Manama: Yemen’s government has accused the Lebanese militia Hezbollah of direct involvement in the war in Yemen as its fighters have been deployed to help Iran-backed Al Houthi militants and the supporters of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A Saudi television news station confirmed the involvement of Hezbollah, showing a video that proved its implication in terror attacks in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia.
Rajeh Badi, the spokesperson for the Yemeni government, said that they had “many documents and physical evidence that prove the extent of the involvement of members of Hezbollah in the war by Al Houthi militia on the Yemeni people.”
“The participation of Hezbollah in the missions they carry out in Yemen has intensified on several levels, and is not confined to the official ‘moral support’ claim,” he was quoted by the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat as saying.
“They are actually participating on the ground through training militia members in fighting. They are present on border with Saudi Arabia, planning battles, arranging infiltration attempts and carrying out sabotage operations inside the Saudi kingdom,” he said.
Badi, in a statement to Yemeni news agency, said the evidence was robust and “Hezbollah cannot deny its role in the devastation and the obvious moral and logistical support it is providing. Hezbollah is directly responsible for prolonging the war and for bringing devastation to Yemen and its people in a blatant violation of United Nations Resolution 2216 and in a flagrant challenge to the international community,” he said. “It is obvious that Hezbollah is interfering unashamedly in the domestic affairs of an independent country. Its role in carrying out hostile operations against the legitimate government and the Arab coalition is compounding the situation and helping those who have rebelled against legitimacy in the country to continue their antagonistic acts against Yemenis,” he said.
The spokesperson said that Yemen was planning to present a well-documented complaint to the UN Security Council and to the Arab League that proves the interference of Hezbollah in the country’s internal affairs as well as its involvement in acts of terror.
“The government will ask for the adoption of the legal international measures against Hezbollah,” he said.
The television footage aired on Wednesday showed a leader from Hezbollah identified as Abu Saleh training Al Houthi militants on carrying out terror attacks in the Saudi kingdom, Al Sharq Al Awsat reported.
Abu Saleh reportedly revealed plans to assassinate high-profile figures in tRiyadh in terror operations and explosions.
When a Yemeni soldier described the operations as “suicide attacks”, the trainer said they were in fact martyrdom operations.
In Lebanon, former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi also echoed the complaints of the Yemeni government. “Hezbollah has trained a lot of fighters in Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq and Syria,” Rifi said in a televised appearance on Al Arabiya TV channel.
“It has engaged in battles against our people in Syria, Iraq and Yemen in addition to its participation in terrorist acts and military operations in some foreign countries,” he stated.
“Lebanon must not be used as a platform to launch attacks at brethren and friendly nations,” he said. Rifi recently resigned from his post citing Hezbollah and Iranian interference in Lebanon’s sovereignty.