Yemen Exiled President Returns to Aden

Yemen’s exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi today returned to Aden. Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin said President Hadi’s return is permanent. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia in late March when the Houthis advanced on Aden. Since then, the UAE/Saudi-led pro-government forces have retaken major cities of Aden and Mareb and are closing in on Taez, where coalition warplanes hit Houthi positions in the city several times on Tuesday.

Photo credit: Yemen exiled President hadi arriving at Aden International Airport; Tuesday 17 November 2015 (Twitter/@yemen_updates)

Yemen’s Exiled Government: No Talks Until Houthis Withdraw

Arab-led Coalition Launch Major Offensive in Mareb

President Hadi’s exiled government said today it will not participate in UN-brokered peace talks later this week unless the Houthis, Ansar Allah, accept the UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis to withdraw from territories they’ve captured since last September, including the capital Sanaa.

The Houthis and their allies, former president Saleh, who ruled over Yemen for 33 years before being forced from power in 2012, and army units still loyal to him, have so far not accepted the UN resolution and continue their hold on some of the territories they had captured, including Sanaa. Since then, a Saudi/UAE-led anti-Houthi coalition has pushed them out of southern provinces, including the post city of Aden. Hadi’s government, however, had said on Friday it would attend the UN meeting in Muscat, Oman, but are now the start of the talks is contingent on Houthi acceptance of UNSC resolution.   

Meanwhile, the news agencies are reporting that Saudi/UAE-led collation forces launched a major offensive with 12,000 fighters against the Houthi/Saleh forces in Mareb province to break the Houthi siege of Mareb city and push them out of the province. Mareb lies 200 km (125 miles) east of Sanaa, on a major highway linking the city to the capital. The control of Mareb by coalition forces will be one of the biggest defeats for the Houthis in the yearlong civil war.

Photo credit: Taez during clashes between Yemeni exiled government and Houthi forces; 9 September 2015 (@Ahmad al-Bash/AFP/France24)

Exiled Yemen Ministers Return to Aden – Houthis Retreat

Yemeni exiled ministers today started returning to Aden after southern resiatance forces loyal to exiled president Hadi and backed by the Saudi-UAE-led coalition pushed Houthis and their allied forces out from most parts of Aden. The returnees included ministers of interior, health, transport, and the intelligence chief.

“Abd Rabuuh Mansur Hadi (the exiled president) delegated this group to return to Aden to work to prepare the security situation and ensure stability ahead of a revival of the institutions of state in Aden,” a Yemeni official said tonight. (Reuters, 16 July)

The statement seems to indicate the Hadi and his government could soon relocate to Aden. Such move would be a major development in the conflict that began when the Huthis stormed Sanaa last September. The ministers who returned today arrived by helicopter at a military base in Aden.

“Most parts of the city are secure,” added the Yemeni official.

General Fadhl al-Hasan, commander of pro-government forces loyal to Hadi in western Aden, told AFP that his troops have captured the coastal road overlooking the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. He added, “the majority of the security leadership are in Aden and they are leading the battles… others will soon arrive.” (AFP/middleeast eye.net, 16 July)

Major neighborhoods of Crater and Mualla were among the parts captured by pro-Hadi forces today. On Tuesday, they captured the strategic Aden International Airport and much of the surrounding Khormaksar diplomatic district. Fighting in some parts of the city still continued, but major Houthi forces retreated from Aden.

“After the recapture of Khormaksar, there was a collapse in the ranks of the Huthis and their allies,” troops loyal to president Hadi told AFP.

Photo credit: Southern resistance fighters loyal to Yemeni President Hadi stand at the entrance to Aden International Airport; 14 July 2015 (Reuters) 

Yemen Update: Hadi’s Government Requests Military Intervention by GCC

A Country Contested

 

- Yemeni government of President Hadi that was overthrown by the Ansar Allah (Huthi) insurgents in Sanaa, and was holed up in Aden, earlier today appealed to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations for help to protect the country’s sovereignty, Al Jazeera reported.

- Riyadh Yaseen, newly appointed by President Hadi as the country’s foreign minister, has asked for military intervention from the GCC and the imposition of a no-fly zone by the UN.

- “We’ve had enough, we can’t watch them occupying airports and cities, destroying Yemeni infrastructure,” Yaseen told Al Jazeera on Monday. “We can’t allow Iran to take over our country.”

- Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal said his country would “take necessary measures if needed” to protect Yemen’s sovereignty after receiving the request from the Yemeni government.

- “We are against Iran’s intervention in Yemen. It is actually an act of aggression,” said Al Faisal. “We are keen on protecting Yemen’s sovereignty, the legitimacy of Yemen represented by President Hadi.” (Al Jazeera, 23 March)

- UN Special Advisor on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, said later in the day that talks between the Yemeni parties would take place in Doha, Qatar, to end the conflict. The parties have in agreed to the talks, but no date or agenda have yet been set.

- Iran, the main supporter of the Huthis, has not yet reacted to the UN announcement that the Yemeni parties will hold talks in Doha.

- The Huthis, who took control of Sanaa by force in February, overran the country’s third largest city, Taiz, on Sunday and are posed to march toward Aden, where the Hadi’s government is now based.

Maps credit: 
Top: BBC
Bottom: Al Jazeera

Huthis Capture Taiz

Yemen's Third Largest City

Iran-backed Ansar Allah (Huthi) insurgents today captured Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, BBC reported. They also overran the city’s international airport. The Ansar Allah militants took control of Yemeni capital Sanaa and overthrew the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in February. Hadi is now in Aden, the country’s second largest city, trying to defend the city, which was the capital of the independent South Yemen until 1990.

On Saturday, the U.S. announced it was withdrawing about 100 Special Forces operators stationed in Yemen. They have been waging a drone-attack campaign against Al-Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated group has been operating in Yemen since 2001.  The U.S. said the withdrawal was due to the worsening security situation in the country.

Taiz lies between Sanaa and Aden. It seizure puts the forces loyal to the Huthi government to within 140km (86 miles) of Hadi’s new base in Aden. Hadi has declared Aden the temporary capital of the country. The capture of Taiz now increases the chances for a full-blown civil war in the impoverished country.

Photo credit: The Houthi insurgents use tear gas against anti-Huthi demonstrators  in Taiz (Reuters/BBC)
Map credit: BBC