HOUTHIS ORDER THE ARREST OF FIFTY DESERTERS
Yemenis told to ‘fight or die’ flee the front lines as rebels’ death toll climbs
The Houthis have ordered the arrest of 50 of their fighters who fled the front lines along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, as their forces suffer heavy losses.
The Iran-backed rebels set up checkpoints around areas besieged by pro-government forces to catch the deserters, UAE state news agency Wam reported yesterday.
Military sources said the Houthis were forcibly recruiting hundreds of civilians trapped in besieged areas along Yemen’s Red Sea Coast amid low morale and a high death toll in rebel ranks.
The Houthis were threatening to kill or kidnap those who refused to join the fight, the sources said, sparking widespread discontent within rebel-held areas.
The fight against the Houthis in Red Sea coastal areas is being carried out by Yemeni popular resistance fighters backed by UAE forces and coalition jets.
The UAE is a leading member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis alongside pro-government forces.
The coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 on behalf of the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
Also yesterday, Wam reported that the Emirates Red Crescent, with the help of UAE soldiers, had distributed thousands of food baskets to residents in Taez province’s Mokha district, which is also on the Red Sea coast.
Rashid Al Khattari, a Red Crescent representative, said the aid organisation had distributed more than 2,000 food parcels to residents in the village of Waheja, which was liberated over a year ago from Houthi control.
The charity also provided food aid to civilians in the area of Tarim in Hadramawt province, farther east, amid severe food shortages nationwide.
On Friday, Wam reported that the charity had reopened a secondary school in Hadramawt’s Rumah district, which had been closed for more than 10 years.
The reopening of the school will help to ease the economic burden on local families who cannot afford the transport costs of sending their children to schools farther afield, Wam said.
In the north of the country, Yemeni army troops backed by the coalition advanced to within 25 kilometres of the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Friday.
Troops fought a fierce battle with the Houthis to reach the district of Arhab in Sanaa province, north-east of the capital, said Khaled Al Karni, who is working for the Yemeni army.
Arhab is at the junction of three provinces: Amran, Al Jawf and Sanaa.
Mr Al Karni told The National on Friday that forces fighting to restore Mr Hadi’s government to power had advanced as far as Haran, a strategic area on the edge of Arhab.
“Seventeen Houthi militants were killed amid raging confrontations in Arhab, including three Houthi leaders,” he said.
Any advance for the Yemeni army from Arhab to Amran would cut a key rebel supply route and mean the Houthis would be unable to send reinforcements to the capital from Saada.
In the south of Yemen, meanwhile, the coalition repelled a Houthi attack targeting the government-held Al Marboosh hill in the Hayfan area of Taez province, said Ala Sultan, in the neighbouring Lahj province.
Street artist Haifa Subay is painting murals to ensure that victims of Yemen’s gruelling three-year civil war are not forgotten.
Subay’s latest work, of a one-legged landmine victim, is one of many she has completed in the capital Sanaa during the war, which has killed more than 10,000 and displaced an estimated two million people.
“This drawing is called Just a Leg and it’s part of the campaign called Silent Victims,” she said “This is the sixth artwork of this mural campaign.
“The murals portray war victims in general, especially the victims of landmines, which are being planted everywhere in Yemen.”
Subay has also painted murals to raise awareness of people who have disappeared, the shortage of water, destruction of schools, displacement and the use of schools by the Houthi rebels for military purposes.
“My message is one of peace,” she said.
The internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, is battling the Houthis, who control the capital and are supported by Iran.