Yemen Map of War – Oct. 15-21, 2015

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Written by Akram Abu Abs exclusively for SouthFront

The Saudi coalition is stuck in a quagmire in the historical Northwestern Houthi areas and has made little progress on the road to Sana’a. They wre expelled from the Southern province of Bayda and has lost some territory in the Southwestern provinces of the Kingdom in the past week, losing a large number of soldiers and equipment there.

1. October 15, Yemen’s Houthi alliance fired a Scud missile (bought by Yemen from North Korea in the 90s) at a Saudi air base near the city of Khamees Mushait in the kingdom’s southwest. Saudi Arabia responded hysterically following the missile attacks at the King Khalid airbase in Asir and responded with airstrikes on Sana’a targeting Scud missiles, causing only civilian casualties.
2. October 16, the Houthi alliance expelled the Saudi coalition from the southern province of Bayda, after nearly two months of heavy clashes when they retook a military base in the town of Mukayris, pushing the enemy back to Abyan province. A total of 300 enemy soldiers were killed in the clashes, 30 of whom were slain in friendly fire airstrikes. Another 40 fighters were wounded in this latest in a series of “friendly fire” incidents. The Houthi alliance launched at least 11 rockets at al-Ash military base in Dhahran, Asir. They also launched a barrage of mortar shells al-Mosfaq military camp in al-Tawal region, wounding a number of Saudi soldiers. The Sahn al-Jin military camp in the province of Ma’rib was also raided, killing scores of Saudi coalition fighters. Hundreds of Sudanese troops arrived in Aden, the first batch of an expected 10,000 reinforcements. Their mission is to secure Aden, which has seen an increase in drive-by shootings of pro-government troop leaders and officials, claimed by ISIS. The latest assassination was of an Emirati officer. Saudi airsrikes also hit Jabal al-Naqam neighborhood, killing five civilians, including two women and a child. Ten Houthi alliance soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber at the entrance of an intelligence building in Hodeidah, before gunmen opened fire on the soldiers guarding the building. The gunmen fled when the remaining soldiers returned fire. Suspects are either Aqap, al-Qaeda in Yemen or a local unit of Daish/ISIL. A suspected Aqap gunmen, also ambushed and killed three and wounded three Yemeni soldiers in the province of Hadramawt province. In a wave of attacks aimed at influential politicians, Saudi coalition airstrikes targeted the house of Yemen’s speaker of parliament, leaving him unscathed but killing his son. The capital Sanaa reported around 60 Saudi coalition airstrikes in the last two days on military bases and houses belonging to politicians including the former President, Saleh.
3. October 17, the Houthi alliance warned that the Bab al-Mandeb are no longer secure for the invaders after at least two Saudi warships were targeted an one of them completely destroyed. A Saudi coalition killed a family of ten in Moze’e district in Ta’izz p The residence of a cleric in the Jahran district of Dhamar was also hit, killing his two sons and a relative, and wounding a number of people. A market in Haydan district of Sa’ada was also targeted, killing one civilian and injuring 10 others and this death toll is expected to rise. Mukayras district in the province of al-Bayda was also targeted but reports of casualties are not yet available. Two civilians lost their lives and six others wounded when a mosque in the Attyal district of Sana’a Province was hit by airstrikes. The Houth alliance dispatched massive reinforcements to Waziya to block the advance of the Saudi coalition forces. Meanwhile, Saudi airstrikes killed a family of ten in Moze’e district in Ta’izz and launched an attack in the Jawf region, killing at least 13 people. Saudi coalition air strikes killed 9 Houthi alliance fighters in air strikes on Mokha, Taez province in an attempt to cut supply lines to the Houthis besieging Taez city. (Securing Taez would allow the Saudi colaition to push north towards the rebel-held capital, Sanaa). Ground fighting killed 34 fighters from both sides and at least three civilians. Saudi airstrikes killed 12 Houthis in Jawf province in an attempt to pave the way for an advance on neighboring Sadaa province – the Houthi heartland.
4. October 18, Saudi fighter jets bombing the residential area of Maran in Sa’ada province with cluster bombs and tens of civilians were killed and several houses destroyed. The Houthi alliance security forces HQ in Haraz, Hajjah province and al-Hazm, in al-Jawf province was also targeted, killing civilians. Saudi fighter jets bombed a mosque and a gas station in Hajr, Qabbaytah, in the Lahij province, killing seven civilians and woundingseven others. Another five Yemenis were killed and three were injured in airstrikes on the Saqayn district, Sa’ada. A bank and a residential complex in the Mukha,  Ta’izz province were also targeted, leaving four people dead and dozens more injured. In the Khadir district of Ta’izz, Saudi missiles hit a gas station and killed four Yemenis. Several others were also wounded in the raid.
5. October 19, Saudi warplanes pounded Dar al-Shoja’, in the Mokha port city; the city of Sirwah; and the international airport in Ta’izz. (Casualties not yet confirmed). At least 10 cluster bombs were dropped on the Haydan district of Sa’ada Province.Earlier, the Houthi alliance repelled a Saudi coalition offensive against the al-Labnat military camp in al-Jawf, killing and injuring a number of Saudi-coalition troops. Nine people were killed and twenty injured when a bomb exploded at a post office in Aden. The Houthi alliance launched a ground offensive in the al-Khobe district, Jizan, killing at least 13 Saudi troops.
6. October 20, Saudi fighter jets struck a commercial area in al-Rahidah, Ta’izz (no reports of casualties) and also launched two strikes on Selo district of the same province. Scores of civilians were also killed and injured in the bombing of the police department in Ta’izz. Airstrikes against a residential area in Razeh, Sa’ada, left two civilians dead.
7. October 21, Houthi alliance forces took control over the Shurfa military base, a mountain range that overlooks the city of Najran and the al-Makhrouk military base nearby. Jizan, Al-Amoud, Twaileq, Mashaal, Malhama, MBC, Wadi Jara Hills, al-Fkhaitha sites, the Qawwa military complex and the nearby hills, Gharf Sheikh site, Faridha, and Fardha al-Jaberi military site, in addition to the sites of Qaryat Qamar and Qaryat Zhahira belonging to Jizan’s city of al-Khouba, also fell in their hands during the past 3 days. More than 300 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed and a number of tanks, vehicles and advanced weapons were captured. Hundreds of officers were either killed or captured and several helicopters and spy drones were shot down. The back lines of Saudi military bases and tens of kilometers in the Saudi depth are now under fire from these positions.

Meanwhile, affluent Saudis, including Royal family members, are fleeing the country in the wake of nation-wide unrest which has engulfed the kingdom since the war on Yemen.

The dispute between disgruntled royal family members and the King Salman and his family reached a climax and social unrest is about to explode. Fearful princes have started fleeing to France and the UK.

Hundreds of runaway princes are withdrawing large sums of cash from the kingdom’s central bank to the point where officials added new restrictions on money transfers exceeding $500,000 per month and then only for buying property. Desperate Saudi princes are fabricating real estate documents in an attempt to transfer their assets.

Many observers believe that the expected Yemeni revenge for Saudi war atrocities is the main motivation for the ‘refugee’ Saudi princes.