Saudi-backed forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government forces walk past a burnt-out vehicle in Yemen’s southern Abyan province on August 11, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / SALEH AL-OBEIDI)
Abdulaziz Jabari, a Hadi adviser, said the Popular Resistance forces will attack Sana’a and its environs unless the Houthis agree to withdraw without fighting.
He said: “If the [Houthi] militias prefer to withdraw and hand over the state’s weapons, the government will welcome their [decision]. But if they resort to the military solution, [Yemeni] army forces and the [pro-Hadi] popular committees will be ready to respond in kind.”
The Sana’a campaign will involve coordination between forces from inside and outside the capital, according to Jabari.
Meanwhile, pro-Hadi commanders on Wednesday discussed in a closed meeting in Sana’a the possibility of engaging with the Houthis and the allied forces of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The move will be in coordination with the local tribesmen and the Saudi-led coalition, Jabari said.
Tribal fighters, backed by Saudi-led airstrikes and Yemeni army units, will launch an “all-out war” on Sana’a if the Houthis refuse to withdraw from the capital.
The Houthis and Saleh’s followers have recently suffered a series of defeats at the hands of Hadi loyalists who, backed by Saudi-led coalition forces, retook the strategic city of Aden last month.
Hadi’s adviser said the Houthis and Saleh loyalists’ withdrawal from several parts of Yemen is a signal of their defeat. Jabari said that the insurgents had offered to withdraw from several parts of Yemen without fighting but declined to give details.
This comes after reports that the Houthis were considering withdrawing from Sana’a, a step that would end almost a year of their occupation of the capital.
The Houthis overran Sana’a in September 2014, prompting President Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia which has been bombarding rebels’ positions in Yemen since late March.
Mohamed Ali Mohsen contributed additional reporting from Aden