Armed fighters of the Shiite Huthi movement sit in a pick-up truck mounted with a machine-gun in southern Sanaa on April 21, 2015, close to a missile depot on Fajj Attan hill that was hit by Saudi-led coalition air strikes (AFP Photo/Mohammed Huwais)Pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition retook Yemen’s biggest airbase from Iran-backed rebels on Tuesday in a significant new gain after their recapture of second city Aden last month.
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Military officials said allied fighters have cut off the main road between al-Anad and Taiz, which has seen heavy fighting, for the first time since the Houthis took control of it in March.
Hadi remains in Saudi Arabia, where he fled in March as the Houthis closed in on his refuge in Aden. The Houthis had damaged out of their northern strongholds and seized management of the capital Sanaa in September, plunging Yemen into one other bout of battle.
“The us soldiers and of course the favorite intolerance get done…”
The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, renewed his call on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, based on a plan involving Houthi withdrawals from main cities to pave the way for the exiled government’s return.
Hassan also added that the forces have killed dozens of Houthis during the fight to seize Al-Anad base that is located some 35mi north of Aden. The Houthis still control much of Yemen, a country that lies adjacent to key shipping routes, even after suffering losses in Aden and al-Anad.
“The nationwide military and the favored resistance have accomplished management of the al-Anadmilitary and air base”, the operation commander, Brigadier-Basic Fadel Hassan, advised Reuters by phone.
Reporting from this base, Al Jazeera’s Yasser Hasan said it was clear that the base was completely under the control of Popular Resistance Committees forces.
The assault on al-Anad began after new weapons, including armored vehicles that had been supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, arrived to reinforce fighters who had been besieging the base for weeks.
A pro-Hadi television station said they had captured the military airport.
Sunni militants of both al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have carried out deadly attacks against the Shia rebels and their supporters, whom they regard as apostates.
Witnesses stated they noticed dozens of latest armored automobiles heading in two separate columns within the morning towards al-Anad.
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The Yemeni army has been split since the Houthis’ advance a year ago.
