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Saudi Arabia begins airstrikes against Houthi in Yemen Saudi Arabia begins air strikes against Houthi in Yemen
(35 minutes later)
The Saudi ambassador to the United States says his country has begun airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen who drove out the US-backed Yemeni president. Saudi forces have launched air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to sources in Washington, to try to dislodge their grip on the port city of Aden.
Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir says the operations began at 7 pm Eastern time. He says the Houthis, widely believed to be backed by Iran, “have always chosen the path of violence”. He declined to say whether the Saudi campaign involved US intelligence assistance. The military offensive, launched with a number of other Gulf Arab allies, was carried out after consultation with the White House but was not thought to involve direct US intervention.
Jubeir made the announcement at a rare news conference by the Sunni kingdom.He says the Saudis “will do anything necessary” to protect the people of Yemen and “the legitimate government of Yemen.” In a rare press conference, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, told reporters that a 10-country coalition had joined the military campaign in a bid “to protect and defend the legitimate government” of Yemen’s president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. He declined to give any information on Hadi’s whereabouts.
The departure of Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi illustrated how one of the most important American counterterrorism efforts has disintegrated. The Saudi-led air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen has been called “the storm of resolve”, according to local reports.
Jubeir said his country has begun air strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen who drove out the US-backed Yemeni president.
He said the Houthis, widely believed to be backed by Iran, “have always chosen the path of violence”. He declined to say whether the Saudi campaign involved US intelligence assistance.
He said the Saudis “will do anything necessary” to protect the people of Yemen and “the legitimate government of Yemen.”
Jubeir said Saudi Arabia launched the attack “in response to [a] request from the legitimate Yemen government” and insisted it would be a limited operation “designed to protect the people of Yemen and its legitimate government from a takeover by the Houthis”.
“The [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries tried to facilitate a peaceful transition of government in Yemen, but the Houthis have continuously undercut the process,” he said.
“Based on the appeal from President Hadi, and based on the kingdom’s responsibility to Yemen and its people, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with its allies within the GCC and outside the GCC launched military operations in support of the people of Yemen and their legitimate government,” he added.
The departure of Hadi illustrated how one of the most important American counter-terrorism efforts has disintegrated.
Earlier, Houthi rebels seized al-Anad airbase, which lies between Taiz – Yemen’s third-largest city, which fell under rebel control last week – and Hadi’s stronghold of Aden, in a renewed push for control of the country’s south.
The advance set the stage for a confrontation between Iran, which backs the rebels also known as Ansar Allah, and regional powers eager to halt the broadening of the Islamic Republic’s regional influence.
Yemen’s descent into chaos also complicates American efforts to fight al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the jihadi group that has been repeatedly targeted by US drone strikes and which the Houthis also see as an enemy.
The rebels, members of the Zaydi offshoot of Shia Islam, seized control of the capital, Sana’a, last year and placed Hadi under house arrest. He fled to Aden this month.
Hadi’s whereabouts were the subject of conflicting reports on Wednesday. Yemeni security and port officials told the Associated Press that he had left the country with his aides on a boat from the port of Aden. They would not disclose Hadi’s destination; he is scheduled to attend an Arab summit in Egypt at the weekend.
However, Yemen’s foreign minister and presidential sources told Reuters that the president remained in Aden. Another presidential aide told AFP that he had been rushed to a “secure location”.
The US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing: “We were in touch with him earlier today. He is no longer at his residence. I’m not in position to confirm any additional details from here about his location.”