Here we go again, what crisis and how many crises?
From the BBC:
Quote:
A Saudi-led coalition has resumed its air strikes against Yemen's rebels after the end of a ceasefire, Yemeni military officials and witnesses say.They say the strikes targeted Houthi rebel positions in the southern port of Aden after the five-day humanitarian truce expired at 20:00 GMT.
In Saudi Arabia, Yemeni political parties earlier began negotiations on how to resolve the crisis.
But Shia rebels stayed away from the talks in the capital Riyadh.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32776430
Politics aside I note some recent reporting refers to the 'human crisis' in the Yemen today, such this in the BBC report:
Quote:
There are currently 12 million people without access to sufficient food, clean water, fuel or basic medical care, according to the UN. As many as 300,000 have fled their homes.
C4 has a film report from Aden:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lewe7nGXWzc
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/med...ol_624_v13.jpg
Escalation - Saudi Arabia shoots down Scud missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels
Tangential thought - if the rebels are upping the ante with this SCUD, what's next? A non-HE warhead?
Quote:
Saudi Arabia said it shot down a Scud missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels and their allies early Saturday at a Saudi city that is home to a large air base, marking a major escalation in the months-long war.
Two missiles launched from a Patriot missile battery shot down the Scud around 2:45 a.m. Saturday local time around the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The agency did not report any casualties in the attack, which marked the first use of a Cold War-era Scud by the rebels since Saudi-led airstrikes began in March.
Khamis Mushait is home to the King Khalid Air Base, the largest such facility in that part of the country. Saudis on social media reported hearing air raid sirens go off around the city during the attack.
The agency blamed the Shia Houthi rebels and their allies loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemen's state news agency SABA, now controlled by the Houthis, said the rebels and their allies fired the Scud.
http://america.aljazeera.com/article...d-missile.html
A first-hand report from Aden
Iona Craig is a respected journalist, who has lived in Yemen for four years till December 2014 and has a fascinating report having been in Aden:http://america.aljazeera.com/article...e-houthis.html
Tasters:
Quote:
....the reality on the ground does not reflect the depiction and rhetoric coming from Yemen’s far-off leaders and their foreign backers in Riyadh.....Not only has the Saudi-led aerial campaign that began on March 26 failed to push back the Houthis as intended, but it has also been unable to prevent the group's continued expansion in a conflict that is now being fought on at least six fronts across the country.
Houthis are far from defeated
Bruce Reidel of Brookings has a short commentary and he ends with:
Quote:
The Aden victory will encourage the Saudi political leadership to continue the war. King Salman has staked his prestige on dealing the Houthis, Saleh and Iran a defeat in Yemen. The war has produced a wave of nationalist enthusiasm in the Kingdom behind the royal family.
But the south has never been the stronghold of the Houthis or Saleh. They are regarded as outsiders there. If the war moves north the Houthis will be closer to their power base. The war fundamentally remains a stalemate with an enormous cost for the Yemeni people.
Link:http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/marka...01US0001-07171