| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Fresh Yemeni airstrikes claim 7 lives |
| 2009-12-25 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Government forces have launched fresh airstrikes on northern Yemen, killing at least seven people, including two women. Witnesses said the Thursday attacks took place in Yemen's Al-Jawf province. Earlier in the day, the Houthi fighters said that Saudi warplanes had also attacked the country's north with more than 400 missiles. A Houthi spokesman said 25 people including women and children were killed in the overnight raids. Saudi Arabia joined Sana'a's months-long fierce armed campaign against the Shia fighters in November. The conflict between the central government in Sana'a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth, alleging that the Houthi fighters had violated the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign visitors hostage. The offensives, meanwhile, have been taking their toll on the locals with the Saudis reportedly venturing beyond the Houthi positions, targeting civilian areas and using unconventional weaponry including flesh-eating white phosphorus bombs. On Wednesday, a Houthi spokesman announced that the fighters were willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to the attacks by Saudi forces. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 I'd guess that there aren't actually enough radicalizable Shia in the oil region to make much of an insurgency. From what I've heard over the years, they're oppressed, closely-watched, and totally disenfranchised. Che-head blovation aside, that isn't really a fertile mix for revolution. Isolated, under-supervised, neglected, and with some experience at self-government are much more promising subjects for radical mobilization. Bandit country is pretty much ideal, really. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-12-25 14:48 |
| #6 Essentially. The Saudis have significant forces based in the NE. The Iranians are hitting them in another Shiite region where they ain't. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-12-25 12:13 |
| #5 draws the saudi military farther away from Iran? |
| Posted by: chris 2009-12-25 12:00 |
| #4 What I'm missing here is why the Mad Mullahs™ aren't stirring up trouble in the Saoodia-occupied northeastern quarter -- that region is mostly Shi'a. And it's where most of the oil is. The southwest quarter around Yemen is mostly nothing but sand, as far as I can tell on various maps. Where's the profit for the Mad Mullahs™? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-12-25 11:09 |
| #3 TW - because their Iranian puppetmasters told 'em to? |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2009-12-25 11:05 |
| #2 Why, in the name of all that's holy, would the the Houthis invade another country when they were busily engaged in armed rebellion against their own government? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-12-25 10:29 |
| #1 On Wednesday, a Houthi spokesman announced that the fighters were willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to the attacks by Saudi forces ...now we begin to know the truth. invade a neighboring country..get your azz kicked |
| Posted by: Mike Hunt 2009-12-25 01:41 |