Coalition defuses Aden standoff
Military envoys from UAE, Saudi Arabia say parties abiding by truce
The Saudi-led coalition has managed to defuse violence in Aden and bring back peace to the city after three days of fighting between the government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Southern Transitional Council.
Military envoys from Saudi Arabia and the UAE said yesterday that the standoff has ended as concerned parties were adhering to a ceasefire and pulled their forces back to their previous positions.
At a press conference held in Aden, Mohammad Saeed, a Saudi military officer, and his UAE counterpart Mohammad Matar Al Khaili, called upon Yemeni factions to put aside their differences and focus on their common objective — defeating the Iran-backed Al Houthi militia. A statement put out by the coalition said that relevant parties aim to solve disagreements between the Yemeni people, and protect the country.
Achieving stability and prosperity for the Yemeni people is the ultimate goal, the statement added.
The Saudi-led coalition has managed to defuse violence in Aden and bring back peace to the city after three days of fighting between the government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Southern Transitional Council.
Military envoys from Saudi Arabia and the UAE said yesterday that the standoff has ended as concerned parties were adhering to a ceasefire and pulled their forces back to their previous positions.
At a press conference held in Aden, Mohammad Saeed, a Saudi military officer, and his UAE counterpart Mohammad Mattr Al Khaili, called upon Yemeni factions to put aside their differences and focus on their common objective — defeating the Iran-backed Al Houthi militia.
Peace and stability
“Security in Aden is calm as all parties have completely adhered to the coalition’s statement. Our goal is peace and stability in Yemen and preventing anarchy,” the Saudi military officer said.
Hours before the conference, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammad Al Jaber, said that the Saudi coalition ended fighting in Aden and warring factions were respecting an agreement brokered by the coalition.
“The coalition has brought back calm and security to Aden. The trumpets of sedition have failed and wisdom has prevailed,” Al Jaber said on his official Twitter handle.
Tension escalated in Aden this week when the Southern Transitional Council, an umbrella organisation for key separatist figures and bodies in Southern Yemen, demanded Hadi to recall his prime minister, Ahmad Obaid Bin Daghar by Sunday or they would camp out in the streets of Aden until he leaves.
Protesters blocked
By Sunday morning, clashes between government forces in charge of protecting the presidency and pro-STC forces broke out as the STC protesters were blocked from reaching protesting site in Khour Maksar. When STC forces reached the gate of the presidential palace, the Saudi-led coalition stepped in by urging both to declare a truce and engage in talks.
Street patrolling
On Thursday, military and security officials from the Saudi-led coalition were seen patrolling the streets of Aden and inspecting military sites to make sure that Yemeni factions observed the ceasefire.
Source close to the STC said that under a new coalition-sponsored agreement, the council has agreed to extend the deadline as to allow president Hadi to pick a new prime minister and the council stipulated replacing commanders of presidential forces with military officers from the Red Sea front. Abu Zara Al Muharami, the commander of the Red Sea front, told Gulf News, that several commanders of brigades on the Red Sea have been tasked to lead some of presidential brigades in Aden.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition entered the Yemeni war in 2015 just months after an Al Houthi coup forced internationallyrecognised Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi out of power.
He later was able to escape house arrest and flee to Aden where he temporarily shifted government headquarters. Since then, the coalition has gained back 86 per cent of Yemeni territory but major population centres still remain under Al Houthi control.
Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of illegally smuggling weapons into Yemen to sustain Al Houthi war efforts.
One such Iranian-made ballistic missile was fired towards Riyadh last month.
Although it was intercepted, Riyadh called it an ‘act of war’.
The war has cost the lives of thousands of Yemenis and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
Cracks in Al Houthis
Currently government forces are seeking to take advantage of cracks in the awkward Al Houthi alliance with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s supporters.
They have been advancing on Al Houthi-controlled territories along the Red Sea and northern provinces.
Saleh ruled Yemen for more than three decades until he was forced to resign following an Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
He remained in the country, however, and continued to wield power from behind the scenes. In 2014, his forces allied with Al Houthi militia, despite the fact that as president he had gone to war with them.
There had been simmering tensions between the two awkward allies in past months that boiled over in December when Saleh suggested he would cooperate with Hadi — he was assassinated shortly after.
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