Army spokesman: Yemen’s Jawf province almost totally freed in latest operation

Yemen's army and allied fighters from Popular Committees have liberated almost the entire northern province of Jawf after they recaptured a strategic area in the province, bordering Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, spokesman for Yemeni Army Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the area of al-Yatamah, the administrative center of Jawf’s Khabb wa ash Sha'af district, has been liberated during the latest operation carried out by the country’s armed forces, dubbed “Operation Desert Dawn.”

Yemeni army spokesman noted that the country's forces have liberated 1,200 square kilometers of Jawf province during the operation, adding that they have driven out Saudi-led coalition’s forces and mercenaries.

According to Saree, apart from some desert areas, the entire Jawf province is now free of the Saudi invaders.

The spokesman further stressed that the Yemeni armed forces will continue military operations against the Saudi-led forces in the future to defend their country and people.

"The Armed Forces promise that they have appropriate options to confront US-Saudi aggression and respond to all their crimes and attacks," Saree said, adding that more details of Operation Desert Dawn will be revealed in coming days.

On Friday, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network cited field sources as saying that the Yemeni forces are tightening their grip on Alyutamah, the last stronghold of Saudi-backed militants in Jawf.

Later in the day, it reported that the Yemeni forces also took control of the strategic international road in Alyutamah.

Yemeni forces advance in Jawf near Saudi border

Yemeni army and popular committees take control of strategic areas in the northern province of Jawf on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Alyutamah is strategically important as it lies near the border with Saudi Arabia and as an international road, which leads to Albuqa border crossing that connects Yemen and Saudi Arabia, passes through it.

Albuqa border crossing lies in the eastern part of Yemen’s Sa’ada province, and opposite al-Khadhra border crossing which is located in southern Saudi Arabia.

Separately on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition issued a statement, saying that the Yemeni forces have fired 430 ballistic missiles and 851 armed drones at Saudi Arabia since the war started in 2015.

The Yemeni armed forces have carried out these attacks in retaliation for the kingdom and its allies' intensified airstrikes against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states.

Yemen hits 'sensitive' Saudi sites, vows more 'painful' retaliation

Yemen

The aim was to return to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the popular Ansarullah movement which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.

The war, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, but it has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people and has turned entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations says more than 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.

Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

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