Saudis begin airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen
He declined to say whether the Saudi campaign involved U.S. intelligence assistance, and a White House spokeswoman referred questions to the Saudis.
The Saudi strikes were the latest in a series of fast moving developments in Yemen – a rugged, poor, isolated country that is home to an al-Qaida affiliate that has been the target of repeated American drone strikes.
Driven weeks ago from the capital by the Houthis, U.S.- and Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi abandoned the country Wednesday, leaving on a boat from the southern port of Aden, Yemeni security officials said. His departure came after Houthi air strikes rained down on his troops, a sign that rebels held air superiority and that Hadi’s calls for an international no-fly zone had been disregarded. On the ground, the rebels were advancing toward his position.
Al-Jubeir said the Saudi airstrikes were designed “to prevent Yemen from falling into the hands of the Houthis,” but the reality is that the capital and some of the country’s main cities already have fallen to the group, and ground troops will be required to take them back. The ambassador said he didn’t want to discuss military details.
It was unacceptable, Al-Jubeir said, that a “militia,” as he called the Houthis, should have air power, along with “ballistic missiles, heavy weapons as well as military bases and ports.”
Al-Jubeir recounted a series of diplomatic efforts to dissuade the Houthi from continuing their offensive. But, he said, they “have always chosen the path of violence.”
He says the Saudis “will do anything necessary” to protect the people of Yemen and “the legitimate government of Yemen.”
Hadi’s departure illustrated how one of the most important American counterterrorism efforts has disintegrated. It also raised the specter of what could be a deeply destabilizing proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudi announcement only reinforced that notion.
Three years ago, American officials hailed Hadi’s ascension to power in a U.S.-brokered deal that ended the longtime rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh during the political upheaval of the Arab Spring. And just a few months ago, President Barack Obama was still calling Yemen a counterterrorism success story, even as the CIA warned that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels were growing restive in the north of the country.
via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1D0kBdV
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