RIYADH — The position of Houthi militias has been weakened further with the return of a number of brigades to the fold of the legitimate government in Yemen, said Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Asiri, spokesman of the coalition forces and adviser at the office of the minister of defense. In a press briefing here on Wednesday, Asiri warned those army units and brigades allied to Houthis to abandon the militia or risk airstrikes of the coalition forces. Asiri said brigades No. 123, 127 and 133 have abandoned Houthis and their allies, and pledged their loyalty to the government led by President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi. He urged the remaining brigades and units to follow suit. “All indications showed that the Houthi militias have lost their positions, and hence their operations have become isolated and random. Despite this, there were attempts to make movements toward Aden by using tanks and some aircraft belonging to the Yemeni army,” he said, adding that the coalition forces destroyed a large number of tanks on Tuesday. The coalition forces targeted major Houthi concentration areas in Baida and Itaq and carryed out heavy airstrikes in Saada region on Monday and Tuesday, Asiri said. “The coalition airstrikes targeted military aircraft used by Houthis at Al-Dolaimi airport as well as weapon stores in Saada,” he said.
