The legitimacy's influence map is eroding ... the Muslim Brotherhood’s withdrawal increases the Houthi’s desire to control Marib
English - Sunday 08 November 2020 الساعة 02:50 pm
Marib, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
During the current year 2020, government forces lost entire directorates and strategic locations in the Marib Governorate, in the east of the country, after it suddenly fell under the control of the Houthi militia, the Iranian arm in Yemen.
Amidst the rapid erosion of the forces ’control map calculated over the government of the interim president (Hadi), accusations escalated against the Islah party, the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, of handing over these areas to the Houthis at the behest of Qatar.
In the past months, the Houthis have seized large areas of Marib, while they continue to fight in order to achieve field military progress and control the rest of the areas in the oil province.
In the midst of the battles for Marib, it was noticed that there were surrender operations, as the military superiority was not the main factor in the recent gains of the Houthi militia in Marib, but rather the planned withdrawals by the Brotherhood forces while leaving an arsenal of weapons behind them to fall into the hands of the Houthis.
In this context, field military sources told "NewsYemen": "On the Al-Makhdarah front, we withdrew from many locations and left military equipment, including 3 tanks, amid great anger among the recruits."
Recruits in the ranks of the legitimacy forces said: "The withdrawals that occurred on the Serwah and Al-Makhdara fronts were sudden and without prior warning ... We received orders to withdraw and left our military equipment."
The "legitimacy" lost important directorates in the governorate of Marib, including the districts of "Rahba and Mahliya" and parts of the district of Medghal.
Later, the fronts of "Medghal and Serwah" fell completely, down to Majzar and Al-Suhail area.
The Islah Party, which controls the decision of the army forces calculated on the legitimacy of the law, justified the fall of these areas in the hands of the Houthis, by claiming "tribal betrayals", accusations made by the Brotherhood repeatedly on many fronts.
In those battles, the legitimate forces lost dozens of military and tribal leaders and hundreds of soldiers.
With the recent Houthi attack on Marib, Brotherhood leaderships recognized the governorate's fall completely, and said - according to military sources in the Ministry of Defense who spoke to "Newsyemen" - that "the attack is considered the last ... whether we won or were defeated."
Brotherhood leaders tried to excuse the lack of sufficient weapons support, at a time when they were handing various sites and weapons in the "Al-Suhail" front to Houthi militia members.
On the Serwah front, government forces no longer control, except for limited parts on the outskirts of the district, while the Houthi militia controls the district center, Wadi Habab area, and the sites of Al-Naseeb Al-Ahmar, Al-Ashjari, Al-Shayef, Al-Muhtadi, Al-Nahud and Al-Hammajra.
According to military sources, the army is still trying to advance to the outskirts of the Serwah market, which has been under the control of the Houthi militia for five years.
On Al-Makhdarah front, the Houthi militia seized the most important mountain range in the "Murthad" region, in addition to strategic locations, including the "Al-Qimma and Al-Shabka" in Mount Hailan and the area separating Al-Makhdarah and the strategic "Hailan".
About two months ago, a tribal source told "Newsyemen" that the government forces stationed in the "Shayef and Al-Muhtadi" hills and a number of other sites and hills suddenly fled from the heights of the mountains and hills that they controlled.
