Yemeni government forces announced on Tuesday that they had taken control of the al-Manzara, al-Asharif and Dhiban mountains in Hayfan district, south of Taiz governorate, during clashes with the Ansar Allah Houthi group. The operation was launched by the government under the name Operation Yemen’s Dawn to retake areas and institutions under the group’s control.
Government forces announce control of positions in Hayfan
The government forces said their units, supported by the Popular Resistance, had taken control of the three positions as clashes continued on several fronts in Taiz. On Monday, they announced an advance along the western coast, starting from Dhubab and Bab al-Mandab and reaching the city of Mokha in the west of the governorate.
By contrast, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group was retaining what he described as its territorial gains, and described the government’s announcements as “fictitious victories”. He added, according to a statement issued by him, that the group’s forces were continuing to “pursue the enemy’s build-up” in the remaining districts of Taiz and Marib governorates.
Houthis deny losing territorial gains
In Yemen’s northern Saada governorate, Houthi-affiliated media reported that one person had been killed and another wounded in shelling targeting the border district of Shada. Government forces began carrying out Operation Yemen’s Dawn on Monday, after Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi announced its launch to complete the retaking of state institutions and areas under Houthi control. Al-Alimi announced what state television called “zero hour” for the start of the military operation.
Government forces said earlier that they had carried out 1122 targeting operations on the fronts in Saada, al-Jawf, Taiz and along the coast. They added that the operations targeted artillery positions, rocket launchers, fortifications, supply and reinforcement routes, as well as Houthi command and control centres.
Coalition announces air support and targeting figures
The coalition later announced the destruction of a ballistic missile launcher in the capital, Sana’a, as well as a missile storage facility inside a mountainous site in Saada, which it said contained 20 ballistic missiles. The coalition also said it had carried out attacks in Hodeidah governorate, western Yemen, on Monday evening, targeting Houthi military positions.
It said the operation included the destruction of weapons stores, depots for booby-trapped boats and naval mines, adding that the strikes hit what it described as “legitimate military targets” belonging to the group. It added that the operation thwarted plans for imminent attacks targeting waterways in the southern Red Sea, and formed part of the coalition’s objectives of protecting maritime navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Lieutenant General Sagheer bin Aziz, chief of staff of the government forces, said Operation Yemen’s Dawn would continue until its objectives were achieved and state institutions were restored.
