Tanks of fighters loyal to Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi are seen on a road leading to the Al-Anad military base in the country’s southern province of Lahj, on August 3, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
Sana’a and Aden, Asharq Al-Awsat—Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on Monday captured the strategic southern Al-Anad military base from Houthi militias who had held it for over four months.
Yemen’s Defense Ministry made the announcement late on Monday and thanked the Saudi-led coalition targeting the Houthis in Yemen, which has since March provided air support for Hadi-loyalists on the ground in their fight against the Iran-backed group.
Qaid Nasr, an official Yemeni military spokesman, told Asharq Al-Awsat the offensive to liberate the base is part of Operation Golden Arrow which aims to recapture the southern Aden, Lahj, and Abyan provinces from the Houthis.
He said some 4,000 fighters comprising volunteers and military cadres loyal to Hadi, as well as 400 military vehicles, were used in the operation to liberate the base. Around 50 Houthi fighters had been killed during the offensive and dozens of others captured.
The Aden province was recently secured and on Sunday a senior pro-Hadi commander told Asharq Al-Awsat the Lahj and Abyan offensives were now underway.
Al-Anad is located in the Lahj province, some 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Aden, and served as the headquarters for US counterterrorism operations in southern Yemen until Houthi insurgents captured it in March.
The capture of the base counts as another major victory for Hadi loyalists, known as the Popular Resistance, after the liberation of Aden.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday, Ali Shayef Al-Hariri, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance forces involved in the operation to liberate Al-Anad, said Iranian fighters and operatives were among the prisoners captured after the base was secured.
He said Al-Anad was an “important milestone” in the fight against the Houthis and the base would be used as a “springboard to launch further operations to liberate Abyan and Shabwah” after the recent capture of Aden.
Pockets of Houthi resistance still however remain on the outskirts of Aden and fighting between the Hadi-loyalists and the Houthis, who are also aided by allies loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have continued.
Hariri accused the Houthis and Saleh loyalists of recently killing 12 Popular Resistance fighters they had taken hostage just north of Aden, calling the incident a “terrorist attack.”
“They executed the prisoners . . . in a truly barbaric way . . . and in clear violation of the rights of prisoners of war and international conventions,” he said.
Mohamed Ali Mohsen contributed additional reporting from Aden.