Houthi control of Jawf reveals the intention to return to the south
English - Thursday 05 March 2020 الساعة 04:12 pm
Aden - Newsyemen , "The Arabs":
Al-Jawf is a starting point towards Shabwa and Abyan, besieging the stronghold of legitimacy in Marib.
Arab sources considered that the control of the Houthis (Ansar Allah) over the Yemeni governorate of Al-Jawf, which has a long border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, indicates their intention to expand in the direction of other Yemeni regions, especially towards southern governorates from which they were exited in 2015.
It pointed out that this indicates a desire to increase their options of a geographical nature, including all of Yemen, and confirms the old Iranian ambitions to find a foothold for the Islamic Republic in this country of strategic location, which is an integral part of the Arabian Peninsula.
The sources noted in this field that the importance of Al-Jawf is not only due to the existing borders between it and Saudi Arabia, but also to being in contact with other governorates, which are Saada, Amran, Hadramawt and Marib.
It pointed out that any expansion of Houthi within Hadhramaut would mean a return to the old dream of “Ansar Allah” and the judge of controlling all of Yemen.
A Yemeni politician who knows the Houthis closely, affirmed that Al-Jawf Governorate could constitute a starting point towards Shabwa and from there to Abyan.
The politician said in a statement to "the Arabs" that this would lead to encirclement on all sides of Marib, which is the main stronghold of "legitimacy."
It is known that Shabwa is of great strategic importance, given that it allows threatening a large part of the southern coast in Yemen, especially as it effectively controls the governorate of Abyan, the hometown of the transitional president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The Yemeni politician stated that the Houthis aspire at the same time to restore the initiative on the Red Sea coast from the port of Hodeidah, which they control, just as they control the city.
And Yemeni authorities asked about the reason that prevents the Yemeni "legitimacy" from confronting the Houthis, noting that their attack on al-Jawf and their incursion into it leading to control of the most important city in the governorate (al-Hazm) has continued since mid-January.
This was explained by the absence of the "unified leadership" of "legitimacy" and its reliance in that region on militias affiliated with the Yemeni Rally for Islah and some tribes, while it was required to find a single operations center to coordinate the forces that confront the Houthis.
These Yemeni authorities revealed that the Houthis have the ability to commit large forces possessing advanced weapons with a special focus on only one specific region, and this is what they did in Amran and then in Sana'a in the summer of 2014 and they repeated it in late 2017 when carrying out the assassination of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
They noticed that they had used the same tactic in al-Jawf, starting in mid-January.
These references surprised the failure to open other fronts with the Houthis while focusing on a specific front.
They also saw that this reflects a complete failure of "legitimacy" in preventing the Houthi expansion, which put an end to the "storm storm" launched by the Arab coalition in March 2015.
They mentioned that the Houthis were at that point in Aden, as they controlled Mocha port, which controls the Bab al-Mandab strait from the Yemeni side of the strait.
The Yemeni authorities expressed their fear that the Houthi takeover of Al-Jawf will be the beginning of their return to the southern governorates in the absence of any effective reaction to legitimacy, especially for the transitional president and his deputy, Ali Mohsen Saleh Al-Ahmar, who reside in Saudi Arabia.
Regarding the weaknesses in the performance of Yemeni legitimacy, the way it deals with the files and their management of the successive crises that caused the fall of Al-Jawf, Nasser Thawabeh, a tribal sheikh from Al-Jawf Governorate and a former member of the National Dialogue Conference, indicates that the imbalance lies in the political leadership and the absence of the strategic vision and not In the sons of Al-Jawf who have endured for weeks in the face of fierce Houthi encroachment.
Thawaba said, in a statement to “Al-Arab”, “The leadership is unable to carry out its minimum duties and tasks in addition to employing conflicts.” He added that Al-Jawf, for example, was in urgent need of leadership that is expressive of society and knows how to deal with the needs of the people of the province and take into account balances tribalism and an efficient and professional military leadership, in addition to the need to address the mistakes that were caused to civilians.
• Al-Arab - Thursday, March 5, 2020
