Government forces launched an offensive on Houthi positions on various fronts in Al-Baydha governorate in central Yemen on Tuesday. The advance is part of a military strategy to free Al-Baydha from Houthi control, with the participation of brigades from Ataq and Bayhan districts in Shabwa governorate. Bayhan, in northwestern Shabwa, borders Al-Baydha. 

The fighting started when government forces advanced from the Fadha and Nate'a fronts in northern Al-Baydha, before joining together in Al-Fuqraa, a military official with the Seventh Military Region told Almasdar Online. Government forces pushed the Houthis towards Ashar Junction, Al-Qaed hill and Al-Ghadir. Army forces also advanced on the Houthis in Qaniya, a separate front in Al-Badhya.

According to the military official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the press, the Houthis blew up bridges on the road that connects the Fadha front to the strategic site of Al-Bayadh in order to slow the military’s advancement. 

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Edited by Ahlam Mohsen and Casey Coombs