The Houthis’ Qasef-1 multirole UAV
A Qasef-1 unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) of the Houthis has struck a military base in the Saudi southwestern region of Asir, the Yemeni news agency Saba reported on August 4 citing a military source.
According to pro-Houthi sources, the attack has caused a notable explosion and a significant death toll in the base. However, these claims have not been confirmed by photo/video evidence or a statement of the Saudi-UAE-led coalition.
The new attack of the Houthis comes amid growing frictions within the coalition causing a collapse of the Saudi-UAE-backed advance on the western Yemeni port city of al-Hudaydah, which is still in the hands of the Houthis.
Recently, a leader of the UAE-backed Southern Movement, Hassan Baoum, called on his fighters to withdraw from the areas outside southern Yemen. According to local sources, at least a part of Southern Movement fighters has already withdrawn from the frontlines. The Southern Movement is a pro-separatist group, which is seeking to establish a de-facto independent state in southern Yemen.
This group is actively competing with the Saudi-backed government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, which is using the southern Yemeni city of Aden as its “capital”.
The tensions between the Southern Movement and the Hadi government as well as a conflict for influence between Saudi Arabia and the UAE are one of the reasons of the coalition’s inability to deliver a decisive blow to the Houthis on a battleground.
