Yemeni Army Stuns Houthis in Hajjah, Prepares for Taiz Operations

Government forces are seen as they enter Abs in the Hajjah province after battles with the Houthis on Thursday. (AFP)
Government forces are seen as they enter Abs in the Hajjah province after battles with the Houthis on Thursday. (AFP)
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Yemeni Army Stuns Houthis in Hajjah, Prepares for Taiz Operations

Government forces are seen as they enter Abs in the Hajjah province after battles with the Houthis on Thursday. (AFP)
Government forces are seen as they enter Abs in the Hajjah province after battles with the Houthis on Thursday. (AFP)

The Yemeni military stunned the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Hajjah by liberating several territories in the northwestern border province.

The military media said the forces launched a widescale attack against the Houthis, liberating several villages amid a complete collapse in militia ranks. The army recaptured the villages of al-Akashiya, al-Jarf, al-Kalfoud, al-Hamra, al-Shabaka, al-Maasar, al-Dhaher and Shaab al-Dosh.

The forces destroyed an armed drone and seized a large amount of weapons and military vehicles, while the Houthis suffered major casualties.

Meanwhile, two military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the troops were seeking to liberate regions that lead to the outskirts of the heart of the Abs district. They will seek to surround it before infiltrating it from the coast. They will then move east to surround other regions in the district and the towns that stretch along the Harad-Hodeidah road to the south.

The battles on this front erupted after nearly a year and a half of relative calm.

Observers believe that troops operating in the fifth military zone were aiming to ease the Houthi pressure on the Marib and al-Jawf fronts, while it simultaneously carries out its operations to liberate the Taiz province.

The legitimate government controls the Midi, Hiran and most of the Harad and parts of the Mastaba districts in Hajjah. The Houthis control the rest.

In Taiz, the military called on people “who have been deceived by the Houthis to return to their senses and join their brothers in the national army.”

The local authority has declared general mobilization ahead of the launch of operations to liberate the province.

Meanwhile, the legitimate government urged the European Union to exert pressure on the Iranian regime to force it to cease its meddling in Yemen and support to the Houthis, said official sources.

Foreign Minister Ahmad bin Awad bin Mubarak held telephone talks with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The FM told Borrell that the “hostile Houthi militias are a dangerous threat to the future of Yemen and the region”.

“The Iranian agenda in Yemen cannot be allowed to succeed,” he urged, demanding that pressure be applied on the Iranian regime to make it stop its interference in Yemen and destabilizing acts in the region.

The pressure should force Tehran to stop using the Houthis to launch hostile acts in Yemen and against Saudi Arabia, he continued.

He vowed that the government will continue to pursue peace and back the efforts of United Nations envoy Martin Griffiths.



Thomas Barrack: Syria’s Joining Abraham Accords ‘Could Take Time’

HANDOUT - 19 June 2025, Lebanon, Beirut: US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
HANDOUT - 19 June 2025, Lebanon, Beirut: US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
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Thomas Barrack: Syria’s Joining Abraham Accords ‘Could Take Time’

HANDOUT - 19 June 2025, Lebanon, Beirut: US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa
HANDOUT - 19 June 2025, Lebanon, Beirut: US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference in Beirut. Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/dpa

Syria and Israel are engaged in “meaningful” talks through the United States that aim to restore calm along their border, according to Thomas Barrack, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to Syria.

Barrack said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday that the administration wanted Syria to join the Abraham Accords, but “this could take time” because Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa could face resistance at home.

“He cannot be seen by his own people to be forced or coerced into the Abraham Accords,” Barrack said. “So he has to work slowly.”

Trump tapped Barrack, an old friend and private equity investor, to help realize his vision for the Middle East, which the administration hopes will foster less conflict and more prosperity.

Trump made clear during his Mideast visit in May that lucrative business deals in sectors including arms and artificial intelligence were his priority, and his decision to bomb nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran last month showed his support for Israel and willingness to use force against American foes.

Barrack called the US administration’s approach a departure from previous “failed” American attempts at “nation building” and from past efforts to shape how other governments rule.

Much of Barrack’s work has focused on pushing Syria and Lebanon, both recovering from destructive wars, toward solving their own problems while rallying support from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and other regional partners.

It is unclear whether Trump’s focus on prioritizing economic development over vocal support for democracy will fare better than the efforts of previous administrations to address some of the Middle East’s most bedeviling problems, according to The New York Times.

Barrack, in his first diplomatic job at age 78, has been working his relationships with heads of state and other power brokers. He said that having a direct line to the White House and to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the fact that the administration had “little patience for the region’s resistance to helping itself,” had helped.

Much of Barrack’s effort has focused on Syria, where the fledgling government of al-Sharaa is trying to rebuild the country after a 13-year civil war.

Trump signed an executive order this week aimed at ending decades of US sanctions on Syria.

Barrack said that instead of making strict demands, the administration had laid out objectives for the Syrian government to work toward while Washington monitored its progress.

Those indications would include finding a peaceful accommodation with Israel; integrating the US-backed, Kurdish-led militia that controls Syria’s northeast; and investigating the fates of Americans who went missing during the war.

Progress on democratization and inclusive government will not happen quickly, Barrack said, and are not part of the US criteria.

American officials have expressed concerns about the thousands of fighters who came to Syria from abroad to take part in the war, mostly as part of militant groups.

Barrack said Washington realized that Syria could not expel those who remained and that they could pose a threat to the new government if they were excluded. So the Trump administration instead expects transparency about the roles they are given.

Lifting sanctions to encourage changes worked better than keeping them in place until Syria met specific demands, Barrack said.

“It is a brilliant way to accomplish the same thing, and these roll-on, roll-off sanctions have never worked anyway,” he said.

The new Syrian government’s relations have been tense with Israel, whose military has moved into southern Syria and often carried out operations there. The talks aim to quiet the conflict along the border while laying the groundwork for better relations.