Saudi Arabia trains 15,000 fighters to replace Islah militants in Marib

MARIB, Nov. 05 (YPA) – Saudi Arabia is training about 15,000 fighters to replace the Islah Party militants in Marib province, well-informed political sources said on Saturday.

The former leader of the so-called “Southern Resistance” residing in Turkey, Adel al-Hassani, said: “Some Islah leaders believe that Saudi Arabia and the UAE will leave the oil-rich Marib to them.”

Al-Hasani addressed the Islah leaders in a tweet on Twitter, saying “Whoever fights your idea and chases you in the deserts of Libya, the jungles of Africa, Gaza, Egypt and others, cannot give you oil fields.”

He indicated that Saudi Arabia is training the alternative force in Tabuk and Dammam, north of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition seeks to hand over the city of Marib to the forces of the so-called “Saba Axis” loyal to the UAE, in exchange for ending the role of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the city of Aden.

This comes at a time the Islah-affiliated governor of Marib and member of the Riyadh-formed “Presidential Council”, Sultan al-Arada, is still being held in Saudi Arabia, along with the STC’s president, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi and a number of the Presidential Council members since early last October, following the appointment of Khalid bin Salman, who is responsible for the Yemeni file, as Minister of Defense in the Kingdom.

YPA