ADEN // Yemeni government loyalists freed coastal areas along the strategic Bab El Mandeb strait from Iranian-backed rebels on Thursday.
The troops, backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition, seized Bab El Mandeb and the town of Dhubab in the southern province of Taez near the strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.
Yemeni government spokesperson Rageh Badi told The National that a short military operation by Yemen's army and anti-Houthi resistance fighters expelled the rebels from the area and also freed Mayoon island, situated in the strait.
“The military operation started early this morning with cooperation from the coalition forces”, Mr Badi added.
He said UAE and Saudi Arabian forces took the most active role in supporting Yemeni troops during the battle.
The Bab El Mandeb waterway connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Millions of barrels of oil pass through the strait on cargo ships every day on their way to international markets.
Houthi rebels and allied fighters loyal to Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh took over the area earlier this year.
“We managed today to take back Bab El Mandeb and Dhubab with heavy fighting after having received reinforcements from Aden,” said military official Abedrabbo Al Mihwali. Up to 23 rebels and 15 loyalists died in the fighting.
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition, which includes the UAE, intervened in a bid to restore Yemen’s internationally recognised president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to power. Pro-government fighters along with coalition troops freed the southern port city of Aden from the rebels in July and have since turned their offensive northwards towards the capital Sanaa.
Mr Hadi met with the UAE’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the United Nations General Assembly this week, state news agency Wam reported on Thursday.
Sheikh Abdullah congratulated Mr Hadi on his return to Aden from exile in Saudi Arabia. Aden is currently serving as Yemen’s temporary capital while the rebels are in Sanaa.
Also on Thursday, additional Yemeni military forces went north from Aden towards Taez city to support resistance fighters there against the rebels. The city has been under heavy shelling by the Houthis for weeks.
According to local reports, the rebels that retreated from Bab El Mandeb headed for Taez province’s Al Mocha and Al Wazeya districts. There are currently violent clashes in Al Wazeya between the rebels and resistance fighters. Houthi rebels are reportedly trying to open up a new front in Taez, according to Nasser Al Sakkaf, a journalist based in the province.
Mr Badi said the military and coalition forces will first advance up the coast towards Al Mocha in a bid to free it from the rebels.
Last month, loyalist forces began a major ground offensive in the central Marib province east of the capital.
Meanwhile, the UAE Armed Forces announced on Thursday that one of its soldiers, Ahmed Al Balooshi, died in a German hospital after he was wounded in Yemen.
He had been fighting in Marib, Wam quoted the army as saying.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* with additional reporting from Agence France-Presse
