[ Arab News Pakistan ] Yemeni government forces retake key district in Al-Bayda as Houthis flee

Yemeni government forces retake key district in Al-Bayda as Houthis flee

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.

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. 

Yemeni pro-government fighters man a position during fighting with Houthi rebels in the south of the strategic governorate of Marib, on January 4, 2021. Photo: AFP

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.

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. Photo: AFP

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.