The Saudi-led Arab coalition praised on Monday the defection of the information minister in the government of the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Sanaa.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki lauded the “heroic act,” saying it reflects the noble Yemenis, who stood by the legitimate government.
Information Minister Abdul Salam Jaber defected from the Houthis over the weekend and has been safely transported to Riyadh, where he declared the militias were nearing their demise.
Maliki added that the joint command and Arab coalition have started to increase their fueling capacity, leaving them self-sufficient in fueling their jets.
He told a press conference in Riyadh that the coalition had consulted with the United States and requested that it cease fueling jets that are active in operations in Yemen.
Moreover, he said that the legitimate government had expressed its fears over the Houthis’ violations against the Yemeni people in Hodeidah province and throughout the country.
They are threatening international trade routes in the Mandeb Strait and Red Sea.
In Hodeidah, the Houthis have been booby-trapping bridges in the Dhale district, he continued. They have also used mosques for storing weapons, transforming them into military bases.
In addition, last week, the Houthis stormed the May 22 hospital, using the staff and patients as human shields, he charged. The facility has since been liberated by the national army and resistance.
On the field, Maliki said that the army was continuing its advance in the Baqe front and al-Jawf. It has succeeded in destroying a number of vehicles used by the militias.
The military has also seized a number of areas in Taiz, leaving many Houthis dead.
On the western front, several positions were captured from the Houthis, seizing rockets, ammunition and light, medium and heavy weapons from their possession, Maliki stated.
He stressed that liberating Hodeidah and its port was the government’s legitimate right.
Efforts are ongoing to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people and to ensure that aid reaches the port without being hindered by the Houthis.
