Yemeni army forces recaptured the Al-Yutamah area in Khab Al-Shaaf district, the largest and least-populated district in Al-Jawf governorate, hours after the Houthi rebels seized it on Sunday, local residents and military officials told Almasdar Online.

With the support of Al-Jawf tribesmen, the government forces launched a counter-offensive against the Houthis and regained control of Al-Yutamah.

Government forces also pushed west, seizing the Al-Salilah mountains and other positions down to Wadi Al-Mahashima.

A large number of Houthis were killed and injured in the fighting, the residents and military officials said, adding that the army captured a number of Houthi fighters. The Houthis withdrew in a haphazard way, leaving behind weapons as they fled.

Meanwhile, Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes on Houthi military positions and armed vehicles in various areas of Khab Al-Shaaf, a mostly desert district that borders Saudi Arabia.

Local residents said people in the Al-Yutamah area celebrated the army’s recapture of the area by firing gunshots in the air on Sunday evening.

Over the weekend, the army repelled a series of Houthi attacks in Al-Jawf during 20 hours of continuous fighting at the Al-Salilah front in Khab Al-Shaaf, which is one of the last districts in Al-Jawf under government control.

On Saturday, UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths called for an “immediate and unconditional” freeze on military activities during his  first visit to Marib city since the Houthis captured Al-Jawf.