On Thursday, the Houthi group announced the completion of its control over the rest of the Al-Bayda governorate in central Yemen, after a large-scale military operation dubbed “Dawn of Freedom”.
This came in a press briefing presented by the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree’, in the capital, Sanaa, according to the Saba News Agency in its “Houthi” version, while no official comment was issued by the Yemeni government or the Arab coalition forces until 14:30 GMT.
Saree said, “The armed forces, with the support and backing of the Al-Bayda tribes, completed the task of liberating the remaining areas of Al-Bayda Governorate in the military operation Dawn of Freedom.”
He added: “Our forces were able to liberate 2,700 kilometers within 48 hours, during which 3 districts were liberated, namely Al-Soma’a, Maswarah, and parts of the Mukayras district on the borders of Abyan Governorate (south).”
Saree pointed out that the operation killed 70 of what he called the elements (takfiri and mercenaries of aggression), in addition to wounding 120, capturing 40 others, and damaging 10 armored vehicles and military vehicles.
He pointed out that “during the operation, the coalition of aggression launched more than 30 raids, trying to support these elements and stop the progress of the army and the people’s committees, but the missile force and the guided weapon had a lookout for it.”
Al-Bayda governorate, which links north and south Yemen, and the Houthi group controls most of its 20 districts, is one of the strategic governorates that the two parties to the conflict (the Houthis and the Yemeni government) are keen to win due to its many advantages.
The governorate is characterized by not having a popular incubator for the Houthis belonging to the Shiite sect, as the vast majority of the residents of al-Bayda belong to the Sunni sect, while the Salafist movement is prominent in the governorate, in addition to the active presence of the Yemeni Congregation for Islamic Reform Party.
Yemen has been witnessing for nearly 7 years a continuous war between the pro-government forces backed by the Arab coalition in the face of the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.
