Home to Yemen’s largest industrial project, a now-shut liquefied natural gas export facility at Belhaf, Shabwa is divided among al Qaeda, government troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Houthi forces and armed tribes.
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Yemeni pro-government officials on Tuesday dismissed reports that they and their opponents were on the verge of reaching a ceasefire deal after weeks of tense talks in Kuwait.
They also vowed to take “all measures necessary to defend the sovereignty” of Saudi Arabia in light of Monday’s alleged missile attack. “Furthermore, the Air Defence forces also destroyed the missile launching pad, the location of which was located inside Yemeni territory”.
“The aim of this offensive is to silence Al Houthi canons and shells that hit civilians in the neighbouring areas”, a senior government official who is familiar with the battle told Gulf News on Sunday.
Sunday s fighting flared despite an early April ceasefire that paved the way for ongoing peace talks in Kuwait.
The military innovation came after Ansarullah forces realized that the S-75 missiles can not be efficiently utilized for targeting the advanced military warplanes belonging to a Saudi-led military coalition, which have been pounding Yemen for about a year.
The government-allied forces said that 22 of their fighters were killed and 25 were injured.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief reporters.
Yemen has been racked by violence chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and pro-Saleh forces overran capital Sanaa and several other parts of the country.
The war has killed more than 6,200 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people.
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UN-brokered negotiations between the Yemeni government led by President Hadi and the Houthis and their allies kicked off in Kuwait City on April 11.
