Hussein Al Ezzi, a prominent Houthi leader in Yemen, has told SBS that his embattled rebels will continue fighting as the airstrikes of Operation Decisive Storm, the Saudi Arabian-led military Coalition, intensify.
Foreign relations chief of Ansarullah, Al Ezzi, told SBS, "No matter how militarily formidable they are, we are confident that we will defeat them even if the price is losing our lives".
Ansarallah, a politico military rebel group of Houthi descent - an offshoot of Shia Islam - took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014, effectively holding the fragile government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi hostage to its larger political goals. In their clashes with government forces and tribes, the Houthi rebels killed and detained civilians, looted government buildings, shut down media outlets and harassed journalists as well as civil society groups.
The rebels are well financed militarily from Iran and from the former president, Ali Abdallah Saleh, who was deposed in 2011 during the Arab uprisings. He still wields considerable power in Yemeni politics and the latest conflict is a manifestation of decades of instability, sectarianism and civil war that has beset the Arab world’s poorest country.
"No matter how militarily formidable they are, we are confident that we will defeat them even if the price is losing our lives".
"Historically, Yemen is known as a country of resistance, revolution and victories. It is the graveyard of the invaders. We are on the right side of history and have a legitimate cause of defending our country," he said.
Yemen is of strategic importance to Gulf states but also internationally. Bab el Mandeb, a vital shipping route in the southern part of the country which transports 3.8 million barrels of oil daily to Asia and Europe, is acutely threatened. Oil prices dropped yet again on Monday of this week with continued tensions in the Gulf but the Houthi leader has promised so far that the rebels will not attack.
"We as Yemenis didn’t think that one of these days we would threaten the interests of any involved party or country. These are all rumours to justify the attacks on our sovereign territory. We reiterate that these are all lies and fabrications concocted by those who have sick minds," Al Ezzi said in reference to Bab El Mandab.
The United Nations human rights office estimates that 93 civilians have been killed and 364 injured. 62 children have been killed and 30 injured throughout Yemen according to UNICEF in raids that have struck refugee camps, factories and airports amongst other targets.
In response to the mounting death toll, El Ezzi told SBS, "I’d like the whole world to know that Saudi Arabia is declaring the whole of Yemen to be an enemy while it is targeting civilians including women, children and the elderly.
"This attack comes at a time when the Yemeni army and people are fighting against Al Qaeda with successive wins. The enemy attack has actually strengthened Daesh (ISIS) and Al Qaeda which is unsurprising in my view because they all stem from the same ideological roots which is masked in Wahabi garb," Al Ezzi said.
A week before the Coalition strikes, an ISIS affiliate claimed being behind a suicide bombing targeting Shi’a mosques in Sanaa that killed 137 people and injured 345 others.
On the back of the Arab Summit held last week in Egypt with the attendance of leaders of the Arab coalition, Al Ezzi chided them to, "Rethink their positions, to realise the graveness of their mistakes and to think of how they have entrapped the Yemeni people".
As the conflict enters its first full week and the Houthis enduring many losses, Al Ezzi insisted rebels "Will use all means at our disposal to fight back because we have every right to".
