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AL-MUKALLA: Heavy fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis continued on Thursday for a fourth consecutive day around a strategic mountain in Al-Madaribah Wa Al-Aarah overlooking the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, as the militia seeks to seize high ground dominating the vital Red Sea waterway.<\/p>\n
A Yemeni government official familiar with the situation along the Red Sea coast told Arab News that the Houthis had launched intense assaults on government troops defending positions in Kahbub but had so far failed to advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fighting is flaring up in Al-Madaribah, and the militia has not been able to advance even an inch,\u201d said the official, who requested anonymity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe battle has been raging for four days, and the militia has lost many fighters and pieces of equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official said the Houthis had struggled to make progress because the battlefield consists of a chain of mountains, hills and valleys, while many of the government troops defending the area are local fighters familiar with the terrain.<\/p>\n
The Houthis seized the Red Sea port city of Mokha, the base of the government\u2019s National Resistance forces commanded by Presidential Leadership Council member Tareq Saleh, on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n
They later pushed south and seized the strategic Perim Island in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, giving them a foothold on one of the world\u2019s most important international shipping routes.<\/p>\n
Yemeni government forces subsequently regrouped near Al-Madaribah Wa Al-Aarah, not far from Bab Al-Mandab, in an effort to prevent the Houthis from advancing further south.<\/p>\n
The government official said the Houthis appeared to be seeking control of the mountainous positions overlooking Bab Al-Mandab, although he said they could also attempt to push further south toward Aden, the seat of Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deployed large forces, but struggled to advance and suffered personnel losses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey continue to launch missiles and drones at soldiers in their positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yemeni government forces have meanwhile carried out extensive strikes against Houthi positions along the Red Sea coast, targeting gatherings, military vehicles, trenches and fighters on motorcycles.<\/p>\n
The Yemeni army said warplanes had struck Houthi reinforcements southeast of Taiz over the previous 24 hours, as well as additional reinforcements moving along the Al-Bareh-Mokha road west of the city.<\/p>\n
The army also said it had foiled a Houthi attack in Jabal Habashi district, west of Taiz.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi said on Thursday that the Houthis had suffered heavy losses in Taiz, Marib, Lahj, Jouf, Hajjah, Al-Bayda and Al-Dhale, and vowed that government forces would regain the initiative and recapture areas held by the militia.<\/p>\n
During a meeting in Riyadh with outgoing French Ambassador to Yemen Catherine Corm-Kammoun, Al-Alimi said government forces would reverse recent Houthi gains along the western coast.<\/p>\n
He described the militia\u2019s advances as \u201ctemporary\u201d and said they would not deter the government from pursuing its broader objective of restoring state control over Houthi-held territory.<\/p>\n
Al-Alimi said that in the early stages of the war, shortly after the Houthis seized Sanaa in late 2014, the group believed it had the upper hand and could take control of the entire country.<\/p>\n
Government forces later regained Aden and around 70 percent of Yemen\u2019s territory, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is unfolding today marks a new phase in the ongoing struggle waged by the state to restore its institutions, secure its territories, coasts and territorial waters, and protect maritime corridors from armed threats and cross-border smuggling networks,\u201d the official SABA news agency quoted Al-Alimi as saying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n