Yemeni forces attack Saudi mercenaries’ positions, leave casualties

A pro-Saudi militant stands next to a pickup truck as it lies in a hole on a road near Mukha, Yemen, April 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have launched fresh attacks against positions held by Saudi mercenaries in several provinces across the conflict-ridden country.

The Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported on Sunday that the Yemeni forces had hit militants’ positions in Fatim Mountain and nearby areas in Sana’a Province and caused heavy damages.

Mercenaries also came under mortar and rocket attacks in the Sirwah district of Ma'rib Province and Khabb and Sha'af neighborhood of Jawf Province.

The Yemeni forces further thwarted an attempt by the militants to advance on the Mukha district of Ta'izz Province, killing and injuring a number of them.

A man sits on the rubble of a house of his relatives, destroyed by a Saudi airstrike in Sana'a, Yemen, June 9, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Meanwhile, Saudi jets bombed Sirwah as well as Hotel Sofitel in Ta'izz. Saudi mortar and rocket fire also struck Razih District in Sa’ada Province.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a brutal military campaign against Yemen for more than two years to eliminate the Houthi movement and reinstall a Riyadh-friendly former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The military campaign, however, has failed to achieve its goals and left over 12,000 Yemenis dead.

The Houthi Ansarullah movement, backed by the army and popular forces, has been defending Yemen against the protracted Saudi war. The movement has also been running state affairs since 2014, when Hadi resigned and fled to Riyadh, further destabilizing the country, which was already grappling with threats from al-Qaeda terrorists.