Govt. Forces Make Advances Against Houthis in Yemen's Shabwa

A Yemeni government fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon at a frontline position during fighting against the Houthis in Marib, Yemen March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
A Yemeni government fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon at a frontline position during fighting against the Houthis in Marib, Yemen March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
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Govt. Forces Make Advances Against Houthis in Yemen's Shabwa

A Yemeni government fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon at a frontline position during fighting against the Houthis in Marib, Yemen March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. (Reuters)
A Yemeni government fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon at a frontline position during fighting against the Houthis in Marib, Yemen March 28, 2021. Picture taken March 28, 2021. (Reuters)

Forces of Yemen’s legitimate government have reclaimed large swaths of territory in a southern province from the Iran-backed Houthi militias, government officials said Wednesday.

The push in the southern province of Shabwa comes amid heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis elsewhere in Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa.

A Yemeni military spokesman, Mohammed al-Naqib, said the troops’ advance in Shabwa aims to cut supply lines for the Houthis who have been attacking the key city of Marib, the last government stronghold in northern Yemen, since early last year.

Government troops, aided by allied Giants Bridges, swept through Shabwa earlier this month, retaking most of the Usailan district from the Houthis. Al-Naqib said they also pushed through the nearby Bayhan district, retaking several villages.



Erdogan: Türkiye Stands with Lebanon Amid Tensions with Israel

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Erdogan: Türkiye Stands with Lebanon Amid Tensions with Israel

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Khiam in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on June 26, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye stood in solidarity with Lebanon in light of growing tensions with Israel, and called on regional countries to also support Beirut.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to spread the Gaza war to the region and that this would lead to a "catastrophe", adding the Western support for Israel was "pitiful.”

Israel’s low-level conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah has escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war.

A senior Israeli official said Tuesday Israel and the United States will devote an unspecified number of weeks to trying to reach a new arrangement with Hezbollah before resorting to other means to bring calm to the Israel-Lebanon border.

“We will now dedicate long weeks ... in an attempt to reach an arrangement” along the border, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said.

Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas shortly after the Palestinian militants’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Israel has responded with airstrikes.