Al Mukalla: Local security authorities in Yemen’s province of Marib have seized a shipment of arms hidden in a truck en route to Al Houthi-held territories in northern Yemen.
A checkpoint manned by government forces in Marib stopped a truck carrying dozens of Ak47 assault rifles on Wednesday, Yemen’s Defence Ministry said in a statement on its official website.
Policemen who questioned the driver said that he was on his way to deliver the arms to the Iran-backed Al Houthis who control neighbouring Sana’a.
Since the beginning of the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen three years ago, local military and security authorities in Marib have intercepted many arms shipments on their way to Al Houthis.
Some of the arms include sophisticated anti-tank missiles and came from Hadramout province.
The Saudi-led coalition and the internationally–recognised government have repeatedly accused Iran of fuelling the conflict in Yemen by sending arms and ballistic missiles to Al Houthis.
Despite the coalition’s tight air and sea blockade on arms shipments to Yemen, local military experts believe some shipments still seep into Yemen through the country’s vast coastline.
To curb the flow of arms, the Saudi-led coalition has deployed forces along the coasts of Yemen’s western province of Al Mahra and stepped up arms checks at Aden seaports.
One of the main objectives of the current raging military offensive on Yemen’s Red Sea coastline is to deprive Al Houthis of ports that have long served as transit points for Iranian arms.
Meanwhile, in the capital Sana’a, as many as 10 large explosions shook the city on Wednesday when Saudi-led coalition fighter jets hit Al Daylami air base.
Residents spotted large billows of smoke rising from the air base, near Sana’a airport.
Coalition fighter jets have recently intensified attacks on Al Daylami air base, apparently targeting Al Houthis’ arms depots and missiles.
In the Nehim district, in the Sana’a province, fighting raged on Thursday as government forces push to expel Al Houthis from their remaining mountainous enclave in the district.
Dozens of Al Houthis have been killed over the last three days in clashes on the ground or by the coalition jets.
In the central province of Bayhda, at least a dozen Al Houthi militants were killed when the coalition’s fighter jet destroyed three armed vehicles carrying arms and fighters bound for battlefield in the province, Yemen’s Defence Ministry said.
Thanks to the coalition’s massive airpower, government forces have managed to push back Al Houthi expansion and liberated 80 per cent of Yemeni territory.
