Mohsen Khasarof, former official of the Hadi government’s Moral Guidance Department in Ma’rib, has revealed on Monday that the arms stockpile in the Saudi-held city of Ma’rib has run out. The announcement seems to come as a justification of the eventual fall of Ma’rib to the forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces and Popular Committees that are advancing on the city.
“The weapons depots in Ma’rib have been empty for the last three months,” Mohsen Khasarof said in an interview with the Balqis TV channel, noting that the coalition refuses to reinforce its factions there and is content with carrying out airstrikes on advancing Yemeni troops.
Khasarof’s comment came after Yemen’s Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier Genneral Yahya Sare’e released videos showing the amount of weapons his forces had seized during their recent liberation of al-Abdiyah, al-Jubah and Jabal Murad directorates.
It also coincided with a campaign by Islah Party activists on social media sites, in which they blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the upcoming fall of the city, after Yemeni revolutionary forces have completed its surrounding of the city after taking control of Abdiyah, Jabal Murad and Juba and approaching the southern neighbourhoods.
It was not clear whether the announcement of the depletion of weapons was a trick used to blackmail Saudi Arabia, or reflects the reality of the situation, but it coincided with reports that Islah leader Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has directed his officers to leave Ma’rib as soon as possible.
