Online:
Visits:
Stories:

By Blogdog
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Yemen update 8\4\2015.. at which point proxy “conflict” will morph into a regional war

Tuesday, August 4, 2015 20:18

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

Yemenis express readiness to support “strategic options”

Ansarullah Thwarts Pro-Hadi Militants’ Attack on Lahij’s Airbase

Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters and allied military forces thwarted an attack by militants loyal to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, on a key airbase in Lahij province. The al-Anad airbase was attacked by the Saudi-backed militants after being extensively bombed by Saudi warplanes, reports said on Monday. Ansarullah fighters repelled the pro-Hadi militants’ attack, killing scores of them. Meanwhile, the Yemeni army and popular committees managed on Monday to capture 11 of al-Qaeda terrorists who were attempting to advance towards al-Husseini area in Lahij province. The clashes between the Ansarullah fighters and the Saudi-backed Al-Qaeda terrorists as well as the pro-Hadi militias continue in the Southern parts of the country as Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 132 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 5,333 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children. Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement. Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Saudi, UAE forces join ground fighting in Yemen

Dramatic Footage Of Saudi Tanks Invading Yemen

There are competing accounts as to exactly what happened at the Al Anad airbase in Yemen on Monday, where Saudi-backed forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi reportedly routed Houthi rebels, marking the latest in a series of setbacks for the Iran-backed group which forced Hadi to flee to Riyadh earlier this year, plunging Yemen into a bloody civil war. According to the Houthis, coalition forces were “crushed” and their vehicles destroyed, but a spokesman for the Popular Resistance said most of the base was in coalition hands. Here’s WSJ: Forces fighting for a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen have defeated the country’s Houthi rebels at a strategic southern air base, the Yemeni defense ministry said Tuesday. The Houthis denied that the base had fallen. However, if it has been captured this would extend a recent turning of the tide in favor of the coalition in the four-month-old conflict. The defense ministry said the operation at Al Anad, a large complex from which the U.S. had launched drone attacks against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula before the recent instability, was “a true representation of national will and noble sacrifices that are being made to liberate Yemen from the grip of overthrowing militias.” A report Tuesday by the Houthi-run Saba news agency denied that Al Anad base had been taken, citing an unnamed military official. The Houthis had “crushed all [coalition] offensives” against the base and destroyed scores of military vehicles, Houthi spokesman Nasruddin Amer said Monday evening. If confirmed, the turn of fortunes in favor of the coalition at Al Anad build upon a string of recent gains in the south by the allies, which include Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and a number of other Arab states. Houthi rebels have been driven from Aden in recent weeks, setting the stage for coalition forces to make a further push northward into other Houthi-controlled areas.

Here’s footage of the actual battle

And here’s footage of Saudi tanks pushing north as the coalition offensive gathers steam:

Importantly, Saudi and coalition boots are now officially on the ground in Yemen, under the guise of tank trainers. Here’s The Washington Post: Saudi and Emirati troops are assisting Yemeni pro-government forces at al-Anad by operating many of the tanks and sophisticated military equipment, military officials said. A Yemeni military official said thus far, few Yemeni troops have been trained in operating the tanks that have arrived by sea from Gulf allies in recent weeks. He added that the Yemeni military sought help from coalition countries in the al-Anad operation, calling them “partners in the liberation operation of Aden and other provinces.” Obviously, that seems like a rather transparent way of saying that the recent “turning of the tide” in Yemen may indeed be attributable to the fact that the Houthis are now fighting an open war with the Saudi army which turns out to be quite a bit more challenging than urban warfare in the backalleys of Aden with poorly trained Hadi holdouts. In any event, we suppose the real question is whether Iran is willing to stand by and watch as the Houthis are dismantled by Saudi Arabia, or whether Tehran decides it’s time to provide more than just “logistical support”, at which point Yemen’s proxy “conflict” will officially morph into a regional sectarian war.

Hundreds of Saudi tanks leave Yemen’s Aden toward Anad Airbase