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Senior commander defects from UAE-backed forces to Yemen’s Houthis

July 1, 2020 at 1:57 pm

In the presence of the Deputy Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission, Sheikh Ali Al-Qaisi, and Dr. Tariq Al-Shami, head of the media department of the Congress Party and a number of members of the Shura Council, was received by Brigadier General Abdul Malik Al-Abyad, head of advanced operations in the West Coast front, who announced his apology to the country and joined its ranks to fight the occupiers [Mohammed Al-Bukaiti/Twitter]

A senior military commander has defected from UAE-backed forces in Yemen’s West Coast Front and was received by the joint Houthi-army forces in the capital Sanaa.

Houthi spokesperson and member of their political bureau, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, announced yesterday that Brigadier General Abdulmalik Al-Abyadh who was chief of advanced operations under Tariq Saleh’s “Republican Guards”, which are loyal to the Saudi-led coalition and are supported by the UAE.

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According to Al-Bukhaiti, Al-Abyadh joined the ranks of the Houthi forces to fight against the occupiers and issued an apology to the homeland.

In addition to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) there are various UAE-backed Yemeni forces fighting against the Houthis operating under interchangeable umbrella names of “Joint Forces” and “National Resistance Forces”, included in these are Tariq Saleh’s Republican Guards formed in 2018 after the collapse of the alliance between the Houthis and Tariq’s late uncle, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saleh’s forces are mainly concentrated on Yemen’s west coast and are instrumental in maintaining the coalition-led siege on the vital Red Sea port city of Hudaydah.

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