Several Houthi Leaders, Dozens of Insurgents Killed

Four insurgent leaders were killed in battlefronts in Taiz, Shabwa and al-Baydaa, amid casualties resulting from clashes between Saleh-Houthi militias and the Yemeni national army, and coalition raids.

Beihan Front in Shabwa Governorate witnessed fierce battles that left dozens of insurgents dead and wounded, including a Houthi leader and a number of his guards who were killed after failing to infiltrate into strategic sites controlled by the National Army and the popular resistance.

Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that 13 insurgents were killed and at least 15 were injured in Beihan. They said that Houthi and Saleh militias have also suffered material damage.

“Dozens were killed, including prominent leader Abu Abdullah al-Omrany and five of his guards, during fierce battles in different areas in Usaylan district,” the sources stated, adding that seven other militants were killed in clashes with the army and coalition raids, which targeted a Houthi site south of the district.

The national army has resisted the attempts of the militias to infiltrate into their sites, according to the sources, which said that the army prepared its artillery and the coalition forces carried out raids on the positions of the militias in the vicinity of Jabal Aqeel, destroying several military vehicles belonging to the insurgents and four rocket launchers.

Meanwhile, confrontations took place in Usaylan between the 19th Infantry Brigade and Houthi militias in which the two parties used medium and heavy weapons.

Houthi Leader Abu Ammar and some of his guards were killed in a sudden attack by popular resistance forces in Quraishyah District while other fronts have witnessed confrontations and bombardments by the insurgents, targeting sites for the army and the popular resistance in addition to residential areas, according to what political activist Ahmed al-Hamzi told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Moving to Taiz front, national army forces have foiled an infiltration attempt and an attack by coup militias in Jabal Habshi. Two Houthi leaders, Abui Ali al-Shami and Abu al-Ezz, were killed during their attempt to attack national army bases, a military source in Taiz confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat.

In the same context, At least 14 Houthi militiamen were killed Tuesday in clashes with army troops in Yemen’s northwestern Hajjah province, according to army sources. In a statement, the army said Houthi fighters had tried to recover the body of a Houthi field commander, Ali Zahra.

Zahra had been killed one day earlier while fighting army troops in Hajjah’s coastal city of Midi. According to the army statement, the Houthis’ bid to recover the slain commander’s body had led to the renewal of clashes, which eventually ended with a Houthi withdrawal from the area.

Tuesday’s clashes left at least 14 Houthi fighters dead and an unspecified number of others injured, according to the same statement. Anadolu Agency was unable to independently verify the army’s assertions.

For the last two years, Yemen’s coastal city of Midi has seen frequent clashes between pro-government forces and the Houthis and their allies.