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Yemen forces lay siege to Saudi's Najran, Jizan cities: Army spokesman

Thursday, 03 December 2015 6:49 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 03 December 2015 6:55 PM ]

Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, Yemen's army spokesman

The Yemeni army says it has with the backing of popular forces surrounded the Saudi cities of Najran and Jizan as the Yemenis push ahead with their retaliatory campaign against Riyadh's deadly aggression.

The development was announced by Yemen's army spokesman Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar TV on Thursday.

He said the Yemeni army units, backed by fighters from popular committees, are now waiting for a “political decision” to capture the two cities, both located in Saudi Arabia’s southwest.

Luqman also expressed the army’s readiness to embark on an operation on a larger scale, saying that the Yemeni troops have stepped up their attacks on the Saudis.

Touching on the status quo in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib, he said the army and tribal volunteer forces are working together in a bid to restore ceasefire in two volatile districts there.

Luqman said the Saudi forces have been attempting in vain to seize the al-Omari camp north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

People gather at the site of a Saudi airstrike at Dhahban neighborhood in Yemen's capital city of Sana’a, November 29, 2015. ©Reuters

Yemen has been under constant military attacks by Saudi warplanes since late March.

The Saudi military strikes were aimed to supposedly undermine the popular Ansarullah movement, and bring fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a Saudi ally, back to power.

More than 7,500 people have been killed and over 14,000 others wounded since March.

Yemeni army soldiers fighting alongside allied fighters from popular committees loyal to the the Ansarullah movement have conducted retaliatory attacks against the Saudi aggression.

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