Houthis lose key city after uprising by residents
Houthi militias lost control of Al Khokha city near the strategic port of Hodeidah in western Yemen after an uprising by local residents who welcomed victorious resistance fighters backed by the UAE Armed Forces.
The Yemeni forces supported by the Arab coalition advanced overnight to liberate the coastal area from the grip of the Houthi fighters and immediately the UAE Emirates Red Crescent began to roll out its relief plan in the area, providing assistance to residents.
The advances in the area raised hopes that the strategic port will be freed from the control of rebel groups and that humanitarian aid can resume free shipments to alleviate the famine conditions affecting large areas of Yemen.
Houthi commanders in Sanaa were executing scores of supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and had arrested hundreds more after launching a round-up in the capital. The 75-year Saleh was killed in Sanaa on Monday by the Iran-backed faction.
“Al Houthi militia carried out mass executions of the members of the General People’s Congress party. I am extremely sure of such information, if the Houthis deny this I challenge them to accept an independent committee to carry out an investigation by honest Yemeni doctors to investigate the crime transparently,” said Ali Al Bukhaity, a defector from the Houthi alliance that took control of northern Yemen, ousting the government.
“According to the information I have they executed 37 of the internees who were wounded, they took them out of the hospitals and executed them at once,” Mr Al Bukhaity said.
“They are going to bury the corpses in an unknown place to hide the crime.”
A member of Saleh’s General People’s Congress said he had fled the capital to escape arrest but said other activists had not been able to get out.
Muneer Al Adimi, who lives in Sanaa, said no one linked to Saleh’s GPC could resume their regular life because the Houthis were chasing them in the city.
“The Houthis set up checkpoints in streets in Sanaa to chase the GPC members, while Saleh’s supporters disappeared from Sanaa,” Mr Adimi said.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for the immediate release of 41 journalists from Yemen Today TV channel, a GPC outlet, who have been detained by the Houthis.
“The Houthis arrested hundreds of GPC members in Sanaa without any accusation,” a Sanaa-based journalist said. “They arrested members of GPC randomly, they arrested even the neutral members.
“The rule of the Houthis is that if you do not support me, you are my enemy.”
He said some GPC members claimed to support the Houthis to save themselves.
The journalist said: “The press associations could not help my 41 colleagues who were detained by the Houthis early this week, so I think that the Houthis will target all of us and no one will help.”
The Houthi rebels have already forced thousands to flee Sanaa towards liberated areas.
Maj Gen Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the eldest son of the former leader, will take the reins of the GPC and take revenge for his father’s death.
The UAE and Saudi-led coalition said the first major gains since Saleh’s death involved local fighters loyal to Saleh.
Al Khokha lies about 350 kilometres south-west of Sanaa.
Residents said Saleh’s killing spurred opposition to the Houthis. At least 25 people from both sides were killed in the fighting before Yemeni fighters captured the town, plus a small fishing port.
When Saleh switched sides against the Houthi he said he was ready to end the conflict if the Saudi-led coalition agreed to stop attacks on the country.