A senior Houthi militia leader has been killed in an airstrike by the Saudi led Arab coalition in Yemen's Hodeidah, dealing a severe blow to the insurgency.
Commander-in-Chief Mohammed Abdulkarim al-Ghammari was killed by an airstrike launched by the Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen against the 5th Military Region in the port city of Hodeidah.
Field sources said that Ghammari is considered “Wanted No 16” on a Saudi list offering a reward of $10 million for information leading to his arrest or whereabouts.
The list, issued by the Kingdom last November, includes the names of 40 individuals and it offers rewards from $5 million to $30 million for information leading to their arrest.
According to the same sources, Ghammari was killed with another Houthi leader called Abdul-Karim al-Houthi and seven other insurgents in the strike.
This blow came shortly after the killing of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council leader Saleh al-Samad by a coalition airstrike in the province of Hodeidah last April.
Separately, the official spokesman of the Arab Coalition in Support of Legitimacy in Yemen Colonel Turki Al-Malki told reporters in Riyadh that "the Yemeni army backed by coalition forces are 9 kilometers from Hodeida.”
A week ago, those forces were around 20 kilometers from the Yemeni port city.
"We are getting reinforcements in preparation for subsequent operations. Once the measures are in place, the forces will advance to liberate Hodeida,” he said.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths was in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Monday for talks with the insurgency ahead of presenting his peace plan on Yemen to the Security Council this month.
Politically, US President Donald Trump on Monday spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May over phone and both agreed on a new and comprehensive deal that addresses all aspects of Iran's alleged "destabilizing" behavior, including in Yemen and Syria.
