Withdrawal from Yemen?: Saudi Arabia to Build All-Foreign Mercenary Army

Rasa - Saudi Arabia has hired a large number of mercenaries from different countries for combat operations since the beginning of Yemen war in 2015, and now, Riyadh has decided to partly pull out its forces from the battlegrounds and replace them with retired forces from a set of Latin American states, as it seems that the Saudis are making an undeclared withdrawal from Yemen.

News ID: 436003

Date: 25 January 2018 - 03:14

RNA - Over the past three years of Al-Saud aggression against neighboring Yemen, Saudi Arabia has resorted to various ways to defeat Yemeni revolutionaries; Ground offensives, hiring mercenary fighters from countries such as Sudan and Senegal, as well as, the Blackwater private security agents, using banned cluster bomb, and all-out blockade of the ports.

But, according to several battlefield reports, the actions did not turn in favor of Riyadh, while Saudi bombrs continue hitting hard residential areas across the war-torn country.

Saudi Arabia had hired a large number of mercenaries from different countries for combat operations in Yemen, but new reports revealed that Riyadh intends to build an all-foreign mercenary army, while the United Arab Emirates, another party in the Yemen war, had also paid Colombian mercenaries to fight along its troops on the ground.

Now, reports said Saudi leaders have lost the fighting in Yemen and Riyadh army, including its top commanders, received resounding damages as the battle unfolded, adding that the kingdom hides the real figures of its forces’ died or injured in the battlefield, while unofficial reports suggest that between 10 and 20 Saudi forces are killed every day on the battlefronts.

In the light of the heavy casualties along with the heavy costs of the war, monarchy has decided to partly pull out its forces from the battlegrounds and replace them with retired forces from a set of Latin American states, as Riyadh aims to pay the mercenary fighters between $4,000 and $5,000 on a monthly basis to fight the war in Yemen.

The kingdom’s plan targets nearly 10,000 of the retired army personnel who receive just $250 pension per month in their countries, according to the report.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive President Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,500 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

The Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, according to several reports.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

The United Nations said in mid-January, more than three-quarters of Yemenis are now in need of humanitarian aid as the brutal aggression launched by the Saudi-led coalition nears its fourth year.

According to aid agencies, poor access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation put more people at risk of life-threatening diseases.

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