The Saudi-led coalition is guilty of systematic war crimes in Yemen, and the USA bears legal responsibility because of the use of arms purchased from the United States, an Amnesty global report charged in early October.
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In Taiz province, medical and security officials say 13 Houthis and allied fighters were killed in airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition, while fierce clashes were ongoing near the capital’s airport.
Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Iran of supporting the rebels, though Western diplomats have expressed skepticism about the extent of Iran’s role in Yemen.
However, they have not managed to restore security there.
Separately, a Yemeni security officer said an Emirati aid worker had been shot dead by unknown gunmen on Saturday in Aden, in a sign of continued instability in the southern port city where Yemen’s fragile government is based.
The purchase of the French Mistral ships on the money provided by the UAE and the ongoing rearmament of Egyptian troops sponsored by the Saudi royal family seem to have combined to force Cairo into taking part in the war.
In September, coalition-supported forces began a major offensive east of Sanaa as the internationally backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi pulled out of UN-brokered peace talks. “As the coalition seeks to restore the legitimate Yemeni government and free the Yemeni people from a rebel scourge, it will do everything in its power to avoid injuring civilians”, insisted its ambassador in London.
The Arab coalition spokesperson, Brigadier General Ahmed al Assiri confirmed the arrival of the Sudanese troops to Arab television channels. The United States – which frequently condemns the Syrian government’s use of barrel bombs in heavily populated neighborhoods – has registered virtually no public outrage over the Saudi-led coalition’s apparently indiscriminate bombing raids in Yemen.
Hadi supporters, backed by Arab forces, recently made a few gains in the strategic Bab al Mandab strait and in Marib, a province east of Sanaa and home to much of Yemen’s oil wealth. In their desperation to avoid another defeat after Syria, not only are they willingly – directly and indirectly – supporting nearly every group that is ready to counter the Houthis, but also drawing other countries’ armies into the war zone.
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In Aden, residents report that armed men, including militants associated with al Qaeda, roam the streets. Also in the city of Taiz, three individuals guarding a high-ranking military official were killed when a Houthi rocket landed near his convoy.
