Clashes between the Houthi rebel movement, also known as Ansar Allah, and the Yemeni government forces resumed on Monday in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah, a local military source stated.
“The Ansar Allah movement launched a large-scale attack on military positions of the Yemeni government troops in the districts of Abs, Hiran and Harad, northwest of Hajjah”, the source said.
According to the source, the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s warplanes carried out seven raids on Houthi groups in Hajjah’s districts of Abs, Harad and Mustaba and also provided the Yemeni army with reinforcements coming from the neighbouring province of Amran.
Some of the Ansar Allah militants were killed and wounded as a result of airstrikes.
The report comes after unknown militants perpetrated an explosion that hit an oil pipeline in the Shabwah province in southeastern Yemen. Prior to that, the Yemeni Houthis announced that they would halt their attacks and expected the Saudi-led coalition to stop its air campaign in return.
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the rebel Houthi movement for several years now. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request since March 2015. The conflict has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country. Meanwhile, a UN report said that if the conflict lasted through 2022, Yemen could become the poorest country in the world.