More volunteers, soliders to support army in Sa’ada [Archives:2007/1042/Front Page]
Mohammed bin Sallam
SANA'A, April 15 ) Tribal sources reported on Sunday that the Yemeni army has begun reinforcing its forces with dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers and Katyusha rocket launchers seen heading from Sana'a to Sa'ada.
The source added that army forces are being reinforced with thousands of soliders and other military personnel mobilized from camps and military units across Yemen.
Clashes between the two sides are ongoing on various fronts as the Yemeni army continues attacking Kittaf Al-Sama and Al-Rawnah highlands with tanks and mortars, in addition to other Houthi positions in Al-Masoud and Al-'Uqm Mountain, which the army is attempting to retake after Houthis occupied it last week.
Other local sources mentioned fierce irregular clashes in some areas of Haydan district, while Dhahian city witnesses continuous fighting between Houthi loyalists and army forces. Last Saturday, fierce confrontations occurred, leaving dozens killed or injured.
Army forces resumed attacking Dhahian last Thursday from four points, using all types of traditional weaponry, including fighters, helicopters and Katyusha missiles. Aleshteraki.net reported that MiG-29 and Sokhoy fighters, as well as helicopters, participated in the attack on Dhahian city.
For the first time since this latest Sa'ada War began, Nashour and Al-Rizamat villages became involved in the ongoing clashes between the Yemeni army and Houthi loyalists. Informed sources reported that mortar attacks waged by the army from Ahsan and Um Ali Mountains on those villages believed to accommodate Houthis destroyed 10 houses in Nashour, while tank and mortar attacks destroyed seven houses in Al-Abqur near Al-Talh city.
Further, the Yemeni army last Friday waged violent attacks employing mortars and Katyusha missiles against Houthi positions in Wadi Al-Ghail east of Sa'ada city in response to a Houthi attack on a military site in Al-Ghail Mountain. Using tanks positioned in Al-Anad area northwest of Sa'ada, the army also attacked Houthi sites in Bani Mu'ath, destroying numerous homes there.
Ghamer district under attack
Earlier this week, Houthis attacked Sa'ada's Ghamer district, positioning themselves in the nearby mountains. They also took over numerous government facilities located in Badr city, the district's capital. Sources revealed that Houthis now are seizing the First Instance Court building and other local administration and security buildings, along with medical centers and schools.
The General People's Congress-affiliated Al-Motamar.net earlier reported that Yemeni armed forces managed to drive Houthis from Ghamer and its capital, Badr; however, recent news indicates the opposite.
Houthi fighters assaulted Badr, located in central Ghamer district, the middle of last week, firing the district chief and his soldiers and then recalling fighters to attack the area.
Brigade participation
In related news, more than 10 soldiers from Al-'Amaliqah Brigade and another 20 were injured after Houthis trapped them in Al-Safra's Al-Mahather area north of Sa'ada.
“Al-'Amaliqah Brigade, famed during Yemen's 1994 Civil War, is participating in the Sa'ada war, which renewed in January,” Aleshteraki.net reported.
The participation of Al-'Amaliqah Brigade and other military units comes after wide criticism about the performance of Brig. Ali Muhsen Al-Ahmar's Brigades of the First Armored Division.
Aleshteraki.net added that Houthis managed to dispel those army units that penetrated some zones of Dhahian, as well as its main street, after a bloody battle between the two sides, leaving behind 18 dead and injured, including Al-Jabali, deputy commander of a tank unit.
Local sources from Dhamar assure that more than 35 detainees being held for alleged Houthi links and jailed at Dhamar's Central Prison began a hunger strike two days ago to protest their more than month-long detention without justification.
Earlier last week, Dhamar's Political Security Department released 27 students and political activists affiliated with Al-Haq, the Popular Forces Union and the Socialist parties. They were detained for their sympathetic attitude toward Houthism.
Yahya Al-Houthi allowed to be extradited
Al-Motamar.net revealed that Interpol has listed Yahya Al-Houthi, now living in Germany, on its red notice, thus binding those countries where he is to extradite him to Yemeni authorities.
Interpol took such action against Al-Houthi after Yemen sent an official letter requesting the agency arrest and extradite him for the many crimes he has committed as an outstanding leader in the Faithful Youth Organization.
Houthi grandson abducted
An armed group abducted a grandson of Badraddin Al-Houthi from in front of his house in Sana'a's Mathbah zone. According to Aleshteraki.net, 13-year-old Amin Abdulqader Badraddin Al-Houthi left his house Friday morning to buy some necessary foodstuffs.
His mother, who lives with him since her husband was killed in the first Sa'ada War, pointed out that her neighbors informed her that a large group of armed men took her son by force to an unknown location.
The source added that the abductors belong to GPC-affiliated Member of Parliament Saghir bin Aziz, whose brother Houthis captured earlier last week following a battle in Al-Mahather. Done with the consent of concerned authorities, the abduction aims to pressure Houthis to free Aziz's brother along with three volunteer fighters.
Some citizens have warned authorities about injecting tribesmen and jihadists into the Sa'ada war in order to cover its failure, noting that such insertion will lead Yemen's tribal society into endless wars. They referred to some military and security leaders who foment hatred and hostility between Yemenis and over the Sa'ada war, whose victims include women and children.
Other Houthi sons arrested
Security sources have raided numerous houses in Sana'a following the war's eruption, arresting many sons and grandsons of Badraddin Al-Houthi's family, and also included female members of the family.
The arrested sons are: Alawi Yahyaddin Al-Houthi, 19; Zakaria Mohammed Badraddin Al-Houthi, 20; and Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim Al-Houthi, 17.
Military forces recruitment
Citizens from Ibb's Al-Radhmah district mention that the local authority has begun opening camps to receive those willing to volunteer as fighters in the Sa'ada war against Houthis, focusing on those previously dismissed from service and those with a Salafi background.
At its April 12 meeting chaired by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's National Defense Council approved a military recruitment policy including all Yemeni tribes and areas, after previously confining recruitment only to the Hashed tribe.
Some sources indicate that extending recruitment of tribesmen and jihadists to a total of 10,000 comes as a solution to disputes between National Council members regarding the Yemeni army's inability to resolve the battle with Houthi loyalists. Other members demand the participation of other military units, such as the Republican Guard, Central Security Forces and other units that haven't participated in the Sa'ada war until now.
In addition to extending the number of those mobilized from among tribesmen and other geographical areas, the council also approved recruiting a large number of Salafis to join the Yemeni army in the fight against Houthis, as reported in Akhbar Al-Youm, which is close to the authority, entitling more than 20,000 jihadists to fight them.
“Catastrophic” human situation
The Red Crescent Association spokesman in Sana'a declared that the human situation in Sa'ada is catastrophic, noting that the situation of displaced residents is very bad due to the shortage of aid provided to them by volunteers.
He reported to the weekly independent Al-Nidda newspaper that his association supervises just two camps in Sa'ada, Al-And and Al-'Ashol, located somewhere at the border of Sa'ada city and accommodating 2,858 families. Other sources revealed that the association is allowed to move in no more than two percent of places where displaced and injured residents exist.
Informed sources assert that there are more than 10 camps for displaced citizens, including Waqash Camp in Al-Safra and others in Bani Mu'ath, while the largest is Al-Mahdeidah Camp located on the Saudi border and accommodating more than 25,000 displaced residents from Dhahian and Al-Talh.
The same sources add that such displaced individuals lead a very hard life, maintaining that there is a total absence of supervision by government, national and international organizations, together with a shortage of food and lack of medical care and relief.
Local residents previously indicated that some Yemeni Red Crescent Association workers are Salafis and thus, biased toward the army, which affects their performance.
U.K. won't advise
Peter Gooderham, Middle East-North Africa director for the U.K.'s Foreign & Commonwealth Office, stated that what's occurring in Sa'ada is an internal affair and his country has no advice to provide in this respect.
Gooderham told Al-Ayyam daily newspaper last Thursday that they “won't provide any advice in this regard. However, they are concerned about existing fighting, so we are in continuous contact with the Yemeni government regarding these events.”
Britain had a different stance on the first Sa'ada War, as expressed by then-British Ambassador to Yemen, Frances Guy. Her statements caused tense relations over the 2004 Sa'ada War, as she considered the events an internal insurrection having nothing to do with combating terrorism. She also criticized the Yemeni army's excessive use of power.
The Yemeni government has failed to sell the Sa'ada War as a “War on Terror” to many international parties responsible for international decision making, at the top of which is the United States.
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