Yemeni army, backed by popular committees, advanced in the province of Maareb as they tightened noose around al-Qaeda-linked militants in the area of Dahla from three sides.

Yemeni army, backed by popular committees, advanced in the province of Maareb as they tightened noose around al-Qaeda-linked militants in the area of Dahla from three sides.

Field sources reported that clashes took place between the army and the militants who had looted weapons and equipments from the Brigade 312.

The sources added that the army and the popular committees cleansed the headquarters of the Brigade 312 in Kofel, and they are advancing towards al-Zor area.

The central province of Maareb lies in the north west of the capital Sanaa. It is considered a stronghold for al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The Yemeni Army and the popular committees have been engaged in a wide-scale campaign against al-Qaeda-linked militants. Last September they flushed out the terrorists from Sanaa.

Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday night, Saudi Arabia declared the end of the aggression, dubbed “Decisive Strom”. However, the Saudi-led warplanes are still conducting airstrikes on several areas across Yemen.

More than 2,800 people were martyred by the Saudi aggression, most of them are civilians. Thousands more were injured.