ADEN // Yemen’s pro-government forces moved closer to retaking the whole of Taez province yesterday.
Loyalist forces, together with troops from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, flushed out the remnants of Houthi militia from the port district of Dhubab, which has been under coalition control for the past week.
The move further clears the way for pro-government forces to reach the port city of Mokha – another key city in Taez.
"The Popular Resistance and the coalition will not stop in Dhubab district but will continue advancing in Taez province until they free the whole province from the Houthis," Rashad Al Sharabi, of the Popular Resistance in Taez, told The National.
It came a week after forces loyal to president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi took back control of areas leading to the Bab El Mandeb strait from Houthi forces.
The Houthis have since imposed a siege on the city of Taez, firing mortar shells and rockets on the provincial capital, while more than 20 Houthis were killed in Maweya district, on the border between Ibb and Taez provinces.
“The situation in Yemen is changing in a positive way in favour of the legitimate government,” tweeted Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash on Wednesday.
He called the Houthis and their allies “ignorant” forces trying to tear Yemen apart.
State news agency Wam reported thousands of Yemenis on the streets of Aden yesterday in support of the role Saudi Arabia and the UAE play in the alliance. Marchers expressed solidarity and condemned the terrorist blasts in their city.
The coalition also denied that its warplanes had bombed a wedding in a Houthi-held town, dismissing the report as rebel propaganda. “We did not conduct any operation in Dhamar,” said coalition spokesman Saudi Brig Gen Ahmed Al Assiri, referring to the province where the strike allegedly took place.
“No strikes there. Definitely.”
Reports said medics cited 13 dead and 38 wounded after an explosion at a wedding in the town of Sanban.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Wam and Agence France-Presse