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Time has come for Saudi-led coalition, allied militants to withdraw from Yemen: Defense minister

Yemeni Defense Minister in the National Salvation Government, Major General Mohammad al-Atifi, (front right) shakes hands with a Yemeni fighter as he visits Yemeni Army troops and fighters from allied Popular Committees stationed on Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia’s strategic southern region of Jizan, on May 15, 2022. (Photo by the Yemeni Saba news agency)

Yemeni Defense Minister Major General Mohammad al-Atifi says it is high time for the Saudi-led coalition forces and their allied Takfiri militant groups to pull out of the country, stressing that the Yemeni Armed Forces now possess massive combat capabilities as well as advanced deterrent weapons.

He made the remarks on Sunday as he visited Yemeni army troops and fighters from allied popular committees stationed on the border with Saudi Arabia’s strategic southern region of Jizan.

“The time has come for the Saudi-led coalition to stop its aggression and withdraw its forces from the Yemeni soil, and for the cruel blockade to be lifted completely. Future events will confirm that,” the Yemeni defense minister said.

He explained that the Yemeni Armed Forces have acquired high combat capabilities and expertise in all infantry and ground units, air defense units, and naval units, saying that they are in possession of sophisticated and high-precision armaments.

“The army forces keep developing their capabilities as it is necessary to maintain great strength and might in the face of the Saudi-led aggression and brutal siege,” Atifi stated.

He added that “while the [Sana’a-based] National Salvation Government is keen on a fair, just and peaceful settlement of Yemen crisis, it is fully prepared to withstand the worst possible scenarios.”

“Among the major declared goals for the Saudi-led alliance is to compel the Yemeni nation to relinquish their sovereignty, freedom, unity, national assets, and independence in favor of Israel. Such wishful thinking, however, will never materialize as the leader of the Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has stated on several occasions” Atifi underscored.

He noted that Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committees fighters, despite repeated violations by the war coalition, are adhering to the terms and conditions of the UN-brokered two-month ceasefire, which went into effect early last month, because they put trust in their commanders and obey their commands.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.


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