SANAA: At least 19 insurgents and civilians were killed in Yemen on Wednesday when the army launched an all-out attack with airstrikes and artillery in the northwestern Saada province. Fighter jets struck the strongholds of the Houthi rebel group in Haidan several times as part of a major onslaught launched by the army, residents said. Scores of people were injured.
The offensive began late on Tuesday and officials said it would continue until the army regains control over strategic mountain locations.
“The operation will continue until the army regains control over all parts of the province and the rebels are brought to justice,” a senior government official told Arab News.
The rebels, known as Houthis, said at least 19 people were killed on Wednesday when the army bombarded areas of Dhahian, Haidan, Sqain and Al-Safra in an overwhelming attack.
The government offensive followed reports of rebels seizing more control of the northern Saada province from government forces.
A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to respond to the rebels “with an iron fist.”
A Health Ministry official in Saada province said 12 people were killed in the fighting and 51 injured. Local officials and a rebel spokesman said hundreds of people fled the bombing and clashes, which took place in numerous areas of the province.
The country’s Supreme Security Committee said in a statement that the assault was “the last option after the rebels rejected the call of peace made by the government.”
The committee, that groups ministers of interior and defense as well as the top army commanders, said the government ordered the army to launch the attack “to protect the citizens in line with its constitutional responsibility.”
