Al-Houthis recruit African refugees for their battles

Network of nurses working for al-Houthis discovered

Thirty Somalis were arrested over the past two days in the Baqaa area.  The Somalis were arrested on suspicion of participating in the al-Houthi rebellion and fighting alongside the insurgents, said official sources from the local authorities in the Sa’adah province.

Recent developments seem to indicate that al-Houthis have resorted to recruiting Somali refugees in the Ra’as al-Arah region of Lahj to fight with them.  After they are recruited, the refugees are taken to various places in Sa’adah to replace Houthi followers who have refused to continue fighting against the government troops.

Almotamar.net posted a statement made by local sources from Sa’adah which called al-Houthi’s use of Somali refugees a flagrant violation of refugee rights.  The sources added that  al-Houthi terrorists are taking advantage of the refugees’ circumstances by recruiting them and smuggling them into the conflict areas of Sa’adah.

In another instance, the Defense Ministry announced last Friday that 26 Somalis, along with 42 al-Houthi rebels, were arrested in different areas throughout Sa’adah.

Six of the rebels were arrested in al-Malahaid in western Sa’adah and 36 others were arrested in areas around Sa’adah city, said the official statement that was sent to the media by the ministry.

The statement also mentioned that the terrorists Fayed Taleb Ghaithan and Abdullah Mohammed al-Khayami were among those that were arrested.

The 26 Somalis who were arrested on Friday while fighting with al-Houthi rebels against the government troops, have been sent to the central prison in Sana’a, where they will wait to be tried on charges of participating in the armed rebellion.

In the meantime, the Prosecutor’s Office will conduct an investigation within the next few days to examine the Somalis’ involvement with al-Houthi rebels.

Illegal immigration has become an increasing problem in Yemen. In a report on the Interior Ministry’s website concerning the arrested Somalis, the ministry disclosed that the government is having to deport 194 Africans this year alone for illegally entering the country.

The report specified that of those being deported 114 are Ethiopian, 46 Eritrean, 20 Sudanese, and 14 are Nigerian.  It added that the group includes 16 women, one from Eritrea and fifteen from Ethiopia.

More than 1000 illegal immigrants have entered Yemen this year, the ministry stated, adding that more than half came through Midi Port, which is located in the Hajjah province.

Meanwhile violent clashes continue in the north of Yemen. In one recent incident, dozens from both sides were killed or injured when the army repelled an attack by al-Houthi rebels against a government building known as “al-Camp,” or “The Republican Palace” by al-Houthis, in the outskirts of Sa’adah city. 

Despite the fact that Sa’adah city is completely surrounded by military fortifications, al-Houthi rebels have been attacking and attempting to control the city since the beginning of the intensified war in August.

“The repeatedly unsuccessful attacks on Sa’adah are merely the suicidal acts of a defeated group led by the spoiled child, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who doesn’t recognize the consequences of his actions,” commented the Defense Ministry in their official statement.

In spite of these attacks, the army continues to tighten the noose around the rebels and is advancing on their remaining strongholds.  In another tactic, Thursday and Friday, leaflets calling for the misguided rebels to surrender, were distributed all over Sa’adah by helicopters.

The leaflets read, “Return to your homes, your families, and safety is guaranteed for you; return to your children.  Who will raise and care for your children if you do not return to them?”

On the Malahaid front where the rebels are engaged with both the army of Yemen and the army of Saudi Arabia, eyewitnesses reported that they saw al-Houthi rebels transporting their dead and injured in five cars on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Saudi air strikes, artillery, and bombardments on the rebels’ positions continued Thursday and Friday.

The Saudi website, Jazan News, stated that 44 al-Houthi rebels were killed in sweeping operations by the Saudi army through the areas around Dukhan mountain which overlooks the land of both countries. The website also disclosed that 3 Saudi soldiers were killed and 11 others injured, two of them seriously, in these operations.

In addition to the Yemeni government’s military efforts, its interior ministry has increased its surveillance of the private hospitals located in the governorates near Sa’adah .  The ministry is searching for a number of Houthi terrorist leaders who were injured in clashes in Sa’adah and Sufyan, after security reports from Sa’adah confirmed that at least one of the field commanders, Mohammad al-Bor Mansour Sifan, had been injured.  

However, the reports indicated that it was unknown where Sifan had been taken for treatment.  As a result, the Security Center for the Interior Ministry disclosed that security forces have been posted in the hospitals near Sa’adah and inside the capital in order to capture the leader if he appears at any of them, 

Last month security authorities captured one of al-Houthi leaders at a private hospital in the Capital Secretariat, after he had been admitted for treatment using an alias.  Three others were captured along with him, having smuggled him all the way from al-Jawf province to the secretariat’s hospital.

In a related issue, reliable source from the Houdeidah governorate have reported that 17 nurses-in-training from Houdeidah University are working for al-Houthis and treating their wounded, for a monthly salary of one thousand dollars or more each.

The same source stated that many men and women in the province of Houdeidah are supporting al-Houthi rebellion.  “These people,” the source explained, “hire others to work for al-Houthis, taking advantage of their poor living conditions and easily convincing them to work by offering them large payments of money.”

The source added, “The al-Houthis exploit these people and have them smuggle weapons that either arrive by fishing boats or by trucks near Midi, in addition to having them smuggle fuel to the rebels.”

Another source from the security authorities in Houdeidah confirmed reports that the local management of an oil company in the Houdeidah governorate has been providing al-Houthis with petroleum products, going so far as to make permits and fill orders for the rebels.

Nevertheless, the source said that security forces in Houdeidah have been able to capture a number of supporters of the rebellion and sedition of al-Houthis.

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