Saudi-led Coalition Achieves A Rare Success Against The Houthis

Submitted by South Front,

The battlefield in Yemen is getting more volatile with each passing day. On March 10th, the Saudi-led coalition released a video claiming to have destroyed an Ansar Allah air defense system.

The video shows a 2P25 transporter erector launcher of the system, a nearby missile depot and an unidentified radar system. All of them had been destroyed in airstrikes.

The Ansar Allah system reportedly comprising a Soviet-made SA-6 “Gainful” was positioned in the province of Marib. More specifically, the defense hardware is a locally upgraded version of the SA-6 air-defense system dubbed “Fater-1”.

In the days leading up to its alleged destruction, a Saudi Vestel Karayel drone was downed, and the air defense system might have been responsible for it. The UAV was downed on March 7th, and the Houthis released a video showing its debris.

The Saudi-led coalition is attempting to push back the Houthis with heavy airstrike activity. The ground offensive by Ansar Allah seems to only be challenged by air raids, and little else.

On March 9th alone, the Saudi-led coalition carried out at least 32 airstrikes, including some on the capital Sana’a.

The frontline is in a state of chaos, and a constant back and forth can be observed with the slight upper hand appearing to be for the Houthis, so far.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, in Syria, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) exchanged heavy fire with the al-Qaeda affiliated “moderate opposition” in Greater Idlib.

It all reportedly began after a joint shelling by Ansar al-Tawhid and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on SAA positions in southern Idlib. The aim was to dismantle positions of the SAA’s 25th Special Forces Division, also known as the Tiger Forces.

Ansar al-Tawhid claimed that 8 Syrian soldiers were killed and more were injured. This was entirely denied. The attacks reportedly failed, as the Russian Aerospace Forces detected them early on and issued a warning.

In response, the SAA rained hell, allegedly killing dozens of militants. Videos of the exchange were released and they show the heavy shelling that took place.

In recent days, the SAA has been steadily carrying out various attacks and small-scale offensives all around Greater Idlib and the Aleppo countryside. A larger-scale operation is in the works, and it is likely a matter of days or weeks before the stage is set for a push to regain further areas, before HTS can be totally rebranded into non-terrorists.