Yemeni Forces Make Gain on Southern Gates of Ma’rib
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemen's armed forces and allied Popular Committees have made gain on the southern gates of the central Ma'rib city, pushing Saudi-backed militants further back.
Saudi military and its mercenaries failed to halt Yemeni soldiers and their allies from making quick advances on the southern flank of the provincial capital city, according to Lebanon's al-Akhbar daily on Friday.
Despite heavy bombings carried out in their support by Saudi jets, militants loyal to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have already withdrew from most of their positions in the eastern and central areas of the Balaqin subdistrict over the past two days.
Yemeni army troops and Popular Committees have made huge advances on the western edges of the Falaj area, according to Al-Akhbar, citing local military and tribal sources, adding that they have taken control of all heights overlooking the region.
According to sources close to pro-Hadi forces, their setbacks appear to be the result of an inside job.
Sultan al-Arada, the governor general of the pro-Hadi Ma'rib province, stated his dissatisfaction with the current situation in the province, confirming that the al-Balaq al-Awsat district and neighboring territories in the Wadi al-Zannah region had been taken over by the opposing side, according to Press TV.
Saudi border guards opened fire on a residential neighborhood in the Shada'a district of Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada on Thursday, killing four civilians.
When Saudi forces invaded the Raqou neighborhood in the Monabbih district of the same Yemeni province, one civilian was killed and two more were injured.
Furthermore, Saudi airplanes launched more than a dozen air assaults against the Ma'rib province's al-Jubah and Sirwah regions.
The military aircraft also launched two airstrikes against the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a late Thursday,.
International weekly magazine The Economist wrote in its new edition to be published Saturday that Saudi Arabia is growing desperate to end its disastrous war on its southern neighbor.
The report said while the Yemen conflict has become a "quagmire" for the Riyadh regime, and cost the kingdom untold billions and damaged its relations with key partners, the Yemeni forces think they are winning the conflict.
Having failed to reach its professed goals, the war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s continuous bombardment of the impoverished country, Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
