Yemeni PM says popular resistance fighters to join army

Members of the popular resistance will join the Yemeni army in the fight against Houthi militias and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah revealed yesterday.

At a press conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, Bahah said the government has allocated 20 billion Yemeni riyals ($93 million) in the first quarter of 2016 to support the liberated areas and restore public services to them.

“After achieving many victories in the past year, the government will focus on the economic side, by returning the main services such as health, education, water and electricity, roads and others,” he said.

Bahah said Houthi rebels wiped nearly $3 billion from Yemen’s central bank last year, explaining that their interference with Yemen’s financial system reduced its foreign currency reserves from $5.2 billion to $2.3 billion.

“A large part of this was used to feed the rebels’ war against the Yemeni people,” he said.