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Pro-gov't forces advance against Houthis in Yemen's Taiz

Xinhua, March 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Yemeni pro-government forces made significant gains and recaptured several areas from the Shiite Houthi group's control in the country's third largest city of Taiz on Friday, according to a government official.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces seized full control over the 35th Armored Army Brigade in the western parts of the besieged city of Taiz after fierce fighting that forced Houthi militias to withdraw, said an anonymous local official in Taiz.

"Taiz University and all the surrounding areas became completely liberated from Houthis," the government source said, "about 39 people were killed from both sides during the past 48 hours."

A military official told Xinhua over phone that well-trained pro-government fighters arrived from the neighboring military air base of Anad in southern province of Lahj and huge victories will be made in Taiz in the upcoming hours.

Several hundreds of people in Taiz went on streets celebrating and declaring support for pro-government forces that made unprecedented progress against Houthis during the past two days.

However, sources close to the Shiite Houthi group justified that they walked out of some areas in Taiz after reaching an agreement with the Saudi-led Arab coalition to allow the delivery of humanitarian aids.

The impoverished Arab country was plunged into violence in September 2014 when the Shiite Houthi group invaded the country's capital Sanaa, driving Yemen's internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out civil war between pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels backed by the troops loyal to former President Saleh, triggering foreign military intervention by Saudi-led coalition to restore Hadi's recognized government.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, half of them civilians.

Hadi and his government have recently returned to the southern port city of Aden under protection of the Saudi-led coalition forces which have retook the city and three other southern provinces in July last year.

The warring sides failed to reach a political solution or resume talks after their latest UN-sponsored negotiations in Switzerland in December 2015.

The deadlock came after former pro-rebel president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, said he would not negotiate with Hadi's government, vowing to "continue fighting to expel the coalition forces out of the Yemeni territories". Endit