AL-MUKALLA: Iran-backed Houthis have this week arranged funerals in Sanaa and Saada for 15 fallen combatants as the Yemeni militia continues to attack government troops in Lahj, Marib, and Taiz.
Official Houthi media reported that at least 11 officers had been buried in the capital Sanaa since Saturday, while another four with varying military ranks had been laid to rest in the militia’s heartland of Saada, bringing the total number of killed fighters to more than 150 since the beginning of July.
The Houthis have launched deadly attacks on government-controlled areas in southern and central Yemen — killing dozens of government soldiers — despite the UN-brokered ceasefire which took effect in early 2022.
Yemeni military officials say that the actual number of Houthi casualties on the battlefield is significantly higher than the figure reported by the militia’s media, and that the Houthis have suffered massive losses.
Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military official in Taiz, told Arab News on Tuesday: “Our data demonstrates that the number of Houthi deaths reported by their media is a small fraction of the actual number of Houthi deaths, as there are masses of deceased fighters buried in villages and Yemeni cities not reported by Houthi media.”
He said the Houthis only recognized fatalities of Hashemite families or high-ranking military personnel, adding: “The Houthis do not acknowledge the deaths of many children who were recruited and killed in Houthi suicide attacks and buried in villages and cities.”
Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces have repelled two Houthi attacks on their positions on the eastern and western outskirts of the southern city of Taiz.
Al-Baher said army forces had thwarted attempts by the Houthis to seize control of new areas in Taiz, and that the Houthis had been mobilizing forces and assaulting government troops for months.
Rashad Al-Alimi, the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, on Tuesday convened a meeting in the southern port city of Aden with the security and military committee tasked with unifying units under the Riyadh Agreement.
The official news agency reported that the Yemeni leader met committee members to discuss unifying the military and enhancing its capabilities to combat the Houthis and Al-Qaeda.
