Yemen's Houthis Accused of Abducting 120 Civilians in Dhamar
Houthi coup militias have abducted 120 civilians from a village in Yemen's Dhamar province, their second stronghold after Saada governorate.
The militias bombed the village, leaving one civilian dead and five others injured, including children and women. Two houses were also destroyed.
“The Iranian-backed militias raided the village a day after its siege, stormed houses, and kidnapped 120 residents, most of them children, taking them to the province’s Marda prison,” Saba news agency quoted local sources as saying on Friday.
The insurgents have established more than 60 new checkpoints around the village since the beginning of their military campaign, Saba reported.
They also continued their military escalation in the coastal Hodeidah province, in the west, shelling National Army positions and targeting the city’s eastern port.
This comes in line with a series of violations of the UN ceasefire deal in Hodeidah, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Also Friday, Yemen's National Army announced the liberation of new positions in al-Jawf governorate, in the north.
An official military source said: “National Army forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, attacked on Thursday the coup militias in the area.”
The attacks resulted in the liberation of areas north of al-Jawf and inflicting the militias significant losses.
“Coalition aircraft raided Houthi reinforcements, causing deaths and injuries in their ranks, and the destruction of three vehicles,” the source added.
Meanwhile, security forces made a drug bust in a smuggling attempt to Houthi-run areas in al-Jawf.
“Security services have managed to seize 64 kilograms of hashish during a handover process between smuggling gangs east of al-Hazm district,” Saba quoted al-Hazm directorate’s Police Chief Major Hazam Shehat as saying.
This operation is the second in the directorate during December, he noted.