Yemeni resistance fighting moved closer to areas surrounding Sanaa amid reports of heavy militia losses. Humanitarian conditions worsened in Taiz, where five patients, including an infant, died on Wednesday because hospitals lacked oxygen.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Houthi rebels announced that a Bahraini F-16 crashed on Wednesday in Jazan, southern Saudi Arabia, because of a technical malfunction, and its pilot survived. Bahrain’s defense command said the aircraft was carrying out its national duty defending Saudi Arabia’s southern border within the coalition. The pilot was rescued in good health, the wreckage was found under coalition control, and investigations into the cause continued.
Saudi air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Yemen toward Jizan. The coalition said it was destroyed without damage and that aircraft immediately destroyed the launcher after locating it inside Yemen.
Coalition aircraft intensified strikes on Houthi and Saleh militia positions and movements in Sanaa, surrounding areas, and other parts of Yemen where resistance and national army forces were fighting fiercely. Wednesday’s targets included Al-Arqoub camp, a site near Al-Dailami base, and an air-defense camp in Hamdan.
The Popular Resistance said Houthi commander Saleh Al-Zaidi and three companions were killed in a coalition strike on a gathering in Rahb, west of Sirwah, on Wednesday. Government forces continued advancing against Saleh and Houthi militias across northern and eastern fronts, particularly Al-Jawf and Hajjah. The article judged full control of contested areas a matter of time, given the fighting and continuing militia losses in personnel and equipment.
Military sources reported that forty Houthi and Saleh fighters surrendered at Jabal Al-Nar in Haradh, Hajjah, after national army and resistance forces surrounded their position during recent clashes supported by coalition strikes.
In Taiz, local sources told Al-Khaleej that militias intensified Katyusha rocket attacks on residential areas on Wednesday, killing two civilians and injuring eleven. Shelling from Al-Kadra in Dimnat Khadir hit villages and neighborhoods east of Mount Saber, injuring civilians and damaging buildings. The sources also reported thirteen militia fighters killed and thirty-six wounded, while the resistance lost two fighters and had eleven wounded in Wednesday’s clashes. Militia snipers shot two women in Al-Askari neighborhood in eastern Taiz, killing one and injuring the other.
Government forces continued advancing against Saleh and Houthi militias across northern and eastern fronts. The article again described complete control of contested areas as a matter of time, given battlefield developments and militia losses in people and equipment.
Joint Yemeni national army and Arab coalition forces made ground advances in Haradh and Midi districts along the Saudi border, a front whose capture would open the route toward Saada.
Fierce ground fighting continued with coalition aircraft supporting joint forces by striking militia positions and movements. Mines remained an obstacle. On Tuesday, the forces controlled the Haradh border crossing for several hours before withdrawing after killing dozens of militia fighters and capturing others.
Military sources again reported the surrender of forty Houthi and Saleh fighters at Jabal Al-Nar in Haradh after army and resistance forces besieged them under coalition airstrikes.
In Al-Jawf, local sources said the national army’s Al-Nasr Brigade gained full control on Wednesday of strategic Wadi Wasat, held by Saleh and Houthi forces for months. Brigade commander Brigadier General Sheikh Amin Al-Akimi confirmed full control of the valley after several days of fierce fighting.
Responsible military sources denied militia claims that they had regained parts of Al-Hazm district, the provincial capital.
Brigadier General Abdel Qader Abdel Salam Al-Samee told Al-Khaleej that army forces, supported by the resistance and coalition, fully controlled the capital and advanced toward Houthi positions west and north of the province. The army and resistance sought to secure liberated locations, including Al-Hazm city.
National army and Popular Resistance reinforcements reached Usaylan in Shabwa as part of preparations to liberate Bayhan district.