Arab Coalition stresses insistence on confronting Huthi violations

At least seven fighters from the Shiite Houthi rebels and five from the government troops were killed in fierce clashes in Yemen's northeastern province of Jawf on Thursday, a military source told Xinhua. The clashes, which began early Thursday morning and lasted until night, took place in Hazmat Alhalah area west of Masloub district.
Masloub is one of Houthi strongholds in the province, while Hazmat Alhalah was recaptured by the Yemeni government troops last month. The clashes erupted when Houthi rebels tried to advance to regain Hazmat Alhalah area on the western edge of Masloub district.
The government troops, backed by warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition, repelled the rebel attack and injured dozens from the rebels, the source said on condition of anonymity. He said about ten government soldiers were also wounded in the clashes.
Jawf, about 170 km northeast of the capital Sanaa, has been the scene of almost daily fighting between the Yemeni rival forces, in which the government troops have been trying to recapture the whole province before their advance toward the capital Sanaa, which has been under control of Houthi rebels since 2014.
In September 2014, Houthi fighters backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the capital Sanaa and seized control over most of the country's northern provinces. The rebels tightened their grip over all state ministries and military camps and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to roll back rebel gains and reinstate the internationally recognized government of President Hadi into the capital.
More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the two-and-half years of war with over 3 million others displaced, according to UN agencies. The country has also been hit by a deadly cholera epidemic and is on the brink of mass famine.
 
On the other hand, Foreign Ministers and Chiefs of Staff of States from the Coalition Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen denounced on Sunday the negative role played by Tehran in supporting coup militias with weapons, ammunition, ballistic missiles and mines in a flagrant violation of Security Council Resolution 2216, stressing the Iranian regime and its proxies are responsible for destabilizing regional security.
A final communiqué read by Colonel Pilot Turki bin Saleh al-Maliki, official spokesperson of the coalition, during a press conference held Sunday in Riyadh said that member states condemned the militias for killing the Yemeni people and exposing them to famine, fear, disease, tampering with the capabilities of the Yemeni people and threatening the security and stability of the region’s countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Al-Maliki told journalists that Houthis have targeted the Kingdom with 77 missiles. The spokesperson said the insurgents are the first outlawed terrorist group that own ballistic powers, which he considered a very threatening challenge. “Terrorist and armed groups cannot possess such powers, especially ballistic and surface-to-surface missiles,” he said.
The final communiqué also confirmed that the military operations of the coalition are carried out in line with the relevant international laws, including international humanitarian law. With regard to the annual report of the UN Secretary General on children in armed conflicts issued early last month, participants rejected parts of it for containing false information, and called on the UN to revise the mechanisms and fact-finding tools.
Nevertheless, they lauded other parts of the report, which hailed measures taken by the coalition in protecting civilians. Representatives of the Coalition forces in Yemen also condemned the coup militias' criminal acts, such as using, training and recruiting children in armed conflicts in addition to imposing a siege on cities and looting humanitarian aid, which has led to the spread of epidemics and famine among civilians.
They concluded by stressing the need for the coalition states to highlight their message and disclose the criminal practices and plans carried out by the insurgents with the support of Iran and Hezbollah.