SOURCE:
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/houthi-tanks-advance-central-aden-district
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/houthi-tanks-advance-central-aden-district
CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN
OR
IS IT SHIA- SUNI CONFLICT BY PROXY?
GLIMPSES OF CONFLICTS OF WAR
Summary
Summary
April 01, 2015
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/houthi-tanks-advance-central-aden-district
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/houthi-tanks-advance-central-aden-district
CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN
OR
IS IT SHIA- SUNI CONFLICT BY PROXY?
GLIMPSES OF CONFLICTS OF WAR
Houthi rebels backed by tanks pushed into central Aden, the main foothold of fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, witnesses said Wednesday, as Gulf countries were locked in tough negotiations with Russia on a U.N. draft resolution to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Yemen.
Aden residents said they saw groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades and accompanied by four tanks and three armored vehicles in the Khor Maksar district – part of a neck of land linking central Aden to the rest of the city.
In Dhalea, 100 kilometers north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis. Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthis and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen
Aden residents said they saw groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades and accompanied by four tanks and three armored vehicles in the Khor Maksar district – part of a neck of land linking central Aden to the rest of the city.
In Dhalea, 100 kilometers north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis. Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthis and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen
A Saudi-led coalition bombarded rebel positions early Wednesday in Yemen's main southern city Aden in a seventh night of raids that also targeted the capital and other areas.
In Aden, the strikes were focused on the rebel-held provincial administration complex in Dar Saad in the north of the city, according to a military official.
The headquarters of a renegade army brigade loyal to Saleh was targeted overnight in the north of Aden, as well as the city's international airport, the military official said.
Militia fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi have captured 26 Houthis during the fighting in Aden, one of their leaders said.
In Aden, the strikes were focused on the rebel-held provincial administration complex in Dar Saad in the north of the city, according to a military official.
The headquarters of a renegade army brigade loyal to Saleh was targeted overnight in the north of Aden, as well as the city's international airport, the military official said.
Militia fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi have captured 26 Houthis during the fighting in Aden, one of their leaders said.
April 01, 2015
Yemeni Houthi fighters in tanks reach central Aden
Houthi fighters ride a patrol truck outside Sanaa Airport March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
ADEN: Houthi fighters and their army allies advanced in a column of tanks on Wednesday into a central district of the southern city of Aden, the main foothold of loyalists of President Abed-Rabbou Mansour Hadi, witnesses said.
The Houthis' military push into the Khor Maksar district happened despite a week of Saudi-led airstrikes as well as bombardment from naval vessels off the coast of Aden aimed at reversing relentless Houthi gains on the battlefield.
The Shiite Muslim fighters and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, emerged as the dominant force in Yemen after they took over the capital six months ago.
Aden residents saw large groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades accompanied by tanks and trucks mounted with machine guns in Khor Maksar, which lies on narrow neck of land linking central Aden with the mainland.
Many people fled the area and some were trying to get on a ship leaving the port.
Earlier on Wednesday, dozens of fighters were killed in clashes between Houthi fighters and their army allies on one side, and militiamen and tribesmen opposing them around Aden and elsewhere in south Yemen, witnesses and militia sources said.
One witness saw the bodies of eight Houthi fighters and three pro-Hadi militiamen lying on the streets of Khor Maksar amid sporadic gunfire, as well as snipers mounting positions atop homes.
Hadi left the city on Thursday for Saudi Arabia, whose stated aim is to restore him to power.
In Dhalea, 100 km (60 miles) north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis, who are allied with Saudi Arabia's regional foe Iran, and backed by army units loyal to longtime ruler Saleh, who was pushed out three years ago after "Arab Spring" demonstrations.
Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthi and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen
Apr. 01, 2015
The Houthis' military push into the Khor Maksar district happened despite a week of Saudi-led airstrikes as well as bombardment from naval vessels off the coast of Aden aimed at reversing relentless Houthi gains on the battlefield.
The Shiite Muslim fighters and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, emerged as the dominant force in Yemen after they took over the capital six months ago.
Aden residents saw large groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades accompanied by tanks and trucks mounted with machine guns in Khor Maksar, which lies on narrow neck of land linking central Aden with the mainland.
Many people fled the area and some were trying to get on a ship leaving the port.
Earlier on Wednesday, dozens of fighters were killed in clashes between Houthi fighters and their army allies on one side, and militiamen and tribesmen opposing them around Aden and elsewhere in south Yemen, witnesses and militia sources said.
One witness saw the bodies of eight Houthi fighters and three pro-Hadi militiamen lying on the streets of Khor Maksar amid sporadic gunfire, as well as snipers mounting positions atop homes.
Hadi left the city on Thursday for Saudi Arabia, whose stated aim is to restore him to power.
In Dhalea, 100 km (60 miles) north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis, who are allied with Saudi Arabia's regional foe Iran, and backed by army units loyal to longtime ruler Saleh, who was pushed out three years ago after "Arab Spring" demonstrations.
Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthi and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen
Middle East
Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden
Tribal gunmen loyal to the Houthi movement gather in the capital Sanaa during a demonstration against Saudi-led coalition’s Operation Decisive Storm against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, April 1, 2015. AFP/MOHAMMAD HUWAIS
ADEN, Yemen: Houthi rebels backed by tanks pushed into central Aden, the main foothold of fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, witnesses said Wednesday, as Gulf countries were locked in tough negotiations with Russia on a U.N. draft resolution to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Yemen.
Despite more than a week of airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition forces, Houthis’ advance toward the southern port city has been relentless.
Hadi’s aides expressed alarm.
“What’s happening now would be a disaster for Aden and its people, if Aden falls” Riad Yassin Abdullah told Al-Jazeera television.
The Houthi movement was jubilant. “We can say that after a week of bombing on Yemen the aggressors have not achieved any result ... The victories in Aden today embarrass this campaign and silenced the aggressor states,” Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam told the militia’s Al-Maseera television.
Meanwhile, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has been negotiating with the five permanent Security Council members and Jordan on a resolution after Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign on Yemen without a U.N. mandate.
The resolution would seek to relaunch a political dialogue that broke down after Houthi rebels pressed ahead with an offensive.
The GCC is no longer seeking a resolution that supports Saudi-led military action in Yemen, which it argues is legal because it is being carried out at Hadi’s request, diplomats said. But its push for an international arms embargo and sanctions targeting the Iranian-backed Houthis has run into major opposition from Russia.
During negotiations, Russia presented amendments to the draft resolution that would extend an arms embargo to all sides, including Hadi’s forces in the conflict, diplomats said.
Moscow also opposed sweeping sanctions against the Houthis and requested that a list be submitted of individual names of rebel leaders who could be targeted for a global travel ban and assets freeze.
Aden residents said they saw groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades and accompanied by four tanks and three armored vehicles in the Khor Maksar district – part of a neck of land linking central Aden to the rest of the city.
The unit met strong resistance from local militias and residents said they saw eight bodies of Houthi fighters on the street.
Earlier Wednesday, dozens of fighters were killed in clashes between Houthis and their army allies on one side, and militiamen and tribesmen opposing them around Aden and elsewhere in south Yemen, witnesses and militia sources said.
In Dhalea, 100 kilometers north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis. Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthis and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led air attacks continued on targets nationwide overnight. An explosion at a dairy factory in Yemen’s Hodeida port killed at least 25 workers, medical sources said, with conflicting accounts attributing the blast to an airstrike or to a rocket landing from a nearby army base.
The 26 September News website of Yemen’s factionalized army, which mostly sides with the Houthis, said 37 workers were killed and 80 wounded at the dairy and oils factory “during the aggressive airstrikes which targeted the two factories last night.” Medical sources in the city said 25 workers at the plant had been killed at the factory, which was located near an army camp loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Other airstrikes hit Houthi positions along the Saudi border in Yemen’s far north, an army base in the central highlands, air defense infrastructure in the eastern Marib province, and a coastguard position near Hodeida.
UNICEF said that at least 62 children had been killed and 30 wounded in the violence over the past week, and the U.N. said an attack on a refugee camp in northern Yemen, which medics blamed on an airstrike, broke international law. Not including Wednesday’s toll, 103 civilians and fighters had been killed in the city since clashes began last Tuesday, Aden-based NGO the Field Medical Organization said.
Despite more than a week of airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition forces, Houthis’ advance toward the southern port city has been relentless.
Hadi’s aides expressed alarm.
“What’s happening now would be a disaster for Aden and its people, if Aden falls” Riad Yassin Abdullah told Al-Jazeera television.
The Houthi movement was jubilant. “We can say that after a week of bombing on Yemen the aggressors have not achieved any result ... The victories in Aden today embarrass this campaign and silenced the aggressor states,” Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam told the militia’s Al-Maseera television.
Meanwhile, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has been negotiating with the five permanent Security Council members and Jordan on a resolution after Saudi Arabia launched an air campaign on Yemen without a U.N. mandate.
The resolution would seek to relaunch a political dialogue that broke down after Houthi rebels pressed ahead with an offensive.
The GCC is no longer seeking a resolution that supports Saudi-led military action in Yemen, which it argues is legal because it is being carried out at Hadi’s request, diplomats said. But its push for an international arms embargo and sanctions targeting the Iranian-backed Houthis has run into major opposition from Russia.
During negotiations, Russia presented amendments to the draft resolution that would extend an arms embargo to all sides, including Hadi’s forces in the conflict, diplomats said.
Moscow also opposed sweeping sanctions against the Houthis and requested that a list be submitted of individual names of rebel leaders who could be targeted for a global travel ban and assets freeze.
Aden residents said they saw groups of fighters carrying rocket propelled grenades and accompanied by four tanks and three armored vehicles in the Khor Maksar district – part of a neck of land linking central Aden to the rest of the city.
The unit met strong resistance from local militias and residents said they saw eight bodies of Houthi fighters on the street.
Earlier Wednesday, dozens of fighters were killed in clashes between Houthis and their army allies on one side, and militiamen and tribesmen opposing them around Aden and elsewhere in south Yemen, witnesses and militia sources said.
In Dhalea, 100 kilometers north of Aden, airstrikes supported militiamen fighting street battles against the Houthis. Ten of the militia fighters were killed, residents said, but Houthi forces and allied army units were being pushed back.
The Houthis suffered heavier losses in battles with tribesmen at a major army base in the southeastern province of Shabwa, where 35 Houthis and army fighters were killed along with 20 tribesmen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led air attacks continued on targets nationwide overnight. An explosion at a dairy factory in Yemen’s Hodeida port killed at least 25 workers, medical sources said, with conflicting accounts attributing the blast to an airstrike or to a rocket landing from a nearby army base.
The 26 September News website of Yemen’s factionalized army, which mostly sides with the Houthis, said 37 workers were killed and 80 wounded at the dairy and oils factory “during the aggressive airstrikes which targeted the two factories last night.” Medical sources in the city said 25 workers at the plant had been killed at the factory, which was located near an army camp loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Other airstrikes hit Houthi positions along the Saudi border in Yemen’s far north, an army base in the central highlands, air defense infrastructure in the eastern Marib province, and a coastguard position near Hodeida.
UNICEF said that at least 62 children had been killed and 30 wounded in the violence over the past week, and the U.N. said an attack on a refugee camp in northern Yemen, which medics blamed on an airstrike, broke international law. Not including Wednesday’s toll, 103 civilians and fighters had been killed in the city since clashes began last Tuesday, Aden-based NGO the Field Medical Organization said.
Apr. 01, 2015
Saudi-led coalition pounds rebels in Yemen's Aden
A man stands by the wreckage of a van hit by an airstrike in Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Anees Mansour
ADEN: A Saudi-led coalition bombarded rebel positions early Wednesday in Yemen's main southern city Aden in a seventh night of raids that also targeted the capital and other areas.
In Aden, the strikes were focused on the rebel-held provincial administration complex in Dar Saad in the north of the city, according to a military official.
He said there were "many dead and wounded" among the Houthi Shiite rebels but was unable to give a precise toll.
The coalition has vowed to keep targeting the Houthis and allied army units loyal to former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh until they end their insurrection.
Iran is also accused of backing the rebels but Tehran denies providing military support.
The headquarters of a renegade army brigade loyal to Saleh was targeted overnight in the north of Aden, as well as the city's international airport, the military official said.
Militia fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi have captured 26 Houthis during the fighting in Aden, one of their leaders said.
In the western port city of Hodeida, four civilians were killed and 10 injured when a dairy was hit in the night, said medical sources.
The circumstances of the bombing were unclear, with some witnesses saying the dairy was hit by a coalition airstrike and others blaming pro-Saleh forces.
Six other civilians were killed in an air raid targeting Maydi in the northwest province of Hajjah, according to medical sources.
Coalition planes also targeted camps of the Republican Guard, which is loyal to Saleh, around Sanaa and in the central region of Ibb overnight, according to residents.
Several Houthi positions were also targeted in the northern rebel strongholds of Hajjah and Saada.
After entering the capital in September, the Huthis and their allies gradually conquered areas in the center, west and south before bearing down on Aden last month, prompting Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
The U.N. said Tuesday that at least 93 civilians had been killed and 364 injured since the nearly week-old Saudi-led air campaign began.
In Aden, the strikes were focused on the rebel-held provincial administration complex in Dar Saad in the north of the city, according to a military official.
He said there were "many dead and wounded" among the Houthi Shiite rebels but was unable to give a precise toll.
The coalition has vowed to keep targeting the Houthis and allied army units loyal to former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh until they end their insurrection.
Iran is also accused of backing the rebels but Tehran denies providing military support.
The headquarters of a renegade army brigade loyal to Saleh was targeted overnight in the north of Aden, as well as the city's international airport, the military official said.
Militia fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi have captured 26 Houthis during the fighting in Aden, one of their leaders said.
In the western port city of Hodeida, four civilians were killed and 10 injured when a dairy was hit in the night, said medical sources.
The circumstances of the bombing were unclear, with some witnesses saying the dairy was hit by a coalition airstrike and others blaming pro-Saleh forces.
Six other civilians were killed in an air raid targeting Maydi in the northwest province of Hajjah, according to medical sources.
Coalition planes also targeted camps of the Republican Guard, which is loyal to Saleh, around Sanaa and in the central region of Ibb overnight, according to residents.
Several Houthi positions were also targeted in the northern rebel strongholds of Hajjah and Saada.
After entering the capital in September, the Huthis and their allies gradually conquered areas in the center, west and south before bearing down on Aden last month, prompting Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
The U.N. said Tuesday that at least 93 civilians had been killed and 364 injured since the nearly week-old Saudi-led air campaign began.
