Key Houthi leader killed as Yemen fighting surges again

Yemen’s Houthi militias said Wednesday a senior leader had been killed as fighting surges for the strategic city of Marib, with pro-government sources reporting his death came in a Saudi-led coalition strike.

Meanwhile, troops of Yemen’s internationally-recognised government have reclaimed large swathes of territory in a southern province from Iran-backed Houthi militias, government officials said Wednesday.

The push in the southern province of Shabwa comes amid heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis elsewhere in Yemen, including the capital Sana’a.

The militias have also stepped up their cross-border attacks, using ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones to target Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis recently also seized an Emirati ship in the Red Sea off the contested city of Hodeida.

Government’s advance in Shabwa

A Yemeni military spokesman, Mohammed al-Naqib, said the troops’ advance in Shabwa aims to cut supply lines for the Houthis who since early last year have been attacking the key city of Marib, the last government stronghold in northern Yemen.

Government troops, aided by allies from the Giants Bridges, swept through Shabwa earlier this month, retaking most of the Usailan district from the Houthis. Naqib said they also pushed through the nearby Bayhan district, retaking several villages.

A spokesman for the militias did not answer phone calls seeking comment. A Houthi media office said the Saudi-led coalition launched dozens of airstrikes on the militias in Usailan and Bayhan.

Key Houthi leader killed

Casualties have been heavy in the battles, but Houthi militias rarely confirm losses in their ranks.

On Wednesday, however, the Houthi news agency reported that the militias’ vice-governor of Shabwa province, Ahmad al-Hamza, had been “martyred in the battle,” without giving further details.

Military sources close to the government said he was killed Tuesday night in an air strike by the Saudi-led military coalition when it targeted “a convoy of Houthi commanders”, with other officials injured.

According to Houthi-linked media, the coalition air force carried out “45 raids on Shabwa” on Wednesday.

Pro-government military sources reported the deaths of 12 loyalist forces, killed by a missile launched by the militias targeting the home of a local official.

As hostilities re-escalate, the militias on Monday seized a ship flying a United Arab Emirates flag. The coalition insisted it was carrying medical supplies.

The Saudi-led coalition on Tuesday called for the Houthis to release the Emirati ship Rwabee, warning that it would attack ports used by the militias to seize the vessel, a move that would likely further undermine the cease-fire in Hodeidah.

Houthi threats to maritime shipping

Saudi state media reported on Wednesday that the coalition received a distress signal from an oil tanker after it was subjected to “armed harassment” off Yemen’s Hodeidah port.

The report gave no further details but said there were “high-risk indicators” in waters off Hodeidah port on the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest maritime lanes.

Earlier on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), part of Britain’s Royal Navy, issued an advisory that a vessel near Salif port, north of Hodeidah, reported a suspicious approach by an unknown craft.

UKMTO said the vessel and crew were safe and had continued their passage. It was not immediately clear if it was referring to the same incident.

Hodeidah and Salif are controlled by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

Air and sea access to Houthi-held areas is controlled by the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in early 2015 after the movement ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital Sana’a.

The Houthis said on Wednesday that the coalition had diverted to a Saudi port a fifth fuel vessel heading for Hodeidah, part of a tussle over imports into Yemen.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014. The conflict has since become a regional proxy war that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and fighters. The conflict has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.