Yemeni Minister Urges 'Withdrawal' of Hizbullah from Yemen

Yemeni Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Moammar al-Aryani has called on Lebanon to “declare a clear stance on Hizbullah’s aggression,” a day after the Saudi-led coalition accused Iran and Hizbullah of helping Yemen's Huthi rebels to launch missiles and drones at the kingdom.

The Lebanese “brothers” must exert “real pressure” on Hizbullah to compel it to “withdraw its experts and fighters and end the smuggling of arms to Yemen,” Aryani said.

He added that Lebanon should “prevent the use of the Lebanese state’s territory and assets for the support of the Huthi militia.”

“What is the stance of the Lebanese presidency, government, political forces, dignitaries and the brotherly Lebanese people on the aggression that Hizbullah is leading against Yemen and on the ruin and destruction that have targeted people and properties and caused hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian victims,” the Yemeni minister asked.

“The continuation of the aggression and terrorist activities led by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his militias against Yemen and the region undermines the image of Lebanon – the country of peace, love, beauty and coexistence – and harms its ties with its brothers and friends. It also leads it to a state of isolation from its Arab neighborhood and depth,” Aryani warned.

Since the Saudi-led coalition intervened almost seven years ago to support Yemen's government, Saudi Arabia has regularly accused Iran of supplying the Huthis with weapons and Hizbullah of training the insurgents.

Tehran denies the charges. Hizbullah has previously denied sending fighters or weapons to Yemen.

The latest Saudi accusation came as the coalition intensified an aerial bombing campaign against the Iran-backed Huthis in retaliation for deadly attacks on the kingdom.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki told a news conference the Huthis were "militarizing" Sanaa airport and using it as a "main center for launching ballistic missiles and drones" towards the kingdom.

Malki showed reporters a video clip which he said depicted "the headquarters of Iranian and Hizbullah experts at the airport" where, he alleged, "Hizbullah is training the Huthis to booby-trap and use drones."

Malki showed other clips which he said depicted a Hizbullah member placing explosives in a drone, and a man he identified as a Hizbullah official telling Huthi members "we must strengthen our ranks."

The footage could not be independently verified.

The Arab military coalition led by Riyadh intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the internationally recognized government, a year after the Huthis overran the capital Sanaa.

Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed, in what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The Huthis come from the minority Zaidi Shiite sect of Islam and have their traditional stronghold in Yemen's mountainous north.

Between 2004 and 2010, they fought six wars against Yemen's then-government and battled Saudi Arabia in 2009-2010 after storming over the border.

The deaths of two people overnight Friday from a rebel missile strike on the Saudi city of Jazan were the first such deaths in the kingdom in three years.

On Sunday, Malki said the international community must "stop hostile acts by this terrorist organization," a reference to Hizbullah.

Since January 2018 the Huthis have launched 430 ballistic missiles and 850 drones towards Saudi Arabia, he said.

Rights groups have criticized the coalition for civilian casualties in its years-long aerial bombardment.

The coalition maintains its operations are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian law, repeatedly urging the Huthis against using civilians as human shields.