Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces launch an inquest intae a sudden military collapse

A bitter inquiry is under gait amang Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces as tae hou whit wis bein billed as a decisive assault on Sana’a, the Houthi-controlled caipital, suddenly collapsed intae a military rout.

Mair nor 15 brigades wur defeatit as the country’s entire west coast fell intae Houthi haunds. Efforts are nou bein made tae reorganise the anti-Houthi forces representin the UN-recognised Yemeni government in order tae capture the Kahbob mountains, a strategic point frae which tae restrict Houthi forces movin closer tae the crucial Bab al-Mandab strait.

Some Yemeni politicians are claimin that billions o dollars wur offered tae persuade the forces defendin the west coast tae abandon their poseetion. It is thocht as mony as 30,000 weel-equipped feighters retreatit, raisin questions aboot coordination, readiness and morale.

The claim made bi the govrenor o Hadramaut, ane o Yemen’s lairgest govrenorates, didna identify the soorce o the payment, but ithers hae tried tae draw conclusions frae the past links atween the United Arab Emirates and the pro-government National Resistance Forces led bi Tareq Saleh. The UAE left Yemen in Januar, but remains bitter at the role played bi Saudi Arabia in forcin it oot and in the outlawin o the separatist Southern Transitional Council.

The Yemeni Nobel peace prize winner Tawakkol Karman has cried for an investigation, while anither political activist, the Mocha resident Abdu Mukabib, described the withdrawal o forces frae the nou Houthi-held port city in the early oors o 10 September as a great betrayal.

Saleh’s National Resistance Forces hae said they made a necessary tactical retreat.

Oors afore, the Houthis hid captured the heidquarters o the National Resistance Forces operatin alang Yemen’s western coast, situatit on the heich grund o Jabal al-Nar, or Fire Moun, and supposed tae contain sax military brigades and sophisticatit weaponry providit bi Saudi Arabia.

Mukabib said on his Facebook page that bi the time the Houthis enterit the city at 6am their forces numbered less nor 20: twa military vehicles, ilka ane carryin five folk, and fower motorcycles, ilka ane carryin twa folk.

He said that whit happened, in his words, caused humiliation and betrayal tae thae wha trustit the forces they faucht alangside. We are no accusin onybody, but they a played a pairt in betrayin us, conspirin against us, sellin oot oor cause and abandonin us.

It wis nae a withdrawal frae weakness or lack o equipment and supplies, but raither a cowardy and shamefu withdrawal.

The National Resistance Forces said they had withdrawn efter the deith o 500 o their sodgers and tae prevent encirclement. Saleh has said he is nou formin the Tihami Resistance, a group that wis entirely independent o Yemen national forces.

Ithers point tae explanations for the reverse includin puir command and control communications that led tae slaw decision-makin, heich-level Houthi intelligence and divisions within the anti-Houthi military forces, includin the influence o Saudi commanders.

Alangside the inadequacies o the UN-backed forces, the Houthis hae become an increasinly sophisticatit airmy, bolstered bi Iranian intelligence. They hae benefitit frae the cut-price natur o modern warfare, usin cheap drones tae harass maritime traffic. But mair nor 10 year in control o mony o Yemen’s key regions and the occasional payoff frae Saudi Arabia hae swelled their coffers enough tae no just buy ballistic missiles, but develop their ain indigenous weapon-makin infrastructure, becomin less reliant on Iran in the process.

Iranian officials insist the Houthis are no a simple proxy force, but hae their ain unified command structure and set o priorities.

The inquiry intae whit is widely regairdit as a military catastrophe is no entirely retrospective. Baith Yemen government and Saudi forces are urgently reviewin the lessons o defeat tae better understand whether the Houthi gains can still be reversed.

It wis claimed that a limitit force frae the Giants Brigades, a group ance linkit wi the UAE-backed southern separatists, managed tae repel the Houthi advance and recapture poseetions in the days afore the faa o Mocha, which cud hae served as a springbuird for regainin the initiative. Houever, the withdrawal o neighbourin National Resistance units weakened this advance and turned it intae a series o retreats.

Prof Dr Abdulwahab al-Awaj at Taiz University in Yemen said: The collapse o the western coastal fronts is no merely a conventional military defeat, but a warnin sign o a breakdown in coordination and trust amang the anti-Houthi forces. The Houthis exploitit this breakdown mair nor ony decisive military superiority.

Regainin the initiative canna be achieved simply bi sendin reinforcements. Whit is needit is a reorganisation o government forces and allied formations under a unified operational veesion, addressin security gaps, and buildin genuine trust on the grund tae prevent a recurrence o this scenario.