Tihama Resistance ready to lead ‘intifada’ against Houthis in Hodeidah
The pro-government Tihama Resistance has sleeper cells in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah ready and willing to lead the “intifada” against the Houthi rebels, said the group’s secretary general.
In an exclusive interview with
The National, Mohammed Omar Moamen said his forces – named after the Red Sea coastal region – are willing to fight to liberate the northern Yemeni provinces from the Iran-backed group.
Tihama Resistance is part of a collective of forces with the stated goal of taking Hodeidah. It is made up of locals loyal to Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, and fights alongside the Arab Coalition.
“Most of the young men in Hodeidah city are against the Houthis, and they are waiting for the moment to take up arms and lead the biggest intifada in the northern provinces,” Mr Moamen said.
“Most members of the Tihama Resistance were unarmed peaceful civilians, but if we can equip them with more weapons, I can assure you that our young men in the city of Hodeidah are ready to inflict a fatal blow to the Houthis.”
The coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, paused its offensive on Hodeidah last month to aid peace talks spearheaded by UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths. It intervened in the war in March 2015 at the request of Mr Hadi’s government.
Government forces and the alliance say the Houthis must fully and unconditionally withdraw from the city and hand over control to the UN. The rebels have so far agreed only to joint control with the international organisation.
Yesterday, Mr Griffiths issued a statement before his departure from Sanaa, which is held by the rebels, in which he said the Houthis had expressed a “strong desire for peace” and discussed “concrete ideas for
achieving peace”, but he did not elaborate further.
Mr Griffiths said he might meet Mr Hadi in Aden.
But Mr Moamen said the Houthis were using the pause to mobilise and had no intention to resolve the future of Hodeidah through a political process.
“They’ve been preparing and digging trenches, because they know that they don’t believe in negotiations or peace talks … this is their war because they are simply an Iranian proxy and nothing more than that,” said Mr Moamen.
“They will not commit or agree to anything without Tehran’s consent.”
The Tihama Resistance’s secretary general said the group has asked the coalition to set up a joint operations room to co-ordinate any possible upcoming offensive.
“The Tihama Resistance is also working with undercover agents in the Houthi militia present in Hodeidah, so we know the movements of the Houthis,” he said.
Mr Moamen said that those who support the Houthis in Hodeidah consist of two types of people.
“There are those who serve the Houthis in the city for their own personal interests and then there are those who are uneducated and poor and are forcefully recruited,” he told The National.
They [the Houthis] will not commit or agree to anything without Tehran’s consent MOHAMMED OMAR MOAMEN Tihama Resistance