Thursday, April 2, 2015

Saudi-Led Forces Aren't Fooling Around as They Bomb and Blockade Yemen

Airstrikes carried out by a Saudi-led coalition hit a 
weapons depot in Yemen’s capital San’a on Monday. 
Photo: jaber ghurab/European Pressphoto Agency
Saudi-Led Forces Blockade Yemen
Saudi-led naval forces imposed a blockade Monday on ports in Yemen, five days after the Sunni monarchy began a U.S.-backed campaign against rebels supported by Iran.
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Middle East allies also continued to bomb Houthi rebel positions from the air, with four of the airstrikes hitting a camp for civilians displaced by a previous conflict, officials said. The strikes killed at least 29 people, including women and children, and wounded 34 people, these people said.
CLICK MAP to ENLARGE
Meanwhile, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz sought to dampen fears of a proxy war of regional powers by calling for negotiations with all sides in the conflict.
Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, the coalition spokesman, told reporters in Riyadh that naval forces were blocking ports to prevent weapons and fighters from bolstering the Houthi ranks. Airstrikes in the past two days have targeted at least nine of Yemen’s 21 provinces, he said.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri
Saudi-led air campaign blunts rebel advance in Yemen
A Saudi-led military coalition blunted the advance of Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen on Monday as the regional coalition's naval forces blockaded the country's ports to prevent the rebels from getting resupplied.
Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said airstrikes over the past two days were designed to stop the Houthi rebels from seizing Aden, a stronghold of the U.S.-backed government that was driven from power.
Analysts said the Saudi-led air campaign would shift military momentum away from the Houthis and push them toward the negotiating table before a possible ground invasion by Arab armies.
A weapons storage facility in the Yemeni capital Sanaa 
was targeted by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Monday 
evening. (March 30) AP
"The objective is not to score a military victory," said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Geneva. "The objective is not to occupy Yemen. The objective is to bring (the Houthis) back to the political process."
Alani said Saudi ground forces probably would be limited to quick raids or helping to secure Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen. He said Saudis and their allies would want to avoid a lengthy ground war in a country with mountainous terrain familiar to the rebels.
Read the rest of the story HERE and Watch a related videos to both stories below:





If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.


No comments: