Southern military battalion withdraws from Najran front protesting “Saudi guardianship”

ADEN, July 16 (YPA) – A full military battalion composed of soldiers from the southern Yemeni governorates of Aden, Abyan, and Lahj has withdrawn with its full equipment and personal weaponry from the Najran border front.

The withdrawal comes in protest against what the troops described as “Saudi guardianship” and their refusal to participate in ongoing hostilities between Sanaa forces and Riyadh.

According to southern media sources, the decision to withdraw was coordinated between field commanders and recruits to avoid being drawn into a “futile war” that they argue does not serve the Southern cause. The sources added that the troops view Riyadh’s current escalation as an attempt to weaken the Southern cause and restore power to political and military factions previously implicated in violations against the population in the south.

In a related development, the same sources revealed the continued detention of several recruits, mostly from Abyan governorate, in detention facilities run by Salafist commander Raddad al-Hashimi on the Najran front. No information has yet emerged regarding their fate or the conditions for their release.

YPA