Al Mukalla: A Yemeni government military commander was killed and another wounded during separate clashes with Houthi forces over the weekend.
Colonel Shadi al-Mejji, the 1st battalion commander of Brigade 63, was seriously wounded on Sunday morning during an Iranian-backed militia attack in Bakum district of Saada province, according to Saada governor Hadi Tarshan.
Attacks in disputed areas of Saada, such as Reza, Bakum, Ketaf, al-Bouka and Maran, continued despite a UN-brokered ceasefire as Houthi forces sought to expel government troops from their strongholds.
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Houthi militias frequently violate the ceasefire, and sporadic clashes continue, according to Tarshan, who also said that the Yemeni government and the Arab coalition were committed to maintaining the ceasefire.
On Saturday night, a Houthi attack on government forces in the central province of Marib wounded a second military commander.
A local military official told Arab News that Brig. General Akram al-Ademi, commander of the 13th Infantry Brigade, was wounded during intense fighting on the al-Baylak al-Sharqi mountain, south of the city of Marib.
The source claimed that after his troops successfully pushed back the Houthis, al-Ademi was taken to a hospital in Marib.
The city of Marib was the target of a significant Houthi military offensive that began in early 2021, and al-Baylak al-Sharqi is the closest active battleground to Marib.
The Houthis have occasionally infiltrated the city, despite calling off their offensive on 2 April as part of a ceasefire negotiated by the United Nations.
Since the Houthi offensive began, thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in Marib, which is now home to more than 2 million displaced people.
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Yemen's Information Minister Muammar al-Ariyani, meanwhile, claimed that the Houthis have captured property in the Sanaa province's Hamdan and Bani Matar districts, as well as the Sana'a city areas of Aser and al-Rawdha.
He claimed that under the pretense of being state or settlement land, the militia had sent personnel and military vehicles to seize large tracts of land.
He also claimed that the Houthis were trying to change the demographics by driving out the locals and replacing them with their allies.
"We urge the international community, the United Nations and US envoys to condemn these criminal activities and to press the Houthi militias to immediately stop the systematic theft of land and real estate in areas under their control," he added.
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According to a recent report by a UN panel of experts, the Houthis have earned billions of Yemeni riyals in profit by seizing and selling off the land and property of Yemeni citizens in the western province of Hodeidah, along with other provinces of the country. As a result, hundreds of local people have lost their homes and means of support.