The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen announced on Wednesday that it had seized Iranian-made weapons from Houthi militias. Spokesman for the coalition Turki al-Maliki announced during a press conference: “We are receiving several contacts over a list of wanted Houthis. We are aware of the movements of the fugitives in Yemen.”

 

The coalition command welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s condemnation of the Houthis’ launch of a ballistic missile towards Saudi Arabia, adding: “There is a responsibility on some countries that are turning a blind eye to the arms being smuggled to the Houthis.”

To that end, the coalition revealed that a new search and investigation mechanism was put in place to uncover smuggled weapons.

Saudi Arabia announced on December 19 that it had intercepted south of Riyadh a ballistic missile that was fired by the Houthis. No one was injured and no damages were incurred in the incident, which was widely condemned by the international community.

In addition, Maliki revealed that five ships loaded with fuel headed to Yemen’s Hodeidah port this week. The coalition also granted ten permits to allow the passage of aid through land portals.

The alliance continues to provide humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people, he stressed, while saying that some food aid was airdropped in besieged regions. Moreover, Maliki revealed that the Houthis were expelled from the Shabwa region and “it is now under the control of the legitimate Yemeni government.”

The area is now being swept for mines that the militia left behind, he stated. Furthermore, he stressed that the national Yemeni army was advancing “strongly” on al-Bayda province. “The Houthis have lost a lot of their civil leaders and their morale is low,” said the coalition spokesman.

He urged anyone who has information on the Houthi terrorists to come forward, adding that the coalition carried out strikes against 412 Houthi targets, some of which were near the Saudi Arabia border. Other targets included a rocket factory in Saada, weapons caches and Houthi gathering points.

In the same context, Saudi-led air strikes killed 14 civilians in a village market near Yemen's battleground third city Taez as a nearly three-year bombing campaign intensified, an official and medics said on Wednesday.

The Tuesday strikes also killed 11 rebel fighters and wounded 16 civilians, a local official loyal to the Saudi-backed government told AFP. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the strikes were intended as air support for a local revolt against the Huthi rebels in the village of Al-Haima, northeast of Taez, but the warplanes hit the wrong target.

Taez is held by forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government but much of the surrounding countryside is in the hands of the rebels and it has been a key battleground in the country's devastating civil war. To the west, on the Red Sea coast, Saudi-led air strikes killed 22 Huthis south of the key rebel-held port of Hodeida, military and medical sources said.

The strikes targeted reinforcements sent by the Huthis from the rebel-held capital Sanaa, the sources said. Among the dead was Yasser al-Ahmar, a tribal chief, they added. The Saudi-led coalition launched its intervention in support of the internationally recognised government in March 2015.

But despite its superior firepower, the rebels still control the capital and much of the north. The coalition has intensified its campaign since the rebels launched missiles at Riyadh on November 4 and December 19. On Monday, 53 rebels and 12 government troops were killed in clashes and air strikes south of Hodeida. More than 8,750 people have been killed since the coalition's intervention began, according to World Health Organization figures.