Yemen Pro-Government Fighters Receive New Weapons

By

Pro-government fighters in Yemen have received weapons shipments in the war-torn city of Aden, as Shiite rebels scramble to deploy reinforcements, military officials said Sunday.

Military and port officials in Aden said new heavy and medium weapons and ammunition arrived in Aden in late July by sea to support pro-government army divisions and militias against the Shiite Houthi rebels and allied military units.

The officials said tanks, artillery, missiles and armored vehicles were included in the shipment from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have been waging a US-backed air campaign against the Iran-supported rebels since March.

After months of fierce fighting, pro-government fighters have recently pushed rebels out of Aden and advanced in Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city.

On Saturday, Yemen’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah made a symbolic visit to Aden, two weeks after loyalist forces ousted Houthi terrorists from the city.

Bahah, the highest ranking official to return to the southern city since the government announced its liberation in mid-July, is also vice president in Yemen’s internationally recognized government. He moved out of Yemen with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his team in March when the terrorists entered Aden.

Several government officials also arrived in Aden on a separate plane from Saudi Arabia. They will supervise work under way to reopen public buildings, including the resumption of broadcasts at state television and radio, and restore services in the city.

The fighting in Yemen pits the Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants and loyalists of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is now in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens was killed Sunday when a house inside the kingdom was struck by fire from neighboring Yemen.

A civil defense spokesman, Ali bin Omair Al-Shahrani, said in comments to the official Saudi Press Agency that the Saudi was killed in the border town of Najran.

Arab News

Arab News is Saudi Arabia's first English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1975 by Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz. Today, it is one of 29 publications produced by Saudi Research & Publishing Company (SRPC), a subsidiary of Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *