International report: The huge salaries of ghost soldiers have altered the balance of power in Yemen
English - Saturday 22 May 2021 الساعة 03:53 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said the lack of sporadic payments to soldiers in Yemen could spur domestic small wars that could continue even if an agreement is reached to resolve the country's conflict.
In his report, "Yemeni Soldiers and the Battle for Wages," he added that financial instability leads to loyalty shifts on the ground.
He indicated that joining an armed group in Yemen remains the only viable employment path in the country.
The report suggested that the salary problem that the Yemeni army suffers from will play a role in the future balance of power in the country.
He pointed out that the salary problem further undermines the ability and motives of the pro-Hadi government forces.
The report stated that fighters allied with the Houthi militia reported that in some cases they received regular salaries of between $ 200 and $ 300 per month, while some officers said that the Houthis paid the fighters a salary of 25,000 Yemeni riyals.
The report said: “The Houthis are generally able to pay higher and more regular salaries than the Hadi government, as they use port revenues, large-scale smuggling networks, and taxes collected, and in some cases, transfer money to finance their war effort.”
According to the final report for 2021 by the United Nations Group of Experts on Yemen, military officials in Aden, Abyan and Taiz said that they had "not received their salaries for five months."
According to the experts' report, the Hadi government stated that it prioritized payments to soldiers deployed on active battle lines, and that inflated salaries of ghost soldiers were still a source of financial mismanagement.
