Houthis resort to guerrilla warfare to avoid defeat

Ali Rajab

The coastal Yemeni city of al-Hudaydah is now the scene of guerrilla warfare because of the new tactics followed by the Houthi militia in the city.

The Houthis work tooth and nail to keep the city and its port under their control.

Nevertheless, joint Yemeni forces, which are given support by the pro-legitimacy coalition, have succeeded in taking over the al-Hudaydah University and the Air Defense Camp in the city.

Street war

According to Sky News Arabia, militants from the Houthi militia hide in the ground floors of large buildings in heavily populated areas. This, the channel said, protects the militants against being targeted. In this, it added, they use the residents of these buildings as human shields.

The Yemen army has prepared a special combat group to deal with this situation. The members of this group were given training in guerrilla warfare within the districts of al-Hudaydah.

The Yemeni newspaper al-Mashhad quoted Yemeni military sources as saying that the new combat group is capable of staging raids on places controlled by the Houthi militia.

The group, they said, is made up of professional combat personnel.

Reinforcements

The National Resistance Forces which are commanded by lieutenant general Tarek Saleh, a son of the late Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have sent reinforcements to a number of districts in al-Hudaydah.

Apache in sky control

While the Joint Yemeni forces make advances on the ground, the Apache helicopters of the Saudi-led coalition play an important role in pounding Houthi strongholds.

To reduce visibility, militiamen burned car tires on the streets. This happened after a series of attacks by Apache helicopters that killed dozens of Houthi militants.

The coalition launched more than 30 airstrikes in the vicinity of an area known as Kilometer 16, southeastern al-Hudaydah.