Yemen forces take control of Durahemi

Two Saudi soldiers killed in Yemen; heavy fighting has killed more than 150 along Yemen’s western coast in recent days

With support from the UAE Armed Forces operating as part of the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni National and Tihama Resistance forces and Giant Brigades advanced and reached Durahemi district. They expelled Al Houthi militiamen, who left behind loads of weapons.

Yesterday, Yemeni officials and witnesses said heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Al Houthis in recent days had killed more than 150 people.

Government forces have been trying to seize Al Houthi-held areas along the western coast, while the coalition has been targeting the militia with air strikes in the northwestern Saada province.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has said that two of its soldiers were killed in combat and the kingdom reported foiling a drone attack on a southern airport.

The official SPA news agency reported late Saturday that two soldiers from the national guards were killed “during their participation on the southern border” — a reference normally used for the fighting in Yemen against the Al Houthis.

SPA however did not provide details on when or how the two soldiers were killed but said senior officials took part in their funerals.

Reinstating government

The Arab coalition has been fighting in Yemen since March 2015 against the Al Houthi militants with the goal of reinstating the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Colonel Turki Al Maleki, spokesman for the coalition, meanwhile said Saudi air defences had destroyed an Al Houthi drone that targeted the international airport in Abha in the south.

An examination of the debris showed the drone was manufactured by Iran and used by the Al Houthi rebels, Maleki said in a statement late Saturday cited by the SPA.