Pro-Saudi forces in southern Yemen today overran and captured the important military base of al-Anad, just 60 km from the southern port city of Aden. The base is the largest, and one of the most strategically located in Yemen, and adds to the pro-Saudi fighters’ control over the area around Aden.
Spokesmen for the Hadi “government-in-exile,” which the Saudis are aiming to reinstall militarily in Yemen, claimed that they had killed dozens of Houthis in the fighting over the base, and vowed to extend the ground war to “liberate” the surrounding provinces.
The Hadi government resigned in January, and most of its leadership is in Saudi Arabia. Some are talking up the idea of Aden being used as a new capital city in the interim, though their hold on the area remains tenuous enough that officials are flown in to “tour” the city, but aren’t setting up shop yet.
Former Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country for decades before Hadi’s brief reign, called on Hadi to be charged with treason for enlisting Saudi help in trying to control the country. Saleh has previously claimed the Saudis tried to bribe him at the start of the war, and Saudi warplanes destroyed his home in one of their airstrikes against Sanaa.
I agree with Saleh that Hadi should be charged with treason for enlisting Saudi help in trying to control the country. Saleh should direct guerilla ops against the Saudis to teach that war criminal regime a lesson.