Yemen/ Saudi update 2/01/2017..Yemeni military and Houthis fighting with Saudis in the desert Midi Jizan, Saudi Arabia

Yemeni military and the Houthis are fighting with Saudi mercenaries in the desert Midi. Province Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

Artillery Huthis fired on Saudi mercenaries in the area of the Servakh province of Marib.

Yemeni Forces Win Back Key Mountain in Ta’iz Province

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The Yemeni army and popular forces continued their advances against the Saudi-backed militias in Ta’iz province, and seized back a strategic mountain and its surrounding hilltops. The Yemeni forces are now in full control of al-Ravi mountain and several of its surrounding hilltops in al-Waziyeh region in Ta’iz province.

The Yemeni army and popular forces, meantime, pounded Nour Ein military base near al-Khazra border crossing with Katyusha rockets. The Yemeni forces’ artillery units also hit the gathering centers of the Saudi army troops behind Alib mountains in Najran province, killing and injuring a number of them. The Yemeni forces also hit al-Zaqileh and al-Ramadi military bases South of the kingdom with a number of missiles.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, the Saudi-led forces sustained heavy losses in the Yemeni army’s missile attacks on their military positions in the Red Sea island. “The Yemeni army targeted and pounded the Saudi-led military training center with a ballistic missile Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, killing at least 80 Saudi and UAE soldiers and officers,” the Arabic-language media outlets quoted an unnamed Yemeni military source as saying. The source noted that the Saudi-led forces’ military hardware also sustained heavy losses in Yemen’s missile attacks. “Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using Zuqar Island for training the Saudi-led forces and sending them through Saudi land borders to Yemen,” he added. The source noted that Saudi-hired mercenaries could also be seen among the fatalities in Zuqar Island.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, Yemen’s army and popular forces targeted and destroyed a Saudi warship with 176 crews and naval forces in the waters near Bab al-Mandab Strait, the 11th Saudi vessel sinking offshore Yemen. The Saudi warship dubbed as ‘Al-Madina’ was targeted by Yemeni missiles in the Al-Mukha coastal waters in the province of Ta’iz. The sunken ship had repeatedly fired rockets at residential areas in Ta’iz province, inflicting casualties and destruction there.

Also on Sunday, military sources declared that the second-in-command of the Saudi-led Arab coalition troops and his men have been killed in fierce clashes with the Yemeni army and popular forces in Bab a-Mandab. Saeed al-Samati al-Sabihi, the lieutenant commander of the Saudi-led troops in Bab al-Mandab, was killed along with a number of his officers and soldiers in Southwestern Yemen. Saeed al-Samati ranked second after Heisam Qassem Taher in Saudi Arabia’s so-called Golden Arrow Operations in Bab al-Mandab.

Over 450 Saudi-Backed Militias Killed in Bab Al-Mandab Battles; Israeli, US Officers Overseeing Riyadh Operations in Yemen

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Yemeni military and intelligence sources disclosed the presence of US and Israeli officers in the Saudi-led troops’ Bab al-Mandab operations room in the African country of Eritrea, and said that over 450 Saudi-backed militias have been killed in Yemen’s offensives. “The recent battles of Bab al-Mandab resulted in the death of nearly 450 Saudi-backed militias, including Saudi-hired mercenaries from other Arab and foreign countries,” Yemeni Intelligence Official Taha Hesam Abu Taleb told FNA on Wednesday. He noted that the Bab al-Mandab operation room is located in Eritrea and officers and experts from Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are present there to command the Baba al-Mandab operations.

He pointed to the coming power of Donald Trump as new US president, and said, “Although Trump has reiterated that the US military operations in other world countries would be stopped, only one week after his rise to power Saudi Arabia’s attacks were intensified on Southern Yemen; we can see the US government’s efforts are aimed at segregating the Southern and Northern parts of Yemen.” In a relevant development on Tuesday, the Saudi-led forces sustained heavy losses in the Yemeni army’s missile attacks on their military positions in the Red Sea island. “The Yemeni army targeted and pounded the Saudi-led military training center with a ballistic missile Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, killing at least 80 Saudi and UAE soldiers and officers,” the Arabic-language media outlets quoted an unnamed Yemeni military source as saying on Tuesday. The source noted that the Saudi-led forces’ military hardware also sustained heavy losses in Yemen’s missile attacks. “Saudi Arabia and the UAE are using Zuqar Island for training the Saudi-led forces and sending them through Saudi land borders to Yemen,” he added. The source noted that Saudi-hired mercenaries could also be seen among the fatalities in Zuqar Island. Yemen raid a departure from Obama’s war on terror strategy

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Lavrov’s Remarks Following Abu Dhabi Forum (Joint Press Conference)

Remarks and Response to Media Questions by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Al Nahyan, the UAE and the Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in the fourth session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE, February 1, 2017.