Houthis established as specialized teams for following combatants who escaped from the battlefields

Well-informed sources declared that Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi gave an order for the formation of field groups have like tasks following and seizing militants escaping from the battlefields in Yemen, particularly those raging in Marib governorate.

Actually, Houthi lines continued to failure in Marib, which causing fear among remaining fighters from the Iran-backed group. Besides, armed militants escaped from the severe clashes in the governorate in droves.

The leaving of hundreds of Houthis from their lines in battlefields in the west and north of Marib has generated a severe lack for coup forces, and fighters removed from the combat in the Sirwah, Hilan, al-Mukhadrah, al-Kasarah, Reghwan and Mudghal districts. While, some of the runaways secretly returned to their homes and villages without informing Houthi leaders.

In the same context, Aziz al-Jaradi, who is a senior Houthi commander who heads the group’s preventative security unit, was selected to form specialized groups for following and capturing the runaways and arresting Houthi supervisors who are refusing to join the fight in Marib.

Otherwise, certain Houthi officers have refused to recruit more soldiers for fights in the governorate, which led to the group’s ranks tired. After the leadership’s directives, Houthi intelligence agents followed the absconders and attacked their homes. Initial reports reported that hundreds were detained by the group across seven different Houthi-run governorates.

Houthi agents alerted the families of fighters who escaped the battleground that they would be treated as traitors and would be subjected to severe punishment, according to local sources. Locals informed Asharq Al-Awsat that during the weekend, the newly formed following teams detained around 45 escapee fighters in Dhamar governorate.

Locals also said that racial discrimination and extreme sectarianism were among the main reasons that pushing recruits to abandon Houthi lines. They also affirmed that about 190 fighters were detained in Sanaa and about 69 were arrested in Ibb governorate. The detainees are being given an alert; return to fighting on battlefronts or face torture and imprisonment.