(Newspaper) .. Houthis are working on a plan to “mix things up” before their designation as a “terrorist group” takes effect

Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:

The Saudi newspaper “Al-Sharq Al-Awsat” quoted Yemeni military sources as saying that the Houthi group is working on a plan to “mix things up” before their designation by the US as a “terrorist group” takes effect.

According to the newspaper, the Houthis anticipated the scheduled implementation of their designation by the US as a “foreign terrorist organization” and mobilized large numbers of their fighters towards areas controlled by the internationally recognized government in the gas and oil-rich Marib Governorate, coinciding with the intensification of their subversive activities in the liberated areas and the continued smuggling of weapons.

According to the sources, the Houthis have pushed thousands of their fighters to the front lines with government forces in southern and western Marib Governorate, while carrying out limited attacks as part of their preparations to seize those positions.

The sources suggested that this plan is an attempt by the Iranian-backed group to mix things up and escape the measures and restrictions that will result from the start of their designation by the US government as a “foreign terrorist group.”

With the announcement by the Yemeni forces of the thwarting of Houthi hostile operations in Al-Kassara, Al-Mashjah, and Madghal sectors in Marib Governorate, in which artillery, Katyusha rockets, and snipers were used, the military sources indicated that the group is continuing to send reinforcements to the contact areas.

Estimates by the Yemeni government indicate that there is a Houthi plan to attack areas under its control and target oil and gas production fields, in an attempt to mix things up with the entry into force of the decision to designate the group as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

These moves came after the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, in his latest briefing to the Security Council, expressed concern about reports of military operations carried out by the Houthis in the village of Hanka Al Masoud in Al Bayda Governorate, the killing of two children and the injury of others in an attack west of Taiz, and his confirmation of the need for “these attacks to stop.”