SANAA, Aug 18 (NNN-SABA) – A Yemeni senior military official and eight soldiers were killed, in battle with the Houthi rebels, in Yemen’s northeastern province of al-Jawf, a local medical source said.
General Mohammed Ali al-Roqn, commander of the 122 Brigade, along with eight soldiers, were killed in the battle, on Sunday, in al-Jadafir area east of Houthi-held al-Hazm in al-Jawf.
Yemen’s Prime Minister, Maeen Abdulmalik, said in a statement that, “al-Roqn was killed while leading military operations against the Houthi militia in al-Jawf.”
It was also reported that dozens of Houthi fighters were killed by the government forces in the battle, and several sites in the area were recaptured by the army.
The Houthi group, which controls much of the province, has made no comment.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since the late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi group seized control of much of the country’s north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital, Sanaa.
