The joint forces in Yemen downed an explosives-laden drone flown by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the Durayhimi region in Yemen’s Hodeidah.
A source from the joint forces’ media center said the troops also took out the Houthi artillery that had previously shelled government positions.
Military sources accused the Houthis of seeking to scuttle the United Nations truce in Hodeidah through attacks against government positions in southern and eastern parts of the city.
The militias attempted to break the siege against them by shelling legitimate forces in Durayhimi.
Military spokesman for the western operations Waddah al-Dabish told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forces repelled a wide-scale Houthi attack against forces that are surrounding the Durayhimi city center.
The Houthis used artillery attacks and drones in their operation.
The Giants Brigades confirmed the attack, saying its forces repelled the Houthis on the west coast front. The Houthis incurred heavy losses in the fighting, field sources revealed.
Yemeni military media sources explained that the Houthis were seeking to break the siege against them in Durayhimi, where they have been fortified in people’s homes.
Dabish declared that the militias failed in making any advances in their recent assault.
The attack is just another of their violations of the UN truce, he said. In just one month alone, they violated the truce some 3,000 times, leaving 24 civilians dead and more than 60 wounded. They also destroyed 15 houses, seven farms and 22 vehicles.
Moreover, Dabish revealed the Houthis have dug more than 170 tunnels and trenches around joint observation points in Hodeidah, deployed more than 113 artillery guns and continued to plant mines.
The militias have brought in explosives experts from Saada, including foreigners, who are likely Iranian. They were spotted in the Zabid, al-Husseiniyeh and Beit al-Faqih areas.
They are likely overseeing the mine-planting process and studying positions where to lay them.