SANA'A, 11 July 2021, (TON): A top Houthi battlefield commander was killed on Saturday as new fighting raged between Yemeni government troops and Iran-backed forces in the provinces of Al-Bayda, Marib and Jouf.

Abu Yahya Al-Hanemi died in a fierce five-hour battle for Al-Zaher district, south of the central Al-Bayda province.

The Houthis mounted counterattacks on army troops and allied tribesmen in Al-Bayda, where loyalists scored major advances over the last seven days. Yemen’s Defense Ministry said that the rebel forces suffered heavy casualties and lost military equipment in the battle for Al-Zaher.

Thousands of combatants and civilians have been killed since February when the Houthis resumed an offensive on oil-rich Marib, the government’s last bastion in the north.

Backed by air support from the Arab coalition, government troops last week mounted an offensive to seize control of districts in Al-Bayda, and to relieve pressure on other government troops battling Houthi attacks in the central province of Marib.