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Saudi commander, UAE officer among dozens killed in Yemen fighting
[DAWN] A senior commander from Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and an officer from the United Arab Emirates were among dozens of Gulf, Yemeni and Sudanese soldiers killed on Monday in a rocket strike in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... as fighting flared before Tuesday's peace talks, local media and Yemeni sources said. The Tochka rocket strike on a Red Sea army camp south-west of the besieged city of Taiz appears to be one of the bloodiest setbacks for Gulf forces in months of fighting against Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... forces and Yemeni army units loyal to former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... . Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi, an Emirati officer, was killed near Taiz, Emirati state news agency WAM reported. Saudi Press Agency SPA said Colonel Abdullah al-Sahian and Kitbi "were martyred at dawn on Monday while shouldering their duties in overseeing operations to liberate Taiz". The photographs of Sahian, who had been decorated by Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi for bravery two days earlier, were displayed by Saudi-owned al-Hadath television channel alongside verses of mourning. The Houthis said via their own media outlets that the two commanders were among scores killed in a rocket attack near Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea coast. A source in Hadi's forces confirmed that a rocket had been fired at coalition forces in the Dhubab area, north of Bab al-Mandab and south-west of the city of Taiz, adding that "tens were killed" in a camp that houses Yemenis, Sudanese, Emiratis and Saudis. Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition in a military campaign since late March to stop the Houthis from taking complete control of Yemen after they seized the capital Sanaa last year and advanced south towards the port city of Aden. The Saudi-led campaign has retaken Aden and the city of Marib, east of Sanaa, but has failed to oust the Houthis from Taiz or end attacks on the Saudi border that have killed scores of the kingdom's soldiers. Posted by: Fred 2015-12-15 |
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