Saudi ambassador to US releases videos showing 'link' between Hizballah, Houthis

Saudi ambassador to US releases videos showing 'link' between Hizballah, Houthis
Prince Khalid Bin Salman has released videos which he claims provides evidence that the Lebanese group Hizballah is linked to the Yemen Houthi one.
2 min read
18 August, 2018
Over 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's ongoing war [Getty]

The Saudi ambassador to the US has released videos which he claims proves that the Lebanese shia militant group Hizballah is linked to the Yemeni rebel Houthi group.

The footage, uploaded on Twitter, showed a previous operation carried out by the Special Forces of the Arab Alliance, which Prince Khalid Bin Salman said revealed evidence on Hizballah’s role in Yemen.

The video shows a man, who Bin Salman describes as the leading member in Hizballah, outlining his military expertise, with a picture of the Supreme Leader of the Iran, Ali Khamenei, as the wallpaper on his computer.

Another post shows the same man giving instructions about the need to use civilian vehicles in order to transport fighters, such as the case in the town of Dammaj in the Yemeni province of Saada, when they were transferred in water tanks.

Bin Salman urged the international community to not turn a blind eye to the methods employed by these militias.

"The existence of militants who belong to the so-called Hizballah in Yemen proves that the Iranian regime has entrusted this terrorist party with the task of training its Houthi loyalists," the prince said.

"The Kingdom will not allow for the Houthis to become another Hizballah, and that is what the Iranian regime seeks to do. In addition to smuggling weapons and rockets, they lend them Hizballah trainers to extend the Houthis with expertise to continue their war on the Yemeni people."

More than 10,000 people have been killed since March 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government against the rebels, triggering what the UN described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. 

While all sides have been accused of major violations, global outrage in recent days has focused on the coalition after it carried out an airstrike on a bus that killed 40 children in the rebel-held north. 

The last attempt at UN-brokered talks broke down in 2016 amid demands for a rebel withdrawal from key cities and power-sharing with the Saudi-backed government.