Sana’a: Signalling that he may be setting up his own army, Yemen’s embattled president has continued to deploy allied forces on the outskirts of the port city of Aden as hundreds of tribesmen from other provinces visit the city to back him.
Witnesses said on Tuesday that pro-Hadi militiamen and some military forces in armoured vehicles were seen stationed on the main roads on the outskirts of Aden. This comes as dozens of people gathered outside recruitment centres in Aden, seeking to be enlisted in the armed forces and security services that Hadi leads.
After escaping from the Al Houthis’ house arrest last month, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi quickly drummed up support from local army officials and tribesmen to confront the Al Houthis.
On Tuesday, a convoy of numerous armoured pickup trucks was seen driving into the port city to join tribesmen who had previously show their support for Hadi.
Hadi’s popular committees are in control of some key government institutions such as television stations and the airport. The committees were redeployed in Aden when tension intensified between Hadi and the Al Houthis in January.
Politically, Hadi was given a further political boost in his struggle against the Al Houthis who control the capital. Hadi met on Monday with the Chinese Ambassador to Yemen Tian Qi who assured him about Chinese support to the political process in the troubled country. Hadi has held many similar meetings with envoys of the ten countries that sponsor transitional process in Yemen.
Also, on Monday, Hadi held his first meeting with nine members of the cabinet who resigned with him in January. Hadi thanked them for backing the “legitimacy” and asked them to resume to their duties from Aden, according to the official media.
In the capital where the Al Houthis are struggling to tighten their grip, the rebels dismissed on Monday the commander of the air force and another senior official for attempting to send ammunition cargo to Hadi-controlled Aden.
Al Masdar newspaper said on Tuesday that the Al Houthis fell out with Major General Rashid Al Janad and another official called Brigadier Abdul Malek Al Zuhairi when they tried to stop sending military cargo to the airport of Aden and Mukalla in South Yemen. Al Janad and Al Zuhairi said that the cargos were part of regular military supplies to the armed forces across the country. The newspaper reported that the Al Houthis feared that the Aden-bound cargo might be controlled by Hadi’s committees. The Al Houthis subsequently deployed forces outside the air forces headquarter and placed the two officials under investigation by the Supreme Security Council, a body formed by the Al Houthis after they seized Sana’a. The air force’s new chief is Brigadier General Khader Salem.
