|
 Residents said local tribal chiefs and security officials
facilitated the entry of the Houthi forces to the city of Ataq,
where they took control of the offices of the local government and
security forces compounds.
It was the first time that the Houthis, who hail from the Zaidi
branch of Shi'ite Islam, and forces loyal to Saleh had entered the
city, where the fiercely Sunni Muslim Awlaki tribe comes from.
The takeover brings the Houthis and Saleh's forces closer to the
country's most prized economic asset, the Belhaf gas facility and
export terminal, on the Arabian Sea about 160 km (100 miles) to the
southeast.
Saudi Arabia, backed by four Gulf Arab states and other regional
Arab allies, has mounted two weeks of air strikes against the
Iran-allied Houthis after they pushed south toward Aden, the
stronghold of Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The air campaign failed to stop the Shi'ite Houthis and soldiers
loyal to Saleh entering central Aden. But the coalition says it has
cut Houthi supply lines, destroyed weapons depots and pushed them
back in some southern provinces around Aden.
 Earlier in the day, residents of al-Siddah district in central Yemen
said they woke to find al Qaeda flags flying over local government
offices.
They said a group of al Qaeda militants led by a local commander
known as Ma'mour al-Hakem, took over the district at night.
Residents said the Houthis, who had been in control of the town for
more than two months, retreated without a fight.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most active
branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden, has exploited
the security vacuum to entrench itself further in the country's
remote eastern reaches.
Last week, AQAP captured the eastern port city of Mukalla. Residents
said tribal fighters were deployed to push AQAP out, but that parts
of the city were still under AQAP control.
The Houthis, who captured Sanaa in September, have said their
advance beyond the Yemeni capital was aimed at fighting al Qaeda,
which has major presence in central and eastern Yemen.
[to top of second column] |
AIR STRIKES
Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition struck military targets and
weapons stores near the capital Sanaa under Houthi control, as well
as northern areas near the border with Saudi Arabia and in Yemen's
south, local officials said on Thursday.
Warplanes repeatedly targeted a playground where the Houthis are
gathered east of al-Mansoura district of Aden, the officials added.
Saudi-led forces also dropped military supplies to tribal fighters
allied to Hadi in Radfan area, south of the city of Dhalea near
Aden, local officials said.
Overnight strikes also hit an army unit loyal to Saleh in Dhalea and
in the southern provinces of Shabwa and Taiz, the officials said.
They also reported heavy bombardment to the north on the
Yemeni-Saudi border.
Late on Wednesday warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition struck an
army base near the Bab al-Mandeb strait which links the Gulf of Aden
with the Red Sea, killing five soldiers. They also struck an island
in the strait, a busy shipping channel for vessels between the
Middle East and the Mediterranean.
(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf, Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by
Dominic Evans and Sami Aboudi; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew
Heavens)
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