Yemen premier gives Houthi rebels a last warning

Yemeni prime minister Khaled Bahah visits a military camp near the strategic Bab El Mandeb strait which funnels shipping to and from the Suez Canal and lies at the north end of the Red Sea. WAM

ADEN // Yemeni prime minister Khaled Bahah warned Houthi rebels on Saturday that there was no place in the country for more “adventures,” vowing to press on with a campaign to retake territory from them.

Mr Bahah said the current operation by loyalist fighters will “will push to retake [the Red Sea ports of] Mokha and Hodeida,” and then the “whole coastline up to the border with Saudi Arabia”.

He was speaking at a military camp near the strategic Bab El Mandeb strait, which funnels shipping to and from the Suez Canal, and lies at the north end of the Red Sea. Coastal areas along the narrow waterway were recaptured from the Houthis by pro-government forces on Tuesday.

The commander of UAE Armed Forces in Yemen said Emirati forces had been assigned by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition to retake these areas, the UAE’s state news agency Wam reported on Saturday.

“The operation was planned on land and air, and the enemy was surprised,” the commander was quoted as saying. Coastal areas along the strait “and Mayoun island were recaptured in five hours”.

Yemeni president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and his government returned to Aden last month following six months in exile, after loyalist forces – backed by the coalition – regained control of the southern port city and four other southern provinces from the rebels.

The Houthis still control the capital and northern provinces near the border with Saudi Arabia, but pro-government forces have been pressing a campaign whose eventual aim is to regain Sanaa.

“There is no room for any more political or military adventures,” said Mr Bahah, who is also Yemen’s vice president, on Saturday.

“This is a last warning to the Hothis and their allies,” he added, referring to troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Mr Bahah’s visit to the military camp came amid continuing clashes between the Houthis and pro-government fighters in surrounding areas, said government spokesman Rajeh Badi.

Military officials from the anti-rebel forces say their fighters advanced with air and naval support from the coalition.

As the forces advanced, bodies believe to be of Houthi fighters and destroyed weaponry were seen scattered around the area.

Mokha, which loyalists hope to take next, lies some 20 kilometres north of the coastal areas seized on Tuesday. Hodeida, about 190 kilometres farther north, lies to the west of Sanaa.

Controlling Hodeida would help create a pincer on the capital, as pro-Hadi forces have also been pressing rebels in Marib province, to Sanaa’s east.

Also on Saturday, warplanes from the coalition carried out several strikes on rebel positions, military officials said.

They added that clashes in the past 24 hours had left 19 people dead, including 12 rebels.

The United Nations says at least 2,355 civilians have been killed in fighting in Yemen since March, when the Houthis advanced on Aden, prompting the coalition to launch air strikes against the rebels and their allies.

* Agence France-Presse, Associated Press