February 06, 2017•Update: February 06, 2017
By Mohamed al-Samei and Shukri Hussein
SANAA/ADEN, Yemen
A Saudi-led Arab coalition on Monday conducted two air raids targeting concentrations of Shia Houthi militiamen and their allies in Yemen’s oil-rich eastern Maarib province.
"Coalition aircraft carried out two airstrikes targeting concentrations of Houthi fighters and their allies that had been advancing on Maarib’s Serwah directorate," Ahmed al-Shaleef, a leader of Yemen’s pro-government "Popular Resistance" forces, told Anadolu Agency.
He added, however, that losses sustained by the Houthis and allied fighters as a result of the strikes remained undetermined.
While most of Maarib province is currently held by government forces, the Serwah directorate continues to see frequent clashes between the Houthis and allied forces of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on one hand and pro-government forces on the other.
Anadolu Agency was unable to obtain immediate comment from Houthi spokesmen regarding al-Shaleef’s assertions.
In a related development, the Houthis and their allies attacked several government sites in the Lauder directorate of Yemen’s southeastern Abyan province, a pro-government source told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
The source, who spoke anonymously due to restrictions on talking to media, said pro-government forces had ultimately repelled the attack.
"The Houthis and their allies have failed once again to retake Lauder," the source said, noting that fighters from both sides had been killed in the fighting.
On Saturday, Houthi fighters amassed in the city of Makiras in Yemen’s central Al-Bayda province in advance of a push on the strategic directorate, from which they were dislodged in mid-2015.
