Saudi-led strikes target Houthis in Sanaa
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YEMEN’S beleagured government said Saudi-led air strikes against its Houthi militia opponents would not last long on the second day of a mainly Gulf Arab campaign against the Iranian-allied militia that risks escalating a regional proxy conflict.
Warplanes targeted Houthi forces controlling Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and their northern heartland yesterday and, in a boost for Riyadh, fellow monarchy Morocco said it would join the rapidly assembled Sunni Muslim coalition against the Shiite Muslim group. But Pakistan, named by Saudi Arabia on Thursday as a partner, said it had made no decision on whether to contribute, although it pledged to defend the kingdom against any threat to its solidarity.
Riyadh’s move is the latest front in a growing regional contest for power with Iran that is also playing out in Syria, where Tehran backs Assad’s government against mainly Sunni rebels, and Iraq, where Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias are playing a major role in fighting.
Sunni monarchies in the Gulf are backing embattled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his fellow Sunnis in the country’s south against the Shi’ite advance.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen, asked if the campaign would last days, weeks or more, told Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television: “I expect that this operation will not go on for long, I think it will be days.”
Despite the air strikes, Houthi forces pushed ahead with their months-long drive to extend control southwards of Sanaa.
Houthi fighters and forces allied to Saleh entered the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa yesterday through the central province of Bayda, extending their reach into the south, according to tribal sources.
The fighters entered the city of Lodar in Abyan after clashes with tribal forces loyal to Hadi, and also took over Bayhan in Shabwa, where they faced less resistance.
Mosques in Riyadh yesterday preached fiery sermons against the Houthis and their Iranian allies. Saudi Arabia’s top clerical council issued a fatwa on Thursday.
In the Iranian capital Tehran, Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Kazem Sadeghi described the attacks as “an aggression and interference in Yemen’s internal affairs”.
Residents said aircraft targeted bases around Sanaa of Republican Guards allied to the Houthis, including one near the presidential compound in a southern district, around dawn and also struck near a military installation that houses missiles.
The Republican Guards are loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthi’s main ally who retains wide power despite having stepped down in 2011 after Arab Spring protests.
Earlier air strikes south of the city and in the oil-producing Marib region appeared to target military installations also affiliated with Saleh.
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