SANAA PARALYSED AS HOUTHIS AND SALEH FORCES INTENSIFY CLASHES
▶ Iran-backed rebels have large parts of Yemeni city in lockdown and terrified residents run out of fuel supplies
The Yemeni capital of Sanaa was paralysed last night as the alliance between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president of Yemen, was fast unravelling.
There were increasingly fierce clashes in Sanaa and the northern provinces, and the Houthis had imposed a lockdown in large areas of the city.
Both territories have been under the control of the rebels and Saleh loyalists for two years but have now become the arena for a bitter, internal war within a war.
About 100 people have been killed in five days, with many more injured, and the violence has terrorised a civilian population caught in the middle.
Fighting again broke out over the weekend when Mr Saleh split from the Houthis and offered to talk peace with the Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE. Last night the coalition, which has been fighting on behalf of the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, sent in air strikes against the Houthis in Sanaa.
Witnesses said the forces loyal to Mr Saleh had taken control of the ministry of defence, the ministry of finance and other key government buildings only to lose them again after a Houthi offensive yesterday morning.
“The two sides are fighting guerrilla-style and clashes are erupting in different parts south of Sanaa,” said Adnan Al Batool, who lives in Bab Al Yemen.
“Many injured Houthi fighters were transported to Thawra Hospital in the morning. One man was already dead by the time he arrived.”
Healthcare centres managed by Medecins Sans Frontieres were caught up in the fighting. A spokesman said that none of its Yemeni staff had been injured but they could not work because they felt too threatened.
“The capital is paralysed,” the medical charity said. “It is vital that those injured in the fighting are able to safely access medical care and that medical personnel can carry out their work without fear of attack.”
A resident said the loyalists last night held areas around the main thoroughfares of Algeria Street and Sakher Street, while Bab Al Yemen and Al Tahrir districts were in Houthi hands.
Another said last night that areas such as Algeria Street, Al Tahrir and Shamlan were under lockdown, and there was a build-up of Houthi fighters in civilian areas.
Petrol and diesel have almost completely ran out in Sanaa, with most petrol stations shut.
The Houthis yesterday also stormed the headquarters of Yemen Today TV, which is owned by Mr Saleh.
Residents in the capital were living in fear of all-out war, said Essam, a doctor.
“Public establishments are closed and transport is suspended. The city is paralysed,” Essam said.
The fighting calmed late in the day as both sides appeared to take a break, as if by mutual agreement. But residents in other parts of the city reported explosions and gunfire.
April Longley Alley, a project director at International Crisis Group, said: “It is too early to say what this fight means for an ending to the war. Certainly it is a turning point but to where is not clear.”
If Mr Saleh, the coalition and Mr Hadi are considering an alliance against the Houthis – and by extension Tehran – the fighting will probably worsen, Ms Alley said.
“This could be a very bloody fight,” she said. “The outcome depends on intertwined factors including the position of the tribes around the city and the ability of the Republican Guards to regroup under Saleh’s leadership.”
Meanwhile, a missile fired by the Houthis, who claimed it was aimed at Abu Dhabi’s Barakah nuclear power plant, fell in Yemen’s northern Al Matamah district without exploding, a military source said.
“The missile crashed in Sawd Al Wazee,” said Abdullah Al Ashraf, a military spokesman. “The missile fell in an unpopulated area but didn’t blow up.”
The first signs of a rift between Saleh forces emerged in August. Mr Saleh fell out with rebel leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi, leading to clashes on the streets of Sanaa and the first overtures by the former president towards the Arab coalition.
The Houthis responded by trying to lay siege to Mr Saleh and his son in their homes. Col Khaled Al Radi, a senior member of Mr Saleh’s General People’s Congress party, was killed only days after the party celebrated its 35th anniversary.
Mr Saleh has likened Yemeni politics to “dancing on the heads of snakes”, and his shifting alliances have made Riyadh and Abu Dhabi wary of him.
He had cracked down on the Shiite Houthis during his 34 years in power. After a rocket attack on the presidential compound in 2011 he spent months in Saudi Arabia recovering and agreed to step down.
But on his return Mr Saleh struck a deal with the rebels who had ousted him, leading to political instability that provoked civil war and one of the worst humanitarian disasters of recent times.
Until last week, Mr Saleh had been looking to bolster his position in the country by claiming he was willing to strike a “strategic alliance with Iran”, Saudi Arabia’s regional arch-rival.
Yemen descended into violence in late 2014 when the Houthis, a group hailing from the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, marched on Sanaa and seized control of the government. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to help reinstate order.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people since 2015, displaced more than two million, caused a cholera epidemic infecting nearly one million people and brought the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
It’s too early to say what this fight means for an ending to the war. This could be a very bloody fight APRIL LONGLEY ALLEY International Crisis Group