CRACKS IN THE RANKS AMONG YEMEN’S HOUTHI FIGHTERS
Documents prepared by Iranian experts and Hizbollah show urgent need for newly trained troops
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are facing a severe depletion in numbers and discontent in areas under their control, confidential documents obtained by the Yemeni military show.
The documents were obtained by military intelligence a week ago and showed “cracks in the ranks”, said Ramzi Mokhtar, editor of the 26 September military news website, which published the documents on Sunday.
The military also posted the documents on its Facebook page.
The documents, dated August 22 this year, were prepared by Iranian military experts and the Iran-backed Hizbollah militia for Al Jehad office, a Houthi military arm that advises Abdul Malik Al Houthi, the leader of the rebel movement.
They detailed a dwindling of rebel ranks through casualties in northern areas of Yemen under Houthi control and an “urgent need for newly trained fighters as soon as possible”.
Al Houthi ordered his militants to operate in residential areas and continue using civilians as “shield walls” to protect the militias against air strikes, orders that were supported by the experts, the documents show.
Civilian casualties are clai- med almost daily amid fighting between the rebels and the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition including the UAE. The documents indicate a high level of infiltration by double agents passing on information to the coalition as the rebels faced a series of setbacks because of a lack of experienced commanders to replace those killed in fighting.
After more than two years of war, coalition-backed government forces have made rapid gains in recent weeks following the collapse of the Houthi alliance with forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom the rebels killed on December 4.