Led by Emirati .. factions unite and Hadi lose control of the West Coast in Yemen

Al Jazeera Net - Private

The United Arab Emirates has announced its decision to withdraw its forces from Yemen with a number of military actions in the field, most notably in unifying a group of troops and brigades in one military body loyal to it.

The move came after Abu Dhabi pressed military factions fighting the Houthis on the western coast of Yemen to unite in a pro-military command to be a striking hand in the north after filling the south with similar military formations.

Most of these forces were spearheaded in the attack that targeted Hodeidah city mid-year ago and is loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Strike force
The fighting forces against the Huthis on the west coast are the Giants, the Ta'im brigades, the guards of the Republic, the forces of small pro-Haidi brigades and the Sudanese forces participating in the Saudi-UAE alliance.

The soldiers of the Giants are the most powerful in the battles against the Huthis; the war for them is "holy". According to an official in the forces, it includes five brigades, about 25 thousand soldiers, led by General Supervisor Ali Salem al-Hassani.

The brigades are Brigadier General Raed Al-Habhi, Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, Brigadier General Abdul Rahman Al-Lujji, Brigadier General Ali Al-Kenini, and Brigadier General Suleiman Al-Zarnouqi.

These forces receive armaments from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni presidency alike. These brigades confirm that most of their soldiers and military commanders have no military or political ambitions. "Our war to end the Houthis, under the banner of President Hadi, Our mosques and our scientific lessons. "

"We consider jihad, but the West wants our country to remain in a permanent war, so we stopped progressing in Hodeidah, otherwise we would have taken control of it in the first month of the attack."

In addition to the Giants forces, the First Brigade forces are fighting Tuhama, consisting of fighters opposed to the Houthis and members of the western coasts and towns, and loyal to the Government, led by Brigadier General Ahmed Kokbani.

There is no census of the brigade's forces, as hundreds of fighters are counted among the popular resistance that is distributed in the assignment of security and the army.

In addition, hundreds of soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, led by Brigadier Bassam al-Mihdhar, formed from the pro-Haidi resistance in Aden, were fighting in the West Coast. Some of their members were taken to the Yemeni-Saudi border to fight.

Loyalty to the UAE
After the alliance between the Huthis and the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh broke down and the latter was killed by his allies in late 2017, the commander of his guard, his nephew Brigadier General Tariq, withdrew to the UAE, which brought him back to the military scene.

Abu Dhabi has unequivocally supported the rebuilding of the loyal Republican Guard in favor of its camps in the Red Sea coast city of Al-Mukha. Months later, the new forces - with its name the national resistance leader - had about 15,000 fighters.

These forces do not recognize President Hadi, and receive full support from the UAE, which they owe absolute loyalty. According to a government military source, these forces were preparing to take over the city and the port of Hodeidah of the giants, before the intervention of the international community and stop the attack.

In recent months, they have used their military discipline to extend control and control over most of the vital areas that have been secured, such as the Mukha and Nukha ports, prompting the forces of giants to sit in the front lines of the Huthis.

Full control
The UAE exerted pressure on all military factions to engage under military command. Initially, the proposal was to be under the command of Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, but the Giants and 1st Brigade Tihama rejected the order.

According to a source close to the commander of the second brigade giants Hamdi Shukri spoke to Al Jazeera Net; the rejection of the giants due to the fact that Tariq Saleh does not recognize the legitimacy of Hadi, and threatened to withdraw to Aden, and the dismantling of its forces, if forced to do so.

"After negotiations, an agreement was reached to form a military council that includes all brigade commanders, headed by an Emirati officer known as Abu Omar, his assistant, Major General Haitham Taher," and a former defense minister who left for the UAE after the 1994 war.

But the source, who declined to be named, said Hadi had lost his decision on the West Coast in general.

On the acceptance of the Emirati forces the pressure of the UAE, he replied, "We receive a lot of support from them, we can not refuse, in the end we have a common enemy."

Observers say the UAE has taken this step to ensure full control - through loyal forces - on the western coast of Yemen and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, after it began a partial withdrawal from the ports of brain and nectar.

55 thousand fighters
The new force, which has united in the name of the joint forces, has about 55,000 fighters deployed on all fronts of the west coast of the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the city of Hodeidah, said the spokesman of the forces, Brigadier Wadah al-Dabaysh of Al-Jazeera Net.

"The tasks of these forces to carry out combat operations and logistics drawn from the leadership of the Arab Alliance, and will work under one military command in the face of the Houthis."

The military official pointed out that the giants are the striking force in the joint forces, given the great combat experience gained since the beginning of the war in early 2015, followed by the National Resistance Forces led by Tariq Saleh.