(Aden) Yemeni Government forces launched an assault on Saturday to
recapture the coastal Dhubab district, just 30km north of Bab al-Mandab, which
links the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The offensive was launched from Bab Al Mandeb, which is
under government control, with five brigades under the command of former
defence minister Haitham Taher and deploying armoured vehicles supplied by the
UAE. Houthi rebels are in retreat after
targeted air strikes enabled ground forces to advance and liberate Dhubab, Al
Mansoura and the Al Omri Mountains in western Taez province. However clashes
continued on Saturday around Al Omri military camp near Dhubab and it remained
unclear whether the rebels had been completely dislodged after putting up
fierce resistance, with many wounded on both sides. At least 55 Houthis have been killed in the fighting and 72 others wounded .Clashes since Saturday have also killed 13 loyalists forces, including an army general, Land mines planted by the rebels have slowed down the advance of government forces.
The government and its allies in a Saudi-led coalition
recaptured Bab al-Mandab in October 2015, pushing the Iran-backed rebels
further north. However the rebels still control nearly all of Yemen's Red Sea
coast to the north, posing what the coalition says is a threat to international
shipping by their use of anti-ship missiles which has seen two US warships and
a United Arab Emirates vessel contracted to the coalition targeted by missile
fire from rebel-held territory.
Government troops seized Dhubab in early October 2015, but
the Houthis managed to recapture the area in February 16.
November 28, 2016
The Houthis and their political allies formed a new
government. A Hadi spokesman deemed the move "a disregard not just for the
Yemeni people, but also for the international community".
The Saudi-led coalition claimed that 172 people were killed
and 686 wounded due to indiscriminate shelling in Taiz by pro-Houthi forces
during the month of November.
Pro-Hadi troops captured the Alab border crossing, which is
one of two border crossings between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Sa'dah province.
The second crossing, Al Baqqa, had already been taken by pro-Hadi troops
previously. The fighting spread the following day to the nearby Mandabah
mountain. Pro-Hadi forces also claimed that the Houthis had withdrawn from the
port town of Maydee. However, fighting was still being reported around the town
15 days later.
An IS suicide bomber killed between 48 and 50 soldiers and
wounded around 70 at a base in Aden.
Al-Qaeda captured a mountain in Bayda province and claimed
to have also seized an area of the Rada district from pro-Houthi forces.
Eighteen Houthi fighters were reportedly killed in fighting
in Taiz, while Houthi forces attempted to recapture a hill overlooking the
Sirwah airport in Marib province, which they had recently lost.
An IS suicide bomber killed between 49 and 52 soldiers and
wounded between 34 and 60 in Aden while they were collecting their salaries.
Houthi fighters managed to temporarily capture a hilly
air-defense base on the western edge of Taiz, before they were forced to
retreat the following morning. Pro-Hadi forces claimed 41 Houthi fighters were
killed, while they lost nine. Meanwhile, pro-Hadi forces reportedly captured
Mandabah mountain on the Yemeni-Saudi border.
Seven Pakistani crew members of an Iranian cargo ship were
killed when their ship was sunk in a rocket attack off the coast of Yemen.
Saudi artillery and helicopter strikes on the Saudi-Yemeni
border reportedly killed at least 30 pro-Houthi fighters, while the US military
reported 28 Al Qaeda militants were killed in nine strikes between September 23
and December 13 in Yemen.
Pro-Hadi forces captured several areas in the Nihm district
northeast of Sana'a.
Twenty-eight Houthi and 12 pro-Hadi fighters were reportedly
killed in fighting in the southern province of Shabwa when pro-Hadi forces
launched an offensive against Baihan. Fighting also took place at nearby
Usaylan. Pro-Hadi forces claimed to have made advances during the offensive.
Pro-Hadi troops reportedly captured three regions of the
Usaylan district in Shabwa province and were trying to push towards Baihan. At
least 10 Houthi fighters were killed in the fighting.
