Yemen on the Brink by Ottaway Marina. Boucek Christopher. & Marina Ottaway

Author:Ottaway, Marina.,Boucek, Christopher. & Marina Ottaway [Boucek, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Middle Eastern
ISBN: 9780870033292
Publisher: Perseus Books, LLC
Published: 2012-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

Round 6: August 2009 Through February 2010

The kidnappings set the stage for this most recent round of the Saada war, which followed rebel closures of several key roads, including the road linking Saada and Sanaa. The Yemeni government started this round by launching Operation Scorched Earth in August 2009.

Operation Scorched Earth

President Saleh asserted that the Houthis would be handled once and for all, and declared the regime’s resolve to crush the rebellion with an “iron fist.” Despite early promises to swiftly defeat the Houthis, this latest round of fighting deteriorated into consistent and ongoing fighting. A month into the government offensive, the Houthis had seized Baqim and al-Safra districts in Saada, and fighting had spread to Harf Sufyan district in neighboring Amran governorate. Several cease-fires were declared, but none has lasted.

According to a January 2010 report in Jane’s Intelligence Review, the Yemeni government has deployed more than 40,000 soldiers in support of Operation Scorched Earth. This represents a major increase from previous episodes. Fighting in previous rounds had spilled out of Saada, but the war further metastasized during Operation Scorched Earth through the potent combination of tribalization and indiscriminate fire. The government has also deployed the Popular Army, an amalgam of tribal levies and informal fighters. Tribal rivalries are playing out in the theater, leading to violence and fighting unrelated to the actual war. Reports of tribal fighting include conflicts between the Shaker and Sufiyan tribes of the Bakil tribal confederation; between Kharef and other tribes of the Hashid tribal confederation; and between the Najar and al-Farhan tribes.

Previous rounds of fighting have included indiscriminate fire, but the sixth round increasingly has featured government artillery and aerial bombardments. Such tactics disproportionately target noncombatants, increase civilian collateral damage, and increase local animosity to the central government.

According to local Yemeni sources, the government’s decision to relaunch the war in Saada was driven by a perception that the regime could finally vanquish the Houthi rebels. The central government likely also was driven by a desire to reopen roads from Sanaa to Saada closed by the Houthis. It is probable that the Yemeni government sought to use the war in Saada as an example for southern secessionists.

It is extremely unlikely that Sanaa would have begun military operations without consulting Riyadh and other regional actors. Saudi Arabia allegedly has helped finance the recent fighting, and it is likely that the Saudis provided some international political cover for the Yemeni government. For several months after Operation Scorched Earth began in August 2009, there was surprisingly little international criticism of the war. On the contrary, the Gulf Cooperation Council voiced its support for Yemen (and later Saudi Arabia) as the government sought to contain the Houthis. A number of Sunni Arab countries have lobbied in Washington to encourage support of the Yemeni government’s military action.

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