Thread: Arabs plan to send 40,000 troops to subdue Iranian backed rebellion in Yemen

Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:44pm EDT

Air strike on missile base in Yemen capital kills 25, wounds hundreds

SANAA

(Reuters) - An air strike on a Scud missile base in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa triggered a big explosion that killed 25 people and wounded almost 400 on Monday, state news agency Saba said.

Saudi Arabia has led an alliance of Sunni Arab countries in air strikes against the Iran-allied Shi'ite Houthi group and army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"Twenty-five citizens were killed and more than 398 were wounded, mostly women and children, according to a preliminary figure after the Saudi aggression's bombing today," said the agency, which is run by the Houthis.

The number could not be immediately verified, but medical sources told Reuters at least 15 people had been killed and scores wounded.

The blast hit the base on Faj Attan mountain beside the Hadda district, home to the presidential palace and many embassies, blowing out the windows of homes for kilometers around and sending a tall mushroom cloud into the air.

Resident Adel Mansour said it was the largest explosion in more than three weeks of bombing by the Saudi-led coalition.

"For the first time since the start of the bombing the windows of my house smashed," Mansour said. "My children are terrified and one of my relatives fainted because of the force of the blast."

The campaign has repeatedly targeted the Faj Attan facility along with other military bases and airports in Sanaa and throughout the country.

EMBASSIES
Iran summoned Saudi Arabia's envoy to Tehran on Monday over the explosion near its embassy in Sanaa, Iranian state TV said.

The Shi'ite Islamic Republic has repeatedly summoned the Sunni-ruled kingdom's envoy over disputes arising from a conflict seen as a struggle for influence between the two regional powers.

Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi told reporters in Jakarta his country condemned the air strike after two of the country's diplomatic staff were wounded and its embassy was damaged.

The explosion also killed three workers at the headquarters of a television station, Yemen Today, owned by ex-president Saleh, employees told Reuters.

Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, Saudi spokesman for the campaign, told state news outlet SPA the operation had entered a "new phase".

"The next phase will focus on the movements of militias, protection of civilians, and support the evacuation and relief," he added, in an announcement that suggested over three weeks of pounding military bases across the country had run its course.

A Saudi border guard was killed and two troops wounded by gun and mortar fire from Yemen on Sunday evening, the kingdom's interior ministry said.

Several members of Saudi Arabia's forces have been killed in the campaign against the Houthis.

The movement's leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Sunday that the group believed its northern neighbor sought to invade and occupy Yemen, but that his people had the right to resist "by any means".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0NB0R820150420

http://www.alipac.us/f19/us-warship-...pments-318966/

24 killed in fresh Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen

English.news.cn 2015-04-22 01:02:28

SANAA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 civilians were killed on Tuesday when Saudi-led warplanes destroyed a military camp in Yemen's southern province of Ibb, a military source told Xinhua.

Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition forces destroyed a military camp which was used by the Shiite Houthi group as a supply station for their fighters in southern regions, in the southern province of Ibb, 150 km south of the capital Sanaa, the source said on condition of anonymity.

A witness said the military camp was first hit by missiles, and when residents rushed to the site, another missile hit the people. Medics told Xinhua that at least 24 civilians were killed.

In Sanaa, the planes raided an air defense base on the western outskirts overnight. Powerful explosions could be heard in downtown Sanaa on Tuesday afternoon as the bombardment caused a series of explosions at an arms depot. There are no report of casualties in Sanaa.

On Monday, at least 60 people were killed and 49 others wounded in Sanaa, in one of the fiercest air raids by Saudi-led coalition forces that began on March 26.

At least 60 Houthi fighters and soldiers of the former republican guards loyal to former President Ali Abdullash Saleh were killed in a military base, on Attan mountain in southwestern Sanaa, during the airstrikes on Monday morning, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The air raids hit the missile base and caused one of the most powerful explosions since the strikes began on March 26, the source said.

Windows of many residential houses near the base were smashed and at least 49 people were wounded, the source added. The Houthi-controlled TV said more than 300 people were wounded in the air raid and the following explosions.

The coalition forces have raided the Shiite Houthi group and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullash Saleh for more than three weeks, which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee the capital and several other major cities to seek shelter in villages that have few military targets.

The Saudi army were shelling the Shiite Houthi group in the northern border regions and tribal forces loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi were battling the Houthi fighters in northern provinces.

The airstrikes and battles on the ground have killed about 700 people and wounded 3,000, according to reports from the Yemeni health and interior ministries.

The airstrikes have also caused a humanitarian disaster in the Arab country.

Fuel and electricity supply have been cut off for almost a week in Sanaa, Aden and Taiz, the three major cities in the country, where a large number of people do not have access to drinking water.

The exiled Yemeni government said in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that negotiations will not be held until the Houthi fighters are disarmed and retreat from areas they seized since September 2014.

However, the leader of the Houthi group, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, condemned the Saudi-led military operations on Sunday and vowed to take tougher actions to confront the coalition forces and Sunni tribal fighters.

In his first televised speech since the airstrikes began late March, al-Houthi accused Riyadh of interfering in Yemen's domestic affairs, saying that "we can decide our politics, form our government."

"We took government institutions to protect those from al-Qaida," he said. "They asked us to withdraw from ministries and from southern provinces in order to let al-Qaida to seize them."

"This will not happen," al-Houthi said. "The Yemeni people will never surrender and we are entitled to respond to this aggression by all open options."

Aid agencies, including the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders, have started to distribute medicine in the country after their shipments arrived in Sanaa international airport and the southern Aden port last week.

However, they have difficulty entering into the hot spots, especially Aden city and Shabwa province, where deadly fighting persisted between Houthi fighters and pro-Hadi tribal militias.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._134171475.htm

Airstrikes Hit Taiz, Yemen, After Saudi Claims of an End to the Campaign

By KAREEM FAHIM APRIL 22, 2015



The site of an airstrike in Sana, Yemen, on Tuesday. Warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted more strikes on Wednesday, hours after Saudi officials said they would halt the campaign.CreditMohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


OBOCK, Djibouti — Warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted airstrikes in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz on Wednesday, hours after Saudi officials had announced they were halting their nearly monthlong bombing campaign against the Houthi rebel movement.

The warplanes bombed Houthi positions during heavy clashes in Taiz on Wednesday morning, according to a local official in the city. The new airstrikes, combined with reports of continued fighting in other parts of the country, including the southern port city of Aden, dampened hopes that the Saudi announcement would quickly result in a broader cease-fire.

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• CreditMohammed Huwais/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images At Least 25 Die as Airstrike Sets Off Huge Blast in Yemen APRIL 20, 2015
  
  
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• Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters Yemen Houthi Leader Is Defiant in Face of Saudi Airstrikes APRIL 19, 2015
  
  
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• Credit Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States APRIL 18, 2015
  
  

The Houthis issued a statement declaring that they were ready “to resume political dialogue” under United Nations auspices but only after “a complete end to the aggression against Yemen and the lifting of the blockade.” In addition to the bombing, the Saudis have enforced an embargo of food, water, fuel and medicine that is helping create a humanitarian crisis in Yemen.



Map: Mapping Chaos in Yemen

Saudi officials said on Tuesday that they were stopping the aerial operation because it had achieved its objectives, including destroying heavy weapons and missiles belonging to Yemeni troops allied with the Houthis. They had faced intensifying international pressure to stop airstrikes that were killing a growing number of civilians and to lift the embargo.

The United Arab Emirates have also carried out airstrikes as part of the campaign, and the United States has contributed logistical and intelligence support.

But one of the principal Saudi goals remained unfulfilled: the restoration to power of the exiled Yemeni president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was driven from power by the Houthis. On Tuesday, the Saudis said they retained the right to “counter any military moves by the Houthis or their allies,” a possible signal that they intended to continue their military intervention by other means, like financing proxy troops.
The name of the Saudi operation was also changed, to “Renewal of Hope” from “Decisive Storm.”




The Crisis in Yemen: What You Need to Know

It was unclear whether the strikes represented a resumption of the original operation, but there was little evidence of change in the nature of the combat on Wednesday. In several areas of Taiz, fierce clashes erupted between the Houthis and their allies, on one side, and militiamen loyal to Mr. Hadi on the other, according to Mohamed al-Haj, a member of the local council. The Houthi forces continued their advance, trying to capture a military brigade that declared its loyalty to Mr. Hadi.

The warplanes struck the Houthis in the morning. “There are many deaths on both sides,” Mr. Haj said.

In Aden, where weeks of urban warfare have destroyed neighborhoods and killed hundreds of people, there were exchanges of tank fire between the Houthis and their adversaries, mainly local fighters who favor an independent, southern state, residents said.

“The Houthis are still bombing and still sniping people,” said one local fighter. “They have not started moving away from Aden.”

In a statement quoted by Reuters, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an ally of the Houthis, had welcomed the Saudis’ announcement of a halt to bombing.

“We hope that everybody will return to dialogue to solve and treat all the issues,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/wo...irstrikes.html

Saudi-led airstrikes bomb Yemen's Shiite rebels in 6 cities

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press | April 23, 2015 | Updated: April 23, 2015 4:32pm

• Photo By Raad Adayleh/AP
  Paolo Lembo, U.N. Resident Coordinator in Yemen, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Amman, Jordan, Thursday, April 23, 2015 . The head of U.N. operations in Yemen says a resumption of peace talks is "inevitable" and that he expects behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to bring results in the coming weeks despite continued fighting in the country.
  

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Attempts to ease fighting in Yemen appeared to falter Thursday, as Shiite rebels pressed an offensive in the south and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition intensified its airstrikes less than two days after it said it was scaling back the campaign.

All sides have declared their willingness to enter talks, but none has taken any steps to end the conflict that has killed more than 1,000 people.

Still, the head of U.N. operations in Yemen said in an interview with The Associated Press that a renewal of such talks is "inevitable," and behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts could bring results in the coming weeks.

The battle in the Arab world's poorest country pits the Iranian-backed rebels known as Houthis and their allies — military units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh — against the Saudi-led coalition and the forces of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Although Hadi is the internationally recognized leader, he was forced to flee his southern stronghold of Aden last month as the Houthis advanced toward the port. He is in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Western governments and the Sunni Arab countries in the coalition say the Houthis get their arms from Shiite powerhouse Iran. Tehran and the rebels deny that, although the Islamic Republic has provided political and humanitarian support to the Shiite group.

Warplanes hammered Aden, hitting hotels and a police club occupied by the Houthis and their allies. Heavy strikes also hit positions in five other cities, many of them gateways to Aden, officials said.

At least six airstrikes targeted an air base, a military camp, and weapon caches in the western port of Houdida. In the western city of Taiz, jets bombed the headquarters of Battalion 35, led by pro-Saleh commanders. In the nearby city of Ibb, the planes targeted educational facilities suspected of storing weapons, officials said.

Rebel reinforcements were bombed in the central province of Marib, while in the city of Dhale, another gateway to the south, airstrikes targeted suspected weapons depots and assembly points for fighters.

Residents of Dahle said the city was being shelled by the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh, Yemen's longtime authoritarian leader who was a staunch U.S. ally.

All the Yemeni officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, and witnesses asked not to be identified, fearing for their safety.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced an end of the first phase of its coalition's month-old air campaign against the Houthis, who swept out of the north and advanced toward southern Yemen. The Saudis said a new phase called "Renewal of Hope" was beginning, focused on diplomacy, protecting civilians, counterterrorism and halting future military actions by the Houthis.

The rebels and their allies have lost little ground despite the airstrikes, with Houthis controlling the north and the capital of Sanaa, while trying to make inroads in the southern and central provinces. Hadi and the rest of his cabinet are operating from exile in Saudi Arabia. Aden is being besieged by the Houthis and Saleh's forces.

Yemeni activist Walid Saleh said the coalition is trying to push its opponents into a corner, while the rebels will continue to try to take over Aden to force more concessions.

A U.N. Security Council resolution passed April 14 includes demands that the Houthis withdraw from areas they have seized, including Sanaa, and relinquish arms and missiles seized from military and security institutions.

Saudi Arabia maintains that those preconditions must be met before any real reconciliatory talks can begin, according to a top Hadi aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters. Other than implementing the resolution, "all doors are closed," the aide said by phone from Riyadh.

Independent Yemeni political analyst Fathi Nasr said Tuesday's announcement by Saudi Arabia of the curtailing of airstrikes was "a smart move that won appeal from the international community, while at the same time, nothing changed on the ground."

Houthi leaders had appeared to make a conciliatory statement Wednesday by calling for a resumption of dialogue and efforts under U.N. auspices that lead to a peaceful compromise, although the airstrikes must end first. Last weekend, rebel leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi made a defiant speech in which he vowed there would be no surrender and rejected U.N. efforts.

Paolo Lembo, the U.N. resident coordinator in Yemen, said there have been more than 4,000 airstrikes since the campaign began March 26. He said nearly 1,100 people have been killed, with the actual figure believed to be higher, and that 150,000 have been displaced.

In an interview in Amman, Jordan, Lembo said all sides "are aware that there is no other solution" than a political settlement, but that fighting will likely continue for some time. He added that he believes that "the resumption of peace talks is inevitable" despite the renewed fighting.

"Diplomatic discussions are occurring, invisibly, behind the scenes, and I know there is reason enough to believe that they should bring good results in the future, in the coming weeks," he said.

Lembo, who was evacuated from Yemen earlier this month, also hopes to see "a conference that will bring most of the parties to the table," but would not elaborate.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to be the new special envoy to Yemen to guide future peace talks. His predecessor, Jamal Benomar, resigned last week after sharp criticism from Gulf countries. Benomar's four years of trying to broker a peaceful political transition fell apart amid the rebel uprising and the airstrikes.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif arrived Thursday in Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman to push for negotiations to resolve the conflict, according to Pakistan's Foreign Office.

Sharif came to explain why Pakistan was not contributing troops to the coalition, said a Pakistani diplomat in Riyadh who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "The other party expressed understanding to the Pakistani position," the diplomat said, referring to Saudi officials.

The Saudis — joined in the coalition by other Gulf countries, Egypt and Sudan — view the rebels as an Iranian proxy bent on expanding Tehran's influence across the region.

In a thinly veiled reference to Iran, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Thursday that Egypt will not permit any country to threaten the national security of any other Arab country.

"With help of our brotherly Arabs, we will not allow any force to expand its power (influence) or plots on the Arab world," he said.

In Washington, a U.S. defense official said a convoy of Iranian cargo ships that had been headed toward Yemen, possibly with advanced weaponry for the rebels, has reversed its direction, at least temporarily. It remains unclear where the nine-ship convoy may be headed, but as of Thursday it was no longer moving in the direction of Aden, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the Iranian ships might be carrying weapons to the Houthis, but he would not say whether the U.S. would forcibly stop and board one of the Iranian ships if it entered Yemeni waters.

During a visit to the Gulf nation of Bahrain, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin repeated accusations that Iran was arming the Houthis. "These militias are attacking all Yemenis as part of an Iranian plan in the region," he said.

http://www.chron.com/news/world/arti...en-6218496.php

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  REUTERS
  
  Iraqis to get dozens of American F-16 fighter jets – but can they fly them?
  
  THE IRAQIS HAVE PURCHASED 36 American F-16 fighter jets, like the one above, at a cost of over $3.8 billion for their fight against ISIS, but questions remain as to whether they are skilled enough to fly them.
  
  
• VIDEO: Iraqis fleeing ISIS violence in Baghdad
• VIDEO: New ISIS offensive in Iraq stirs concern in Washington

Iraqis to get American F-16s – but can they fly them?

Published April 24, 2015 FoxNews.com

June 8, 2011: A U.S. Air Force F-16CJ Fighting Falcon jet takes off from Malta International Airport outside Valletta. (Reuters)


The Iraqis are getting a batch of American F-16 fighter planes to run combat missions against the Islamic State, but questions remain over whether they can fly them.

According to officials, the first batch of the much-awaited jets is set to arrive in the war-torn country this summer. The Iraqis purchased 18 in 2011 for $3 billion, and another 18 for $830 million two years later, for a total of 36 aircraft.

To date, there have been numerous delays in getting the F-16s to Iraq, mostly because of the deteriorating security situation there, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters on Friday.

“We remain committed to fulfilling the delivery of those aircraft,” he added.

He said there are 36 Iraqi pilots in the U.S. Air Force training “pipeline,” with 30 at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, and the other six at language school. "These will be the first pilots to use Iraq's F-16s in the fight against ISIL," said Warren, adding that the first batch of jets delivered this summer will number "less than 10."

How prepared they will be remains to be seen, said defense-aviation experts who spoke to FoxNews.com.

“It takes an entire culture to make a fighter pilot,” said Pierre Sprey, a defense analyst who helped to design the concept that led to the original F-16 in the 1970’s. “Here we go starting these guys off on F-16s, and there is not a chance that in the next 20 years they will be able to fly them effectively."

The delivery has been a rocky process. Instead of going to Iraq, the purchased planes were diverted to the Arizona base in Tucson in November 2014 because of the security situation in Iraq, where ISIS fighters were gaining ground. The plan, according to a Pentagon statement at the time, was for planes to gradually arrive in Arizona until May 2015. Iraqi pilots, who have been using training aircraft, would be able to train in their own planes starting in January, according to the Pentagon.

That would only leave a few months training on the new F-16s. But the timeline is unclear. According to Iraqi Lt. Gen. Anwar Hama Amin, in a statement posted Wednesday on the Defense Ministry website, the new F-16s would arrive in Iraq on July 12 with the pilots, and they would immediately begin carrying out operations.

This date was not confirmed by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

“This would seriously hurt their war effort,” if they go up too quickly, said Sprey. “If they start operations with the pilots they have, it will create more enemies than victories.”

The Pentagon did not have any additional comment on the fitness of the pilots on Friday, or on questions over how the security concerns on the ground may have changed since the decision to divert the planes to Arizona.

The Iraqi Army has been battling ISIS fighters in several key cities with help from U.S. airstrikes. While the military took back Tikrit earlier in the month with help from U.S. airstrikes -- and Iranian-backed militias -- it is still battling for Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, and other strategic points in the country.

And Iraq's current air force is meager, still relying on U.S. planes to carry out airstrikes in the battle to dislodge ISIS militants from the north and west of the country.

Winslow Wheeler, who recently retired as a defense analyst for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), called the sale of the F-16’s “99.99 percent a political exercise to demonstrate support for the Iraqis,” but there would be better aircraft to offer them that would be easier to fly and allow them to engage in the close air support operations necessary in this kind of conflict. “[The F-16 is] too fast, too delicate and it can’t loiter around enough to provide support,” he told FoxNews.com.

Not everyone agrees. Tyler Rogoway, who writes for the blog Foxtrot Alpha, said the Block 52 F16-D models produced by Lockheed Martin are an advanced, “survivable fighter.” Despite a limited payload, he said, the jet is “usable for internal counter-insurgency operations, surveillance and air defense against lower-end threats like Iran and Syria,” Rogoway wrote in May last year.

But no one knows if the pilots are ready to use them effectively. “We don’t know if these planes will be delivered and used for fighting, or just sit on the tarmac,” said Wheeler. According to the website Defense Industry Daily in November:

“There’s much more involved than just flying a plane. For starters, Iraq will also need to implement and stand up radar surveillance and command and control capabilities, in order to tie its fighters into a working system. Then there’s the need for effective maintenance and support, something the Iraqis have had trouble executing with platforms that are much less complicated than an F-16. Not to mention training in an Iraqi environment so that everyone is on the same page, and effective parallel training of critical and difficult jobs like Forward Air Controller troops in the Army. Local efforts should be possible some time in 2015, but realistically, Iraq won’t be able to enforce national air sovereignty before 2016 at the very earliest."

And there is always the chance they could fall into the wrong hands, just like any other weapon. ISIS may not be able to fly the planes, but their loss would equal billions in wasted money and technology, said Sprey.

“They could easily fall into the hands of someone else,” he said, noting the instability of the government there, “if not ISIL, someone else.”

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/art...of-hate-speech

Saudis pound arms depots in Yemen as bread, medicine run short

By Mohammed Mukhashaf 1 hour ago

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View gallery

People stand at the site of an air strike in Sanaa April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah


By Mohammed Mukhashaf

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ADEN (Reuters) - Saudi-led aircraft pounded Iran-allied Houthi militiamen and rebel army units in central Yemen and the capital Sanaa on Monday despite a formal end to the air strikes, residents said, and a humanitarian crisis worsened as both sides blocked aid.

Residents said warplanes flew between 15 and 20 sorties against groups of Houthi fighters and arms depots in the al-Dhalea provincial capital, Dhalea, and the nearby city of Qa'ataba, between dawn and 0900 local time (02:00 a.m. EDT), setting off a chain of explosions that lasted for two more hours.

Fighting intensified on Sunday, after a lull following an announcement by Riyadh last week that it was ending its nearly five-week-old bombing campaign except in places where the Houthis were advancing.

A coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, rattled by what they saw as expanding Iranian influence in the Arabian Peninsula, is trying to stop Houthi fighters and loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Salah taking control of Yemen.

Vital aid was reported to be being held up by both sides. Houthis were stopping convoys of trucks reaching Aden and an arms blockade by Saudi-led coalition navies searching ships for weapons was holding up food deliveries by sea.
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People walk past a car damaged by an air strike in Sanaa April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Telecommunications within Yemen and with the outside world could be cut within days due to a shortage of fuel, state-run news agency Saba quoted the director of telecommunications as saying. Fuel shortages were also preventing traders from moving food to market, the United Nations' World Food Programme said.

Saudi-led warplanes also struck the area around the presidential compound in Sanaa for a second day, while heavy street fighting was under way in the strategically important city of Taiz in central Yemen, according to residents and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

There were no immediate reports on the extent of casualties.
Fighting has killed more than 1,000 people, including an estimated 551 civilians since the bombings started on March 26, the United Nations said on Friday. Its children's agency UNICEF said at least 115 children were among the dead.

BREAD SHORTAGE


People sit at the site of an air strike on houses in Sanaa April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and arch Sunni Muslim regional rival of Shi'ite Muslim Iran, says it was concerned for its own security and Yemen's stability after Houthi forces began advancing across the country, on its southern border, in September, when the Shi'ite militia captured the capital.

The air strikes have increased the regional tension, with the commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, comparing Saudi Arabia to Tehran's arch-enemy, Israel. "Saudi Arabia is following in the Zionist regime's footsteps in the Islamic world," Jafari was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

The Houthis allege President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fostered Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and corrupt officials. Hadi, who fought al Qaeda when he had control of the country, says the Islamist militant group is as much a threat to Yemen as it had always been.

The Houthi advance eventually forced Hadi into exile into Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh says it wants to restore Hadi and prevent Yemen disintegrating as a state, with al Qaeda militants thriving in the chaos and one of the world's busiest oil shipping lanes off the Yemeni coast at risk.

The fighting, which pits the Houthis against Sunni tribesmen and Islamist militants, with army units on both sides, has made life increasingly perilous for the country's 25 million people, who rely on imports for more than 90 percent of their food.
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People salvage furniture from the rubble of a house destroyed by an air strike in Sanaa April 26, 20 …

Residents of the southern port city of Aden said bread was in short supply and a convoy of trucks carrying flour from the Red Sea port city of Hodeida was being prevented by the Houthis from entering the city.

CONVOYS BLOCKED
The Houthis also blocked a convoy of ICRC trucks carrying medical supplies to Aden, but contacts were underway to allow the supplies in.

“Our convoys were blocked from going to Aden and Marib over the weekend and we are in discussions with the Houthis to resolve that,” ICRC spokeswoman Sitara Jabeen told Reuters.

On Sunday, air strikes, naval shelling and ground fighting shook Yemen in some of the most widespread combat since the operations began last month. Residents said there were at least five air strikes on military positions and an area near the presidential palace compound in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

Residents also said Saudi-led war planes pounded areas around the presidential compound in Sanaa for the second day, and launched at least five raids on areas under Houthi control in Marib and al-Jouf in northern Yemen.

Heavy clashes also continued in the strategically important central city of Taiz, where armed Sunni tribesmen and Islamist fighters have taken back several districts from the Houthis in heavy fighting, according to residents there.

Residents said street battles were raging in the city of some three million, with both sides using tanks and artillery in residential areas.

“The heaviest street fighting is taking place in Taiz. Airstrikes also continued in Aden,” Jabeen said.

http://news.yahoo.com/saudis-pound-a...125049201.html