Saudi Arabia on the verge of losing the war in Yemen

Saudi Arabia has been bombing civilians in Yemen (and covering it up) for four years. Yet they haven't come anywhere close to taking back the capital of Sanaa.
The Saudi's most notable victory was defeating the Houthi assault on the old capital city of former state of South Yemen - Aden.

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At least that was their most notable victory until this week.
Then everything went to Hell.

Yemen’s southern separatists have seized control of the port city of Aden after storming the presidential palace, the seat of the internationally-recognised government, ripping apart a Gulf coalition fighting rebels in the north and sparking fears of a new war.

Yemeni officials confirmed that the Southern Transitional Council, which was once part of a Gulf-backed coalition fighting the Houthi rebels, had taken all of the government military camps in the strategic city.

In order to understand just how crushing this event was to the Saudi effort, take a look at the quotes.

“It is all over, the (Southern Transitional Council) forces are in control of all the military camps,” an official in Mr Hadi’s government added.
...
"The successful coup destroyed what's left of this country's sovereignty," Ahmed Al-Maysary said in a video circulated on social media.
...
“Everyone thinks the current war now is between the Houthis and Yemen government but the real war, which is starting right now, is between the north and the south,“ Naser Al Khubaji, chairman of the negotiation unit of the South Transitional Council, said from Abu Dhabi.
“Today we have the tools to be able to declare a state in the south,” he added.

The Saudis have almost nothing to show for their effort except for thousands of dead children and a ruined nation.
Meanwhile, Saudi's ally al-Qaeda, is left free to destabilize the parts of Yemen that the Houthi don't control.

Early on Thursday a suicide bomber, possibly from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), drove his explosives-laden car into a police station in the Omar Al-Mokhtar neighbourhood of Yemen's Aden city.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which an interior ministry statement says killed 13 policemen, but AQAP often uses such attacks to target military bases and police stations.

On the same day, AQAP fighters stormed a military base in Abyan's Al-Mahfad district and remained there until Friday morning, before military reinforcements arrived.

During the liberation of the base, the AQAP attackers killed 19 soldiers before fleeing to their strongholds in the province, which are known by local residents and soldiers in Abyan as well...
The source added: "The military forces are the only defenders in the region, but they have not launched any effective attacks on AQAP in Al-Mahfad for the last four years.

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Wally's picture

I just read in Wikipedia that:

. . . about 65% of the Muslim population (in Yemen) is Sunni and 35% is Shia. The Yemeni Sunnis are primarily Shafi'i. Shias are primarily Zaydi. The Sunnis are predominantly in the south and southeast. The Zaidis are predominantly in the north and northwest.

I take it that the Houthi are predominantly (or all) Zaydi.

From what I've read, neither side presents as much of a picnic in the park in terms of what the general populace can expect in terms of governance.

So who are the "Southern Seperatists"?? Are they Sunni? Allied with the Houthi Shia/Zaidi? That seems unlikely but I sure don't know one way or another.

Any idea of the ethnic/religious background of most Yemeni immigrants in the US???? Have different groups tended to migrate to different cities???

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/s

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Wally's picture

I found this article which either explains or makes the situation in Yemen even more tangled than it already is . . . .

Seems like they are on the brink of a civil war within a civil war. The UAE-backed Southern secessionists are opposed to both the Houthi and the Islah, Yemen’s main Sunni Islamist political party, not to be confused with the besieged Sunni government led by Hadi and backed by the Saudis. Some Southern secessionists claim to respect the legitimacy of Hadi but see the Islah infiltrating and gaining positions of power with Hadi's government and military. Other southern factions with the Council they have formed see the Hadi government as hopelessly corrupt and terroristic.
The various southern factions (at least two described in the article) also see the Islah and the Houthi, even though they oppose each other, as seeking to wreak havoc in the south. Easy peasey.

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-pe...

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Alligator Ed's picture

Will Yemen become Saudi's Vietnam? Or Afghanistan (which has fended off huge Empires for millennia). Bet the Saudis never put boots on the ground.

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snoopydawg's picture

because the Houthis have drones that can reach way inside Saudi Arabia and hit their oil fields which did happen. I sure hope that this wicked war is going to end soon and then the Saudis have to repair it. In my dreams every person who was complicit in this heinous war will be stripped of their wealth and it will go to rebuilding Yemen. And then they are sent to The Hague for trial.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

lotlizard's picture

@snoopydawg  
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/08/long-range-attack-on-saudi-oil-fie...

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