Yemen military source: ‘Houthi Special Forces commander killed in clashes with army’

A government military source announced on Thursday that a Houthi movement’s Special Forces Commander was killed in battle against the Yemeni army.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that: “Special Forces Commander Major General Mohammed Al-Hamran was killed during clashes with the army.”

Houthi activists mourned Al-Hamran, known as “Abu Youssef”, on social media platforms, without specifying where or how he was killed.

The Houthis did not issue an official comment on Al-Hamran’s death.

The Houthis, who are usually secretive about the locations where the movement’s leaders are killed, tend to use the following phrase: “Killed in battle while defending his homeland in the war.”

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Al-Hamran is the successor to former commander of the Houthi Special Forces, Major General Hassan Al-Jaradi, known as “Abu Shahid”, who was killed in action in Al-Hudaydah Governorate, more than a year ago.

For the sixth consecutive year, Yemen has been witnessing fierce fighting between pro-government forces and Houthi militias, who have controlled many governorates including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.

The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been supporting Yemeni government forces against the Iranian-backed Houthis since 2015.

The ongoing war has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. 80 per cent of the Yemeni population needs humanitarian aid, in a country where all vital sectors have almost entirely collapsed, especially the health sector following the coronavirus pandemic.

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