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Al-Subaihi captured and Lahj falls as Houthis move on Aden

Published on 25 March 2015 in News
Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki (author)

Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki


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(hunaaden.com)

(hunaaden.com)

SANA’A, March 25—In coordination with armed forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Houthi militants took control of Lahj governorate and captured a number of key opponents on Wednesday morning.

The group captured Brigadier Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, the former minister of defense who was leading troops loyal to Hadi in the south, and Faisal Rajab, commander of the pro-Hadi 119th Armored Brigade in Lahj’s capital Al-Hawta.

The captures happened at 11 a.m. as the Houthis and their allies were combing Al-Hawta city, which they took control of shortly after the fall of Al-Anad Airbase that morning, said Naji Al-Arashi, chief-of-staff of the 201st Armored Brigade stationed in Al-Anad.

“By cooperating with the Houthis we have taken control over Al-Hawta city, Al-Anad base, and remaining districts in the governorate,” he said, adding that the Houthis, aided by the army, intend to take over the remaining southern governorates as well.

Al-Subaihi was leading the counter-offensive against the Houthis in Lahj governorate. Following the Cabinet’s resignation on Jan. 22, the Houthis appointed Al-Subaihi as acting minister of defense on Feb. 6. However, he fled Sana’a for Lahj on March 8, and headed towards Aden where he became President Hadi’s de facto minister of defense.

A senior source within the brigade, speaking to the Yemen Times on condition of anonymity, said Special Security Forces (SSF) and other units arrived on the outskirts of Al-Anad base in the middle of the night before advancing without resistance later in the morning.

According to Colonel Ali Qasim Muthana, deputy commander of Al-Anad airbase, “We contacted air force leadership in Sana’a and there was mediation between us and the Houthis, we agreed to hand over the entire base on condition that no one gets harmed.”

“I allowed them to enter and deploy their men, and indeed that happened without any confrontation. If we had resisted, our soldiers and citizens would have been the victims,” he said.

Forces from the 33rd Armored Brigade took control of the cities of Al-Habilain and Al-Malah and were joined by reinforcements, according to a source from the Operations Department for the two cities, which border Al-Dhale governorate to the north. According to Houthi Political Office member Mohammad Al-Bukhaiti, all of Lahj governorate is under the Houthis’ control. He confirmed that Al-Subaihi and Rajab are in Houthi custody.

The Houthis announced a YR20 million ($93,000) award for the capture of Hadi on the official state TV channel Al-Yemen, whose whereabouts remain unknown as of Wednesday evening.

Responding to claims that Hadi had fled the country, the head of national security, Major-General Ali Al-Ahmadi, claimed to Reuters Wednesday afternoon that he was with Hadi in the Presidential Palace. The Yemen Times was unable to verify the authenticity of this claim.

Abdurahman Anis, an Aden-based journalist, said that as of 5 p.m. Wednesday Aden was calm but the Houthis were stationed in Lahj about 30 kilometers away.

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