Yemenis encircle strategic city in al-Jawf as Saudi countermeasures fail: Report
Yemen's armed forces have encircled the strategic city of al-Hazm - the capital city of the northern al-Jawf province - as Saudi attempts to break Yemeni advances failed, a report says.
The Beirut-based al-Akhbar newspaper reported Saturday that the advances by Yemeni forces, led by the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, continue towards the strategic city and that major Saudi positions surrounding al-Hazm have fallen.
A tribal source loyal to Ansarullah told al-Akhbar that advances are currently ongoing northwest of the city, adding that a Saudi counteroffensive seeking to recapture the al-Ghail region south of al-Hazm had failed.
The source added that the Yemeni forces have gained control over a number of positions overlooking provincial government buildings in the city.
Up to 70 percent of the province is currently under the control of the Yemeni forces, he added.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia has sent dozens of military vehicles along with hundreds of mercenaries from the central Ma'rib and southern Shabwah province in a bid to push back the Yemenis advances.
Saudi Arabia has also sought to win the loyalty of Yemeni tribes against the Yemeni forces in the region by offering money, the report added.
Yemen’s al-Jawf province had been under Riyadh’s control for up to 50 years.
Due to Saudi intervention and influence, al-Jawf province was effectively deprived of using its oil reserves, which are largest in Yemen, and attracting needed investment, it added.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia expelled as many as 370,000 Yemeni workers from the kingdom in 2013 to put pressure on the former Yemeni government shortly after Yemen’s Safer oil company started operating the first oil well in al-Jawf province.
Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing back to power the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crushing the popular Houthi movement.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi war has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the war broke out.
Yemen's Houthi calls for jihad to protect Palestine against Israel
Yemeni forces target Israel-bound ship in Red Sea in support of Gaza, Lebanon
US aircraft carrier leaving Red Sea after Yemen's retaliatory missile, drone attacks
VIDEO | 85% of Yemeni displaced people face daily hunger crisis
US House passes bill targeting charities and pro-Palestine groups
VIDEO | Supporting Gaza genocide
Hezbollah attacks Israeli forces after Lebanese homes blown up
World leaders, states hail ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
MP: US accountable for possible Israeli 'foolishness' to attack Iraq
VIDEO | Israeli policies strangle Palestinian agriculture, economy
Iran's president offers condolences to Pakistan over terrorist attack
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
