Yemen govt forces retreat, Houthis free captured troops

详细摘要

The Red Cross says the Houthi rebels in Yemen have released hundreds of detained soldiers as government forces announced a retreat.

Yemeni government forces say they are withdrawing from an area near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to focus on a defence of their main base in Aden as the Houthi rebels released 600 government soldiers.

The retreat is a major setback for the Saudi-backed military campaign in southern Yemen against the Houthi rebels.

The announcement signalled the apparent end of a six-week government counteroffensive to reclaim the coast near the mouth of the Red Sea, seized by the Iran-aligned Houthis in September in a lightning advance that squeezed oil exports.

Sunday's announcement of a government retreat raises the prospect of new Houthi advances towards Aden, and underscores the predicament faced by Saudi Arabia in trying to stop the Houthis' drone and missile attacks on the kingdom.

The government forces have been based in Aden on the southern coast since 2015 after the Houthi movement seized the capital Sanaa.

"The Southern Armed Forces announce the implementation of a redeployment operation for its forces from Dhubab Airport and the Bab el-Mandeb area, west of Taiz Governorate," the main military force fighting for Yemen's government in the south of the country said in a statement.

"This step is taken based on the priority of securing the capital Aden and the neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines and addressing existing threats."

There was no immediate response from the Houthi rebels or from Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government's main international ally.

The Houthi rebels on Sunday unilaterally released 600 soldiers from Yemeni government forces who had been captured during fighting along the border with Saudi Arabia in 2018 and 2019.

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