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| Arabia |
| Iran-backed rebels retake positions in south Yemen |
| 2015-11-09 |
| [AlAhram] Iran-backed rebels retook positions in southern Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... in a bid to advance on second city Aden, military sources said Sunday as a landmine blast killed 16 soldiers east of Sanaa. The rebels regained the positions they had lost in fighting in recent months, including a hilltop overlooking the strategic Al-Anad airbase in restive Lahj ... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement province which borders Aden, they sources said. The base currently houses Sudanese forces from a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling rebels across Yemen since March. The rebel deployment near Al-Anad "poses a real danger to pro-government and coalition forces", a military source told AFP. Yemen's loyalist forces, backed by coalition strikes, supplies and troops, had pushed the rebels out of Aden, now the temporary headquarters of the Gulf-backed government, after a July offensive. Four other southern provinces -- Lahj, Daleh, Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirateafter seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... and Shabwa -- were also retaken by the loyalist forces. Military sources said the rebels also retook Damt, the second city in Daleh province, after besieging it for hours on Saturday and clashing with loyalist troops. At least 16 people, including nine loyalists, were killed in the festivities and many maimed, the sources said. Forces fighting in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi "were forced to withdraw from the city", one of the sources said. The rebels also seized a military base in the coastal city of Dhubab, near the Bab al-Mandab strait, following festivities with pro-government troops, another military source said. Six loyalists and 11 rebels were killed. Pro-government troops seized Dhubab early last month, giving them effective control of Bab al-Mandab, through which much of the world's maritime traffic passes. Late Sunday, 16 pro-Hadi soldiers were killed and six maimed when a landmine went kaboom!as their vehicle passed in the city of Marib, east of the capital Sanaa, a military source said. The blast took place on the road to the Sahn military base northwest of Marib, the source added. Loyalists are in control of Marib while Sanaa is in the hands of the Iran-backed Houthis who are also allied with forces loyal to ousted 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... . |
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