The Islamic State declared its official presence in war-torn Yemen as the militant group posted a video online, threading to “cut the throats” of Houthi forces.
Like most IS videos, the 9-minute-long clip was professionally shot and edited - with visual effects and background music. It showed around two dozen IS fighters in full military gear training in the desert area, which is claimed to be located near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, RT reported.
The insurgents carry AK-47s, heavy machine guns and RPGs and then fire from some of their weapons in the video. The apparent commander of the group then pronounces that the “soldiers of the Caliphate” have arrived in Yemen to “cut the throats” of the Houthis. “We have come to Yemen, with men hungry for your blood to take back the land you have occupied,” the IS commander says in a video.
He then addressed all able-bodied men in Yemen to join him in the battle against the Houthis. The video was posted online on Friday, a day after a newly-announced division of the IS, the Green Brigade, claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on Houthis.
On Wednesday, five Houthi members were killed in the car bombing in Ibb Province in central Yemen.
It became the second attack claimed by the IS in the country after 142 people were killed and another 350 injured in a series of suicide bombings at mosques in Sanaa on March 20.
