Al-Qaeda Militants Fighting alongside Saudi-Led Coalition Troops against Yemeni Forces: Ringleader

“Our role in fighting the Houthis is apparent, and no one can deny it,” Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television news network quoted Khalid Saeed Batarfi, the current emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as saying.

He added that the AQAP terrorists have fought within the ranks of Saudi troops and mercenaries against the Yemeni army and their allied Popular Committees on 11 fronts.

The remarks come as Yemen’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that the al-Qaeda terrorists are fighting alongside Saudi-backed militants in Yemen's strategic Ma’rib province, as Yemeni forces are pressing ahead with an offensive to liberate the city.

Yemen’s Deputy Interior Minister Major General Abdul Majeed al-Murtadha said in a statement carried by al-Masirah television network earlier this year that devices and equipment owned by al-Qaeda were found in the central province of al-Bayda after the Yemeni military managed to clear terrorists from there, which were linked to foreign intelligence services.

Murtadha said the elimination of al-Qaeda in al-Bayda by the Yemeni armed forces and allied fighters from the Popular Committees ruffled feathers in Washington, and that is why Washington has been calling on the Yemeni forces to halt their offensive on the city.  

Saudi jets bombard Ta'izz International Airport in southern Yemen overnight

Separately, Saudi war planes have launched airstrikes against the public airport in Yemen’s southern province of Ta’izz in a fresh escalation of the Riyadh regime's war on the impoverished nation. 

The Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported that the warplanes hit Ta'izz International Airport twice overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent

Saudi military aircraft also pounded the Sirwah district in Ma’rib province on 21 occasions. They also struck the al-Jubah district in the same Yemeni district. No reports about damage and possible casualties were quickly available.

Civilians injured as Saudi forces fire on residential area in Yemen’s Sa’ada

Moreover, Saudi army forces fired indiscriminate shots towards a residential area in Yemen’s northwestern Sa’ada province, injuring at least five civilians. 

Yemen’s al-Masirah TV channel reported that the shooting targeted the border district of Monabbih on Friday. There were four African refugees among the casualties.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the Hadi government back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah. The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.

Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.