Yemeni forces break months-long rebel siege of Taez

Relief for residents as food and reinforcements enter city, but clashes break out in Aden.

Yemeni tribesmen from the pro-government Popular Resistance clash with rebels in city of Taez on March 11, 2016. Ahmad Al Basha / AFP

ADEN // Food and military reinforcements began to reach government-held areas of Taez on Saturday, after loyalist forces broke the Houthi rebels’ siege on the city the night before.

The breakthrough in Taez after months of fighting came as heavy clashes broke out between security forces and suspected Al Qaeda militants in the southern city of Aden.

Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government were called in to back up government forces in the Aden district of Al Mansoura.

The clashes broke out in the afternoon after security forces were deployed around the Caltex roundabout, their commander, Hareez Al Halimi, told The National.

“The terrorist group attacked the security forces,” he said.

In Taez, Moa’ath Al Yaseri, leader of the Popular Resistance in the province, said pro-government forces broke the siege of Taez city on Friday night, seizing the road leading south-west out of the city to neighbouring Lahj province.

Troops and resistance fighters who captured the western outskirts of Taez on Friday were then joined by loyalist fighters from inside the city and advanced south towards Al Dhabab district, where loyalists had also launched an offensive.

Yemeni prime minister Khalid Bahah announced the breaking of the siege on Taez at a press conference in Aden, the government’s temporary capital, on Saturday morning.

“Pro-government forces are still fighting to liberate the whole province, with around 1,000 fighters specifically trained to maintain control of Taez city,” Mr Bahah said.

Mr Bahah told The National he had ordered the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to Taez city and the restoration of public services and organisations.

He said UAE’s efforts to integrate resistance fighters into the official army were going well, with the Emirates having trained about 6,000 resistance fighters whose salaries it would pay for another three months.

The UAE is part of Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore the internationally-recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to power in Sanaa, the capital seized by the rebels in September 2014.

Meanwhile, pro-government forces spread throughout newly liberated areas in and around Taez city on Saturday to reinforce control and sweep for landmines.

“The Houthis heavily mined Al Dhabab area and two children were killed this morning by a landmine there,” Mr Al Yaseri said.

He added that military reinforcements had begun to reach central government-held areas of Taez city that had previously been cut off from the outside world by the Houthis’ siege. The reinforcements came from Aden province, travelling along the same road to Taez through Lahj province.

But though the siege on government-held areas of Taez has been broken, the Houthis and allied fighters loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh still hold the eastern area of the city around the presidential palace.

“The military reinforcements that reached the city today, and the [additional] reinforcements that will arrive soon, will help us to liberate the whole city,” Mr Al Yaseri said.

Late on Friday, residents in the previously blockaded areas of Taez let off fireworks, celebrating their renewed access to the outside world.

As food supplies started to arrive on Saturday morning, residents told The National that they had begun to feel as though normal life would soon resume.

Walid Abdul Raheem, 39, who lives in the government-held Al Masbah area in central Taez, said they had started to see cars arriving in the city from other parts of Taez province and from other provinces.

“I think that the price of basic goods will reduce by half after the breaking of the siege as it is now very easy to access the city,” he said. “This is the main thing that residents are looking for.”

He added that he hoped to soon see the entire province liberated from the Houthis so that he could resume his job as a bus driver, which he had been forced to give up because of the fighting.