Houthi-Brotherhood coordination: Officers defect from Yemeni army

Nora Bandari

While the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces continue their efforts to find a solution to restore security and stability to Yemen, including with the announcement of a ceasefire, the Houthis, with the support of the Brotherhood in the legitimate government, continue their violations to take control of the country and implement the Iranian regime’s plan. Therefore, the Houthis are seeking to attract and tempt officers from Yemen’s national army so that it can implement the mullahs’ scheme.

The Houthi group announced that three senior border guard officers of Yemen’s national army defected and joined the militants. Houthi leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti tweeted on April 24 that he met with three officers after they returned with their weapons to the capital, Sanaa. The leader published a picture of his meeting with these officers in the capital’s Sabaeen Square. In addition, he announced on April 15 that other officers from the same brigade also defected and joined the Houthis, indicating that his militia had opened the door to those returning to its ranks.

Brotherhood-Houthi coordination

The coup militia recently announced the defection of hundreds of officers and soldiers from the government forces, although there are doubts about the validity of these allegations.

In August 2019, the Houthis announced the defection of a military brigade affiliated with the Brotherhood in Yemen who then joined the militia. At that time, Bukhaiti had announced on Facebook that he had met with artillery commander Lieutenant-General Maqbool Ali Ghanem Qahtan after he and his soldiers decided to hand over the brigade’s positions and equipment to the Houthis in Al-Jawf.

After these Brotherhood-affiliated officers joined the Houthis, the militiai announced its efforts to consolidate its relationship with the Brotherhood following air strikes in southern Yemen and confrontations with the Southern Transitional Council, which rejects the Houthis’ presence.

At the same time, about 17 Houthi soldiers defected and joined the legitimate government in December 2019. According to Yemeni armed forces spokesman Abdo Majali, these officers managed to escape from Sanaa in coordination with the legitimate government and joined the government forces. Contacts and arrangements were made prior to their defection from the Houthi forces in order to maintain their safety and secure their exit from Sanaa.

Houthi allegations

Yemeni political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher told the Reference that the defection of a number of military leaders affiliated with the Brotherhood has become a familiar matter, adding that this is a natural result of the military corruption practiced by the military leaders, as they seek only to trade in the war.

This has immense psychological effects on the fighters, whose confidence is shaken by such news, because they think that the terrorist militia is winning on the fronts, Taher pointed out. Many of them then resort to the same process of returning to Sanaa, especially as the Houthis communicate with them and know their corruption. The Houthis are taking advantage of the news of defections in order to strengthen the militia’s internal ranks and send a message to the people that they are the ones winning the battle.

Taher called for the necessity of reaching a new strategic process to rid the Yemeni government from corruption and then implementing the Riyadh agreement to restore the government and change the current military leadership with national leaders whose only concern is to liberate Yemen and not benefit or trade in the war.