Dubai: Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, accompanied by other government officials, visited the city of Marib east of the capital Sana’a, news outlets reported on Sunday.
Marib is a strategic city under the control of forces loyal to the internationally recognised government that Hadi leads. Among the top officials accompanying Hadi was Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar, his vice-president.
The visit, Hadi’s first, comes amid military preparations for a possible campaign to recapture Sana’a, which is under the control of militias loyal to the Al Houthi rebels and ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, Sky News reported, adding that military reinforcements arrived in the city last week.
“As we celebrated the liberation of Aden on Ramadan 27 (last year), we will celebrate the liberation of Sana’a and the rest of Yemen’s provinces soon,” Hadi told a crowd of soldiers.
Addressing the people of Sana’a, he said: “Soon we will be with you, and we will cleanse (Sana’a) of this deviant group”. He also pledged to raise the Yemeni flag over Al Maran mountain in Sa’ada, the Al Houthi base in the north of the country.
He also vowed not to give the rebels “what they want, which is the legitimisation of their coup through negotiations in Kuwait. And they will only find us to be politically and militarily resilient”.
Separately, Yemeni government backed forces intercepted a ship carrying weapons for the rebels to the city of Mokha in Taiz province, southwestern Yemen from the Horn of Africa, Sky News Arabia reported. Aden governor Aidarous Al Zubaidi said that the ship, which was intercepted on Friday off the coast of Somalia and Djibouti, was carrying weapons and ammunition, adding that an investigation will be launched with the crew of the ship.
On Saturday, a senior Yemeni army officer disclosed while inspecting the army forces and popular resistance stationed in the frontlines in Al Jawf province, north east of Yemen that most of the province has been liberated by the concerted work of the Yemeni army and popular resistance from Al Houthis’ grip. Addressing the troops, Major General Mohammad Ali Al Magdeshi, Chief of General Staff, was quoted by the Saudi news agency SPA that the vast area has been liberated in record time, and vowed that the military contingents would soon reach Harf Sifyan in Amran and Sa’ada, an indication to the remaining area under the control of the rebels.
