A high-ranking Saudi-backed mercenary commander has been killed along with several of his escorts as Yemeni Armed Forces continue to make advances in the country’s strategic southwestern province of Ta’izz.
Major General Muhammad Salem al-Khawlani, chief of staff of the Saudi-sponsored Emergency Forces, was killed on Friday following fierce clashes with Yemeni military forces on the al-Kadha front.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed, Aden-based Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) confirmed Khawlani’s death but provided no further details on the circumstances of the fighting or the fate of his escorts.
The development came as local sources reported that Yemeni Armed Forces have taken control of the road linking the capital Sana’a to Ta’izz, cutting off the most important logistical route for Saudi-backed mercenaries, and bringing Ta’izz closer to complete liberation.
Yemeni army soldiers and allied fighters from popular committees have launched operations on several fronts across Ta’izz province and city since Wednesday.
Heavy clashes were reported in eastern Ta’izz as well as in al-Turbah, the administrative center of Ash Shamayatayn district.
Meanwhile, Saudi fighter jets have carried out a fresh wave of airstrikes on several neighborhoods across Yemen.
Al-Masirah television, citing local sources, reported that a civilian was injured after Saudi warplanes carried out two airstrikes on farmland in al-Munqim village, in al-Durayhimi district of western Yemen’s Hudaydah Province.
Two more people were injured when Saudi fighter jets struck the rural Maytam area in Yemen's southwestern province of Ibb.
Saudi aircraft also targeted al-Hijr Institute in the al-Qabbaytah district of the southwestern Yemeni province of Lahij.
Accoridng to Press TV, Saudi warplanes carried out four airstrikes on targets in Hayfan district of Ta’izz Province and two more on the al-Kadah area, with no immediate reports of casualties or the extent of damage.
The fresh Saudi air raids come amid escalating tensions between Riyadh and the Sana’a administration, which declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20 in response to “an unfair and tyrannical siege” on Yemen lasting nearly 12 years.
The Yemeni military has announced several successful operations aimed at ships linked to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a blockade on Yemen and launched a sweeping military campaign, backed by military, political, and logistical support from the United States and several Western countries.
The war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis. However, Saudi Arabia has failed to achieve its stated objective of reinstating a puppet regime in the country that serves its interests.
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