The Houthi militias in Yemen have announced the death of a senior leader among its ranks, without giving any further details.

The so-called political bureau of the Houthis announced in an obituary that its leader Abdul Nasser al-Junaidi was killed. Junaidi was a member in the delegation in Kuwait negotiations back in 2016.

While the militia did not specify how and when he was killed, sources said that he may have been killed in an air strike by the Arab coalition and which targeted a meeting for senior Houthi leaders at the presidency office in Sanaa early May.

In another military development, around 70 Houthis have been killed recently in confrontations with the Yemeni legitimate forces, the popular resistance units and airstrikes backed by the coalition at fronts in al-Bayda, west coast, Taiz and north of Lahij, amid a field advancement by the legitimate forces.

Brig. Gen. Abdul Rab al-Subhi, commander of the 117th Infantry Brigade, said: “At least 25 militia members were killed and others wounded during battles in the eastern front of al-Bayda province.”

He added that more than “30 militia members were killed in the West Coast Front by coalition air strikes targeting gatherings of the Houthi militias in the eastern districts of al-Tahita, a -Duraiham and Zubaid.”

At the same time, fierce fighting continues in the north of Lahij province, where the national Yemeni army forces advanced towards al-Raheda area, southeast of Taiz, after regaining control of sites and highlands in the areas of Qubaytah and Hifan.

A spokesman for the National Army forces in al-Qubaytah said that the army and the resistance recovered large parts of the northern areas of the province of Lahij, where it took control of a strategic mountain.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:53 - GMT 06:53