ADEN // Heavy fighting has broken out on the border of Yemen’s Taez and Lahj provinces as government forces hold off an attack by Houthi rebels in two areas.
Army troops and fighters of the pro-government Southern Resistance repelled the rebel assaults in Al Wazeyah district in Taez and the Karesh area in Lahj, which began on Friday.
The attacks violate a ceasefire declared on April 11 ahead of UN-backed peace talks being held in Kuwait City.
The resistance and army have sent reinforcements to both areas while Emirati forces, part of a Saudi-led coalition supporting the government against the Iran-backed rebels, sent military equipment including armoured vehicles, a resistance leader said.
Mokhtar Al Suwaidi, who is leading the battle on the western front in Karesh, said the rebels fired Katyusha rockets at homes in the area on Friday, killing a civilian and injuring six resistance fighters.
"The Houthis tried to advance on the Karesh front but the Southern Resistance and the army confronted the attack and prevented the rebels from advancing even one metre," he told The National.
“The Emirati forces reinforced Karesh and Al Wazeyah fronts with different kinds of weapons, and there are huge military reinforcements, including fighters, being sent from Aden to the borders with Taez, especially to Al Wazeyah and Karesh, to confront any attacks by the rebels,” Mr Al Suwaidi said.
He said clashes were continuing in Karesh and Al Wazeyah on Saturday and that there had been a large number of casualties, but declined to give figures.
“The Houthis went to Karesh and Al Wazeyah fronts trying to tell the world that they can advance towards the south,” he said. “We will fight the Houthis until the last drop of blood, but we will not let them advance.”
The Houthis have been attempting to retake the southern provinces since pro-government forces backed by the coalition liberated Aden from the rebels last July, followed by Lahj and the provinces of Abyan and Dalea.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
