Dubai: The Al Houthi militia that have seized power in Yemen’s capital held military exercises near the border of Saudi Arabia, their spokesman said on Friday.
Mohammad Abdul Salam also launched a verbal salvo against Riyadh, accusing it of interference.
“Thousands of soldiers belonging to army units based in northern Yemen participated Thursday afternoon in these manoeuvres, the first of this magnitude,” Abdul Salam said in a telephone interview from Baghdad, which he is visiting.
AFP could not independently verify the size of the exercises.
Abdul Salam said heavy weapons, including tanks and artillery, captured by the Al Houthis as they spread their control across parts of Yemen, were used in the manoeuvres that took place in Kitaf, a town in Al Houthis’ northern stronghold of Saada province.
The drill aims to enhance capacity and “raise readiness” of the militia forces to prepare them to face “any incidents that might develop,” he said, accusing Saudi Arabia of providing “Al Qaida and jihadists with money, arms and logistical support.”
Yemen is home to Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) which, along with local Sunni tribes, has battled Al Houthi attempts to expand further south.
“These manoeuvres are a message of peace for all except those threatening Yemenis by supporting takfiri [Sunni radical] elements,” he said.
Riyadh “has not yet realised that Yemen has changed and rejects hegemony,” Abdul Salam said.
“Saudi Arabia must understand that the Yemeni people will defend their sovereignty and will not accept” foreign interference, said Abdul Salam, accompanied by a Al Houthi delegation.
They have visited “Tehran, Beirut, and a Gulf country,” he said, refusing to identify the GCC member that has hosted the Al Houthis.
Meanwhile in Sana’a hundreds rallied in on Friday to call for presidential elections and demand the son of ex-strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh run as a candidate.
Gathered in Sabiin Square in Sanaa’s southern district, near the residence of Saleh’s son, Ahmad, demonstrators chanted “The next president is Ahmad” and “Ahmad is our president”.