Minister of Defense in the Sanaa government, Major General Muhammad Al-Atifi

Major General Muhammad Al-Atifi, the Minister of Defense in the Sanaa government, affirmed today that the Sanaa forces will not back down from the liberation of Yemen of every last invader.

His declaration came following an inspection tour of the fourth military region stationed in the Taiz axis.

"Either it [the Saudi coalition] declares peace publicly and on the terms of what was proposed by the leadership, otherwise the field is between us."

"We tell the enemies that our marches, military parades, or drills are not only media stunts. Rather, it's proof that we are developing our fighting expertise for accomplishing combat missions under any difficult situation," he added.

"If they [the coalition] want peace, then these are the men of peace and they would be the ones to consolidate peace, and if they want escalation, they will know who these men are. We have prepared as much force as we can muster [in reference to the Quranic reverse 8:60] and we will continue to prepare."

"We are preparing to liberate Yemen from the aggressors who occupy Yemeni land, be them Emiratis Saudis, those who stand behind them, or those who fight for them. We are not against the Yemenis."

Al-Atifi also noted that the masses of the Yemeni people continue to pressure the political and military leadership to put an end to this security limbo state of no peace and no war, explaining that this security limbo is not sustainable because such a situation only serves the enemies of Yemen.

In the same context, the Yemeni minister pointed out that there is a conspiracy against Yemeni unity: noting that there are initiatives, by some foreign parties spearheaded by "Israel", to support separatists in Yemen.

Al-Atifi exchanged with Yemeni soldiers good wishes on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, communicating the blessings of the leader of the revolution Sayyid Abd Al-Malik Badr Al-Din Al-Houthiand the head of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat.

On January 18, The head of the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs in Sanaa, Abdul Qadir Al-Murtada, told Al Mayadeen that the round of talks in Jordan over a potential prisoner exchange ended without reaching any agreement.

Al-Murtada indicated that a number of ideas and proposals were discussed to expand the prisoner exchange deal between the two parties, adding that it was agreed to hold another round after Eid Al-Adha to agree on a new exchange deal.

Talks had been taking place in the Jordanian capital, Amman, between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Sanaa government, under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with the aim of preparing for a future prisoner exchange, as per the ICRC.

The UN envoy's office said that the Amman negotiations were a continuation of an agreement reached by the two parties in Stockholm five years prior.

According to the agreement, all those held in connection with the war on Yemen must be released "without any exceptions or conditions," including inmates, detainees, missing persons, people who have been arbitrarily detained and forcibly vanished, and people who are under house arrest.