UPDATES WITH CAPTURE OF TUHAYTA
By Ali Oweida
MAARIB, Yemen (AA) – Pro-government forces on Friday captured the Tuhayta directorate from Houthi rebels in Yemen’s western Al-Hudaydah province, according to Emirati news agency WAM.
According to the news agency, pro-government forces have assumed total control of the directorate, forcing the rebels to stage a withdrawal.
On June 13, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition began a wide-ranging operation to retake the western Al-Hudaydah province — and its strategic seaport — from the rebels.
Six days later, government forces announced the capture of Al-Hudaydah’s international airport.
Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.
The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies — who accuse the Shia Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies — launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at shoring up the country’s pro-Saudi government.
