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The Houthi group bombed a Yemeni army camp in Shabwa, killing 12 soldiers, while the group acknowledged the killing of one of its leaders in the area. While the Arab coalition spotted a booby-trapped boat in Hodeidah, the United Nations issued a statement about the Emirati ship being held by the Houthis.
Local sources reported that 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed and others wounded, on Wednesday, in a ballistic missile shelling by the Houthi group on the home of an official in the Usaylan district, south of Shabwa governorate, in the east of the country.
A local official in Shabwa said that the Houthi group fired a ballistic missile at the house of the director general of Asilan Directorate, Brigadier General Nasser Al-Qahih Al-Harthi, during a meeting in which Yemeni military and civilian leaders were included in the directorate center, south of Shabwa.
He explained that 12 soldiers accompanying some of the military leaders were killed, others were wounded, while none of the commanders was hurt.
He pointed out that among the military leaders present at the meeting were the commander of the Ataq Axis, Aziz Al-Atiqi, the commander of the 2nd Brigade Giants Hamdi Shukri, the commander of the 163rd Infantry Brigade, Qassem Al-Harthy, the commander of the operations of the Bayhan Mubarak Al-Harthy axis, and others.
drone
On Wednesday, the Houthi group announced the downing of a drone in Shabwa governorate, in the east of the country.
“Our air defenses managed to shoot down an armed Chinese-made spy plane belonging to the UAE Air Force,” military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
He pointed out that the plane “was carrying out hostile acts in the airspace of the Usaylan district, west of Shabwa,” explaining that the process of shooting down the plane was carried out with a “homemade surface-to-air missile.”
On the other hand, the Houthis acknowledged the killing of one of their leaders in Shabwa Governorate. “The leadership of the local authority in Shabwa mourned the governor’s deputy, Ahmed Muhammad Abdullah al-Hamza, who was martyred while performing his duty in the battle to defend the homeland in the Bihan district of the province,” their Saba news agency said, without further details.
Military sources loyal to the internationally recognized Yemeni government stated that “an air strike targeted a convoy of Houthi leaders on Tuesday evening,” killing and wounding other officials in their ranks.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Yemeni army announced its complete control of the 163rd Brigade, which is located between the districts of Usaylan and Baihan, after fierce battles.
In Marib, a commander in the Yemeni government’s army was killed, during clashes with the Houthis, on Wednesday.
A military source explained that Colonel Farhan al-Naqib, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, was killed in continuous confrontations with the Houthis, south of Ma’rib.
Since last February, the Houthis have been fiercely fighting the pro-government forces that control the city of Ma’rib, the center of the province of the same name, with the aim of reaching the city, which will allow them to lay their hands on the entire north of Yemen.
hostile action
In a related context, the Saudi-led Arab coalition announced that it had monitored a process of preparing for a hostile action with a booby-trapped boat from the Salif port, which is under the control of the Houthis in western Yemen.
In a statement, the coalition said, “We monitored a process of preparing for a hostile action with a booby-trapped boat from the Salif port” in Hodeidah governorate, without giving further details.
And Saudi television reported that the coalition had received a distress call from an oil tanker that was subjected to armed harassment off the city of Hodeidah, shortly before midnight on Wednesday/Thursday.
On another issue, the coalition stated that its information indicates that the planning and execution of the piracy operation of the Emirati ship Rawabi last Monday started from the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.
“The port of Hodeidah is a major center for receiving and assembling Iranian ballistic missiles,” he added.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, had announced the detention of an Emirati cargo ship off the coast of Hodeidah Governorate, “with military equipment on board and carrying out hostile acts.”
On the other hand, the official spokesman for the Arab Coalition, Turki Al-Maliki, said that the ship was carrying out a naval mission from Socotra Island (southeast of Yemen) to the Saudi port of Jizan, carrying on board all the field equipment for operating the Saudi field hospital on the island.
The United Nations said, on Wednesday, that the circumstances surrounding the detention of the Emirati ship Rawabi by the Houthis are unclear, calling for respect for the rights and obligations related to maritime navigation in accordance with international law.
This came in a press conference held by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, at the permanent headquarters of the International Organization in New York.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are still unclear, and the United Nations is following with concern reports that the Houthis have seized a ship flying the UAE flag,” Dujarric said.
Yemen has been witnessing for nearly 7 years a continuous war between the pro-government forces backed by an Arab military coalition led by the neighboring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.
The war resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including many civilians, according to several humanitarian organizations.
