Asharq Al-Awsat, 25 Jan. 2017-
Aden – Russian Ambassador to Yemen congratulated Yemeni Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs on victories achieved by the national army in al-Mokha strategic city.

This came during the meeting between Vladimir Dedushkin and Mansour Baggash in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Saba News Agency quoted Baggash as telling the Russian ambassador: “The military decision was imposed on the government after Houthi militias occupied the government’s institutions, confiscated the army’s weapons to use it in killing Yemenis, besieged cities, starved citizens, stole the country’s antiquities, depleted the strategic reserves of the Central Bank and rejected peace options.”

Baggash confirmed that by controlling al-Mokha strategic port, the armed forces will work on stopping the arm smuggling by Houthis and Saleh militias from Iran, which has been causing the war to be prolonged and increasing bloodshed.

The Yemeni Undersecretary also briefed Dedushkin on the procedures taken and efforts put by the Yemeni legitimate government to provide services for the citizens and restore normality in Aden and other liberated cities and provinces.

He expressed Yemen’s aspirations for Russia to put more effort within the group of 18 countries seeking to reach a political settlement in Yemen to force the two rebelled parties in Yemen to comply with the U.N. resolutions on Yemen and stop their violations against Yemenis all over the country.

“Dedushkin congratulated Yemenis on achieving victory in al-Mokha and stressed the importance of continuation of coordination and communication between the two countries on political, developmental and anti-terror cases,” according to official Yemeni sources.

The Russian ambassador also said he hopes Yemenis could reach a peaceful and fair solution to end the war.

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Yemen’s National Army Secures Key Mokha-Taiz Route, Cutting off Insurgency Arms Supply

Asharq Al-Awsat, 25 Jan. 2017- Taiz- The Yemeni National Army, backed by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition air power, continued its push against coup militias overrunning governorates. Renewed clashes erupted with massive losses being registered on behalf of coup militants composed of loyalists fighting by the side of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Iran-aligned Houthis.

Army forces in Taiz, located in northern Yemen, announced sweeping advances towards the full liberation of the area from coup militias.

National army units made the announcement after liberating the key port city of Mokha, in Taiz. The whopping advance was a chief target accomplished in keep with the military coalition-backed operation ‘Golden Spear.’ Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition freed the strategic Red Sea port city from Iran-aligned Houthis Monday afternoon.

Houthi forces had controlled Mokha since they overran the capital Sana’a in September 2014 and advanced on other regions aided by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

“The battle taking place at the west coast means that the power balance has shifted to its final position in Yemen—the artillery pipeline supplying coup militants has been completely cut off, scattering their factions across mountains terrain and leaving them besieged,” political analyst Bassim al Hakimi says.

Forces supporting President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, launched a vast offensive on January 7 to retake the coastline overlooking the Bab Al Mandab strait.

The strait is a strategically vital maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

“The victory has torn apart the coup militias’ symbolic sovereignty embodied in their control over key ports and vital institutes,” he added.

“Taiz’s liberation now is a matter of resolution alone, freeing the key port city, Mokha will open up the road before pro-government forces to go in with full-blown force to the eastern side of the country,” Hakimi said.

“Outbreak of civilian revolt supporting legitimacy forces would fire up crowds, burning down militias at once,” he explained.

Many militants had surrendered to army units, while others fled the site, field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. More so, Houthi combatants would leave behind all those killed and injured, as well as artillery, while escaping the battlefield.

“The liberation of Mokha will push forward more advances—most important being the lifting Taiz’ militia-imposed siege,” said another political analyst, Rashad Ali al-Sharbaai.

“Liberating the rest of Taiz is a plus, not to mention that the main supply pipeline arming coup factions would be cut off,” Sharbaai added.

Other analysts said that freeing Mokha has facilitated moving to the operation’s next target, Hodeidah, the largest port in territory controlled by Iran-backed militants.

President Hadi congratulated pro-government forces and the people of Yemen on the victory in Mokha, and urged the forces to push forth across the country’s many front lines – which until now have mostly fallen into stalemate – until they liberate the whole country from the rebels, Yemen’s official Saba news agency as reported.