Houthis refuse to surrender missiles

The Houthis militias in Yemen have refused to surrender their ballistic missiles in an implicit rejection of the initiative put forward by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, two days ago in Jeddah, according to Anatolia news agency.

According to the statement, the Houthis pledged to carry on with the will to fight, and to retain the necessary capacity and capabilities as he promised to redouble his efforts at all levels in order to achieve that.

Kerry's initiative called to form a national unity government with the participation of the militias, their withdrawal from Sanaa, and handing their heavy weapons. The Houthis did not comment on Kerry’s initiative.

This includes weapons and ballistic missiles, which he described Kerry's threat to Saudi Arabia and the region as well as the United States.

Houthi attempt to lay Taiz under siege

The Yemeni army has made a series of advances with the assistance of the UN-backed Saudi-led coalition forces, army spokesman Brigadier General Samir Haj has said.

But he added that Houthi militias had launched a strong attack on Mount Han off the western entrance to Taiz in an attempt to regain control.

He said Houthi militias and the ousted Ali Saleh were deploying more heavy weaponry around Taiz province in an attempt to lay the city under siege.

In recent days, government forces in Yemen’s third largest city unleashed a major military offensive to push rebel forces out of Taiz and put an end to the more than a year of siege which has brought its occupants to the brink of starvation.

The mountain is located in the western entrance of the city that overlooks a vital road that links it to the port city of Aden.

Earlier this year in March, residents enjoyed a brief respite from the Al Houthi-imposed siege when government forces liberated the western side of the city and opened up the road to Aden.