SANA’A (Press TV) – The defense minister of Yemen’s National Salvation Government says Saudi Arabia and its allies, which are waging a devastating military campaign against his country, can no longer determine the course of action since it is now the Yemeni army troops and fighters from allied Popular Committees that have the upper hand and are in a dominant position.
“Yemeni Armed Forces have a new military strategy, including readiness to defend national sovereignty and safeguard the nation’s fundamental issues in order to keep pace with national developments,” Yemen’s official Saba news agency quoted Major General Mohammad Nasser al-Atifi as saying.
He added, “Yemeni forces have developed defensive and offensive capabilities at various tactical, training and armament levels. Such capabilities have enabled Yemenis to formulate effective policies and make sovereign decisions away from dependence and external tutelage. Sovereignty and pride are the fruit of patience, wisdom, sacrifice and national steadfastness.”
Atifi highlighted that Yemen now stands on the threshold of a decisive stage, whose impact will expand far beyond what aggressors imagine in their wrong calculations.
He warned member states of the Saudi-led coalition against the heavy losses they will have to suffer in case their arrogance against Yemen continues.
“We reiterate once again to have passed a dangerous stage of hostility. There is no escape for the [Saudi-led] coalition of aggression but to concede defeat and leave Yemen. There is no place for the presence of foreign forces on Yemeni soil and territorial waters,” Atifi stressed.
Meanwhile, Spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced in a post published on his Twitter page that Yemeni army troops and their allies had successfully carried out a large-scale offensive against Saudi-led forces and their mercenaries.
He said the media bureau of Yemen’s Operations Command Center will disclose details of the major operation at around 3 pm local time (1200 GMT) on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the U.S. and regional allies, launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah resistance movement.
Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees have, however, gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
The Saudi war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. The war has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases across the Arab country.