On December 14, the pro-monarchy Okaz newspaper carried the following report from Jeddah by its correspondent Ahmed ash-Shmeri: “Reliable sources in Sana’a revealed that coordination has increased between Al-Qa’idah and the Houthi militia lately, adding to Okaz that the coup [authority] gave a number of Al-Qa’idah leaders in Al-Bayda high military ranks, and sealed a deal to ensure their participation in the military operations in Ma’rib and the western coast. They also revealed that a meeting was held last week in Sana’a between Al-Qa’idah’s commanders in Al-Bayda and Houthi leaders Arej Majali and Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, during which an agreement was reached over the participation of the members of the terrorist organization (Al-Qa’idah) in the fight alongside the militias in Ma’rib.

“The sources continued that the members of Al-Qa’idah received a budget that was allocated for them, and promised to escalate their terrorist operations in the liberated regions. They also reported that two weeks ago, Al-Qa’idah organization surrendered more than 200 terrorists to the militia to be taken to Ma’rib, assuring that most of the fighters were from Al-Bayda and Dhamar... For his part, Yemeni journalist Akram al-Fahd assured that coordination between Al-Qa’idah and the Houthi was not new, pointing to joint interests between the two since the Saada wars. And he indicated that the militia was benefitting from Al-Qa’idah and working with the organization on the manufacturing of explosives and mines, under the supervision of experts from Iran and Hezbollah.

“He then criticized the international silence at this level, which allowed the militia to brag about this coordination and hold meetings for the members of the terrorist organization to carry out terrorist crimes, targeting the security and stability of the liberated regions.”