Recent fighting displaces over 1,500 families in Yemen

More than 1,500 families have been displaced over the past two weeks due to intensified military operations in Yemen’s central province of al-Bayda, a government official said on Tuesday.

According to the local official who asked to remain anonymous, “the recent armed confrontations between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi militia over the control of key areas in al-Bayda displaced up to 1,535 families.’’

“The ongoing fighting forced the families to flee their houses in al-Bayda’s areas and seek for other safer places in the government-controlled southern province of Lahj.’’

The official indicated that all of the displaced families were living in temporary camps amid lack of basic services, warning that the intensification of fighting might force more families to leave their houses in the turbulent province of al-Bayda.

The Iran-allied Houthi militia recently intensified their military operations against the government-controlled areas in different parts of the war-ravaged Arab country.

They succeeded in capturing key areas from the government forces that withdrew from their sites in al-Bayda and elsewhere in Yemen.

Yemen has been locked in a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all Northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthis forced him into exile.