Latest news with #anti-Houthi
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Yemeni Militias May Be Planning A Ground Offensive Against The Houthis
President Trump's air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen has led rival Yemeni factions in the country to consider seizing a potential opportunity to launch a ground offensive against their adversary. The anti-Houthi groups hope to uproot the Houthis from strongholds along the Red Sea coast, including the port of Hodeidah, and have already received advice from private American security contractors, according to a Wall Street Journal report in April. Whether an offensive will materialize in the coming weeks and months, and whether it might prove capable of wresting any significant territory from the Houthis, still remains to be seen. Trump ordered extensive airstrikes against the Houthis on March 15, targeting its military infrastructure and leadership. Yemeni groups hope this air campaign will enable them to mount an offensive while their adversary is under heavy bombardment. U.S. airstrikes have hit over 800 suspected Houthi-related targets in the six weeks since Trump launched this campaign, the US military announced on April 27. Alex Almeida, a security analyst at the energy consultancy Horizon Engage who has conducted fieldwork in Yemen, believes there is 'little hard evidence' in the short term that any offensive has moved beyond mere talk or initial planning. 'That said, there does seem to be some real momentum within the ROYG (Republic of Yemen Government) for a renewed offensive, as well as increased cooperation among the key military players in the Presidential Leadership Council, which is a notable shift,' Almeida told me. 'The combat effectiveness of the anti-Houthi forces varies significantly - some groups like the Salafi Giants brigades are combat-proven fighters that can deploy and fight anywhere in Yemen,' Almeida said. 'But large sections of the frontline are held by local tribal or semi-tribal Yemeni army forces that have dubious offensive value.' The analyst believes the key question is whether American airstrikes, and any other support to anti-Houthi forces, could 'offset the absence' of ground forces from the United Arab Emirates. Emirati forces previously played a key role in past offensives against the Houthis in 2015-2018. The Journal report stated that the UAE raised the ground offensive plan with US officials. However, the Emirates has since denied reports of its involvement, as has Saudi Arabia, which previously led an anti-Houthi coalition and carried out a large-scale air campaign against the group from 2015 to 2022. Mohammed Al-Basha of the Basha Report, a Virginia-based risk advisory firm, believes the likelihood of ground operations resuming in Yemen is 'moderate to high,' especially along the country's western coast. However, he clarified that these operations would more likely be 'a defensive response to Houthi mobilization' than 'a UAE- or US-backed' initiative. 'The Houthis currently view Vice President Tariq Saleh's National Resistance Forces as their primary adversary in that region,' Al-Basha told me. 'The broader anti-Houthi coalition is fragmented, consisting of eight smaller armed groups with conflicting ideologies and competing visions for Yemen's future. Their infighting and absence of unified command and control have allowed the Houthis to consolidate power and expand.' While the United States shares these group's goals of combating the Houthis and degrading its capabilities, it may not provide extensive direct support for any ground offensive. Any support would most likely be limited to providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to anti-Houthi militias and perhaps some precision airstrikes in support of any offensives they manage to mount. 'The Trump administration remains cautious about deeper military entanglements, especially in protracted conflicts like Yemen,' Al-Basha said. 'However, securing the Red Sea coastline aligns with core U.S. national security interests, particularly in protecting commercial and naval freedom of navigation — a principle the Houthis have challenged repeatedly since their first attack on a US Navy vessel in 2016.' 'Recapturing parts of the coast would disrupt Houthi supply chains, smuggling routes, and launch sites for UAVs and missiles while also undermining their political leverage in any future peace talks.' Developments in the wider Middle East could ultimately influence events on the ground in Yemen. The Houthis threatened to resume their attacks on international shipping in March as the brief ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a Houthi ally in the Gaza Strip, broke down. Additionally, the U.S. is presently engaged in nuclear talks with the primary state backer of the Houthis, Iran. 'A lot will depend on how U.S.-Iran talks play out and how the Gaza war develops during the coming weeks and months,' Almeida of Horizon Engage said. 'A U.S.-Iran deal or another ceasefire in Gaza would likely cause Trump to lose interest in Yemen and take any anti-Houthi offensive off the table.' A fourth round of U.S.-Iran was scheduled for Saturday in Oman but was postponed 'for logistical reasons,' the Sultanate's foreign minister announced on X. 'On the other hand, if U.S.-Iran negotiations stall or break down, we could see the Trump administration ramp up US support for the ROYG forces as a way to pressure Iran and the Houthis,' Almeida added. Regardless of the outcome of the Gaza war and the Iran nuclear talks, it appears Saudi Arabia and the UAE have little appetite for another confrontation with the Houthis, especially since their relations with Iran have markedly improved in recent years. 'The UAE has been busy putting down several new airfields in Yemen that could, in theory, be used to logistically sustain a renewed ROYG ground offensive, but it's also unclear whether Abu Dhabi would be willing to reengage, even with U.S. backing,' Almeida said. While Trump's air campaign against the Houthis is the most intense American one yet, it may not inflict lasting blows against the group without a concurrent ground offensive that captures and holds territory. Al-Basha noted that without ground operations, the Houthis would likely have 'space to regroup, rearm, and sustain future attacks' against its leadership and weapons. 'Just recently in Jordan, a two-man cell using Chinese machinery was able to manufacture 300 short-range rockets — now imagine what the Houthis are capable of, given they control 80% of Yemen's population and over a quarter of its territory,' Al-Basha said. While there are limits to what airstrikes alone can achieve, the present US air campaign ordered by Trump just over a month ago has already demonstrated it can achieve things it predecessors throughout the past decade could not. 'Unlike the Saudi-led coalition, which faced significant constraints from the international community, today's global consensus is shifting against the Houthis,' Al-Basha said. 'Moreover, U.S.-supported operations are more capable of minimizing civilian casualties and collateral damage, in contrast to the widely criticized Saudi-UAE air campaign.'
The National
04-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Doubts whether Yemen's new PM can bring change
A change in Yemen's leadership will not bring about the reforms that are needed to solve the country's issues a decade after the outbreak of war, analysts who spoke to The National believe. Ahmed bin Mubarak resigned as prime minister of Yemen's internationally recognised government on Saturday after a year and three months in office, saying he was unable to fully exercise his powers. Finance Minister Salem bin Braik was named as his successor by Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, which also named Mr bin Mubarak as an adviser to the ruling body. Abdulghani Al Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sana'a Centre for Strategic Studies, told The National that the change of personnel 'is not the solution to government ineffectiveness'. 'For a decade, very little work was done on building the institutions and passing the foundational laws that make them effective,' he said. 'People are not the problem, lack of institutions is.' Many officials have cited rising tensions between Mr bin Mubarak and the head of the council, Rashad Al Alimi, as the reason for the prime minister's departure. He wrote in his resignation letter that he 'could not exercise my constitutional powers and take the necessary decisions to reform government institutions or implement rightful government changes.' Ahmed Nagi, the Crisis Group's senior analyst for Yemen, told The National that tensions between the two result from the absence of clear council rules or a 'defined framework for how the council should operate'. 'This institutional ambiguity has led to overlapping responsibilities between the PLC and the government, creating continuing friction, regardless of who holds the position of prime minister,' Mr Nagi said. Mr bin Mubarak is a former Yemeni ambassador to the United States. He is known as a staunch adversary of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who abducted him in 2015 and held him for several days. Previously, he was chief of staff of the presidential office and Yemen's envoy to the United Nations. He became foreign minister in 2018 and prime minister in February 2024. The council was appointed in 2022 with the aim of unifying the anti-Houthi bloc, but has since been divided into two. One is loyal to council member Aydarous Al Zubaidi, who chairs the Southern Transitional Council. The second includes Mr Al Alimi and Sheikh Sultan Al Aradah, the powerful governor of energy-rich Marib province. 'The new Prime Minister was selected because he is seen as a non-confrontational figure and faced no objections from PLC members,' Mr Nagi said. Mr bin Braik's position as Minister of Finance 'allows the PLC to signal that it is prioritising the worsening economic crisis in government-controlled areas.' 'However, resolving these challenges requires more than a change in leadership, it demands a unified vision and genuine commitment from both the PLC and the government to work together,' he said. In order for changes to occur there must be laws to properly stipulate relations between the council and the internationally recognised government, Mr Al Iryani said. 'That would be the first step in state building that could put the government on a track of reform and effectiveness,' he said. Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition intervened at the request of the government months later and has been battling the rebels since 2015 to try to restore the government. The conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, although the fighting decreased significantly after a UN-negotiated six-month truce in 2022. Yemenis across the country face catastrophic economic conditions that have plunged millions into poverty. The change in government comes at a time where the US has increased its attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. Daily strikes on Houthi-held areas have been taking place since March 15 after President Donald Trump ordered a new campaign against the rebels.
Al Jazeera
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Are the Houthis' opponents in Yemen seeking US support?
Anti-Houthi factions in Yemen could be vying for US support to attack the movement's territory, analysts and experts told Al Jazeera, following intensified air strikes on Houthi targets by the United States. The war in Yemen has largely been frozen for the last three years. Still, groups aligned with the Yemeni government have started signalling that they could launch operations against areas controlled by the pro-Iranian Houthis, including the crucial port of Hodeidah. A similar campaign on Hodeidah, a critical entry point for food and goods on the Red Sea coast, seemed imminent in 2018, only to be aborted after intervention from the United Nations and the international community, who feared a humanitarian disaster in Yemen. But experts and analysts expressed doubt that an attack by anti-Houthi groups on their domestic rival would be successful, despite some likening it to the offensive that unseated another Iran ally, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in late 2024. 'Pro-ROYG [Republic of Yemen Government] voices have been asserting that ground operations against the Houthis – in Hodeidah and potentially elsewhere – are imminent,' Hannah Porter, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera. 'My impression so far is that these comments are just meant to garner external support from the US or Saudi [Arabia] for a takeover of Hodeidah.' The Houthis, or Ansar Allah as they are officially known, marched into and took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014. Soon after, a Saudi Arabian-led coalition intervened on behalf of Yemen's internationally recognised government to fight the Houthis. Anti-Houthi forces achieved some success in the early years of the war, but the failed Hodeidah campaign seemed to slow their momentum, and the Houthis have largely been on top militarily since then. Saudi Arabia announced in March 2022 that it would stop hostilities in Yemen, and a UN-brokered truce stopped much of the fighting the following month. By then, the Houthis still controlled Sanaa and much of northwest Yemen, while various anti-Houthi groups held the key port city of Aden and much of southern and eastern Yemen. The Yemeni government has undergone major changes in the past few years, with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi suddenly stepping down in 2022 and handing over power to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), which has, so far, proven ineffective. PLC Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak resigned on Sunday, claiming to have been blocked from fulfilling his duties, as reports circulated of conflicts between him and President Rashad al-Alimi and accusations of mission creep. The PLC includes members who have previously fought against the Yemeni government. They include Aydarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), and Tareq Saleh, nephew of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a one-time ally of the Houthis. But Houthi attacks on what they claim are Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, as well as attacks on Israel itself, have led to a bombing campaign against Yemen, and some anti-Houthi forces now see an opening. 'We've been seeing various anti-Houthi factions lobbying for US support since the start of the Gaza crisis,' Nick Brumfield, a Yemen expert, told Al Jazeera. 'Both the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council have competitively sought to present themselves as the solution to the US's need for a partner on the ground against the Houthis in Yemen.'The Yemeni government has long emphasised that its ultimate goal is the defeat of the Houthis and an end to the group's 'coup' against the Yemeni state. In early April, President al-Alimi spoke of the importance of national unity 'to topple the coup', adding that the 'decisive hour' of the 'battle for liberation' was drawing near. Al-Alimi has not given any indication of when that battle against the Houthis would be, but forces under the umbrella of the Yemeni government may see the intensification of US air strikes under President Donald Trump's administration. The US claims the strikes targeted Houthi leaders and have significantly degraded Houthi capabilities. Houthi authorities say that at least 123 Yemenis have been killed in the strikes since they intensified in mid-March, many of them civilians. Reporting from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Bloomberg has claimed that discussions for an anti-Houthi ground operation, backed by the US, are under way. The WSJ specifically mentioned that the United Arab Emirates had raised the plan with the US, but the UAE has denied any involvement, with Assistant Minister for Political Affairs Lana Nusseibeh calling them 'wild unsubstantiated stories' on April 17. The UAE officially withdrew its military forces from Yemen in 2019. Tareq Saleh has been mentioned in news reports as a likely figure leading any anti-Houthi campaign on the Red Sea coast. But, experts say, there has thus far been no noticeable mobilisation on the ground by anti-Houthi Yemeni armed groups. 'The PLC has been speaking about liberating Sanaa and such,' Raiman Al-Hamdani, a Yemen researcher with ARK, an international development company, told Al Jazeera. 'As far as I know, there has been little mobilisation towards this end. Whether they can is a very different story, especially with Saudi Arabia and the UAE no longer wanting to engage in war with the Houthis.' After years of fighting, the Saudis and Houthis entered into ceasefire discussions in 2022, leaving anti-Houthi groups – including the Yemeni government – uncertain over their future and the Houthis further entrenched in power. Al Jazeera reached out to the Yemeni government for comment on this story but received no response before publication. An advance on Sanaa, high up in the Yemeni mountains and closer to the Houthi heartland in Yemen's far north, would be difficult for Yemeni government forces, and would involve a massive turnaround in fortunes, as well as turning Yemen's most powerful tribes, many of whom currently back the Houthis. The main target of any US-backed operation, however, would likely be Hodeidah, which lies on a coastal plain and whose population is less supportive of the Houthis. Losing Hodeidah, as well as other areas of the Red Sea coast, would still represent a significant loss for the Houthis and limit their ability to attack shipping on the vital sea route. That would line up with the primary goal of the US to curtail the ability of the Houthis to attack regionally, even if the group were still able to launch missiles further afield. But any effort to take Hodeidah would still likely require a fierce campaign, and thus far, no force – including the US – appears to be willing to fully back anti-Houthi forces militarily. That is problematic for the anti-Houthi forces and potentially a non-starter, considering the Yemeni government's inability to defeat the Houthis even when it had heavy military support from the Saudi-led coalition earlier in the war. 'The Houthis will throw all their weight behind defending Hodeidah,' Porter said. 'Their port access is critical to their survival.' She added that the Houthis were likely in a better military position to defend Hodeidah than any group attempting to advance on it. 'Honestly, I think the Republic of Yemen Government and the Presidential Leadership Council are not very invested in shifting the status quo,' Porter said. 'If there was a viable opportunity to take Hodeidah Port, then they would seize on that, but I don't think they'll have the support they need.'
India Today
03-05-2025
- Business
- India Today
Yemen PM Ahmed Bin Mubarak resigns amid power struggle and infighting
Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen's internationally recognised government, resigned on Saturday citing political struggles and difficulties in enacting reforms. His resignation highlights ongoing tensions within the country's internationally recognized government and the fragility of its anti-Houthi Mubarak, who was appointed in February 2024, announced his resignation in a letter addressed to Presidential Council head Rashad the letter, he expressed frustration over his inability to make 'necessary decisions to reform the state institution and execute the necessary Cabinet reshuffle', as reported by the Associated Press. In his X post, Mubarak stated that ongoing institutional gridlock and political infighting had left him unable to "exercise constitutional powers" or carry out long-overdue reforms. . - Ahmed BinMubarak (@BinmubarakAhmed) May 3, 2025His decision comes amid deep divisions within the ruling council and growing economic and political instability in government-held Saleh Bin Braik Appointed As New PMadvertisementSoon after the resignation, the presidential council named Finance Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik as the new prime minister, according to the state-run SABA news agency. Bin Mubarak was appointed as an advisor to the council, though his specific complaints were not publicly to six government sources cited by news agency Reuters, Bin Mubarak had clashed with Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, over the scope of his authority, particularly after al-Alimi refused to approve the dismissal of 12 READ: Houthi rebels claim US airstrike killed 68 migrants in YemenThese tensions reflect deeper divisions within the anti-Houthi coalition, which is fractured between factions that support Saudi Arabia and those that align with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Mubarak, who previously served as foreign minister and presidential chief of staff, gained international attention in 2015 when he was kidnapped by Houthi fighters amid escalating conflict in the capital, resignation comes at a time of heightened military activity in Yemen. Since mid-March, the United States has intensified airstrikes targeting Houthi positions to curb attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since President Donald Trump took office in READ: CRPF jawan sacked for hiding marriage to Pakistani woman, aiding visa overstayadvertisementYemen's civil war, now in its second decade, began in 2014 when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels seized Sanaa, forcing the recognized government into exile.A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to restore the government, but the conflict has since turned into a protracted and deadly stalemate. More than 150,000 people have died, and the war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian Watch
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Yemen PM Ahmed Bin Mubarak resigns amid rebel control and deepening political crisis
Image: X/@BinmubarakAhmed Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak announced his resignation on Saturday, citing political struggles and his inability to carry out his duties in a country largely controlled by rebel groups, including the capital. This announcement comes amidst the launch of a campaign of missile attacks by Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Israel, targeting key waterways. These attacks are a show of solidarity with Palestine over the war in Gaza by Israel. Mubarak announced his decision through a post on social media, attaching a resignation letter directed to the head of the ruling presidential council, Rashad al-Alimi . The presidential council was initially constituted in 2022 with the aim of unifying the anti-Houthi block, but has been divided into two main blocks since. One bloc is loyal to council member Aydarous al-Zubaidi, chaired by the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, backed by the UAE, The other bloc is loyal to Saudi Arabia and includes al-Alimi and Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah, who govern the energy-rich Marib province. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Jawa Timur: AI guru Andrew Ng recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Aroun... Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo Mubarak's letter said, 'I could not exercise my constitutional powers and take the necessary decisions to reform government institutions or implement rightful governmental changes.' Mubarak also cited in his letter that despite hardships, he had managed to achieve, 'many successes in a short space of time,' alluding to fiscal reforms and anti-corruption drives. Yemen has been entangled in civil war since 2014 with Huthi rebel group seizing control of the capital of Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government of Yemen into exile in Saudi Arabia. The war in Yemen has led to the loss of thousands of lives and has resulted in one of the most dire humanitarian crises. A little relief came with the negotiation of a six-month truce by the United Nations in April 2022 that staggered the infighting by a significant amount. Since the commencement of war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Iran-backed Huthi rebel group has been repeatedly targeting Israel and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden that they claim are linked to it. As the Huthis threatened more attacks and Israel blocked aid to war-hit Gaza, US President Donald Trump announced a new, expanded campaign against the rebel group. Since March 15, the US has carried out regular airstrikes on areas it says are controlled by the Huthis.
