File image
On July 20, warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition bombed a meeting of Houthi commanders in the district center of Nihm in the central province of Sanaa, according to the al-Arabiya TV. The UAE-based news TV channel added that four commanders of the Houthis were killed as a result of the coalition’s airstrike.
In an official statement, the Saudi-backed wing of the Yemeni military identified one of the airstrike’s casualties as “Yasser Abdallah Amir,” the top military commander of the Houthis in Nihm. The other three commanders arrived in the district recently to reorganize the front lines there, according to the Yemeni military.
The assassination of the four commanders is likely a response to the recent attacks of carried out by the Houthis. On July 12, the Yemen group hit the Riyadh oil refinery with an armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A day later, the Houthis launched a heavy rocket at a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia.
Since the beginning of this year, the Saudi-led coalition has started targeting the commanders of the Houthis, in an attempt to deter the Yemeni group and to damage its command and control chain.
I wonder what’s going on behind the scenes in the command of both sides that have caused both to lose the initiative…