Military sources in the Yemeni army said that more than 15 Houthi militants were killed in clashes and air strikes in the Al-Saqiyyah area in Al-Masloub District of Al-Jawf Governorate, amid international calls to stop the escalation before it was too late.
The sources confirmed that a group of Houthis launched an attack early today, Wednesday, and that the army surrounded it before clashes erupted, during which artillery was used, noting that the Saudi-Emirati military coalition aircraft targeted reinforcements of the Houthis.
In Taiz, the media center of the Yemeni Armed Forces revealed through its official account on "Twitter" the liberation of a number of areas west of Taiz Governorate, central Yemen.
The center said that the armed forces are engaged in confrontations in the governorate of Taiz, through which they managed to control the Houthi group's sites in the Black Hill and Khalwa.
The Yemeni News Agency (Saba) also announced the killing of the field leader in the ranks of the Houthi group called Abu Turab with 8 others, with artillery fire from the National Army west of Taiz.
During the past few days, violent battles erupted between government forces and Houthi militants, east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after nearly two years of calm. During the battles, the Houthis were able to control mountains and strategic locations in the Nahham district, east of Sanaa.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General's spokesman for the United Nations, Martin Griffiths, Stefan Dujarric, during his briefing to Security Council members on Tuesday, stressed the importance of stopping the military escalation in the country before it was too late.
Dujarric added that Griffiths informed the Council that recent developments were undermining the progress made by the parties in stopping escalation and building confidence.
| Prisoners from the government army who were recently released in an exchange in Taiz (Anatolia) |
Prisoners exchange
Meanwhile, the Houthi group announced late yesterday, the release of 7 of its captives in two exchanges with government forces. This came in a statement by the official of the file of the prisoners in the group, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, published in the Houthi news agency Saba.
Al-Murtada said that 7 of the prisoners were freed in two exchanges in the Shabwa governorates in eastern Yemen and Al-Dhali in the middle. He added that the two exchanges were localized, without giving further details.
And repeated local mediation has succeeded in releasing many prisoners and detainees from both sides in several areas in Yemen.
On December 13, 2018, following the Stockholm consultations, the government and the Houthis reached an agreement to resolve the situation in the coastal province of Al Hudaydah, in addition to exchanging prisoners and detainees of more than 15,000. But the implementation of the agreement faltered, amid an exchange of accusations of responsibility for its failure.