Decisive Storm: Saudi-led coalition calls off Yemen operation

Military spokesperson says force will continue to target Houthi rebels

DUBAI/ RIYADH:

A Saudi-led coalition declared an end Tuesday to four weeks of air strikes in Yemen, saying the threat of Iran-backed rebels there had been removed and that operations are entering a political phase. However, it left open the option of resuming strikes if the movements of the Houthi rebels warrant it, while adding that a naval blockade on the strategic country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula will continue.

Tehran was quick to welcome the decision. “Before this, we said the crisis in Yemen had no military solution, and ... a halt to killing innocent and defenceless people is absolutely a step forward,” Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The coalition has “ended Operation Decisive Storm based on a request by the Yemeni government and President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi,” its spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed al Assiri, said in Riyadh. The operation, which began March 26, will continue until midnight.

A coalition statement said the next step would aim to resume the political process in Yemen, delivering aid and ‘fighting terrorism’ in the country, home to a deadly al Qaeda franchise.

“The new Operation Restoring Hope begins with the following goals: continuing to protect civilians, continuing to fight terrorism and continuing to facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals and to intensify relief and medical assistance to the Yemeni people,” said the statement carried by  Saudi state news agency SPA.



The move suggests the campaign’s next phase is more political than military, especially after almost a month of bombing that destroyed or damaged heavy weaponry held by the Houthis’ allies in Yemen’s army, but that hostilities are not definitively over.

The Saudi defence ministry said the air strikes had managed to achieve its goals. “Operation Decisive Storm has achieved its goals... (including) removing the threat to Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries, especially in terms of heavy weapons,” it added.

The UN health agency said more than 900 people have been killed since the strikes were launched against rebels clashing with pro-government forces. And the International Organisation for Migration announced a suspension of its evacuation efforts due to insecurity.

Located on key shipping routes and bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen was plunged into chaos last year when the Houthis seized Sanaa. The coalition of Arab nations launched the strikes in a bid to restore the authority of Hadi, who fled to Riyadh as the Houthi rebels advanced on his southern refuge Aden.

In Riyadh, a Western diplomat said he thought it was a “good time for the Saudis to get out of this,” though the political objectives had not been achieved. “The Houthis are still there where they had been before,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be identified.

At the same time, al Qaeda has taken advantage of the chaos to seize swathes of territory in Hadramawt province in the southeast, including its capital Mukalla.

Anwar Eshki, chairman of the Jeddah-based Centre for Strategic and Legal Studies, said the air campaign had restored its targets and said he expected the Hadi government to return home soon. “The Houthis will come to dialogue with the government,” he added.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2015.