Over 85% of Yemeni territories liberated by Arab Coalition: Saudi Minister

(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))

JEDDAH, 23rd June, 2018 (WAM) -- The Ministers of Media of the Member States of the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen held a meeting at the conference Palace here today to discuss ways of aligning media efforts and providing support for the Coalition countries.

The Saudi Minister of Media Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad said that the meeting comes in continuation of the concerted efforts made by the countries of the Coalition for Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen that had been formed in response to an invitation from President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in March 2015 to restore legitimacy to Yemen and confront the attacks of Iran-backed Houthi, their takeover of power and threat to the security of the borders of the Kingdom and the stability of the region, through serving Iran's expansionist agenda and disrespecting the right of the Yemeni people to choose the legitimate government that represents them.

Dr. Al-Awwad said,"Houthi militias are one of the tools of Iran to threaten the stability of the region and their ambitions have not stopped at attacking Yemenis and seizing their lands, but they exceeded that to threaten the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by launching more than 152 ballistic missiles which were intercepted courageously by our air defence forces who prevented them from reaching their targets which have not excluded the holiest site of Makkah, an attitude which reflects the indifference of these Iranian-backed militias to the sanctity of Islamic holy sites; and therefore, it has been necessary for the Coalition to confront these coup militias and cut off Iran's arms in the region and restore legitimacy to Yemen."

Al-Awwad added that the coalition has succeeded in restoring and liberating more than 85 percent of Yemeni territories, while adhering to international rules of engagement, protecting civilians and supporting the Yemeni people and their legitimate government in resisting the aggressors. He noted that the coalition has also achieved remarkable victories on various fronts, notably Saada front, the main stronghold of Houthi coup militias and Nahm front, east of the capital Sana'a, where the Coalition has achieved qualitative progress, where a number of strategic sites were liberated, routes for illicitly supplying militias were cut off, their remnants were besieged, and suffered great losses in lives and equipment, the liberated areas were ensured, and displaced families returned home.

He added, "In a decisive and crucial step in the military operations, in response to the legitimate Yemeni government, and in support of the National Yemeni Army, the Coalition for Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen launched a military and humanitarian operation to liberate the port of Hodeidah in western Yemen in order to stop the smuggling of arms, ensure the security of maritime navigation traffic, facilitate the entry of relief aid to improve living conditions of the brotherly Yemeni people, drain the sources of financing Houthis and pressure them to negotiate seriously and get out of the current deadlock in order to ultimately find a political solution to the crisis and ensure the unity and independence of Yemen and its territorial integrity in accordance with the Gulf initiative, its implementation mechanism, the Comprehensive Yemeni National Dialogue Conference and Security Council resolution 2216."

Dr. Al-Awwad pointed out that the Coalition's support for legitimacy has not been limited to military operations only, but extended to other economic, security, relief and service aspects, infrastructure development projects, paving roads, rehabilitating ports and increasing their capacity, noting that while coalition fighters support Yemeni National Army's operations across various fronts, relief convoys move to stand by the needy people in various liberated areas. He added that the efforts of the Coalition are not limited to military, political and humanitarian aspects, but include media support in all its traditional and modern means.

"You are aware of what the hostile media stations are doing to falsify, deceive, fabricate stories, propagate rumors, broadcast distorted information, in order to influence minds, and emotions, and belittle Yemeni army's and coalition forces' successes in diplomatic and in various fields.' He added, "In the face of this misleading media, we urgently need to intensify efforts to expose the crimes of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the Yemeni people and its inhuman practices, immoral and criminal behavior through our various media means and joint coordination between us to unify the media discourse of the Coalition and the delivery of media messages that highlight the achievements of the Yemeni National Army and the efforts of the coalition forces in the humanitarian, political and military aspects to uncover and expose the counterfeiting done by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in their coverage of military battles in Yemen."

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