Global Arab Network | Yemen strikes at the Houthi fighters with an "iron fist"

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Yemen strikes at the Houthi fighters with an "iron fist"

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 10:55

A second day of a major offensive on the Houthi fighters came a day after the government vowed it would strike with an "iron fist".
Yemeni troops, backed by tanks and fighter aircraft, have launched the offensive on the stronghold of Houthi fighters in northern Yemen.

Government forces fired missiles on the headquarters of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the fighter's leader, in mountainous Saada province, tribal sources and fighters said.

Tribal sources told Al Jazeera that the army had launched air, artillery and missile attacks on the Malaheedh, Mahadher, Khafji and Hasama districts.

A statment from the Yemen's Supreme Security Committee said: "The state will strike these elements ... with an iron fist until they surrender themselves to justice."

The five-year-old battle between Yemeni government against the Houthi fighters is one of a widening series of conflicts threatening to destabilise the country.

Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, is also combating a wave of al-Qaeda attacks and rising secessionist sentiment in the south.

Officials say the Houthi fighters want to restore a form of clerical rule prevalent until the 1960s in Yemen when it was overthrown in a military coup.

A government committee criticised the fighters for not abiding by an agreement to end hostilities announced by Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, the Yemeni president, in July 2008.

In comments published in the press on Monday, al-Saleh blamed the fighters for the flare-up of violence in the north, saying he was "pained by attacks undermining security, repeated attacks targeting civilians, vandalism".

But Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a spokesman for the fighters, was reported by The Associated Press as saying that the group is only fighting for improved living conditions and wants the Yemeni army out.

Over the past few weeks, local officials say the fighters have taken control of more of Saada province from government forces.

Last week, they seized an important army post near Saada's provincial capital on a strategic highway linking the capital Sana with Saudi Arabia after 12 hours of intense combat.

They have also taken control of several more towns.

Local officials said on Tuesday that the fighters seized key army posts near al-Malahidh crossing, about 20km south of the Saudi border.

The stability of Yemen is a crucial concern for both Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Yemen, and the US. (AFP, Reuters, AP)

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