Army spokesman: Yemen’s Jawf province almost totally freed in latest operation

Yemen’s army and allied fighters from Popular Committees have liberated almost the entire northern province of Jawf after they recaptured a strategic area in the province, bordering Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, spokesman for Yemeni Army Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the area of al-Yatamah, the administrative center of Jawf’s Khabb wa ash Sha’af district, has been liberated during the latest operation carried out by the country’s armed forces, dubbed “Operation Desert Dawn.”

Yemeni army spokesman noted that the country’s forces have liberated 1,200 square kilometers of Jawf province during the operation, adding that they have driven out Saudi-led coalition’s forces and mercenaries.

According to Saree, apart from some desert areas, the entire Jawf province is now free of the Saudi invaders.

The spokesman further stressed that the Yemeni armed forces will continue military operations against the Saudi-led forces in the future to defend their country and people.

“The Armed Forces promise that they have appropriate options to confront US-Saudi aggression and respond to all their crimes and attacks,” Saree said, adding that more details of Operation Desert Dawn will be revealed in coming days.

On Friday, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network cited field sources as saying that the Yemeni forces are tightening their grip on Alyutamah, the last stronghold of Saudi-backed militants in Jawf.

Later in the day, it reported that the Yemeni forces also took control of the strategic international road in Alyutamah.

Alyutamah is strategically important as it lies near the border with Saudi Arabia and as an international road, which leads to Albuqa border crossing that connects Yemen and Saudi Arabia, passes through it.

Albuqa border crossing lies in the eastern part of Yemen’s Sa’ada province, and opposite al-Khadhra border crossing which is located in southern Saudi Arabia.

Separately on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition issued a statement, saying that the Yemeni forces have fired 430 ballistic missiles and 851 armed drones at Saudi Arabia since the war started in 2015.

The Yemeni armed forces have carried out these attacks in retaliation for the Saudi regime and its allies’ intensified airstrikes against Yemen.