Yemen Monitor/Aden/Special:
Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi inspected the readiness of the armed forces on Friday during a phone call with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff, as the Houthi escalation continues in the governorates of Al-Jawf and Marib.
Sources in Sana’a told “Yemen Monitor” on Thursday about the Houthis’ plan to launch a “preemptive war” on the oil-rich Marib Governorate in eastern Yemen, while continuing to mobilize thousands of fighters to the front lines.
The Yemeni News Agency (Saba) said that Al-Alimi inspected the readiness of the forces during a phone call with the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant-General Mohsen Al-Da’eri, and the Chief of the General Staff, Commander of Joint Operations, Lieutenant-General Sagheer bin Aziz.
It added that “Al-Alimi” was briefed “on the military developments and combat readiness in light of the Presidential Leadership Council’s decision regarding the unity of fronts in the joint operations theater at various levels.”
The Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council listened from the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff to a briefing on the situation in the theater of operations, in addition to hearing about the “high readiness to resolutely confront” the armed Houthi group, “its acts of aggression and terrorist plans, and to move forward in the battle to restore state institutions and end the coup.”
This comes amid fears of the Houthis igniting a full-scale war against government forces, ending the fragile truce that has been in place since April 2022. The Yemeni army said on Thursday that it had repelled intense attacks launched by the group on the fronts of Marib and Al-Jawf.
Fears of renewed conflict in Yemen formed a major focus of the recent briefing by UN envoy Hans Grundberg to the Security Council, where he warned that the country had reached a “critical turning point.”
Grundberg expressed regret over the escalation of hostilities, saying: “Unfortunately, we have also seen continued military activity in Yemen with reports of reinforcements and equipment moving towards the front lines, shelling, drone attacks, and infiltration attempts by the Houthis on multiple front lines, including Abyan, Al-Dhalea, Lahj, Marib, Sa’ada, Shabwa, and Taiz.”
The envoy added, “I call on the parties to refrain from military posturing and retaliatory actions that would lead to further tension and threaten to return Yemen to conflict,” noting that his office remains in regular contact with the parties, urging them to de-escalate tensions and take concrete steps to build confidence through the Military Coordination Committee.
