Al Mukalla: Fighters battling Al Houthis in the war-wrecked port city of Aden say they will not comply with any ceasefire until Al Houthi militiamen withdraw from their city.
“Al Houthis should pull out their snipers from buildings and completely and leave the city before talking about a truce,” Ali Al Ahmadi, a spokesperson for the Popular Resistance, a group of allied factions that oppose the Al Houthis militarily in Aden, told Gulf News on Sunday.
In February, President Abd Rabbou Masnour Hadi fled to Aden from the capital where Al Houthis had him under house arrest. He then declared Aden the country’s new capital.
Al Houthis decided to pursue him in his new base thus bringing the wrath of Al Houthis onto the city and its residents.
On Sunday, Al Houthis agreed to a ceasefire proposed by the Saudis that could halt Saudi-led air strikes on Al Houthi positions and unblock humanitarian aid to Yemen.
But Al Houthis rivals in Aden say that the rebels are buying time to control more land in the city.
Aden fighters say they are in desperate need of firepower rather than trained military manpower. Riyadh has been training hundreds of Yemenis, originally from the south, and will dispatch them soon to Aden to fight on the battlefield.
“We do not need men, we need heavy weapons. Our men are retreating from battlefields because they quickly run out of ammunition,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that the fighters in Aden received pledges from Hadi government in the Saudi capital that the Saudis are recruiting hundreds of people, mainly expatriates, and will deploy them in the south as soon as they finish their training.” They did not give a deadline for sending these forces to Aden,”
Riyadh has been airdropping arms into many districts of Aden, but the fighters say they weapons are not enough to offset Al Houthis’ firepower.
Similarly, fighting continues to rage between the Al Houthis and the Popular Resistance in many regions in the south. Local media reports say that dozens of Al Houthis were killed in ambushes in Dhale, Lahji, Shabwa and Abyan on the weekend.
In Lawder city, Abyan province, brigadier Ali Al Saadi, a prominent separatist figure, echoed the same complaints about lack of weapons.
“Despite the fact that they vastly outnumber us, we can defeat them if we got smart weapons.” Al Saadi told Gulf News from the battlefield in Lawder.
In Aden, Lakhder Laswer, a senior health official in Aden, told Gulf News on Monday morning that 19 civilians, including a woman, were killed and 93 injured on Sunday, putting that death toll at 501 since March 25.
