Al-Maqdashi, the leader of defeats and the man of corruption in Hadi's forces
English - Monday 23 August 2021 الساعة 08:32 am
Marib, NewsYemen, Private:
During the past two days, the corridors of the Yemeni fronts witnessed widespread commotion and grumbling among the fighters and commanders of combat units in the ranks of the Yemeni army, against the background of the leadership of the Arab coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia honoring the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant-General Muhammad al-Maqdashi, who is accused of corruption and failure to lead the ministry during a period of time. His tenure extends from the end of 2018.
The leadership of the joint forces of the Arab coalition honored the Minister of Defense of legitimacy, Lieutenant-General Muhammad al-Maqdashi, yesterday, at the headquarters of the joint command in Riyadh, although his tenure in the ministry did not witness any victory on the battlefronts against the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, but rather received major defeats, the most prominent of which was in Sanaa. Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda, as well as the cessation of fighting on the fronts of Saada, Hajjah, Al-Bayda and Taiz.
Yemeni activists also ridiculed the coalition's honoring of al-Maqdashi, as he was expected to be brought to a military court against the backdrop of successive defeats incurred by government forces during his reign, and accusations of corruption, arms smuggling and selling to the Houthis by tribal sheikhs participating in the fighting with the army.
The honoring of Al-Maqdashi also came, in conjunction with information and news that he was dismissed from the position of Minister of Defense, and that the honoring comes within the framework of the legitimacy and coalition fears that Al-Maqdashi would split and join the Houthis, sow discord and carry out assassinations and liquidations for national leaders in the army through his assistants who were implanted in the joints The Ministry of Defense, brigades and various combat units.
According to military sources in Marib, Al-Maqdashi controls many files that authorize him to thwart any operations of the army, the resistance, and the Arab coalition on any front located in the vicinity of Sana’a, or in the governorates of Taiz and Hajjah, which are fronts run by leaders affiliated with the Islah Party involved in the framework of legitimacy, where he controls Al-Maqdashi is in charge of the military leaders in those areas, as well as his possession of secret military information that includes plans, programs, the size of weapons and areas of his presence, which is expected to be handed over to the Houthis in the event of his dismissal.
It is noteworthy that Al-Maqdashi was appointed Chief of the General Staff (May 3, 2015) at the Ministry of Defense, succeeding Major General Hussein Khairan, who was referred by President Hadi to a military trial on charges of high treason. Hadi and the coalition should appoint his corrupt man as defense minister in November 2018.
Al-Maqdashi is accused of being behind the defeats suffered by the government forces on the fronts around the capital, Sanaa, led by the Nihm and Al-Jawf fronts, early last year 2020, where the Houthi militia managed to control several areas in Nihm, east of Sanaa in January, before it was able in March 2020. From controlling the city of Hazm, the capital of Al-Jawf Governorate.
Al-Maqdashi is also accused of being behind the militia's arrival in the vicinity of the city of Marib from various sides, as well as his direct coordination with Houthi leaders to hand over Marib, as stated on April 22, last April, by tribal Sheikh "Ghaleb Nasser Kalan", in press statements.
Kalan, revealed the existence of a scheme supervised by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, Vice President, the military arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, and the Minister of Defense al-Maqdashi, in handing over the oil city of Marib, to the Houthis, by keeping the forces and tribes, defending against the Houthi attack for months, without attacking militia positions. The Houthis, until the army and tribes are exhausted, and then the militias launch a massive attack on Marib, which will easily fall.
For its part, Yemeni media have highlighted on more than one occasion during the past two years, the corruption of Al-Maqdashi, in which the size of his fortune estimated at half a trillion Yemeni riyals was revealed, which was gained from large deals, including the sale of weapons, ammunition, soldier food, and military and intelligence information to the Houthis. In addition to receiving large sums of money from the coalition and legitimacy on a monthly basis as a budget for the Ministry of Defense, most of which is deducted for the benefit of the minister and military leaders loyal to him, while the crumbs are spent on ministry employees and fighters on the fronts.
Within the framework of his leadership of the Ministry of Defense since 2018, the battle fronts witnessed a significant decline, and government forces suffered defeats at the hands of Iranian militias, the most prominent of which was the fall of Nihm in the vicinity of Sana’a in January 2020, despite the presence of 18 brigades with a strength of 23,000 soldiers in it. Al-Maqdashi to retreat and hand over the sites to the Houthis, along with weapons stores.
Also, during the reign of al-Maqdashi, the districts of al-Maton and al-Ghail were handed over to the city of Hazm and large parts of the Khub and al-Sha`f district in al-Jawf, to the militias in March of the same year, despite the presence of approximately 13 combat brigades in the Sixth Military Region.
Al-Maqdashi’s appointment as Minister of Defense instead of Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi, who has been held captive by the Houthis since March 2015, was disastrous, according to Yemeni military sources, as the fighting fronts during his reign witnessed a major setback, whether in the vicinity of Sana’a, or those located in the governorates of Al-Bayda and Taiz. Hajjah, which was frozen under the directives of Al-Maqdashi and the army leaders affiliated with the Islah party.
Before his appointment as Minister of Defense and his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant-General, Al-Maqdashi, who was dismissed from the position of Chief of Staff, was accused of being behind the attempt to assassinate the Yemeni Chief of Staff, Dr. Major General Taher Al-Aqili was killed in a booby-trapped ambush during his visit to the Al-Yatama front in Al-Jawf, in 2018, which made him the accident.
At that time, Al-Aqili sent a message including investigation reports that Al-Maqdashi orchestrated the assassination of Al-Aqili, who was appointed as Chief of Staff to succeed Al-Maqdashi, after the latter failed to build a Yemeni national army and built a sectarian army that owed absolute loyalty to the Muslim Brotherhood under the supervision of Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar.
He accused al-Maqdashi and prominent Brotherhood leaders of being behind the assassinations of national military leaders on the fighting fronts, including giving the coordinates of the presence of Abd al-Rabb al-Shadadi and Ahmed al-Aqili, as well as arranging the killing of Adnan al-Hammadi, and other military leaders on the West Coast, against the background of these leaders’ victories over the Houthis. This disturbs Al-Maqdashi, whose investments are located in the militia-controlled areas in Sanaa and Dhamar.
