Coalition forces land in Yemen
‘Reconnaissance’ mission begins, leaders of Saudi-led operation say
Sanaa, Yemen — With helicopter gunships hovering overhead, at least 20 troops from a Saudi-led Arab coalition, including Yemeni expatriates, came ashore Sunday in the southern port city of Aden on what military officials called a “reconnaissance” mission, as fighting raged between Iranian-backed Shiite rebels and forces loyal to the nation’s exiled president.
The landing was the first of its kind since the start of the Saudi-led air campaign against the rebels and their allies — forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh — who have captured most of northern Yemen and marched on southern provinces over the past year.
The objective of the landing was not immediately clear, but Yemeni military officials said the coalition troops would attempt to better organize and train forces loyal to the country’s internationally recognized leader, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, as well as to identify an area that could serve as a “green zone” from which Hadi and his government could operate when they return to Yemen.
At the top of that list, said the officials, is the al-bureqah area west of Aden, which stretches for about10 miles along the coast and is home to a major oil refinery and large fuel tanks.
The Western-backed Hadi fled Aden to neighboring Saudi Arabia in March, just a few weeks after he fled the capital, Sanaa, which was captured by the rebels, known as Houthis, in September.
Saudi officials declined to immediately comment on Sunday’s landing. However, military and security officials have repeatedly said a ground operation would follow the Saudi-led air campaign that began March 26, after the military capabilities of the Houthis and their allies had been sufficiently weakened.
The coalition troops, which included blackclad masked men as well as Yemeni expatriates wearing military-style shorts, landed in a central area between Aden’s neighborhood of al-mansoura and the airport, said the Yemeni officials and witnesses. They arrived amid a surge in coalition airstrikes against positions of the Iranian-backed Houthis and their allies in Aden, including those at the airport.
In Cairo late Sunday, a statement issued by Egypt’s National Defense Council said the top policy body had agreed to extend by three months the deployment of Egyptian troops for “combat missions” as part of the Saudi-led coalition to protect Arab and Egyptian interests in the Persian Gulf region and the Red Sea. The council, which is chaired by President AbdelFattah el-sissi, gave no other details.