Sanaa, February 04: Yemen says its forces have killed 16 Houthis, including some of their leaders, during a crackdown on the fighters’ stronghold in the northern province of Sa’ada.
The Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Yemeni troops launched an offensive on Houthi positions in Sa’ada and seized farms allegedly used as hideouts by the fighters, Reuters reported.
According to the report a Houthi leader was also wounded in the clashes.
Yemen has stepped up its military operation in the region despite an offer by the Houthi leader to end the six-month conflict. Abdul Malik al-Houthi also announced a “withdrawal from Saudi territory” last week and accepted five points of the government’s conditions for truce.
Sana’a, however, rejected the offer, pointing to a sixth condition stipulating a Houthi pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia. Despite the Houthi fighters’ pledge to meet the sixth point, both Yemen and Riyadh have declined to sign a truce deal with them.
The offensive, which was joined by Riyadh in November, has so far claimed the lives of many civilians and displaced thousands of others from their homes in northern villages.
——–Agencies