia murdered Ali Abdullah Saleh in December, began a major offensive on Al Houthi-held areas east of government — controlled Mokha town.
In the northern province of Saada, Yemen’s Defence Ministry said dozens of Al Houthi militants, including a high-ranking officer, were killed on Saturday and Sunday in clashes with government forces or by the coalition’s fighter jets in the district of Baqoum. Soldiers from three different government brigades launched a sudden incursion into Al Houthi areas in Baqoum, killing a number of militants, seizing arms and ammunition and liberated mountain areas and valleys.
