Violent battles took place on Wednesday between Yemeni army forces on the one hand, and the Saudi-led coalition forces and their loyal militants on the other hand, in the areas separating Hajjah province, northwest of Yemen, and the southern borders of Saudi Arabia.
Local sources reported that Yemeni army forces lured the recruits of the so-called “Fifth Military Region” led by Major General Yahya Salah and Sudanese mercenaries, towards the eastern outskirts of Haradh district, carrying out a large-scale attack that left dozens of dead and wounded among the coalition troops.
The coalition forces advanced under heavy air cover from their positions in the Al-Nar mountain chain towards the areas that the army forces seized last month, northeast of Haradh.
The sources indicated that the coalition warplanes launched 28 air raids on these areas in less than 24 hours, in an attempt to support the coalition forces there.
According to the sources, the coalition forces subsequently incurred heavy losses in Haradh, where 11 coalition soldiers were killed and 17 wounded, while the Agence France-Presse agency said that 39 Sudanese soldiers were killed or wounded in the battles of Haradh.
This comes hours after Yemeni army forces repelled an earlier advance carried out by the coalition recruits of the 161st Brigade in the Al-Qathamil mountain range between the provinces of Jawf and Saada.
