Yemen’s Houthis lose ground in Taiz: Pro-govt sources

By Murad al-Arifi

TAIZ, Yemen

Pro-government forces in Yemen on Thursday claimed to have captured several positions in the central city of Taiz from the Shia Houthi militia.

Pro-government forces launched simultaneous attacks from the east and west on Houthi positions inside the city, Army Brigadier-General Abdul Wahid Sarhan, head of army intelligence in Taiz, told Anadolu Agency.

"Government forces are now trying to retake the city’s Al-Dhabab area with a view to breaking a siege imposed on city residents by the Houthis and their allies," he said.

According to a statement issued by a government media center, pro-government forces have registered considerable progress east of Taiz, recapturing a number of sites in the area.

"Four Houthi militants were killed in the fighting and a Houthi tank was destroyed," the media center reported.

The assertions, however, could not be verified by pro-Houthi or independent sources.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and propping up the country’s Saudi-backed government.

Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-government forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south overrun earlier by the Houthis and their allies.

They have so far failed, however, to retake capital Sanaa, which fell to the Houthis in 2014.