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| Arabia |
| Pro-govt forces vie to secure Yemen's Aden |
| 2015-07-20 |
| [Al Ahram] Yemeni pro-government forces on Sunday sought to tighten their control of Aden as Iran-backed rebels mounted resistance in some districts, two days after the regime declared the city "liberated". Backed by air support from Saudi-led warplanes and troops freshly trained in the kingdom, forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have managed wrest back control of most of the port city. Two ministers of the exiled government returned to Aden this weekend, shortly after Prime Minister Khaled Bahah heralded its "liberation", four months after the Shia Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... rebels entered the city. On Sunday, fighters from the pro-Hadi Popular Resistance advanced towards the rebel-held district of Al-Tawahi, a military source said. The neighbourhood is home to Aden's presidential residence, where Hadi had taken refuge when he escaped house arrest under the rebels in Sanaa in February, before being forced to flee for Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... Swathes of the southern city have been reduced to rubble by the four months of ferocious fighting. Warplanes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have kept up the air campaign launched in March in support of Hadi and against the Huthis and renegade troops loyal to former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... Around 15 air strikes targeted rebel positions in Al-Tawahi and on the northern outskirts of the city where rebels had brought reinforcements, military sources and witnesses said. Fighting also went on in the district of Crater where some rebels remain holed up, according to pro-Hadi fighters. Nine rebels were killed in a raid on Khormaksar neighbourhood, witnesses said. The interior and transportation ministers headed a delegation of the exiled government that landed in Aden on Friday night. They took part in a meeting on Saturday aimed at securing the city. The government-run news agency said the meeting looked into reopening the airport and the port to allow the flow of much-needed aid, as well as the restoration of electricity and water. Loyalist forces had secured Aden airport shortly after they launched an assault on Tuesday against the rebels dubbed "Operation Golden Arrow". Some displaced residents of Aden returned to assess the damage to their houses and neighbourhoods. "There is no life! No hospitals, no electricity, nor water. If it was not for the two wells of the neighbourhood, people would have died of thirst," said Crater resident Moatez al-Mayssuri. A rebel front man dismissed the government's claims on Saturday that it had seized control of Aden as "psychological warfare and an attempt to improve the crushed morale" of loyalist fighters. On Sunday, a front man of the Huthis' Ansarullah movement said the rebels had "regained the lead and repelled several attacks by the mercenaries". |
| Posted by:Fred |