Saudi-backed Yemeni forces capture Hodeidah airport

The Guardian ^ | 19 June 2018 | Patrick Wintour

[BeauBo]

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have captured the airport at Hodeidah and have started preparations for the more complex task of capturing the city and its port nine miles (15km) to the north. The port is critical to the supply of aid to the rest of the famine-struck country.

[BeauBo]

We are one week into the decisive battle to take the port of Hodeidah, and block Iran out of Yemen. Seizing the airport on the Southern edge of the city will give the Saudi/UAE-supported Government forces a solid base for the rest of the operation. It will likely go on for 1-3 months, unless the Houthi rebels withdraw.

About 150 of the 3,000 rebel fighters have been killed (5%) so far. The rebels are dug in for an urban fight, and have conducted a nighttime raid on Government supply lines. The rebels fought hard, so the operation is a bit behind schedule, but rebel casualties have been higher than anticipated.

The Government has been running dozens of airstrikes per day, and has a naval blockade of the port. Running along the coast to capture the port, is the main thrust. Two main roads lead out from the city. The Eastern road to the capitol city runs near the airport, and is likely to be taken soon. The other heads North into the Houthi heartland, and is likely the last route of retreat as the city falls.

[CondorFlight]

This lessens Iran’s influence in the area; probably part of a concerted effort to do so.

[familyop]

"This lessens Iran’s influence in the area; probably part of a concerted effort to do so."

Yes. Radical, anti-American leftists have been crying and exaggerating through their NGOs about risks to Yemeni civilians to try to thwart the move against Iran's attempt to control the area. Radical leftists like the mullahs in Iran and try to help them, hoping that Iran will someday nuke the homes of those lefties in our coastal cities. Conclusion: lefties either don't like living, or they are incapable of logical thought...or both.

[BeauBo]

Reports that some senior Houthi leaders were killed at the airport (Kulaib Al Abyad). The UAE deputy chief of staff was also reportedly killed in a rebel counterattack.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels:

Saudi/UAE-backed Yemen Army

[rrrod]

A lot of these Saudi backed troops have odd names...like Mike, Joe, Bill....

[BeauBo]

“A lot of these Saudi backed troops have odd names...like Mike, Joe, Bill....”

A few Afrikaners, a bunch of Columbians - its a coalition.

On the other side, the Iranians have mustered some low wage African mercs, who are probably not getting paid anymore.

[rrrod]

True..I was in Colombia when there was a recruitment drive for ex military. I talked a friend’s son out of going.
Rumor has it now a lot of Colombians are stranded...some just quit.

[eartick]

Radical, anti-American leftists

Oh you mean Washington democrats and the MSM in America. Gotcha

[shanover]

Once America took Iraq out, the dominoes fell and Iran came out pretty well. Without Bush and Obama idiocy, the Mideast would be much “better” off. Al Qaeda Iraq emerged under Bush and Obama is the father of ISIS. What a colossal disaster.

[BeauBo]

Without American intervention, Saddam would have kept Kuwait, and was already moving forces toward taking Saudi Arabia. With over half the world’s oil output, he would have become a superpower. It is unlikely that he would have stopped there.

[null and void]

I never quite know who to root for in a green-on-green conflict...

[DesertRhino]

Without American intervention, Saddam would not have invaded Kuwait. “U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie told Saddam, ‘We have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.’ The U.S. State Department had earlier told Saddam that Washington had ‘no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait.’ The United States may not have intended to give Iraq a green light, but that is effectively what it did.”

And the Iraqis always saw Kuwait as a problem for historical reasons, and because the Kuwaitis WERE in fact, slant drilling into Iraqi fields under the border.
There was no indication that Iraq intended to invade Saudi Arabia. They were after Kuwait.
Also, no Kuwaiti babies were thrown from incubators.

The Bush family has destroyed the middle east.

[DesertRhino]

Ok, except for the uniforms...I see no difference. Apparently one has the Sunni strain of the islamic disease, and the other has the shia strain.

[BeauBo]

“There was no indication that Iraq intended to invade Saudi Arabia.”

They were forming up units on the border for an assault, when the US hurriedly started deploying the 82d ABN Div as a tripwire.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

#9. Don’t forget Saddam’s plans for nuclear weapons were still around, just hidden, like some of his other CBW programs. My son’s unit captured Soviet-Bloc style CBW Green suits just east of Hindaya, on the East Bank of the Euphrates River, after April 3, 2003 when the 3rd ID, using the combined units of the 54th Engineer Battalion and the 299th Engineers - MRB Company out of Ft. Belvoir, Va, seized the cement bridge between the West and East banks of that river.

My son said that the ammo/equipment bunkers were stocked to the ceilings (about 9-10 ft high). This wasn’t the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour” show to be put on by Saddam.

It was Obama who sold us out in Iraq and led to the successful rise of ISIS.

[T-Bone Texan]

Rumor also has it that as of last year, a lot of Colombian mercenaries are dead in the ground.

[rrrod]

No way of knowing but that could ne the case. Colombia has a good military but insurgent “work” isnt a on the job training game.