Pro-Houthi security official defects, flees Yemen

Head of Yemen’s domestic intelligence service, who was allied with the Houthis, fled to Germany this week after defecting from the Shia group, a political source told the Anadolu Agency today.

Khaled Al-Soufi, who led Yemen’s Political Security Bureau, arrived in Germany earlier this week after fleeing the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Al-Soufi’s departure comes amid an ongoing military campaign by Saudi Arabia and several Gulf-Arab allies against the Houthis.

The Houthis have yet to confirm or deny the source’s assertions.

Al-Soufi, 55, enjoyed close ties with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthis’ foe-turned-ally.

He was appointed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in November – two months after the Houthis seized Sanaa.

Before his appointment as head of domestic intelligence, he served as the governor of the central Taizz province since 2011.

Saudi Arabia and its allies said that the offensive, launched on 25 March, was in response to appeals by embattled President Hadi for intervention against the Houthis.

The Houthis denounced the offensive as an unwarranted “Saudi-American onslaught” on Yemen.

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September when Houthi militants overran Sanaa and moved to capture several other provinces across the impoverished Arab country.

Gulf States accuse Iran of supporting the Houthi insurgency.