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.
