Saudis begin attack on port with new allies
YEMEN: Saudi-led forces in Yemen have begun a new offensive against the country’s main port despite fears for food supplies to the famine-struck country.
The Western-backed, Gulf Arabled coalition said it acted quickly after managing to persuade forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president, to defect. Saleh had been fighting the coalition but was killed in a gunfight after turning on his allies, the Houthi rebel group, last week.
The offensive and the move to bring Saleh loyalists onside represents the first success since Saleh’s death of efforts to purge the country of Iranian-backed rebels. Saudi Arabia is desperate to increase military firepower to oust the Houthis and persuade tribal leaders to support the Gulf coalition, and in effect install their own leader.
Coalition forces are advancing with Emirati tanks towards the port of Hodeidah, southwest of the capital, Sanaa. Hodeidah is the main route into Yemen for food and aid, and its partial blockade by the coalition is said to be the main reason why millions are starving.
The Yemen conflict has turned into a quagmire, with both the Houthi-led rebels and coalition forces hit by infighting. Until last week there had been no significant movement on the ground for a year.
In the meantime, the partial blockade of Hodeidah and Yemen’s airports has led to mass starvation, particularly behind Houthi lines but also in areas besieged by Houthi forces, such as the city of Taiz. The United Nations estimates that 22 million people are in need of aid, and 7 million are close to starvation. There has also been a cholera outbreak affecting almost a million people.
Campaign groups that have long vilified Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for bombing civilian areas and depriving the country of food have called for a new attempt to make peace. However, Saudi officials said there was little sign of the Houthis making concessions, and they had decided to press on to take advantage of the Houthi-Saleh split.
The Emiratis wanted to attack the city earlier this year but were restrained by the United States, their strategic backer, who said that the loss of life and damage to supply routes would not be justified. On the other hand, if they did manage to seize it without further destruction of its infrastructure, the coalition could squeeze the Houthis further north.
‘‘We are hearing that members of the Republican Guard have switched sides and are helping the UAE in their push,’’ said Adam Baron, of the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies. ‘‘This appears to be the case.’’ The Emiratis claim that thousands of Republican Guard troops are now operating alongside them.
April Alley, a Yemen researcher for the International Crisis Group, said Saleh’s death was unlikely to lead to a long-term shift in the coalition’s favour and made the chances of a political compromise even more remote.