Screen grab from combat footage released by the Houthis.
On July 9, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) announced that they had recaptured all the areas they had lost to Saudi-backed forces in the al-Zahir district in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda.
Saudi-backed forces launched a large-scale offensive in al-Zahir last week. Initially, the forces made serious gains in al-Zahir and other parts of al-Bayada.
The situation began to change on July 7, when the Houthis repelled two ground attacks in al-Zahir and the nearby district of al-Sawma’ah. On July 8, the Yemeni group recaptured al-Zahir district center.
Map keys: Green: areas recaptured by the Houthis, Red: areas controlled by Saudi-backed forces. Click to see full-size map.
The Houthis went on to recapture all the positions and areas they lost in al-Zahir in a counter-attack supported by local tribal fighters. The Houthis and their allies pushed forward from four directions.
Newly-released combat footage shows Houthi battle tanks and heavy machine guns hunting down Saudi-backed fighters fleeing their positions in the al-Zahir district.
Despite this major setback, the Saudi-backed offensive in al-Zahir has not ended, yet. Saudi-led coalition warplanes conducted several airstrikes on Houthi fighters, positions and equipment in al-Bayda the last 24 hours.
The offensive in al-Bayda was meant to pressure the Houthis, who have been leading a large-scale operation against Saudi-backed forces in the nearby province of Ma’rib. Now, however, the pressure is on the Saudi-led coalition and its proxies.
