Senior Houthi official defects to Yemeni army after killings

A high-ranking Houthi official defected to the Yemeni army after fleeing to Aden from the rebel-held capital, according to local media.

Maj Gen Gameel Al Mamari, who was a member of the army units that aligned with the Iran- backed rebels in 2014, had been a spokesman for the Houthis’ air defence forces, as well as deputy director of the so-called “military forum” – a group of high-ranking army officers in Sanaa.

But, he told the Khabar news agency, he decided to defect to the internationally recognised government in Aden after the Houthis killed fellow renegade army officers following the death of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh last December.

Maj Gen Al Mamari and the renegade officers had been loyal to Saleh, following him when he formed an alliance with the Houthis against the government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

This alliance broke down at the end of last year, however, with rebel fighters killing the former president after he switched sides.

Maj Gen Al Mamari said the Houthi gang also destroyed the capabilities of the army units that had been fighting with it in the wake of Saleh’s death, replacing officers in high-ranking roles with rebels.

“I decided to gamble to join the legitimate Yemeni army to fight with it against the gang that sent Yemen to hell and destroyed everything,” he told Khabar, which is affiliated with Saleh’s General People’s Congress party.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni army scored further gains yesterday, advancing on the Karesh front, Lt Mohammed Al Naqeeb, spokesman of the fourth military zone, told The National.

The army, backed by the Saudi-led coalition and local resistance forces, recaptured three villages in the area, as troops continued to shell Houthi positions on the strategic mountain of Al Hashama.

Lt Al Naqeeb said he expected the mountain to be seized by the army in the coming hours.

Also yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya news channel reported that the Yemeni army had foiled an attack by the Houthis close to the Saudi border.

The rebels tried to advance towards army positions in Razih district, in the northern province of Saada, but were thwarted by government forces with support from the coalition, Al Arabiya said.