Brigadier General Tareq Saleh, the nephew of slain President Ali Abdullah Saleh, urged on Sunday all forces fighting on Yemeni fronts to turn their weapons against Houthi militias, dissipating rumors that his fighters on the west coast were not unified.
In his first statement since his escape from militia captivity and since his forces united in the fight against Houthis on the west coast, Saleh called on all soldiers and security forces operating under the orders of rebels to join the fronts of the legitimacy in Maareb, Saadah, Sanaa, Hijjah, the west coast and others.
Saleh pledged to root out Houthi insurgents from all Yemeni territories, including Sanaa.
He also lashed out at Secretary General of Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” Hassan Nasrallah, describing him as an “insurgent.”
He said that Israel, which the Houthis have pledged to fight, is located near “Hezbollah” and not on Yemen’s west coast.
Last week, Nasrallah announced during a televised speech his desire to fight alongside the Houthis.
“I am ashamed that I am not with you. I wish I could be one of your fighters and fight under the guidance of your brave and dear leaders,” Nasrallah said.
In less than three months, the nephew of President Saleh has been able to form “the Yemeni National Resistance Forces,” which were trained in camps established west of Aden city.
On April 19, Saleh’s “Republican Guards” unit, a name he chose for his troops that used to make up the special forces loyal to the late president, joined the fighting against the Houthis in the battle for the west coast.
Last December, the Houthis killed Saleh in Sanaa after he broke allegiance with the insurgents and sided with the internationally recognized government led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Arab Coalition.
