Yemen – Government forces launch a military offensive, advance towards the strategic strait

Sana, 5 October /ATSH-DPA/ – Yemen’s government forces today launched a broad military offensive aiming to retake the capital Sana from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as well as to regain control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Council, announced the launch of the operation called “Dawn of Yemen”, at a time when armed clashes have continued in the country for several weeks, within the framework of the long civil war.

With the launch of the operation, Yemeni military sources confirmed that government forces undertook a large-scale offensive to retake the areas controlled by the Houthi rebels.

According to these sources, the Giants Brigades and the Nation Shield Forces, two military formations fighting alongside the government forces, have advanced in the areas around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in southwestern Yemen.

The sources said that these units were engaged in fierce fighting with the Houthi rebels in the Dhubab area, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and were close to completely cutting off the supply route the Houthi rebels use to bring supplies into this area.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s “Saba” news agency, which is controlled by the Houthi militia, quoted a military source of the group as saying that the reports about the advance of government forces towards Dhubab were “untrue”.

According to the Houthi rebel source, these reports aimed to hide what he described as the “failure and repeated losses” of the Saudi-backed forces.