Yemen factions gear up for key battle over central province

journalstar.com ^ | AHMED AL-HAJ

[BenLurkin]

Security officials from both sides said the focus was now on Marib, an oil-rich province that supplies the rebel-held capital of Sanaa with electricity and fuel, after months of combat and airstrikes that have killed some 2,000 civilians, according to the U.N.

Pro-government forces have recently tightened their grip on the province's capital, also called Marib, while the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, have consolidated their positions on its outskirts, digging trenches and laying mines in nearby Jawf, security officials from both sides and witnesses said.

If pro-government forces manage to push the rebels out of Marib, they could potentially advance rapidly across Jawf, a flat, desert province bordering Saudi Arabia that is also a gateway to Saada, the rebels' northern stronghold.

Yemen's conflict pits the Houthis and allied units of the splintered army against forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as well as southern separatists, local militias and Sunni Islamic militants. A Saudi-led coalition supported by the United States has been targeting the rebels with airstrikes since March.

[Red_Devil 232]

Be nice if they manage to kill each other off!

[BeauBo]

The Saudis and their coalition partners are making lots of headway in taking the country back from from the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels and the the forces loyal to former President Hadi.

The Saudis have been far outgunning the rebels, with heavy armor, artillery and air superiority. They have expanded from almost losing the last toehold of the official Government in the Port of Aden earlier this year, to securing a swath of the country from the Port of Aden all the way up to the Saudi Border, cutting the country in half, East and West.

In the Rebel conquered West, the Saudi coalition is engaging the rebels along most of the coastal areas, to cut off resupply from the sea. It has been a pretty steady trend of Saudi airstrikes, Saudi advances, and Saudi buildup of combat power. The civilian population is of course taking a beating in the crossfire, with food supply disruptions and internally displaced people on the move. The UN has begun to call it a humanitarian “catastrophe”.

As the Saudi forces advance, their is a vacuum of governance, which al quaeda is moving into, from their strongholds in the sparsely populated Eastern part of the country. Hundreds have reportedly moved into Aden. The head of security in Aden was assassinated today, in al quaeda style, by hitman on motorcycle.

There is no big seasonal variation in rainfall or temperature which would significantly impede operations toward the Capital City of Sanaa. If anything, conditions are better Sep-Jan. It looks like a buildup of firepower, casualties and destruction is in store for Yemen, as the Saudi Coalition sweeps areas toward the Capital.

[BenLurkin]

Interesting!

[BeauBo]

From 1967 to 1990, Yemen was two separate countries - named North Yemen and South Yemen (even though the division was more between the East and West geographically), and that reflected the earlier division between the British and the Ottomans.

Pretty much where things stand now, is roughly where the old division was, with the Saudis now pushing into what was once North Yemen.

As such, they are now pushing into areas where the native population is majority Shiite. We will see if they become more free with the collateral damage, or perhaps even try to drive populations out in a bit of ethnic cleansing pressure.

Although the Shiite Houthis are taking support from Shiite Iran, they also used to work well with the US Special Operations Command in hunting down Sunni al Queada.

Since this is the Middle East, folks who are your ally on one issue are your enemies on another, and this may change from day to day...