Saudi Arabia begins air assault in Yemen
International (IraqiNews.com)—Saudi Arabiaannounced on Wednesday night that it had begun military operations inYemen, launching airstrikes in coordination with a coalition of 10 nations.
The strikes came as Yemen was hurtling closer to civil war after months of turmoil, as fighters and army units allied with the Houthi movement threatened to overrun the southern port of Aden where the besieged president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has gone into hiding.
The rapid advances by the president’s opponents included the seizure of a military air base and an aerial assault on his home. There were unconfirmed reports that the president had fled the country by boat for Djibouti, the tiny Horn of Africa nation across the Gulf of Aden.
The region’s most impoverished country, Yemen has been a central theater of the American fight againstAl Qaeda, and its possible collapse presents complex challenges to the Obama administration as it struggles to deal with instability and radical extremism in the Middle East.
Yemen shares a long border withSaudi Arabia, a major American ally, and the Saudis were reported massing forces on the Yemen frontier as President Mansour’s last redoubt in Aden looked increasingly imperiled.
Along with Syria, Iraq and Libya, Yemen is now the fourth state to veer toward political disintegration in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolts that first erupted four years ago.
By Wednesday morning, Houthi forces had seized Al Anad air base, which until recently had been used by American counterterrorism forces, about 35 miles from Mr. Hadi’s refuge in Aden, the country’s second-largest city.
A television network under Houthi control said they had found the base empty and looted, and had captured two senior officers loyal to Mr. Hadi, including his defense minister.
A few hours later, Yemeni Air Force planes under Houthi control struck targets near the president’s Aden home and his supporters returned fire with antiaircraft guns. The state television network, also controlled by Houthis, announced a $100,000 bounty for Mr. Hadi’s arrest as rumors about his whereabouts swirled. By nightfall, there were reports that Houthi forces were fighting around the Aden airport, on the outskirts of the city.
A security official of Mr. Hadi’s government confirmed the loss of Al Anad. Mr. Hadi’s foreign minister, meanwhile, reiterated his calls for intervention by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab states to stop the Houthis, stoking fears that their advance could trigger a widening regional conflict.
The country appeared to be sliding toward a civil war as dangerous as any in the region, with elements of a sectarian feud, a regional proxy conflict, the attempted return of an ousted authoritarian and the expansion of anti-Western extremist groups likeAl Qaedaand the Islamic State eager to capitalize on the chaos. /End/