Yemen: As Saleh Shifts to Saudis, Battle Rages in Sanaa

The Saudi aircrafts launched air strikes on the outskirts of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa targeting the Houthi positions and lending support to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh, who till last week was an ally of Houthis, changed his sides and joined the Saudi-led coalition.

In a speech on Saturday, Saleh indicated the end of his alliance with Houthis and that he is ready to turn a “new page” in ties with the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis if it stopped attacks on Yemeni citizens and lifted a siege.

“I call upon the brothers in neighbouring states and the alliance to stop their aggression, lift the siege, open the airports and allow food aid and the saving of the wounded and we will turn a new page by virtue of our neighbourliness,” Saleh said in a televised speech.

It is still unclear how this new twist in the three year old civil war will affect the future course of the conflict, as the country reels under catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Experts argue that Saudi Arabia led coalition is committing war crimes in Yemen by indiscriminate air strikes and blockades of the much needed humanitarian aid.

According to reports, a Saudi air strike in Saada, the home territory of the Houthis on Sunday has killed 12 civilians of one family.

Saleh’s statements were welcomed by the Saudi Arabia, who are losing the war in Yemen. In a statement, Saudi Arabia said that it was “confident of the will of the leaders and sons” of Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party to return to the Arab fold.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have accused Saleh of staging a ‘coup’. “Saleh’s speech is a coup against our alliance and partnership… and exposed the deception of those who claim to stand against aggression,” a spokesman for the group said in a statement carried by the rebels’ Al Masirah TV.

Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the leader of the rebels, called on Saleh to “show more wisdom and maturity” in a separate statement.

In Sanaa, gunfights have erupted between Houthi rebels and supporters of Saleh. According to reports, the clashes began in the vicinity of Saleh Mosque and have expanded to include other areas of the capital, killing and wounding several on both sides.

Saleh, known for his authoritarian rule, was the president since 1978 of North Yemen and then the unified Yemen, till he was overthrown in 2012 after the ‘Arab Spring’ movement. He then ceded power to his Saudi-backed deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Once arch enemies, Saleh and Houthis had joined hands in 2015 to seize large parts of Yemen, and forced President Hadi to flee. As Saudi Arabia tried to put Hadi back into power with military support, Yemen plunged into a civil war that has already claimed around 10,000 lives.

Fearing the rise of Shia-majority Houthis and rise of Iran’s influence in its backyard, Saudi Arabia formed an international coalition of Arab states to back its war. The coalition, primarily of Sunni states, are backed with logistical and intelligence support from US, UK and France.

According to another report, Houthis claimed that they have fired a cruise missile towards a nuclear plant in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE government, which is part of the Saudi military coalition have denied the any such missile attack.