‘Decisive Storm’ hits Al Qaeda in Yemen
Operation Decisive Sword is intended to flush extremists from strongholds in east of the country
Saudi-led coalition fighter jets “wiped out” Al Qaeda strongholds in Yemen’s Shabwa province yesterday.
It came as the coalition launched Operation Decisive Storm to crack down on extremist elements in the country.
Al Qaeda and other extremist groups, including ISIL, have taken advantage of the war in Yemen to expand their presence, particularly in the east and south of the country.
In Shabwa, elite Yemeni forces recaptured strategic locations and roads from the militants, state news agency Wam reported and that several Al Qaeda members surrendered amid the crackdown.
Away from the battlefield, the United Nations Security Council yesterday delayed a meeting and vote to renew sanctions related to the war in Yemen for a year, as diplomatic wrangling continued over rival resolutions.
Britain had already been forced to water down its draft resolution that also called for “additional measures” in response to a UN report that found Iran had broken the arms embargo on Yemen. Meanwhile, Russia was pushing a rival draft that made no mention of Tehran’s role at all.
The row highlights existing concerns regarding Russia’s use of its Security Council veto to shield its regional allies – Iran in Yemen and President Bashar Al Assad in Syria – and raises concerns that international efforts to ease the Yemeni conflict are being sabotaged.
Officials said they hoped the scheduled morning vote yesterday could be rescheduled for the afternoon session.
Several Al Qaeda members surrendered in Yemen yesterday amid the latest crackdown on the militant group by the Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of the internationally recognised government.
Operation Decisive Sword is part of the effort by the coalition – which includes the UAE – to flush out the extremists from eastern Yemen and other Al Qaeda strongholds.
The operation was successful in securing control over several areas in the Shabwa governorate, state news agency Wam reported.
It also released a video showing troops preparing for the operation in eastern Yemen.
Meanwhile, coalition-backed pro-government forces took the mountainous area of Al Nakhash, east of Sanaa, from the Houthi rebels.
At least 20 Iran-backed Houthis were killed during the battle, while coalition aircraft targeted militia vehicles near Naham, Wam reported.
Yemeni naval forces also blocked an attempt by the Houthis to plant mines off the coast of Midi in Hajjah governorate. A military source said that Yemeni forces targeted boats about 48 kilometres from the Midi coast.
Also yesterday, the World Health Organisation said a cholera epidemic in Yemen that killed more than 2,000 people could flare up again in the rainy season, Reuters reported.
Peter Salama, the WHO deputy director general for emergency preparedness and response, said the number of cholera infections had been in decline in the country over the past 20 weeks after it hit the 1 million mark of suspected cases, but that the rainy seasons could be a problem.
“Usually cholera cases increase corresponding to those rainy seasons,” he said.
“So we expect a surge in April, and another potential surge in August.”
The war between the Iranbacked Houthis and the coalition-backed government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi has killed more than 10,000 people since 2015, displaced more than two million and destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure, including the health system.
Yemen relies heavily on food imports and is on the brink of famine. The United Nations says more than 22 million of the country’s 25 million population need humanitarian assistance, including 11.3 million who are in acute need.
Mr Salama said the country had also suffered an outbreak of diphtheria, a vaccine-preventable disease that usually affects children and which has largely been eliminated in developed countries.
Cholera and diphtheria outbreaks are a product of the damage to the health system in the country, where less than half of Yemen’s health facilities are fully functioning, he said.
“We’re very concerned we’re going to go from a failing health system to a failed one that’s going to spawn more infectious diseases and more suffering,” Mr Salama said.
However, he said that despite more than 2,000 deaths from cholera, the fatality rate has been low, at about 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent.
WHO has approval from the government for vaccination campaigns and is working on ensuring all parties to the conflict implement the plan, Mr Salama said.
Military action coincides with WHO announcement that rainy season could bring resurgence of lethal cholera epidemic