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The big Saudi sucsess in Aden has turned out to be a failure. Saudi proxies with the support of Operation Golden Arrow have been expanding areas of control north of Aden, showing local gains rather than total victory. The Al Houthis have been successfully defending al Anad air base and advancing in number of points including Aden. The only hope of the Saudi-led forces is the rumored withdrawal of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh from the al Houthis, who rely in part on forces loyal to Saleh, or a full-scale invasion.
- July 23-30, Pro-Saudi militants allied with the Saudi-led coalition continue to battle the Yemeni government forces for control of Aden. The clashes have been going at the Yemen-controlled al Anad air base in the Lahij governorate, north of Aden, since Saudi’s proxies attempted to seize al Anad air base on July 19, 22, 24 and 26. The al Houthis have control in the Taiz governorate and have been counter-attacking in al Dhaleh city, which was lost in late May. Although Saudi forces had momentum advancing on the north, the Yemen government looks determined to remain in control of the territory it holds.
- July 24, AQAP refused to leave al Mukalla, Hadramawt. A local AQAP fighter Omar al Nahdi told that AQAP will not abandon Hadramawt and will stay to protect the governorate from the al Houthis. AQAP seized al Mukalla on April 2 and established a council with local tribes to oversee governance of the city. Previous reports indicated that AQAP was negotiating with local tribes in al Mukalla to withdraw from the city and establish a security force.
- July 25, In Aden Southern Resistance militants reportedly captured Abdul Khaliq al Houthi, who is the al Houthi overall military commander and brother of the al Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al Houthi.
- July 25, Aden clashes appear to have invigorated ISIS Wilayat Aden. On Saturday Pro-ISIS Twitter accounts posted a photo series of ISIS Wilayat Aden fighters training at the al Shaikhain training camp in Aden. It is unclear when and where in Aden the photos were taken. ISIS Wilayat Aden most recently claimed an attack on the al Houthis on July 18. Separately, ISIS Wilayat Hadramawt militants posted via Twitter on July 26 photos of militants establishing military equipment in an unidentified location in Hadramawt.
- July 25, Pro-Saudi militant group “Southern Resistance” pushed al Houthis out of al Wahat, north of Aden. Meanwhile, a Saudi coalition airstrike hit a housing complex in Mocha, killing at least 100 civilians.
- July 26, The Saudi coalition and its proxies on Saturday announced a cease-fire that will take effect at 11.59 p.m. (20.59 GMT) on Sunday evening for five days to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid, but didn’t stop the storm of al Anad air base. Yemeni leader Abdel-Malek al Houthi was reported to have rejected the truce, arguing it would benefit only militant groups Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. The Yemen government publicly accuses Saudi forces of being in cahoots with Islamist militants like Al-Qaeda, something the coalition denies. Thus, a unilateral Saudi Arabia-proposed ceasefire broke down the moment it began.
- July 26, Notwithstanding the failed truce, Houthi forces held up 16 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the World Food Programme through Yemen’s Al Hudaydah province to support displaced persons in the major city of Taiz.
- July 27-28, Coalition warplanes carried out raids near Sanaa late Saturday and Sunday. The targets included Sanaa residential areas and a military base near the city. In the city, a bomb exploded underneath a passenger bus, killing three people and wounding five in the southern district of Dar Selm, local police report.
- July 29, Saudi fighter jets bombarded Harad district in the northwestern province of Hajja and a government building in the southwestern province of Ad Dali’. The Saudi coalition also launched airstrikes on several regions in the central province of Ma’rib.
- July 29, At least three people were killed in a car bomb attack in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. At least six people also sustained injuries. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorists also claimed responsibility for a bombing which reportedly killed nearly 30 people in the Yemeni capital.
The Saudi forces offensive seems to be decreasing as the al Houthi government remains entrenched in north-central Yemen. Yemeni forces have been continuing to conduct counter-attacks in Aden, Ma’rib, al Dhaleh, near the Saudi border and to defend its positions in al Anad air base, Lahij and Taiz.
The US experts hope that the withdrawal of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s support would probably weaken Yemen government and lead it to consolidate forces farther north to prevent being overstretched across south and central Yemen. The reasoning behind these assumptions is representatives from Yemen’s ruling party headed by Saleh, are reportedly in negotiations with U.S., British, and UAE diplomats to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing war. Nonetheless, loyal to Saleh military units are fighting for al Houthi government.
Despite denial, the Aden Saudi operation synchronized with increasing ISIS activity in Aden and the recent confirmed attacks aimed on the al Houthi government forces. ISIS groups will likely seek to carry out more attacks on Yemeni government forces in Sanaa, Aden and Lahij. Moreover, AQAP militants in Hadramawt have roughly stated that their purpose is “to protect the governorate from the al Houthis”. Sure enough, ISIS and AQAP are likely secret allies of the Saudi coalition and its proxies in Yemen.
See for additional information about the developments in the region:
In the Saudi war against Yemen, there already have been Saudi/US/Israeli attacs, using tactical neutron bombs. This is not the first time. They were used in the ME region in the Beirut attack against the US-base, in Falludja, at the Bagdad airport and in Syria at the outscirts of Damascus.
Now, Turkey has begun to use chemical weapons against the Kurdish people in the northern türkish/syrian region – especially against civil Kurdish populations on the Syrian side of the border.
The US and NATO forces know about this and keep quiet.
Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/07/30/turkey-using-poison-gas-to-clear-us-partnered-no-fly-zone-inside-syria/
I’m sorry, but I have to post this here, because it’s an enormous escalation and a war crime – like the use of Phosphor by the Israelis against the Palestinian people.
Please read it and inform others, media will shut up about this.
Dietef, the Veteran’s Today site is not reliable truth tellers….don’t believe all that hogwash about neutron bombs…your time is much better spent on this very reliable site and also Global Research and Counterpunch..to name a few.
Discussion on post capitalism/ post modernism. One might disagree with Max Keiser’s declaration , ” monotheism is dead”
http://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/311131-episode-max-keiser-790/
AQ and ISIS have air cover in Yemen provided by US backed Saudi’s. In Iraq and Syria they now have air cover provided by Turkey with a nod from the US.
With no laws or rules, and no organised opposing force since the USSR, US and its vassals with corporate media under control are doing as they please in many places.
BRICS, SCO ect saying they will not enter into military or defence aliances seems a mistake. Hopefully they will get an alternative UN type organisation up and running soon that will help protect countries like Syria and Yemen that are attacked by the US and or US backed wannabe powers.
Well it appears that slowly but surely the Empire (their stooges) are gaining control of Yemen.But all is not lost.Just as before the Al Houthi will control the Northern mountains.And be the same problem for the traitors as the Taliban is in Afghanistan.Hopefully they will also be able to conduct raids into Saudi territory as well on a regular basis.Let them “reap what they have sown”.
Note how IS occupied territory coincides with the zionazi pro-Hadi groups occupied territory. The problem is obvious.
OT It looks as though Taiwan may be set to become China’s Ukraine.
There has been a few articles in MSM on a “youth” movement apparently called the Sunflower Movement. Plenty of NGOs active in Taiwan that will be trying to prevent closer ties between Taiwan and the mainland.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/31/us-taiwan-students-idUSKCN0Q504T20150731
>The Sunflower Movement protest seems likely to determine the outcome of January’s presidential election by voting in a president from a independence-leaning party, something Communist Party rulers across the narrow Taiwan Strait will never allow.
>The students say revisions to high-school textbooks present a warped version of history slanted toward China and are aimed at brainwashing them to accept a “one China” policy.
Looks like the NGOs are trying to use naive kids to kick off a war between mainland China and Taiwan.
I wonder what they mean by revisionist text books.Taiwan’s history is pretty simple.After having over centuries had a Chinese population move there,it was a part of China.Then the Japanese seized it.After WW2 it was returned to China.After the Chinese civil war the defeated side and their supporters fled to Taiwan.They declared it was the “legal real China”.And until the UN accepted mainland China (the 98% or so of China) as the “real” China that was how it was.China and Taiwan both say they are “China”.Even though there are some in Taiwan that want to declare themselves a separate country.China has from the start said that was a “no go” with them.How hard is that history to understand.
If a war breaks out (doubtful regardless the youth movement), China will waste Taiwan. They would prefer a devastated island rather an independent, secessionist enclave for the US.
It is very, very improbable that the Chinese will be baited by Taiwan itself into a war.
However, the great danger is the eternal (it seems that way) danger that the US would put troops or defenses there. That would be the trigger for a massive Chinese counter move.
I think the Chinese are studying all the techniques Russia is using in Ukraine and along its threatened Western flank. There are many ways to neutralize Taiwan. The economy is bad, the future for the young is bleak, it’s top finance has moved to China mainland and all its major employers are linked to mainland.
China is not loathe to denude a large sector, like Taiwan or Hong Kong, of financial sustenance. The notion that a minority of protestors could alter China’s plans and win some concessions is ludicrous. Beijing always plans methodically and for significant periods its actions.
Taiwan will be a backwater if it really continues to be led around by the American warmongers.
There will never be two Chinas, and there will never be a time when Taiwan is not integrated in some way with the mainland.
The smart thing is to fashion solutions by Taiwanese, using their own minds and not the ideology and vassal nature of following the US Hegemon.
That process was going well until the KMT stumbled in recent elections. Now the hegemonic processes are off and running once again.