SANAA (Dispatches) -- Yemeni forces have fully liberated the strategic central province of Al-Bayda, inflicting heavy blows to the Saudi-led military coalition and its Daesh and Al-Qaeda allies, military spokesman General Yahya Saree said Thursday.
Army soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees liberated Sawma’ah and Maswarah district as well as large parts of Mukayras district during Operation Dawn of Freedom, Saree said at a press conference here.
The operation primarily targeted the remnants of Al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups which are cooperating with the Saudi-led forces, he said.
“During military advances of our forces to eliminate Takfiri elements, Saudi-led warplanes conducted more than 30 air raids to support the extremists and to prevent the advance of our troops. Our missile and drone units launched 10 operations against enemy positions. Al-Bayda province was completely liberated as a result of the operation,” Saree said.
“A total of 70 Takfiri elements and Saudi mercenaries were killed, 150 others wounded and another 40 captured during Operation Dawn of Freedom. Ten armored vehicles were destroyed, and Yemeni armed forces seized large amounts of munitions. Our forces also took control of seven training camps run by Takfiri terrorists, and a number of Yemeni citizens who had been taken hostage by Saudi-backed militants.”
Saree said local authorities and security forces have taken measures to maintain security and stability across Bayda province, stressing that local tribes, tribal elders, distinguished figures and locals greatly contributed to the success of Operation Dawn of Freedom as part of their religious and national duties.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the U.S. and regional allies, launched a war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.
Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees, however, have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

On Friday, reports said Yemeni forces fired a domestically-designed ballistic missile at a position of Saudi militants in the country’s central province of Ma’rib.
Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Yemen News Portal website that massive explosions were heard Thursday evening as the missile hit an arms deport inside Al-Khashina base south of the Al-Juba district.
Other reports said a number of militants had been killed or injured in the attack.
Al-Khashina base is said to be one of the major bases of Saudi-backed militants in Ma’rib, and serves as the headquarters of the 26th Brigade of forces loyal to Hadi.
The development comes only a few days after Yemeni army troops and their allies seized full control over the Harib al-Qaramish district of Ma’rib province.
Media outlets associated with Hadi’s administration reported on Wednesday the death of Harib’s governor, Nasser Ali al-Qahati, during the confrontations that led to the district’s recapture.
Ship Carrying Israeli Spy Devices Docks in Socotra

Yemeni sources also said a ship carrying Israeli spy devices has docked at the strategic island of Socotra, and its consignment has been offloaded by UAE-affiliated militants.
Al-Khabar al-Yemeni news website, citing the sources, reported that a number of Southern Transitional Council (STC) militants surrounded the port of Socotra and prevented the inspection of the ship.
The United Arab Emirates has reportedly helped the occupying regime of Israel conduct military and maritime reconnaissance off the Yemeni coast and set up a center for that purpose on Socotra Island.
Yemen News Agency, citing local sources, reported earlier this month that the Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates had signed a contract with the Zionist regime to create an intelligence center for the Israeli air force at Socotra Airport.
Home to some 60,000 people, Socotra overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a main shipping route that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. It has a unique ecosystem.
Socotra has been a source of tensions between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have been jockeying for position for the control of the island’s unique resources in the absence of a powerful government in Yemen amid a ferocious war on the country.
Back in June 2020, UAE-backed STC separatists took control of Socotra in a move described by Hadi as “a full-fledged coup”.