Yemen Monitor / Newspapers:
A report by the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan has revealed what it described as the “most dangerous security breach” witnessed in Yemen in recent years. The report discusses secret understandings between the Houthi group and Yemeni factions backed by the United Arab Emirates, resulting in mutual liquidations targeting prominent military leaders in Aden and Marib.
According to the report, the assassination of Major General Thabit Jawas in the temporary capital, Aden, was not an isolated incident. Instead—according to high-ranking security sources cited by the newspaper—it was part of a political and security deal aimed at offering Jawas as a “sacrifice.” The Houthis accuse Jawas of killing their founder, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, and his assassination was seen as a way to settle a historical vendetta dating back to the battles of Marran in Saada Governorate.
Joint Operations Room
The report indicates that these understandings were arranged through high-level intelligence coordination within a joint operations room, allegedly managed from the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. This coordination aimed to enable the Houthis to liquidate military opponents they could not reach on the battlefield, in exchange for mutual security and military services.
According to the same sources, Major General Jawas posed a direct threat to the Houthi leadership. This led—as per the report—to an external decision to liquidate him as part of a broader strategy targeting military leaders who refuse “foreign dependency” and adhere to independent national decision-making.
Logistical Support and Drone Smuggling
The Al-Watan report stated that coordination was not limited to information sharing but also included facilitating the smuggling of drones from Aden to Houthi-controlled areas via local security formations, including the “Security Belt” forces.
The report added that these drones were later used to carry out attacks targeting military leaders in Marib Governorate based on precise coordinates provided by joint operations rooms. This occurred within what the report described as “mutual target lists” designed to clear the field of influential national leaders.
Mutual Assassinations
According to the Saudi newspaper, the assassination of Major General Thabit Jawas was carried out by security cells in Aden, allegedly operating under the supervision of prominent local security leaders, including Yusran al-Maqtari during his tenure as head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit, and under the direct supervision of Hani bin Breik. Meanwhile, the Houthi group—according to the report—undertook the liquidation of other military leaders in Marib, most notably Major General Abdul-Rab al-Shadadi.
Misleading the Public and Framing the Innocent
The report noted that the issue did not stop at the assassination itself; it was accompanied by efforts to mislead public opinion. This included the arrest of citizens from Taiz Governorate, who were reportedly forced under torture to give coerced confessions in an attempt to close the case file and exploit it politically to incite regionalist rhetoric within Aden.
Al-Watan concluded its report by emphasizing that these practices reveal a systematic pattern to dismantle the Yemeni social fabric by liquidating military and religious leaders and fueling regional divisions to serve regional agendas at the expense of Yemen’s stability and unity.
