The seizure of a terrorist cell affiliated with the Houthis, What was its mission?
Yemeni security services have captured a cell of the so-called “Security and Intelligence Service” (NISS) of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, tasked with carrying out terrorist operations and looting in the western coast.
The military media of the joint forces on Yemen’s west coast said in a statement published by the official Saba news agency: A precise intelligence tracking and monitoring operation led to the arrest of cell leader Mahdi Ali Ahmed al-Marqashi and four of its members: (Hamdi Saleh al-Azibi, Awad Muhammad Awad, Muhammad Ali al-Marqashi, and Musa Mahdi al-Marqashi), as well as continuing to pursue the rest of those involved.
The statement said that investigations confirmed that the cell – which used to be sheltering in an abandoned building in Hays district in Hodeida province – was linked to officers from the so-called Houthi “security and intelligence” organization.
The cell members were tasked by the Houthi security and intelligence agency to monitor the movements of military leaders in the joint forces, as well as the looting of joint forces’ crews and citizens’ cars on the west coast, he said.
According to the statement, investigations indicated that the Houthi militia had committed a plot to carry it out by stirring up disputes within the units of the joint forces on the west coast.
Cell members confessed to carrying out a number of terrorist operations and activities that destabilized security and stability in western coast directorates in recent months, in which a number of innocent civilians were killed, he said.
He said: “The investigations also revealed that the cell was coordinating with Faris Arik, a leader in the Houthi militia, and Haitham Arik, a resident of al-Muhajer area east of al-Mukha, who was fleeing the face of justice. They were delivering looted goods to them and receiving money from them.”
