Yemeni forces recapture key southern city from Houthi rebels

Qatabah in Dhalea province sits on two important routes running north

Yemeni pro-government forces have been fighting Houth9 rebels in Dhalea province since late March 2019. EPA

Yemeni forces drove Houthi rebels out of Qatabah in the southern province of Dhalea on Friday, retaking control the strategic city after more than two weeks.

The Southern Joint Forces, comprised of several pro-government military groups, killed more than 100 rebels in heavy clashes that lasted five hours, said a spokesman for the Security Belt force that played a major part in the battle.

"The Southern Joint Forces launched a wide-scale offensive on three fronts," Waheed Al Sufyani told The National. "The first was from Mureis area north-east of Qatabah, the second axis was from Hajer west of Qatabah, while the main attack was towards the city centre,"

The rebels had positioned dozens of snipers on rooftops in the city centre, which they have occupied for more than two weeks, he said.

“Our forces stormed the centre of Qatabah and clashed with the Houthi fighters, who suffered big losses.  Over 100 of them were killed,” he said.

Col Ahmed Qaid, commander of the Security Belt forces in Dhalea, told The National that Friday's offensive was a well co-ordinated operation that achieved its goals of retaking Qatabah and key sites in Hajer.

“This crucial victory came as a result of setting up a joint operations room and a unified central command for all the Southern Forces which have been fighting in Mureis, Qatabah and Hajer, as well as the forces fighting on the Al Azarik front in western Dhalea,” Col Qaid said.

“The offensive went according to the plan we agreed upon with all the other divisions in the Southern Joint Forces. We were able to liberate Qatabah city completely and secure the supply route of Al Sheim highway which links Aden with Sanaa. Moreover, large parts of Hajer were cleared of Houthis, such as the villages of Gos Al Gammal, Al Abara and Habeel Al Souk."

Col Qaid said dozens of rebel fighters were captured, including high-ranking officers from Houthi elite forces and prominent tribal leaders from neighbouring Ibb province and from the northern province of Saada, a rebel stronghold. The remaining remaining rebel forces retreated towards the area of Al Fakher and the villages of Humar and Shakhab north of Qatabah.

Securing Qatabah and its outskirts is a crucial gain for the Southern Forces because the city straddles two main routes linking southern and northern Yemen. The first runs from the southern port city of Aden to Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, and the other extends from Aden into Ibb.

The Houthi rebels exploited a UN-brokered ceasefire in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah to move three brigades from the western coast and attack Dhalea in late March. It was the first province to be liberated from the rebels soon after a full-scale civil war broke out in 2015.