Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – A Yemeni army official has stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that the armed forces are capable of crushing the insurgents and secessionists to protect the country’s constitution which the Yemenis have accepted but the peaceful option remains the priority and referred in a telephone contact from the capital Sanaa to intensive contacts which Yemen is holding with Egypt and other regional parties to discuss the ways of fighting terrorism and piracy.

High-level Yemeni security and military leaders briefed a number of Egyptian officials who are visiting Sanaa on the developments of the situations in Yemen and the Horn of Africa, the danger that terrorism and piracy are posing for the region’s stability, and navigation in the Red Sea, Bab el Mandeb, and Gulf of Eden. The sources said the meeting also touched on the Egyptian expertise in confronting terrorism and imposing security and the two countries’ cooperation in this.

The Yemeni military official denied claims made by the leader of the Huthist insurgents yesterday that Yemeni forces attacked the insurgents from inside Saudi territories. He said the state is capable of crushing the insurgents in the north of the country and the secessionists in the south in a short time but explained that “the peaceful option remains the priority” while “the government forces are determined to open the roads and protect the citizens from the insurgents.” He added that the operations carried out by the government forces are taking place inside Yemeni territories north of Sa’dah (within the boundaries of Al-Hasamah and Shada Districts) and in an area close to the Yemen-Saudi borders, especially near the “Tuwayliq” post, for the purpose of hunting down the insurgents who cut off the roads in the past weeks from the governorates in north Yemen and the Sa’dah and Imran Governorates and the roads leading to the capital Sanaa from the north.

The Yemeni army official went on to tell Asharq Al-Awsat that the military forces’ advance in Sa’dah and the recapture of several positions in order to re-impose law and order were the result of the cooperation with the majority of Yemeni citizens who reject the lootings by the Huthist insurgents. According to him, the government forces succeeded in restoring to the state’s control areas that link Sa’dah to the towns of “Maran”, “Al-Hudaydah”, and “Saqin” and also in deploying other forces in the “Haris”, “Al-Mahadhir”, “Al-Sam”, and “Al-Malahit” positions.