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| Arabia | |
| Rebel-held Yemen base captured, coalition forces enter Aden | |
| 2015-08-04 | |
Forces loyal to Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi recaptured Al Anad military and air base on Monday after heavy fighting in which dozens of Houthi fighters were killed or captured.
Hundreds of troops and militia equipped with tanks and armoured vehicles supplied by the coalition deployed around the base before Monday's attack. Another source said Saudi-led warplanes were providing air cover for the loyalist forces, who launched the offensive from a mountainous region west of Al Anad. The airbase, in the southern province of Lahj, housed US troops overseeing a drone war against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) until shortly before Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran it in March. The insurgent advance, which took them all the way into the port city of Aden, forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his internationally recognised government into exile in Saudi Arabia. But Aden has now been recaptured and Hadi loyalists are in full control there. Hundreds of Gulf Arab troops from the coalition entered Aden on Sunday, using tanks and other armour "to help secure" it, a military source said. The Saudi-owned AlHayat newspaper said 1,500 troops, most of them from the UAE, had reached Aden. Recapture of Al Anad would help bolster security in Aden, whose liberation Hadi's government announced in mid-July. It would also open the way to loyalist forces to push further north against the Houthis, who have enjoyed strong support on the ground from fighters close to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Military sources spoke of further progress by loyalist forces who they said had recaptured Houta, the provincial capital of Lahj, and seized Al Ribat highway north of Aden. Aden - Hadi's last refuge before the rebel advance forced him into exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia - has been devastated by four months of coalition air strikes and fighting on the ground. The city is badly scarred, with gutted buildings and broken sewerage pipes, and is deprived of water and electricity supplies. The airport reopened on July 22, allowing planes to land with relief supplies from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |