Yemeni pro-government forces have retaken control of the military air base east of Hodeidah following fierce clashes with Al Houthi rebels.
A military source told The National on Friday members of the Al Amalikah brigades stormed the base after retaking Houthi-held areas in the surrounding farms near Kilo 16, a key Houthi supply line that links Hodeidah to the occupied capital of Sanaa. Other troops also secured the palm farms in Baiyat Al Faqih district.
Also on Friday a high ranking leader of Al Qaeda was killed and two others arrested when elite forces backed by the UAE targeted them in the mountainous area of Khourah, in the district of Nesab south west Shabwa province.
The offensive, led by Captain Wajdi Baoum, was part of the larger "decisive sword" operation launched in February in a bid to track down members of Al Qaeda, Colonel Mohammed Salem Al Bouhar told The National.
"The operation launched on Friday led to killing of the high ranking leader in AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) Naif Tarmoum Al Saiyari and the arrest of two AQAP militants hiding with him in the mountains of Nesab,” said Col. Al Bouhar. “An officer from the elite force which launched the operation was injured along with outher six soldiers, two of them severely – they were taken to a hospital in Mukalla to be treated.”
Meanwhile a separate operation against AQAP in Abyan province ended successfully on Thursday, Colonel Fahed Gharama told The National.
"We stormed many hidouts affiliate with AQAP elements in Moudya and Lawder and seized big amounts of rockets and ammunitions found in hideouts of the terrorist organisation," he said.
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