Yemeni battalions stationed in the port city of Mocha were left largely unprepared to fend off a takeover by the Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday, with much of the force’s roster filled with “ghost names” of soldiers that did not actually exist, according to a Saturday CNN report.
A Western source with knowledge of Yemeni anti-Houthi operations told CNN that the “ghost names” received salaries, making the army seem much stronger than it was on paper. In actuality, the army was only around 20% of what it appeared to be, according to the source.
Blame for the apparent lack of military resistance to the Houthi takeover has been split between Yemeni leaders, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, with multiple sources telling CNN that different parties were responsible for the failure.
'A Saudi-American f*** of epic proportions'
One regional CNN source described the fall of Mocha as “a Saudi-American f*** up of epic proportions” caused by delayed decision-making by Washington and Riyadh.
“The failure this time is not with the Yemenis,” the source told CNN on Friday. “There was not one airstrike throughout the day yesterday (by Saudi support forces), although there were minute-by-minute updates.”
Another source stated that the Saudi military had been put on high alert due to the possibility of a Houthi advance weeks ago, but failed to prepare for the attack. Key air command personnel for directing combat aircraft allegedly were not deployed.
“The Saudis threw the Yemenis under the bus,” the source told CNN.
According to the report, a senior Yemeni official said he had warned US Central Command (CENTCOM) repeatedly “that the situation was becoming critical.”
The source told CNN that CENTCOM assured him that the US was “watching the situation closely and that Saudi air support was coming,” but the air support did not show up.
On Thursday, the day of the Houthi attack, CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper was in Saudi Arabia for coordination meetings, two sources told CNN.
While CENTCOM did not confirm that the visit occurred, CNN cited a US official as saying that in recent weeks American military personnel have been working with a newly established joint forces command that was formed after it was suspected that Iran was intensifying efforts to support Houthi attacks.
Some say divisions between Yemen's leaders are to blame for fall of Mocha
DC-based Mohammed al-Basha, who has served as an advisor to the US government on the Arabian Peninsula, argued to CNN that internal divisions among Yemen’s leadership were to blame for the failure to defend Mocha.
“This goes back to a deeper problem in the anti-Houthi coalition,” Basha told CNN. “There is no political cohesion.”
“There’s no united command and control in Yemen,” he continued. “I think everybody was aware of the Houthis’ push towards the west coast. The writings on the wall were very clear.”
When asked what may come next, Basha predicted that the Houthis would continue pushing eastwards, further into Yemen, telling CNN that “We are seeing today, via satellite and via OSINT (open-source intelligence) photography… that the Houthis are mobilizing.”