Riyadh - Nayef Al-Rasheed

Arab Coalition forces in support of legitimacy in Yemen announced that Iran-backed Houthi militias lost control of more than 444 sites, arms and ammunition between December 25, 2017 and January 3.

Furthermore, the coalition announced that 86 ballistic missiles have been fired by Houthis at Saudi Arabia.

The official spokesman for the coalition forces Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that the permits granted to aid agencies and ships since the beginning of the military operations amounted to 17,293 permits, including 2,749 through sea ports and 7,590 for humanitarian and relief assistance coming to Yemen through the airports.

At a press conference at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh, Maliki stated that 37 permits had been granted for humanitarian aid and evacuation operations between December 26, 2017 and January 3, 2018, adding that 3,045 passengers left the Yemeni territories.

Maliki reiterated his rejection of statements made by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldric, urging him to validate the facts concerning the Houthi recruitment of children.

The spokesman presented many video clips that showed a number of military air operations by the coalition forces against sites taken by Houthis to carry out attacks on the Yemeni army and the popular resistance, inside Yemen and on the Yemeni-Saudi border.

He also showed through the videos that the coalition continues to accurately target the Houthis and their arsenal of weapons while avoiding civilians.

Maliki said the Iranian regime seeks to replicate a new model of “Hezbollah” militias in Yemen. He pointed out that the Houthi decision to kill former President Ali Abdullah Saleh came from Iran.

Al-Shabwa province is now liberated, and the coalition is fighting to oust the Houthis from al-Jouf, Maliki indicated.

The spokesman didn't give any information about the whereabouts of Saleh’s nephew, who has reportedly been killed or has reached a safe location following his injury.

Maliki concluded by confirming that the coalition forces still have the superiority on the battlefield inside Yemen and on its border with Saudi Arabia.