The Saudi-led coalition has the Houthis on the run in Yemen, having isolated them in various parts of the country and targeted their main arms depots and supply routes, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
During his daily media briefing at Riyadh Air Base on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Assiri, consultant in the office of the defense minister, said that these victories have been achieved with precise airstrikes. The navy had helped identify targets, he said.
Al-Assiri said the former Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and his supporters have been falsely claiming that they are gaining the upper hand in the conflict. He said this was untrue and that their numbers have been reduced significantly since operations began 14 days ago.
Al-Assiri said enemy combatants had resorted to stealing vehicles to use in their operations, and have been aided by some well-known Yemenis. “Some of them are sheikhs. We have targeted them and other sites in the southern part of the country so that it will be difficult for them to communicate with each other,” he said.
He said the Houthis’ armored vehicles have been targeting houses and buildings but this has been countered with airstrikes. “We have targeted their gatherings against the legitimate Yemeni government.”
“We have also targeted their ammunition depots and storage sites because they might attack civilians again and blame it on the coalition, as they did previously,” he said.
He said the coalition would do “what is necessary” if two Iranian military ships sent to the Gulf of Aden brings arms for the Houthi fighters.
Meanwhile, Al Arabia reported that the Gulf Cooperation Council is due to reject Russian amendments to a UN draft resolution banning arms to Houthis.
Russia and Venezuela have objected to the draft United Nations resolution that would ban arms shipments to leaders of Houthi rebels and the country’s former president and his son to try to halt their military campaign against supporters of the president.
In another development, the US has started daily aerial refueling for warplanes in the coalition, the Pentagon has said.
The first refueling flight took place on Tuesday night with a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker providing fuel for a F-15 fighter jet operated by Saudi Arabia and an F-16 flown by the UAE, spokesman Col. Steven Warren told reporters.
Houthis ‘on the run’
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Since the beginning of airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Kingdom has been stressing that the purpose of this operation is to restore Yemen's legitimate government that had been unseated by the insurgents who have destroyed civil institutions, attacked the country's legitimate leaders and threatened internal and regional peace.
Throughout its history, the Kingdom has always been keen to safeguard Yemen’s security and ensure its stability. It has contributed immensely to the welfare of its people by providing economic, educational and military assistance. Therefore, the Kingdom was pained to see the destruction and chaos created by Houthis in the neighboring country.
It was obvious from the outset that there was an unholy alliance between the Houthis, ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Iranian government that believed the Houthis were in control. Tehran began dealing with these gangs as if they were the real leaders of the country and reportedly signed agreements to arrange for weekly flights between Tehran and Sanaa for the transfer of Iranian military advisers to Yemen. This attitude of the Iranian government was contrary to diplomatic norms and smacked of an open support to the bloody coup that plunged the country into a spiral of violence and chaos, besides threatening the security of the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has made it clear from the beginning — and at the highest level — that it had sent messages and warnings to the government in Tehran to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries. Iranians were also asked to refrain from provoking sectarian strife and sending battalions of militia and misguided people to Iraq to establish Iranian hegemony there.
The Iranian regime also tried to improve its bargaining power with the United States in nuclear talks by stoking tension in the region and encouraging the Houthis to take control of sea ports through which the Gulf Cooperation Council countries export their oil to the outside world. Despite claims by the Iranian government and religious authorities to the contrary, maneuvers on the ground did not leave any doubt that Iran aimed to export its sectarian plans to the Arab region. A statement by the former head of the Iranian intelligence that Baghdad had become the second Iranian capital testifies to the Iran's hegemonic designs. In fact, Iran has exported criminal gangs to carry out killings, looting, destruction of property and ethnic and religious cleansing as documented by several reporters and international organizations in their reports on the atrocities committed by the Iranian militias in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. Iraq’s prime minister has also acknowledged these atrocities, but admitted that his army has failed to stop the violations committed by these militias led by the generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and clerics who are against Sunni Arabs.
The Iranian machination is aimed at distracting the attention of the impoverished Iranian people from domestic problems.The Iranian intentions were unfolded in a statement issued by a group calling itself “Hezbollah supporters” in which it spoke about the rise of the Shiite state and the conquest of holy sites.
Thus, Tehran no longer hides its malicious intentions against the Kingdom and the holy places and wants to use Houthis to create chaos and trouble.
Any attempt to cause harm to the land of the holy sites will be thwarted by the help of God. The sick minds that are planning such evil designs will be defeated thanks to God’s mercy and the steadfastness of the leadership of the Kingdom, its valiant armed forces and loyal people and support of all peace-loving people of the world.
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