Regional offensive against rebels trying to take over Yemen presses on
Saudi-led military campaign could end in ‘days,’ Yemeni minister says
(about 3 hours later)
SANAA, Yemen — Saudi Arabia pressed its bombardment of neighboring Yemen on Friday, striking near the presidential compound in the rebel-controlled capital at dawn as well as at military installations, residents reported.
SANAA, Yemen — A military operation led by Saudi Arabia that is targeting Shiite insurgents in Yemen with airstrikes could end in “days,” the foreign minister of the Yemeni government said Friday.
Egyptian warships were also steaming toward the Yemeni coast as part of an Arab-led offensive against Shiite rebels seeking to take over Yemen in what has become a showdown between the major powers in the Middle East.
Speaking to the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television station, Riyadh Yaseen said he expected that “this operation will not go on for long. I think it will be days.”
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin, speaking in Egypt, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the airstrikes, an action the country was “forced to request because of what is happening on the ground,” should end as soon as possible.
The comments, reported by the Reuters news agency, come as a coalition of largely Arab countries continued for a second day to carry out air raids against the Shiite rebels. The campaign threatens to ignite regional conflict over a volatile Arabian Peninsula country that hosts a powerful al-Qaeda affiliate.
“If they completed their mission in the coming days, or the coming hours,” the operation would end, he said in the interview. Yassin said he hoped it would prove a “short, sharp campaign,” which could finish as soon as the Houthi advance is halted.
Local media and residents in Sanaa, the capital, said the airstrikes on Friday targeted military installations controlled by the rebels, known as Houthis, as well as forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the longtime Yemeni autocrat who was forced from power three years ago. Other attacks targeted a port in the west and a military base in the oil-rich province of Marib, which the Houthis have attempted to capture in recent weeks.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies plunged into the Yemen crisis after Shiite insurgents, known as Houthis, pushed south from their power base in the north, forcing the country’s pro-Saudi, Western-backed president to flee.
[What the bombing of Yemen means for the Middle East]
The move inflamed the already tense relationship between Shiite power Iran, which has increased its support for the Houthis as their rebellion has expanded, and Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-dominated nations.
One early morning attack on the presidential residence in Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since September, killed at least two unnamed Houthi leaders and injured Mohammed al-Houthi, the rebel group’s top official in the city, according to local media reports.
Some officials warned that the fight could escalate further. Saudi state TV said Thursday that a ground offensive was being studied but gave no further details. Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, Sameh Shoukri, said in a speech to Arab foreign ministers that his country was willing “to send ground forces if necessary” to back the anti-Houthi fight.
But Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a top-ranking Houthi official, called the reports “entirely false.”
Four Egyptian naval vessels were dispatched for Yemen, where they were expected to arrive late Thursday, according to official news media. There was no immediate news of their arrival.
Speaking by telephone, he accused Saudi Arabia of seeking “to destroy Yemen’s army” by attacking military bases.
Ground forces would probably face stiff resistance from the Houthis, who have taken control of large swathes of Yemen and appear to have strong support from the country’s military and the powerful former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Saudi-led campaign includes at least 10 countries and is meant to halt Houthi advances, which have left vast tracts of Yemeni territory under rebel control. Early this year, the rebels effectively toppled the U.S.-backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, a key U.S. partner in combating al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Hadi was placed under house arrest in Sanaa but escaped to the southern port city of Aden. As Shiite rebels moved in on Aden this week, Hadi fled Yemen and resurfaced in Saudi Arabia, which hopes to restore his government.
In a televised speech, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi predicted that Yemenis would oppose the “criminal, unjust and unjustified aggression” by Saudi Arabia.
But the military pressure could force the rebels back into power-sharing talks that collapsed in January, when the insurgents put President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi under house arrest after clashes in the capital. In February, the Houthis effectively toppled the government.
[What Saudi Arabia’s bombing of Yemen means for the Middle East]
Saudi Arabia has mobilized a major force, suggesting that it was prepared for a sustained fight. Up to 10 countries are believed to be participating in the Saudi-led coalition, although many have refrained from acknowledging their role.
Bahrain said Thursday that it had responded to a Saudi call for assistance by sending 12 fighter jets. Jordan’s Petra News Agency, quoting unnamed “official” individuals, said that Jordan was also taking part in the offensive. The report did not describe Jordan’s aid, which is believed to consist of fighter jets. Sudan said it would join the operation, and Pakistan said its defense minister would visit Saudi Arabia on Friday to assess how it could help the kingdom.
The United States had viewed Hadi as a key partner in the fight against al-Qaeda, whose Yemen branch is considered especially dangerous. Washington has offered intelligence help and other logistical support to the current Saudi-led operation.
It was unclear how Iran would respond to the show of strength by Saudi Arabia and its allies. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told Iran’s Arabic-language al-Alam channel that “we will spare no effort to contain the crisis in Yemen.” But the Reuters news agency quoted an unidentified senior Iranian official as saying that “military intervention is not an option for Tehran.”
According to Saudi-owned al-Arabiya News, Saudi Arabia has dedicated 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and navy units to the operation in Yemen.
Saudi officials have said they are seeking to restore Hadi to power. He was driven from his last outpost in the southern port of Aden on Wednesday. He resurfaced Thursday at an air base in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, and Egypt’s Shoukri announced Thursday during the meeting of Arab foreign ministers that the officials had decided to create a unified military force able to respond to crises. It was to be discussed further at an Arab League Summit that is to begin Saturday in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The air attacks in Yemen began early Thursday. Saudi fighter jets struck the main civilian airport and the Dailami air force base in Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthis, hitting the runways and destroying four Yemeni air force planes. In the south, the invading forces pounded al-Anad military base, where about 100 U.S. Special Operations troops had been stationed before they pulled out last week.
[Chart: Yemen’s chaos, explained]
[Chart: Yemen’s chaos, explained]
There were also airstrikes in the northern province of Saada, apparently aimed at hitting the Houthi leader.
Many Yemenis are concerned that the fighting is turning their country into another battleground between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, the region’s foremost powers. Riyadh accuses Tehran of arming the Houthis, who are followers of the Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam.
At least 23 people were killed in the attacks, according to a Yemen Ministry of Health official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment. They included six children and four women, the official said. At least 47 people were wounded, he said.
Tehran has condemned the Saudi-led attacks and called for an immediate halt to the campaign, which includes Egyptian threats to mount a land incursion into Yemen. Cairo has dispatched several warships to Aden, which is under threat of capture by an allied force of Houthis and Saleh loyalists.
“This morning was horrific. We woke up to the sounds of heavy shelling,” said Salah Mohammed, 35, an airline employee who lives near the airport. As explosions rang out, he said, he ran upstairs to bring his mother, sisters and children to safety.
Speaking by telephone, Deif Allah al-Shami, a member of the Houthi political bureau, warned that “history will repeat itself” if the Egyptians deployed ground forces. That was a reference to the 1960s, when Egypt suffered tens of thousands of casualties while fighting a war in Yemen.
“We all stayed in the hall downstairs as the heavy shelling and sounds of the antiaircrafts started to intensify. The electricity was off, and I had no idea what was going on. The children were crying, and we were all worried,” he said.
“This time, however, their loses will be much greater,” Shami said.
After the attacks subsided, he went out to inspect the damage. At least six houses near the airport were destroyed, Mohammed said. “We reject such actions, and this is an invasion,” he said.
Riyadh has not explicitly spelled out the goals and expected duration of its campaign, called Operation Decisive Storm.
Other residents, however, said they were grateful that the Houthis were facing resistance.
Hadi’s internationally recognized government had appealed recently for military intervention from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is anchored by the Saudis and includes Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
“I oppose any foreign military interference,” said Osama Muhsin Alabdali, 34, a supervisor in a telecommunications company. “However, I am also glad that the Houthis are being stopped, especially since they started moving toward the south.”
It was unclear how Iran would respond to the show of strength by Saudi Arabia and its allies. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told Iran’s Arabic-language al-Alam channel that “we will spare no effort to contain the crisis in Yemen.” But Reuters quoted an unidentified senior Iranian official as saying that “military intervention is not an option for Tehran.”
Supporters of the Houthis joined a big protest in Sanaa on Thursday condemning the attacks. In Taiz, a south-central city recently seized by the Houthis, residents flocked to a demonstration supporting the offensive. Some carried signs saying “Thank you, Saudi Arabia,” according to images shown on regional TV.
The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, and Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, Sameh Shoukri, announced Thursday during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers that the officials had decided to create a unified military force to respond to crises. It was to be discussed further at an Arab League Summit meeting set to begin Saturday in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Hadi’s government had appealed recently for military intervention from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is anchored by the Saudis and includes Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
According to the Egyptian state newspaper El Ahram, Egypt has sent four naval warships to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. A military individual quoted anonymously by the paper stated that the naval vessels were going to “secure the theater” to maintain control of Egyptian territorial waters but that they were on alert “to intervene in any way deemed necessary by the armed forces.”
In Switzerland, Secretary of State John F. Kerry took time away from nuclear talks with Iran to join a telephone conference with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The U.S. government has had to significantly scale back its counterterrorism presence in Yemen because of the Houthi advances.
Meanwhile, financial markets reacted to the fast-moving events in Yemen, with many stock exchanges falling and global oil prices surging.
Saudi Arabia last launched military action in Yemen in 2009, conducting airstrikes against the Houthis near the Saudi border after it said its border guards had been fired upon.
Daniela Deane contributed to this report from London.
Read more:
Read more:
What Saudi Arabia’s bombing of Yemen means for the Middle East
Pakistan’s long history of fighting Saudi Arabia’s wars
Who are the Houthis?
Who are the Houthis?
Pakistan’s long history of fighting Saudi Arabia’s wars
