The militiamen Houthi incursions into Saudi territory continue. On Wednesday 10 May, they would take control of the Nismah military base in the city of Raboah, located in a mountainous area near the border with Yemen, in the province of Asir.
Since the beginning of the war, the city of Raboah has been occupied several times by Shiite militiamen fighting against the Saudi-led Coalition. Riad does not confirm, but there is talk of numerous casualties in the ranks of the royal army and their allied mercenaries.
The most important news coming from Yemen at this time, however, is the splitting of the Sunni front and the beginning of clashes between factions once allied in the port of Aden.
The clashes involve units of the Yemen National Army, loyal to the Saudi President Hadi wire, and militiamen of al-Ḥirāk al-Janūbiyy (South Movement), supported by the United Arab Emirates.
Let's see better to understand something of the Yemeni tangle.
The Sunni front led by President Hadi is backed by the Saudi-led Coalition which intervened militarily with the invasion of the 2015. Among the forces that helped fight Shiite militiamen Houthi and the forces loyal to former President Saleh, there are also the separatists of the South Movement, very present in the area of Aden. Aden is the former capital of South Yemen, whose flags still wave in the militia milestones. Tribal militias are also deployed with them Hadhrami, an ancient ethnic group set between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The main supporters of both armed groups are the United Arab Emirates, which despite the announcement of the June 2016 withdrawal, are still part of the anti Saleh Coalition. Indeed, they represent a fundamental component, given the above-average contribution made so far.
Internal disputes within the government of Hadi (removal of some key figures and the governor of Aden, linked to the militia of the South) have reignited a rivalry never ceased. The word went to arms to generate a mini civil war in the Aden area.
At the protests of thousands of people, firefighting would take place at Badr Camp, 39 headquartersa Armored Brigade of the National Army, which would have reacted heavily.
The militiamen accuse the regular forces of being allies of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), front jihadista acerrimo rival of the militia Houthi Shiites and pro-Iranians, but also of the South Movement. It is not news that there is Riyadh behind Al Qaeda in Yemen, fueling further confusion.
In this context, the rift between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia emerges which, albeit allied, continue to make a foreign policy that is not always aligned. In this regard, it is worth remembering that Abu Dhabi is among the main supporters of Haftar in Libya, thus maintaining a special relationship with Egypt by Al Sisi. Saudi Arabia, initially close to the Cyrenaica front, has instead taken a position closer to Turkey and Qatar, in support of the Islamists of Tripoli. The freezing of relations between Riyadh and Cairo is consistent with the latest developments.
(photo: Alalam)
