Yemeni leader calls for general mobilization against Houthis

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council and Supreme Commander of the armed forces, called in a televised address on Friday for general mobilization around government forces. He said the aim is to restore state institutions and sovereignty over all territory including Sanaa, held by Houthis since 2014, after Houthis seized the Red Sea coast and Bab al-Mandab Strait. He promised amnesty for defectors and urged residents in rebel areas not to send children to fight alongside the Houthis.