Yemen Map of War – Oct. 22-28, 2015

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Written by Akram Abu Abs exclusively for SouthFront

Another week of attacks and counter-attacks showing little tactical progress, but defiance from the Houthi alliance and increasing desperation shown by the Saudi coalition are indications of this proxy war turning into another quagmire. This week has shown a decrease in frequency and intensity in the fighting and a worsening of the humanitarian situation but the emergence of various mercenaries, ISIS Jihadists and a rampant Al-Qaida in Yemen is a cause for concern.

1. October 22, the Houthi alliance carried out retaliatory attacks against Saudi coalition military bases in Ma’rib province and on Saudi soil and at least 50 Saudi soldiers were killed. They also attacked Saudi positions in the al-Khobe district of Jizan where another five Saudi soldiers were killed. Another five Saudi soldiers were killed in the Asir region in Saudi Arabia. Saudi airstrikes targeted Sirwah and the Abs district of Hajjah – casualties and damage caused unconfirmed. Airstrikes also targeted Mukayras in Bayda province. At least 22 civilians were killed and several wounded in Taiz by rockets allegedly fired by rebels.
2. October 23, the UAE deployed mercenary units of the “Academi” (formerly known as “Blackwater”) in Aden in to take part in the upcoming assault on Sana’a (and to protect senior officers of the Saudi coalition).
3. October 24, the Houthi alliance leader, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said that the Yemeni people are determined to defeat the attacking forces and will not back down until achieving victory, declared that the deadly aggression against Yemen is on behalf of the United States and the Zionist entity. Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said that Saudi Arabia have recruited mercenaries and equipped them with training and weapons, as directed by the USA to fight on behalf of the USA and the Zionist entity.
4. October 25, heavy clashes and air strikes in Taez killed at least 36 fighters: 21 from the Houthi alliance and 15 from the Saudi coalition. These clashes broke out when the Saudi coalition tried to retake a presidential palace on a strategic hill overlooking the city. The Saudi coalition remains under siege and is in a dire situation, with closed hospitals and shortages of medicine, food, water and fuel.
5. October 26, a third Saudi warship was destroyed near Taiz after it shelled coastal villages with rockets on an almost daily basis. At least two Saudi coalition fighters were killed and some vehicles destroyed in a retaliatory attack against Camp Ramazeh, a Saudi military base in Jizan. Rockets were also fired at military bases in the Jabal al-Doud, QaimZubaid and al-Khobe areas of Jizan. Elsewhere, the Saudi alliance made several airstrikes against areas in Sirwah. No reports of casualties and extent of damages yet. A water tanker, travelling between Saqin and Haidan in Sa’ada was also destroyed and the al-Labnat district, al-Jawf also targeted.
6. October 27, a Yemeni hospital in Saada, run by MSF, was hit by Saudi coalition warplanes in several airstrikes with patients and staff inside. Colombian nationals (mercenaries) are imported to fight alongside the Saudi coalition and the first group of just under 100 Colombian troops arrived in Yemen earlier this month. Some reports suggest that as many as 800 have already arrived. Two Saudi coalition militiamen were killed in a suicide bombing in Aden’s Mansoura neighborhood. This follows an attack on an Aden supermarket when al-Qa’ida fired shots in the air and warned patrons against mingling of men and women and demanded that female employees cover their faces. These attacks may spark a fresh round of violence in the city, where al-Qaida has recently made its presence felt. Aden is vulnerable since the state is unable to fill the security vacuum, and this favors al-Qaida.
7. October 28, Turkish, Qatari and Emirati airplanes transferred more than 500 Daish terrorists from Syria to Yemen following Russian airstrikes on the terrorists’ positions. Upon arrival in Aden, the Saudi alliance officers sent one group each to Bab-el-Mandeb strait; to Ma’rib; and to Jizan and Asir, reinforcements after the Saudi alliance forces who sustained great losses in their battles there.

With mercenaries from Academi (Blackwater); mercenaries from Colombia; Daish Takfiri terrorists from Syria; and Al-Qaida terrorists from Yemen’s East:- the Saudi coalition is showing their desperation!

Southern separatist Adel Muhasin said al-Qaida had penetrated local Salafi groups and now holds several areas, with some 5,000 fighters in Aden. He said: “Al-Qaida has the money and the weapons, so they’ve succeeded in recruiting hundreds of young people, many of them brainwashed or seeking money.”

As the humanitarian crisis is deepening with acute shortages in food, medicine, water and fuel – and international pressure is mounting from all corners – will this foolish endeavor draw to a close? Extraction of the Saudi coalition forces will be nigh impossible. Will negotiations be considered or will Yemen turn into another Somalia or Libya with the defeat of the Houthi alliance by the Saudi coalition supported by mercenaries and terrorists?

No doubt, Houthi leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi words should be taken seriously:

“The Yemeni people’s determination to defeat the attacking forces will not back down until achieving victory. We say to the aggression just like Imam Hussein a.s said to Yazid: Disgrace? Never, ever!”