Jemen

[Shahab3]

15 October 2014 Last updated at 16:27 GMT
Shia Houthi rebels and al-Qaeda clash in south Yemen

Shia rebels and suspected Sunni al-Qaeda militants have been engaged in heavy fighting in southern Yemen.

Security officials and tribal sources said at least 10 people were killed in clashes around the town of Radaa in Bayda province late on Tuesday.
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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has vowed to fight the Houthis in defence of Sunnis and last week it said it was behind a suicide bomb attack on a rally by Houthi supporters in Sanaa that killed 47 people.

On Wednesday afternoon, the rebels were reported to have sent fighters towards the city of Ibb, a bastion of the jihadist group and its allies 150 km (90 miles) south of the capital.
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Es gab in den letzten Stunden offenbar heftige Gefechte zwischen Al-Kaida (AQAP) und den Houthis mit hunderten Toten. Ibb ist jedoch wohl heute Gefallen und nun ebenfalls unter Houthi Kontrolle. Gerüchten zufolge werden die Houthis durch Hisbollah und Pasdaran/Basij (Ashoura Brigade) unterstützt.

Houthi victories in Yemen make Saudi Arabia nervous

It’s the House of Saud’s worse nightmare come true. The stunning success of the Zaydi Houthi rebellion in Yemen places a Shiite group with connections to Iran on the soft underbelly of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, erasing years of Saudi efforts to stabilize Yemen and keep it in the Saudi orbit.
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Before the Arab Spring came to Yemen in 2011 the Saudis supported then-Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military campaigns against the Houthis and fought a series of their own military campaigns against them along the border after 2009. The Saudi army and air force were not particularly effective in these operations, so any residual Saudi-Zaydi affection was long gone by the time Saleh was ousted and his deputy Hadi took charge of Yemen.

What concerns the Saudis the most is the Iranian connection to the Houthis. Saleh alleged Iranian help to the rebels as early as 2004, but it wasn’t until 2012 that US officials began confirming that Tehran was aiding the Houthis. Iran, with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, has been shipping small arms and ammunition to the Houthis for several years now and also providing limited quantities of financial aid. Last month, the Yemeni authorities deported to Oman two Iranians whom they accused of being members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force arrested in Yemen assisting the Houthis.

Whatever the extent of Iranian aid to the Houthis, Riyadh believes it is extensive and critical to their success. A senior Saudi prince recently told me that the kingdom is now surrounded by Iranian proxies.
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Read more: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/houthi-yemen-victory-saudi-arabia-nightmare-iran.html#">http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... iran.html#</a><!-- m -->#ixzz3GKji3WCL