Yemen: Legitimate Army Advances in Saada, Considers Taiz a Priority

Pro-Houthi fighters. AFP Mohammed Huwais
Pro-Houthi fighters. AFP Mohammed Huwais
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Yemen: Legitimate Army Advances in Saada, Considers Taiz a Priority

Pro-Houthi fighters. AFP Mohammed Huwais
Pro-Houthi fighters. AFP Mohammed Huwais

Yemen’s Armed Forces on Tuesday advanced in the province of Saada, tightening their grip on rebel militias’ main stronghold.

The Yemeni army, supported by Arab coalition jets, surprised militias by opening a new front in Saada and by succeeding for the first time in liberating strategic positions in several areas in Razeh district.

Military sources said that government forces were able to liberate a mountain range and positions located in Razeh after fierce confrontations with Houthi rebels.

The sources added that the Yemeni forces are now four kilometers away from the district’s center.

At the political level, Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher met on Tuesday with the new governor of Taiz, Amin Mahmoud.

They discussed the security, administrative and humanitarian situation in Taiz, in addition to the operation aimed at completing the liberation of remaining areas in the governorate, official government sources said.

Bin Dagher condemned the immense violations committed by “Iranian rebel militias” against the people of Taiz.

The Prime Minister said the insurgents were using their war on Yemen to destroy the country’s infrastructure, kill its children and women and target public and private businesses.

“The complete liberation of Taiz remains an utmost priority,” he added.

Separately, Houthi militias on Tuesday anticipated the Yemeni parliament session to be held in the city of Aden next month, by announcing that the rebel’s “council” in Sana’a will resume holding its sessions on Saturday under the chairmanship of Yahya al-Rai.

The council meeting is part of the militias’ continuous attempts to impose pro-Houthi versions of Yemeni legitimate institutions.

Last Sunday, bin Daghr said that the Yemeni Parliament would hold a session next month in Aden to approve the budget and reorganize the legislative branch in the country.



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.