AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): As Yemen war intensifies following stepped up attacks by the US-supported Saudi-Emirati coalition and resolute retaliatory missile and drone strikes from Yemen's Ansarullah Movement, military action of an Iraqi resistant group in solidarity with Yemen has created a new situation, adding to the concerns about the destructive consequences of the Saudi-Emirati belligerence and the the world community's silence to the Arab coalition's war crimes.
The concerns are mainly about expansion of war regionwide and risks to regional stability– consequences that the political observers have long warned about. Actually, with expansion of domain of the criminal actions of the Arab coalition against the defenseless Yemeni civilians and fueling sectarianism through deploying ISIS and Al-Qaeda takfiri fighters to fight Ansarullah, not only the efforts to bring the war to an end are running into a dead end but also odds are the crisis would reach new heights.
Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq movement's statement after attack on Emirates
An Iraqi resistance group called Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq Brigade (Abna Jazirat Al-Arab) announced that it had targeted the UAE with drones. The group confirmed that it had targeted four vital sites in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday morning using four drones.
A statement issued by the group on its Telegram channel said that it would continue its "fierce attacks" against the UAE to force it stop interfering in the affairs of other countries in the region, and on top of them Yemen and Iraq, and withdraw military, security and political mercenaries from Yemen. The Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq Brigade warned that future attacks would be more deadly and painful.
Following the statement, the UAE Ministry of Defense confirmed on Wednesday night that the country had been the target of three drone strikes.
This is not the first time the group is taking actions against the aggressors in the Yemeni war, and the group announced a few months ago that it had sent drones to Saudi Arabia to target Al Yamamah Palace and other targets in Riyadh, and plans more attacks in the future.
Proponents vs. opponents of the strikes
Following the attack announcement, the Iraqi political scene was divided between the lauders and critics of the move.
On the one hand, the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement last week stating that some "lawbreakers seek to engage Iraq in a dangerous regional war by attacking a regional country under the pretext of normalizing relations with Israel or war against Yemen."
On the other hand, a significant number of Iraqi resistance groups have come out in support of al-Wa'd al-Haq.
"We support attacks against the criminal regime in the UAE….Justice and sovereignty will never be achieved by defending a small country that kills children and the innocent people…. A free man's defense of his dignity against the small and criminal Zionist entity would not be entry into a regional war," said a statement by Iraqi Resistance Organization, appearing to respond to al-Sadr statement.
Ansarullah reaction: From appreciating the attack to bemoaning al-Sadr stance
The surprise action of the Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq resistance group against the UAE did not go without reaction from Yemen. A day after the attack, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Yemeni Supreme Political Council, wrote on his Twitter account: "Thank you the free Iraq. Thank you the resistance group supporting Yemen and its resistance." He also wrote a Quranic verse suggesting the offensives should only be directed against the oppressors.
In another Yemeni reaction, Mohammad al-Bukhaiti, a leader in Ansarullah, addressed al-Sadr, saying: "The US-led quartet coalition is ready to stop aggression against Yemen, lift the blockade, and allow us to take part in Yemen government on the condition that we forsake wilaya [the highest Shiite spiritual and political leadership] and transform to a political party, because they have understood the significance of the movement of the Yemeni people for the ummah which is away from ethno-sectarianism. Do you have no problem with us forsaking these?"
Popular support in Yemen was massively circulated online for the anti-Emirati attacks, with many thanking the Iraqi group for countering the "barbarous Saudi-Emirati aggression" against Yemen. "Thank you Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq" and "Al-Wa'ad Al-Haq is our proud trended in Yemen."
"We thank each and every one of those who stand against the atrocities committed by the pawns of the United States and Israel in the region, namely the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emiratesa, and we support their continued honorable stance against these traitorous governments who are a poisonous dagger on the side of the ummah," a tweet by a user, named Nasruddin Amer, read.
Another user, Wesam Aziz, tweeted: "Drones from Iraq target the traitorous Al Zayed. This is an offensive shift in the fear equation."
/129