Yemen: 30 Pro-Hadi Soldiers Killed in Mutiny

Saudi-led coalition jets, which have bombed Yemen since March, intervened when “dozens of soldiers defected and announced their support” for Ansarullah revolutionary fighters on Tuesday, prompting clashes with pro-Hadi troops, the military source said, AFP reported.

The incident took place at the 23rd Mechanized Brigade, stationed near the border with Saudi Arabia and left “at least 30 soldiers killed and dozens wounded” on both sides, he told AFP.

“Armored vehicles and troop carriers were destroyed or damaged” in the air raids and clashes between rival groups.

The Yemeni army troops have joined the revolutionary fighters of Ansarullah, who are defending the country against the Saudi invaders.

Late last month, 300 Saudi soldiers and an artillery commander joined the Yemeni forces.

“The latest blow at the Al Saud came as Hashem al-Ahmar, artillery commander of the Saudi army in al-Wadia border crossing and 300 soldiers joined the Yemeni army and the revolutionary forces,” the Middle East Panorama website quoted Head of Yemen’s Free Army Nasser bin Yahya al-Orujli as saying on June 26.

He noted that the Saudi regime is still in a difficult situation and the Saudi officials know it quite well.

A few days earlier in June, tribal forces and activists in Saudi Arabia’s Najran region formed a military and political opposition movement to the Saudi regime, called “Ahrar al-Najran” after the region declared earlier this month that it has separated from Saudi Arabia and joined Yemen in the war on Riyadh.

Activist and movement member, Abu Bakr Abi Ahmad al-Salami, told FNA that “all tribes of the region are members of the Ahrar al-Najran Movement”.

He said the youths and political activists in Najran have demanded the “Yemeni popular forces and revolutionary committees, brothers, and the neighboring lands to provide military training for the younger generation of this region”.

Al-Salami underlined the movement tough stance against the al-Saud regime, saying, “Saudi Arabia wrongfully imagines that it is the only defender of Islam, but they should know that we are the defenders of Islam and the two holy mosques, and we will rush to defend the two mosques (in Mecca and Medina) if necessary.”

Al-Salami said the movement is worried about developments in Yemen, and declared that “the movement’s first battle will take place in those areas controlled by the Saudi occupation army in Southern Najran soon”.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 105 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

The Monarchy’s attacks have so far claimed the lives of more than 5,024 civilians, mostly women and children.