AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni government forces on Saturday recaptured substantial territory from the Houthis in the provinces of Al-Bayda and Shabwa.
Backed by air cover from Coalition warplanes, the loyalist Giants Brigades liberated several villages and mountains before storming the center of the Noaman district in Al-Bayda.
A convoy of armed vehicles and jubilant fighters entered scattered villages in Noaman after the Houthis deserted their positions in the face of advancing government troops.
The new military advances in Al- Bayda came a day after the Giants Brigades took full control of the district of Al-Bayhan in the oil-rich province of Shabwa after fierce clashes with the Houthis.
In September, the Houthis captured Bayhan, Ouselan and Al-Ain districts in Shabwa and later attacked the central city of Marib from the south.
Yemeni pro-government fighters load their guns with ammunition during fighting with Houthi rebels on the in the south of the strategic governorate of Marib, on January 5, 2021. (AFP Photo)
On Friday, the Giant Brigades gave a six-hour ultimatum for the Houthis to withdraw from Al-Ain, the last district under the militia’s control in Shabwa.
But instead of attacking the Houthis in Al-Ain, north of the newly liberated Bayhan, as many expected, they moved westward and began assaulting Houthi-controlled areas in the province of Al-Bayda, taking them by surprise.
The Houthis have suffered a string of military setbacks in the province of Shabwa this month, after the Giants Brigades seized control of the districts of Ouselan and Bayhan and key military bases in the province.
The Coalition on Saturday also reported destroying at least 40 military vehicles and killing 435 Houthi "terrorists" within the last 24 hours in Marib and Shabwa.
If the military gains by government forces continue at the same pace, loyalists could expel the Houthis from Al-Ain in the coming days, and cut important supply lines to the Houthis in Marib.
At the same time, Yemenis were warned against traveling on the Bayhan-Al-Bayda road due to the fighting.
