Houthis lose more ground to Hadi government in Yemen's al-Bayda

Yemen's Houthi rebels have lost more ground in al-Bayda Governorate to government forces, a minister has said.

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani tweeted in Arabic on Monday: "The heroes of the army and the resistance managed to recover the Al-Zaher district centre after fierce battles with the Iran-backed Houthi militia."

Al-Eryani also posted on the social media site in English, where he attached a video purportedly from al-Bayda, with celebratory ululating sounds heard in the background.

"Popular celebration [and] women's ululating joy at [the] arrival of [the] army, resistance [and] tribes in [the] liberated areas of Al-Bayda are conclusive evidence of citizens' need [for the] state [to] return," the post read.

The minister added that the people had "suffered greatly as a result of Houthi killing, abuse, looting, robbery [and] confiscation of rights."

Yemeni military commander Masad Al-Salahi said that the whole of the Al-Zaher district had been taken back, according to the Anadolu Agency.

He explained that the authorities were pushing onwards and that the battle was ongoing.

Yemen's Houthi rebels had not issued a reply to the authorities' assertions, Anadolu said on Monday.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government began its campaign to seize back the majority Houthi-held al-Bayda Governorate in the country's centre last Friday.

Popular celebration &women’s ululating joy at arrival of army, resistance &tribes in liberated areas of Al-Bayda are conclusive evidence of citizens’ need state return who suffered greatly as a result of Houthi killing, abuse, looting, robbery confiscation of rights
#Albayda_win pic.twitter.com/XQs0QxLeOE

— معمر الإرياني (@ERYANIM) July 5, 2021

Al-Eryani tweeted on Sunday that "big progress" had been made at Al-Hazimiah, located in another district in al-Bayda.

On Tuesday, he wrote that significant gains had again been made in the area.

Last week, in the crucial battleground Marib region, it was alleged that two drones were launched by the Houthis and subsequently shot down by the official military.

On Monday, the rebels conducted a rare bomb attack on an army site in the Abyan province in Yemen's south.

The deadly civil war in Yemen exploded in 2014 as the Houthis took control of Sanaa, the nation's capital city.

A Saudi-led military coalition has attempted to restore the Hadi government's authority since 2015, however its involvement has been widely criticised, including over alleged war crimes.

The situation for civilians in Yemen is dire, with the circumstances there being described as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis" by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.