Aden // Confusion last night surrounded reports that the Saudi-led coalition battling rebels in Yemen had sent a “limited” force to Aden.
Witnesses saw several men in the vicinity of the airport dressed in military-style clothing, wearing helmets and carrying sophisticated weapons.
Yemeni government and militia forces said the several dozen troops had landed in the main southern city, with some sources saying they were to assist in fighting for its international airport.
A spokesman for the coalition however denied that a major ground force had landed, refusing to comment on ongoing operations.
“I can assure you that no [coalition] forces disembarked on the ground in Aden today,” coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Assiri told the Saudi Al Ekhbariya news channel.
The claim was also later denied by a spokesman for Yemen’s Southern Popular Resistance, a group of militias fighting to drive the rebels from Aden. Ali Al Ahmadi said the forces were Yemeni, and not special forces troops deployed by the coalition.
The coalition launched air strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies on March 26 after they seized control of large parts of the country and advanced on Aden, where President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi had taken refuge.
Mr Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia and the Houthis – who have joined forces with army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh – have refused to concede territory or down arms despite international pressure.
One militia source said some 30 soldiers had deployed on Sunday to “supervise” operations to retake the airport.
“A limited coalition force entered Aden and another force is on its way” to the port city, a Yemeni government official in Aden said.
While the coalition denied the reports, spokesman Gen Assiri did not rule out such operations in the future.
“All options are open,” he told Al Jazeera. “The coalition leadership will not spare any effort to support the resistance and achieve positive results on the ground.”
On Sunday, coalition warplanes pounded rebel positions in and around Aden airport as clashes raged on.
The coalition declared an end to its Operation Decisive Storm air strikes on April 21, saying the campaign would enter a new phase dubbed Renewal of Hope focused on political efforts, aid deliveries and “fighting terrorism”, but air strikes have continued.
Also on Sunday, Gen Assiri said a report by Human Rights Watch accusing the coalition of using US-supplied cluster bombs in its operation, was not “balanced or objective” and ignored the crimes being committed by the Houthis.
The categorisation of the weapons as banned “isn’t correct,” he said.
Cluster munitions are prohibited by a 2008 treaty adopted by 116 countries, but not by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners or the United States.
At least 1,200 people have been killed in Yemen since late March and thousands more have been wounded.
Meanwhile, Egypt on Sunday extended by three months the deployment of “some elements of the armed forces” outside Egypt’s borders to defend national and Arab security in the Gulf, Red Sea and the Strait of Mandab.
Egypt, which has one of the region’s largest militaries, is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and is participating in the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis.
*Agencies
