Yemeni Army Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iranians Continue Smuggling Arms to Support Houthis

 The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
TT

Yemeni Army Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iranians Continue Smuggling Arms to Support Houthis

 The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)

Yemeni Army spokesman Brigadier General Abdo Majli told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the Iranian regime is still involved in the smuggling of arms and missiles to the Houthi militias in Yemen. He said the smuggling operation happens through the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa ports, on the Red Sea coasts.

“We are talking about an open area. The arms are smuggled in boats crossing the international waters to the Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen,” Majli said.

The General explained that weapons are sometimes transformed in spare parts, which are then gathered by Iranian experts in Sanaa or in Saadah.

At the battlefield, Majli called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to remove the bodies of hundreds of Houthi militias laid at the Nahm and Jawf fronts, after being left by the group when the National Army confronted their infiltration attempts in the area few weeks ago.

“The victories of the National Army continue in the Jawf governorate, where we control large territories,” he said.

Yemeni army commanders said Houthis suffered heavy losses over the last couple of weeks during fighting in Yemen’s main battlefields of Sanaa, Marib, Jawf and Taiz as government forces announced the death and injury of hundreds of Houthis since early last month. 

“More than 80 percent of the Jawf governorate is now captured by the legitimacy,” Majli said, adding that the army controls several highlands, particularly the Black Mountains.

In a related development, the National Army, backed by Coalition helicopters and tanks, launched a wide attack on Houthi militia positions in Maran, in the governorate of Saada.

“The attack left several Houthi deaths and injuries at the frontiers of the Akim mountain, which overlooks the Mastaba and Marawi mountains,” Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Ajabi, commander of the 3rd Commando Brigade told the Saba news agency on Monday.



Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Syria’s New Rulers Name Abu Qasra as Defense Minister

Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa sits next to Murhaf Abu Qasra, who according to an official source has been appointed as Defense Minister in Syria's interim government, in Damascus, Syria in this handout image released on December 21, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the opposition which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.

Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria's revolution, the source said according to Reuters.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed "the form of the military institution in the new Syria" during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.

Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability".

Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the opposition’s Idlib government, the General Command said.

Sharaa's group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.

Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

Syrian opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad's rule in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.