Saudi Arabia Halts Air Sorties in Taiz and the Governor Acknowledges the Cutting of Support

Saudi Arabia on Sunday acknowledged abandoning the city of Taiz with the arrival of the “Houthis” to its center.

Exclusive — Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

Saudi Arabia halted all its air sorties in the city and its surroundings. Platforms affiliated with the Saudi factions in Taiz reported that they had been promised to launch airstrikes on positions that fell west of the governorate, but they were not carried out. Those platforms expressed concern about Saudi Arabia’s decision to change its plans regarding the city.

Saudi Arabia had launched during the past days dozens of airstrikes on Taiz city and its surroundings amid the accelerating advance of the Sana’a forces. The halt of the airstrikes in Taiz city came with the intensification of the battles in its center. The Sana’a forces continued during the recent hours to secure more of the western neighborhoods of the city on their way to the city center.

It has not yet become clear whether Saudi Arabia has reached a conviction of the fall of the city or whether it sees the futility of the airstrikes in the residential neighborhoods.

The step came on the eve of the disclosure by the governor of Taiz, Nabil Shamsan, of shocking information regarding his communications with the coalition to support Taiz. The journalist Wahid Al-Fouda’i reported that the leadership of the local authority in Taiz — in reference to Shamsan — communicated continuously with the coalition and Al-Alimi and requested equipment and weapons to change what he described as the balances, but the coalition refused to provide any support. The source explained that the communication has been ongoing since the loss of the battle of Al-Turbah in the southwestern countryside of Taiz.

The timing of Shamsan’s leaking of these details indicates his attempt to convince the rest of the elements stationed among the residential neighborhoods to save themselves with the coalition’s abandonment of them.