On January 21, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Taiz Khaled al-Hammadi: “Knowledgeable sources mentioned that the number of deaths among the Houthis and the followers of deposed President Ali Saleh had risen in the last few days, in many provinces they control in Yemen’s north and center. Al-Quds al-Arabi thus learned that dozens of middle-rank commanders and armed men affiliated with Al-Houthi had been killed by their allies in the last few days in the capital Sanaa, and the governorates of Jawf, Amran, Dhamar, Ibb, Hajjah, Mahwit and Hudaydah, following the escalation of the disputes with the followers of deposed President Ali Saleh, and the exchange of accusations of betrayal and financial corruption between the two sides.

“The sources indicated: “Disputes are deeply sweeping the two sides, though war has not yet ended. And these disputes and liquidation operations are prone to escalate and affect the top commanders of the two parties, who are dealing very carefully with each other.” They added that fear had reached the point where deposed President Ali Saleh no longer trusted his Houthi allies, and continuously moved to discreet location in absolute secrecy, with a limited number of those accompanying him, to prevent his coordinates from being shared with the Arab coalition forces, which would then target him with airstrikes. They mentioned that the disputes between the Houthis and Saleh’s supporters had become the topic of the hour in the capital Sanaa and many other cities, in light of the daily assassinations that targeted many Houthi middle-rank commanders, and figures affiliated with deposed President Ali Saleh.

“The media sources mentioned that unknown armed men affiliated with deposed President Ali Saleh liquidated many middle-rank commanders from the Houthi group, as well as some of its influential figures in the governorates of Jawf, Sanaa, Dhamar, Ibb, Hudaydah, Mahwit, Hajjah, and others. They indicated that the physical liquidation of the Houthi middle-rank commanders fell in the context of the escalating disputes between them and deposed President Ali Saleh’s men, especially following the intensification of the exchanged accusations between both sides, some of which were carried by their new outlets and on social media. The disputes in the Houthi-Saleh alliance emerged at a time when the national army and resistance affiliated with President Hadi had started progressing towards the capital Sanaa, reaching tribal regions that were only 40 kilometers away from it, as per military sources.

“And according to observers, they may have been caused by the loss of trust between the two sides, which resulted in accusations of treason and of having dispatched the coordinates of military positions affiliated with each side to the coalition forces, especially since they were accurately targeted by airstrikes in the last few days, particularly the Houthi gathering places that are surrounded by absolute secrecy...”