The UAE is currently working to include the “Abu Abbas Brigades” and its militia in Taiz, to the forces affiliated to “Tariq Saleh,” the son of the brother of the former Yemeni president Ali saleh.
A military source said that the Emirati directives to the Salafi leader in Taiz, Adil Farea, known as “Abi Al Abbas” – included in the American terrorist lists – had decided to merge his battalions with the formations of the so-called joint forces led by Tariq, and to work under his leadership within the framework of the joint forces in the western coast.
The military commander said that the Emirati move comes after the Abu Al Abbas Brigades completed training a new brigade with more than a thousand fighters in Alturba and Mokha areas of Western Taiz.
The source pointed out that Tariq Saleh sent field committees to start the process of merging the Abu Abbas Brigades within his brigades, and the committees have, over the past three days, registered the military and human equipment of the Abu Abbas Brigades, to integrate them officially within the brigades framework.
A source in the Yemeni government said that the UAE seeks to present “Tariq Saleh” as a political force capable of bringing about change or imposing a fait accompli in Taiz, as did the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in Aden.
This comes at a time when military and government sources in Taiz Governorate revealed an Emirati conspiracy seeks to separate the districts of directorates of the West Coast districts and the districts of Al-Hujaria from Taiz Governorate, and to announce a new entity to be based in the city of Mokha.
The source said, that these Emirati measures aim to expand the Emirati agenda in Taiz Governorate, and to enhance the influence of “Tariq Saleh” in the districts of the West Coast and the southern countryside of the ” Hujaria” district.
He also considered that the UAE aims, through this merger and separation of forces, to undermine the legitimate authority and reduce its influence in the governorate of Taiz.
