DUBAI / Reuters
A top general in forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government has been killed in fighting with Iran-aligned Houthi troops east of the capital Sanaa, sources on both sides of the conflict said.
Major-General Abdel-Rab al-Shadadi, commander of Yemen’s Third Military Region — which has its headquarters in the city of Marib east of Sanaa — was the most senior member of the pro-Hadi forces to be killed in nearly 19 months of civil war in Yemen.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency quoted a pro-Houthi military source as saying late that artillery gunners targeted Shadadi after they pinpointed his location.
On Saturday, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya channel quoted a statement from the Hadi government as saying Shadadi died in hospital after being badly wounded in Marib.
Last month, a source in the Saudi-led coalition said the head of Houthi special forces, Major General Hassan Almalsi, was killed while leading a squad of Houthi fighters trying to infiltrate Yemen’s southern province of Najran.