KUWAIT CITY — Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed received the United Nations special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and discussed the latest efforts and developments regarding the conflict.

Kuwait plays the central pivot for us and for peace in Yemen, Griffiths was quoted as saying by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Sunday.

"I have lived a long life and the inspiration that we have received just now from His Highness is a moment that I will never forget and in many parts of the world where conflict happens as it does in your region, to find a man who is so dedicated to peace and whose own experience has shown as he was telling us how reconciliation and peace can overcome enmity and difference, it's remarkable and absolutely extraordinary," Griffiths said.

"I don't think we will succeed in Yemen in stopping this war and bringing political resolution to it without the help and experience of Kuwait. The fact is that two years ago, His Highness and his government hosted 100 days of talks on Yemen and those talks, while they didn't produce peace then, are the defining narrative for the peace that we hope to bring to Yemen in the course of the next month,” Griffiths added.

20 Houthis killed

In Saada, 20 Houthis were killed and 28 others held captive, including civilian commander Abu Yasser Al-Khoulani, following an attack by the Yemeni army targeting Houthi bases on Sunday.

A military commander confirmed that the army held the surprise attack with the support of the Arab Coalition, and liberated several strategic locations, including the Al-Shaeer and Al-Raba mountain ranges and a military base in Al-Raba.

Videos captured by Yemeni army soldiers showed the army and Arab Coalition forces destroying Houthi rocket launch pads, armed vehicles and military equipment.

The army also launched another military operation on the west coast of Yemen to cut off Houthi supplies coming from Sanaa.

Military sources said that the operation was launched with the help of Arab Coalition jets, which carried out intensive shelling on several posts of the militias. They added that the army is advancing from the Al-Duraihmi governorate. — Al Arabiya English