|
 Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan, a fellow Sunni-majority country,
to provide ships, aircraft and troops for the campaign, now in its
third week, to stem influence of Shi'ite Iran in what appears to be
proxy war between the Gulf's two dominant powers.
While Saudi Arabia has the support of its Sunni Gulf Arab neighbors,
Pakistan's parliament voted against becoming militarily involved.
It adopting a draft resolution calling on all sides to resolve their
differences peacefully in a "deteriorating security and humanitarian
situation" which has "implications for peace and stability of the
region."
"(Parliament) desires that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in
the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic
role to end the crisis," it said, while expressing "unequivocal
support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" and promising to "stand
shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia and its people" if Saudi
territory were violated.
 Pakistan's government has yet to comment publicly on the draft but
has said it would comply with parliament's decision.
The Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in Yemen against the
Houthis on March 26 after the rebels, who already control the
capital, began a rapid advance towards the southern port city of
Aden.
Saudi Arabia is concerned that the violence could spill over the
border it shares with Yemen, and is also worried about the influence
of Iran, which has denied Saudi allegations it has provided direct
military support to the Houthis.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the Saudi's
involvement in Yemen "genocide".
FIRST INTERNATIONAL AID FLIGHTS
Coalition air strikes hit Yemen for a sixteenth straight day. In
Sanaa, they targeted weapons storage sites used by soldiers loyal to
former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a powerful supporter of the
Houthis.
The air raids, which hit the Defence Ministry and other facilities,
lasted hours, residents told Reuters. "The sky was lit up," said
Fadel Muhammad. "We heard big explosions."
Saleh is still influential in the military, despite giving up power
in 2012 after mass protests against his rule, complicating efforts
to stabilize the country.
Troops loyal to him are backing Houthi forces fighting his successor
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a former general seen by the
Houthis as a pawn of Sunni Gulf Arab monarchies and the West. Hadi
has fled to Saudi Arabia.
In Aden, residents said electricity and water had been cut in
several districts, rubbish had been left uncollected and hospitals
were unable to cope with the influx of wounded.
[to top of second column] |
"The humanitarian situation in Aden is catastrophic and disastrous,
both in terms of the rising number of killed and injured as well as
in declining capabilities of medics, along with shortages in water
and electricity," local health ministry official Al-Khadr Lawsar
said.
"We call on fighters to adhere to international law and respect the
work of ambulances and medical staff in the field," he added, citing
the fatal shooting of two brothers working for the Red Crescent
while evacuating wounded last week.
Aden residents reported heavy explosions from coalition air strikes
and naval bombardment on Houthi positions which shook windows
throughout the city.
An Indian ship captain working in Aden was killed in shelling on the
city’s dockyard overnight, his company announced, and local news
outlets reported that Houthi and allied army units had fired mortars
into the area.
An air strike hit a local government compound in the northern suburb
of Dar Saad, and fires in Aden's outskirts sent plumes of smoke into
the air.
Two planes carrying emergency medical aid landed in Sanaa on Friday,
the first deliveries from international aid groups since the heavy
fighting began.
They were brought in by the International Committee of the Red Cross
and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, which had been
trying for days to get aid flights into the country.
(Additional Reporting by Amjad Ali in Islamabad and Dominic Evans in
Dubai; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
