Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by President 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.
The Houthi rebel movement, also known as Ansar Allah, launched an attack on the Yemeni and Saudi forces and gained control over the government forces’ positions in Yemen’s Saada governorate, which borders Saudi Arabia, a local military source said on Friday.
“The Ansar Allah movement launched a large-scale attack on the Yemeni and Saudi forces in Al Malahez area of Al Dhaher District, southwest of Saada governorate,” the source said, stressing that during the military operation the Houthis managed to gain control over seven important locations.
According to the source, the Houthi movement took control of the road, which links the Saada’s Al Malahez and Harad districts of the northwestern province of Hajjah.
The clashes resulted in causalities among the Yemeni government troops and the Houthis, who managed to capture several Saudi-led coalition fighters.
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, has been fighting the Houthi movement for over four years now in a war that has left more than a half of the 28 million population in need of humanitarian aid.
