Yemeni army and Houthis conclude prisoner swap

The Yemeni army and Houthi rebels have concluded a deal to exchange prisoners in Al-Bayda Governorate, a tribal source has told Sputnik news agency.

According to the source, the army released the son of the pro-Houthi governor of Al-Bayda, Faris Ali Muhammad Al-Mansouri and his relative Osama Nasser Al-Mansouri. Both were arrested about four months ago after an ambush east of Al-Bayda.

In return, the Houthis released a tribal leader and an officer in the pro-government military police, Muhammad Abdul Qadir Al-Abdali. He was arrested last February on charges of collaborating with the Arab coalition.

Last Thursday, the head of the Houthis’ prisoners’ committee, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, announced that the group will free ten captives as part of a prisoner-swap deal with the Yemeni government through local mediators in the Shabwa and Ma’rib regions of the country.

Al-Murtada added that the deal also includes exchanging the remains of four dead men from the Yemeni army with the remains of a captain in the Houthi forces, Naim Nasser Saleh Al-Joufi.

READ: Why have the Houthis failed to seize Yemen’s Marib province?