Around 100 officers from the UAE-backed National Resistance Forces (NRF) in Yemen have defected to join Ansar Allah, delivering a major blow to U.S. and Gulf-backed efforts inside the country. The development comes amid threats of a U.S.-supported ground offensive and intensified American airstrikes against civilian targets.

On Sunday, approximately 100 officers from Yemen’s United Arab Emirates-backed forces defected to Ansar Allah in the capital, Sanaa. Although the defectors’ identities have not been publicly disclosed, initial reports suggest that much of the group’s high command was among them.

The defections mark a serious setback for the NRF, led by Brigadier General Tareq Saleh, who holds territory along Yemen’s northwestern coast near Taiz.

Hundreds of officers from the UAE-backed force controlling Yemen’s western coast have defected to the Yemeni government and Ansarallah. The group saw nearly its entire high command switch sides. The defectors gathered in Sana’a for a briefing.

This is a serious blow to Zionists. pic.twitter.com/CmoE79vezE

— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) April 28, 2025

Tareq Saleh, the nephew of deposed Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, sits on the Emirati-Saudi backed Presidential Leadership Council, often referred to as Yemen’s internationally recognized government. His NRF forces are aligned with Saudi and U.S.-backed groups that control southern Yemen, headquartered in the port city of Aden.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted across southern Yemen, where residents are demanding the removal of the “pro-coalition government” over worsening economic conditions, collapsing basic services, and 20-hour rolling blackouts. In Aden, the demonstrations against the Saudi-Emirati coalition continue to grow, with citizens accusing local authorities of failing to implement emergency measures to stabilize energy supplies.

Despite backing from wealthy Gulf states and U.S. support, areas under the Presidential Leadership Council’s control suffer from higher poverty rates than the 70% of Yemenis living under Ansar Allah’s Sanaa-based government.

Shortly after U.S. strikes began on March 15, President Trump claimed that Ansar Allah had been “decimated,” while Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth asserted that the military campaign was “devastatingly effective.” Six weeks later, U.S. officials have quietly admitted that the strikes have had limited impact, raising concerns over cost effectiveness and ammunition depletion.

Despite Washington’s early rhetoric, the Yemeni Armed Forces continue to target U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups, fire missiles and drones at Israel, and enjoy mass displays of public support across Yemen.

In Washington, leading think tanks are now scrambling for alternatives. The Atlantic Council recently suggested that assassinating key leaders like Abdul Malik al-Houthi could collapse the Sanaa government. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) argued that “only a ground operation can oust the Houthis.”

Around a week ago, reports emerged that an 80,000-strong Saudi-UAE backed force was preparing to cooperate with U.S. troops to seize Yemen’s strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. However, the NRF defections could significantly complicate those plans.

Growing public discontent in southern Yemen could further jeopardize any ground operation. Massive weekly demonstrations show strong popular support for Ansar Allah’s blockade of the Red Sea and its missile attacks on Israel, actions that many in southern Yemen view as retaliation against U.S. intervention.

Instead of destroying Ansar Allah, Trump’s military escalation may be achieving the opposite: unifying a nation torn by nearly a decade of civil war.

Feature photo | Ansar Allah supporters chant slogans during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, April 18, 2025. Osamah Abdulrahman | AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

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