The Saudi-led Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen stressed Saturday that it was determined to destroy the Iran-backed Houthi militias’ military capabilities, such as its ballistic missiles arsenal.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki stated that the joint forces command of the alliance destroyed a rocket launchpad in the Majz region in the Saada province – a Houthi stronghold.
The operation was successful due to ongoing surveillance of the Houthi actions, he said according to alarabiya.net.
The launchpad was completely destroyed according to International Humanitarian Law and the coalition’s rules of engagement, he continued.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Amaleeqa Brigades Waddah al-Dbeish revealed that the pro-government forces have liberated in two weeks alone some 25 kilometers stretching all the way to Houthi-held Sanaa.
Some 22,000 landmines have been dismantled from this liberated area at a rate of 880 mines and explosives per kilometer, he revealed, accusing the militias of arbitrarily planting them.
Moreover, he told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have employed foreign experts to set explosives that would go off as soon as anyone passes within four meters of them.
Dbeish listed different types of explosives used by the militias, such as those that are remotely detonated or others that are set off by light, such as when vehicles pass by them by at night.
The explosives have been planted in buildings and even in air conditioners in mosques, he stated.
“The militias only know death and destruction,” he charged. “They have planted death in each house, farm, school and mosque. This is unprecedented in the world.”
The national army, backed by the Arab coalition, has been continuing its military operations against the Houthis in the Qania and Malajem fronts in al-Bayda in central Yemen.
It has in the past two days made advances in the provinces, liberating several regions from Houthi clutches.
