Yemen Civil War

[Flavius Julius Nepos Augustus]

126 dead
260 wounded
But remember: The people/Shias killed are the big enemies .. Also the presidential palace was attakced again by unindentified warplanes

[Mary The Quene]

What a bad day!

Seriously Yemen should be divided in North and South Yemen again.

[Mithridates II the Great]

137 innocent people were killed while they were praying .

Houthis know how to do the job .

Lets wait ...

[Papay]

Houthis will never conquer all of Yemen unless they have a deal with Sunnis

[Condottiere 40K]

They never wanted to govern, so the current regime called their bluff.

But it's gone beyond the possibility of co-existence at the moment.
7479

[Mithridates II the Great]

Houthis are not alone , Many tribes are their allies . Add thousands of Yemeni Army officers and soldiers to this list who are either shia or come from allied tribes .

The fact is , Houthis are not violent and seek diplomacy and negotiation than just beheading or blowing up and that's what Yemen needs .

[Papay]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32000970

US troops withdraw from Yemen. Another "victory" in the war against terror

[Condottiere 40K]

I always keep thinking of Dune, when it comes to these arid places.

If you control the water sources, you can control the populace.
8059

[Mary The Quene]

Rebels Seize key parts of Yemen's third largest city, Taiz

Al MUKALLA, Yemen — Houthi rebel fighters have taken control of crucial installations in Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, including the international airport, security officials said on Sunday, in a provocative expansion of the seven-month rebel offensive that has moved the country closer to war.

The Houthis’ advance into the city, over the last several days, also put them more firmly on a path toward military confrontation with opposing troops loyal to President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, based in Aden, about 120 miles southeast of Taiz. A senior security official in Taiz said the Houthis were flying troops and military equipment into the city’s airport, bolstering claims they were preparing a broader offensive.

Yemen has been gripped by unusually deadly and widespread violence for almost a week, raising fears that the impoverished country is headed inexorably toward civil war. Diplomats have all but admitted failure in brokering negotiations to end the conflict, while opposing forces on the ground accelerate their preparations for battle.

Yemen’s powerful Al Qaeda affiliate has capitalized on the political chaos to carry out attacks on the security forces. Another group, which said it was affiliated with the Sunni extremist Islamic State group, claimed responsibility for suicide bombings at Zaydi Shiite mosques in the capital on Friday that killed more than 130 people, in one of Yemen’s deadliest sectarian attacks.

Amid collapsing security in the country, the United States, a strong backer of Mr. Hadi, withdrew its last remaining military advisers from Yemen over the last few days.

The takeover of Taiz came a day after Houthi leaders issued a call for a “general mobilization” of soldiers and civilian fighters. The statement was seen as a declaration of war against Mr. Hadi, who fled to Aden last month after the Houthis all but forced his government from power.

Mr. Hadi, who has declared himself Yemen’s legitimate leader, demanded in a televised speech Saturday that the Houthis quit the capital and withdraw their fighters from Yemen’s cities.

“It’s hard to see how to pull back at this point,” said April Longley Alley, a Yemen researcher for the International Crisis Group, speaking by telephone from Sana, the capital. “Yemen is really bracing for a nasty, protracted battle on multiple fronts.”

The conflict has taken on the features of a regional proxy war, with Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders are Zaydi Shiites, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni monarchies backing Mr. Hadi.

“The more the region gets involved,” Ms. Alley said, “the more prolonged and bloody and sectarian this will become.”

The Houthis’ advance on Taiz came with significant assistance from forces loyal to Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied himself with the Houthis.

It remained to be seen whether the Houthis could maintain their presence in Taiz, a city known for its independence and resistance, and a focal point of protests against Mr. Saleh during the nationwide uprising against his rule in 2011. The Houthi takeover sparked large protests in the city on Sunday that were met with violent force by the Special Security Forces, a unit believed to be loyal to Mr. Saleh.

Dhia al-Hag Edris, a resident of Taiz who joined the protests, said that security officers fired tear gas to prevent the demonstration from reaching the Special Security Forces camp on Sunday. “We oppose the Houthis because they are turning Taiz into a battleground, and a corridor to attack people in the south,” he said.

“People in Taiz have agreed to keep the city away from conflicts,” he added.

Damn Houthi's know how to do the job. Seriously this country has never worked and it's time to divide the country in a Shia North Yemen and a Sunni South Yemen. Unfortunately nobody cares about this country......

[Mary The Quene]

Saudi Arabia: Arabs will take action over Yemen if peace efforts fail

(Reuters) - Arab countries will take necessary measures to protect the region against "aggression" by Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi group if a peaceful solution cannot be found to that country's turmoil, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Monday.

The Houthis and Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have established rival power centers in Sanaa and Aden and denied each other's legitimacy, and appear to be moving towards open conflict.

Asked if Riyadh might offer military aid to Hadi, whom it recognizes as Yemen's legitimate ruler, Prince Saud said: "Certainly, countries in the region and the Arab world will take the necessary measures to protect the region from aggression."

Speaking at a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Prince Saud repeated an invitation to all Yemen's rival factions, including the Houthis, to attend peace talks in the kingdom.

Hammond said Britain and its allies were discussing their response.

"The international community will not stand by while Houthi forces and other actors continue to undermine stability in Yemen and seek to fragment that country and undermine its legitimate president," he said, adding: "None of us wants to see military action."

Asked about Tehran's role in supporting the Houthis in Yemen, Prince Saud said he was "against Iran's interference" and also attacked what he described as Iran's efforts to "stir up sectarian conflict" in Arab states.

Earlier, in Cairo, Riyadh Yaseen, named by Hadi as his interim foreign minister, called for Gulf Arab military intervention in Yemen, and notably the imposition of a no-fly zone, to stop territorial advances by Houthi fighters.

Yemen minister calls for Gulf Arab military intervention

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen called on Monday for Gulf Arab military intervention to halt advances by Houthi fighters, a move that could draw neighbouring states into the country's deepening power struggle.

The Sunni Muslim monarchies of the Gulf back President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whose forces have recently suffered reverses at the hands of Iranian-backed Houthis approaching his base in the southern port of Aden from the north.

"We are requesting an intervention by the Gulf Shield forces to stop this Iranian-backed Houthi expansion," Yaseen told the newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, referring to a military force of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

I just hope the Gulfstates won't mess and make things even more by installing Salafi puppets.

[hellheaven1987]

It is understandable since Saudi is bordering with Yemen.

[Mary The Quene]

It is understandable since Saudi is bordering with Yemen.

KSA will just increase the sectarian violence. Just like what they've done in Bahrain.

[hellheaven1987]

KSA will just increase the sectarian violence. Just like what they've done in Bahrain.

Na, the violence would continue as long as more than one group exists, so the best way is to exterminate every other group and let one group live (and give the remain group nothing left to start another round of violence).

[Mary The Quene]

Na, the violence would continue as long as more than one group exists, so the best way is to exterminate every other group and let one group live (and give the remain group nothing left to start another round of violence).

I have a better idea, instead trying to hold this failed country together divide it in Shia North Yemen and Sunni South Yemen.

[hellheaven1987]

I have a better idea, instead trying to hold this failed country together divide it in Shia North Yemen and Sunni South Yemen.

Then both sides would claim they have the right to rule an unified Yemen, while Iran and Saudi play both sides as proxy.

[Flavius Julius Nepos Augustus]

Houthis have an alliance with the Southern Movement problem solved. They split.

[Papay]

In the 1960s the Egyptian army interfered in Yemen during a similar civil war. The result was 30.000 dead Egyptian soldiers

[Condottiere 40K]

9874
They could try applying for the Commonwealth.

[Mary The Quene]

Yemen's Houthis enter southern town near Red Sea strait

(Reuters) - Fighters from Yemen's dominant Houthi movement have entered the Red Sea port of al-Mukha, bringing them closer to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's refuge in Aden, security officials and residents said on Tuesday.

The advance also placed the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in September, a short drive from the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a Red Sea shipping lane vital to oil shipments.

To the east, Houthi units on Tuesday entered Dhalea town, traditionally a hotbed of southern separatism, and fought gun battles with tribesmen and militias from the southern independence movement, residents said.

To the north in Taiz province, clashes erupted between anti-Houthi protesters and troops in Turba village and nearby Taiz city. The soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing at least four and wounding several others, medical officials said.

The latest action deepened the conflict in Yemen, a perennially unstable neighbour of oil power Saudi Arabia and a frontline in U.S. efforts to combat Islamist militants.

The Houthis, a Shi'ite Muslim group backed by Iran, captured Sanaa last September. Hadi, a former general seen by the Houthis as a pawn of Gulf Arab monarchies and the West, fled the city in February and is trying to stage a comeback from a base in Aden.

Residents said the Houthi fighters entered al-Mukha, the southernmost Yemeni port before the Red Sea tapers to its narrowest point, overnight. They were accompanied by units from Yemen's divided military.

A Houthi spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Security officials said the Houthis' motive in entering al-Mukha, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Bab al-Mandeb might be to reach a new coastal highway that links the town to Aden, a 260-km drive away, rather than to obtain control of the strait.

Bab al-Mandeb - which means Gate of Tears in Arabic - links the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal. More than 3.4 million barrels of oil per day passed through Bab el-Mandeb in tankers in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Hadi's forces have stationed tanks and artillery on a number of roads linking north and south Yemen and residents reported clashes between the rivals forces on Tuesday morning on a main road 125 km (80 miles) north of Aden.

An array of tribesmen, militiamen and army units loyal to Hadi are resisting the southward advance of the Houthis in skirmishes that have escalated since the weekend.

The Houthis' arrival in Dhalea mark their first inroads into the territory of the formerly independent south: The town has for years been the centre of an armed movement to secede from Sanaa.

It seems nobody can stop the advance of the Houthi's. Yemen Armed Forces are divided within a pro-Saleh Faction and pro-Hadi faction. Saleh also supports the Houthi's while the gulfstates support Hadi. It's no suprise Hadi's goverment has been losing so badly when parts of their own army doesn't support you and fight for Saleh instead.

[Vanoi]

Lets see the Houthis take on LA-Qaeda and the former government of Yemen.