Illustrative image.
The rapid collapse of the Saudi-backed defenses along Yemen’s western coast has exposed an increasingly bitter split among the factions fighting the Houthis (Ansar Allah), with commanders publicly accusing fellow anti-Houthi forces of betrayal and abandonment.
The dispute has developed alongside the Houthi seizure of Mokha on September 10 and their subsequent advance to Dhubab and Perim Island at the Bab el-Mandeb.
The most consequential development inside the opposing camp has been the reaction to the retreat. Forces that nominally belong to the same Saudi-backed coalition are now giving sharply different accounts of the collapse and questioning the conduct of their allies.
At the center of several of the accusations is Tareq Saleh, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and commander of the National Resistance Forces, the formation, formerly backed by the United Arab Emirates, that has been based around Mokha for years.
As the Houthi advance broke through positions on the western coast, Saleh acknowledged the scale of the setback and ordered the coastal forces to regroup.
In a statement carried by the military media of the National Resistance Forces on September 10, Saleh said the National Resistance, the Southern Giants, the Homeland Shield Forces and units from the Taiz military axis had suffered deaths and injuries in the fighting.
He said the Joint Forces had established an alternative command center south of Mokha to reassemble the forces in consultation with the Saudi-led coalition and the Presidential Leadership Council.
That explanation did not end the dispute over the retreat. Wissam al-Qaidai, a commander in the Southern Giants Brigades, said in a video published on the same day that he had been sent to Mokha with reinforcements and found the city empty of Saleh’s fighters, whom he said had fled toward Aden. Al-Qaidai accused Saleh of “betrayal” and surrender, saying he encountered the withdrawing columns on the road.
The accusation was not an isolated complaint from the front. Brig. Gen. Akram Fouad, also known as Abu al-Baraa and commander of the 5th Southern Giants Division, appeared in a video as some forces were withdrawing from the western coast front.
He said that “some” had failed and betrayed them and were fleeing, while vowing that his own forces would continue fighting.
Then Bashir Saif al-Subeihi, the founding commander of the Homeland Shield Forces, entered the dispute with a direct accusation against Saleh’s forces.
In an audio statement circulating on September 11, al-Subeihi accused the National Resistance Forces of “treason” and “betrayal” and called for action against those responsible. He said the leadership was rearranging its ranks and preparing a unified and organized offensive, while those who had obstructed that effort would be removed.
Al-Subeihi is a significant figure inside the Saudi-backed military structure, although he is no longer the operational commander of the Homeland Shield Forces.
The accusations come from formations with very different political and military backgrounds. Saleh’s National Resistance Forces and the Southern Giants are both closely associated with the UAE, while major forces in Taiz have historically been linked more closely to Saudi Arabia and the Islah party.
The factions have fought the Houthis together but have kept distinct command structures and political loyalties. A longstanding rivalry between Saleh’s forces and Islah-aligned forces in Taiz has been documented for years. What has changed this week is that the rivalry is being expressed during an active military collapse.
After the Houthis captured the Khalid bin al-Walid camp and broke through the defenses around Hays, units belonging to the different formations began withdrawing from the western-coast positions. By September 10, Hays had fallen and the retreat had reached Mokha. Reporting at the time showed the National Resistance, Giants and Homeland Shield forces taking different routes and positions rather than moving as one formation.
The withdrawal also generated reports of abandoned or rapidly removed military equipment. Factions were removing weapons and equipment from military compounds in Mokha as the city’s defenses broke down. Separate reports alleged that some withdrawing fighters were selling weapons after leaving their positions.
The internal hostility went further. Supporters of rival anti-Houthi formations were even reported to have called for Houthi strikes against forces they blamed for abandoning the front.
The latest developments have left the anti-Houthi camp facing a more immediate question than the loss of another position, namely whether its different military factions can continue operating together.
The Southern Giants are moving their forces back toward the south, while Saleh’s forces are regrouping around a new command structure. At the same time, commanders from the different formations are publicly accusing one another of abandoning the front, betraying their allies and contributing to the collapse of positions held for years.
The Houthi advance has thus exposed divisions that had long existed within the anti-Houthi coalition but were often subordinated to the common fight against the group. The latest retreat has brought those divisions into the open, with competing factions now making separate military decisions and publicly disputing responsibility for the losses.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
