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Houthis report striking coalition forces near Bab el-Mandeb Strait with 10 missiles

At the same time, the Yemeni government said its troops were successfully advancing and delivering strikes on Houthi targets

DOHA, October 6. /TASS/. Yemen’s rebel Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement said it had repelled an offensive by the Saudi-led coalition in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area, and fired ten missiles toward the enemy’s positions.

"Our armed forces <…> have successfully repelled several of the Saudi enemy’s attempts to advance toward Bab el-Mandeb, forcing it to retreat," the movement’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

He added that Houthi groups made the coalition’s forces pull back as they were trying to advance southwest of the Al Wazi'iyah District district.

At the same time, the Yemeni government said its troops were successfully advancing and delivering strikes on Houthi targets.

"The battle for restoring the country continues as our forces move forward," Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Majid al-Nuzaili said in a statement.

In his words, the armed forces continue to strike Houthi supply lines and military facilities as part of its Operation ‘Dawn of Yemen.’ The spokesman also reiterated the call made to the Houthis by President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi to lay down their weapons in exchange for amnesty and security guarantees.

The armed confrontation between Saudi-backed government forces and Houthi rebels has been continuing in Yemen since August 2014. The situation deteriorated dramatically this summer. In July, Ansar Allah announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and attacked several of its oil tankers. In early August, the Houthis launched an offensive in the country's southwest, taking control of the port city of Mokha and territories along the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in western Yemen on September 10-11. Government forces mounted several counterattacks near the strait in the following days.

Over the past few days, fighting intensified near the strategically important city of Taiz. On October 4, Yemeni troops began a large-scale military operation to regain control of the country. The country’s armed forces announced regaining control over the Dhubab district on the following day.