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On Saturday, Houthi fighters captured 13 points of the Saudi-backed forces supporintng Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in Sirwah district of Ma’rib governorate, according to the Houthis media wing.
The media outlet also announced that 21 pro-Hadi fighters were killed or injured in the attack.
Houthi fighters also destroyed two vehicles of pro-Hadi forces with ATGMs in al-Mukhadarah and al-Rabiah valleys in Sirwah district. Moreover, the Houthis shelled many positions of pro-Hadi forces in Sirwah district with Katyusha rockets.
In a related development, the Saudi-led coalition deployed 3 additional MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems and 8 self-propelled artilleries to Ma’rib governorate, according to local sources. The source added that the equipment entered Yemen throw al-Wadia’a crossing on the Yemeni-Saudi border in Hadhramaut governorate.
Meanwhile, Yemeni officials said that 6 people including 2 al-Qaeda fighters were killed in an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) strike on Al Bayda Governorate. It’s very likely that the US was behind the UCAV strike.
Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen, the al-Qaeda strength in Yemen has grown dramatically. Furthermore, ISIS managed to establish several footholds in the central and eastern parts of Yemen.
So far, the Saudi-led coalition has not taken any serious actions against al-Qaeda or ISIS in Yemen.
