Yemen’s new cabinet landed in the temporary capital city of Aden today, and found an immediate crisis, as the airport was pounded by ballistic missiles just as the plane was arriving.
25 people were killed in the strike, though the government plane was not hit and its people were not injured. 110 other people were wounded in the blasts and ensuing panic. Video captured the missile strike.
This was the start of trouble in Aden and by far the worst of it. Other explosions were reported near the city’s palace, where the cabinet went after the airport, and Saudi warplanes shot down a drone that was also heading to the area.
The new cabinet was meant to usher in a power-sharing deal between the Saudi-backed government and the UAE-backed southern separatists. The government continues its war against the Houthi movement, which controls the north, and has insisted the government is no longer in power, its term in office having ended many years ago.
The power-sharing with the separatists has raised hope a similar deal could end the Houthi War as well, though the Houthis are very keen to see any deal ending the war lead to free elections, and the Saudis and their allies have seemed reluctant to risk a vote in which they might ultimately lose.
Why is there such a reluctance among the Yemenis to accept a Saudi-sponsored government. ? Would further bombing of the country make them change their minds.?
All the Raytheon think-tanks concur in thinking it would. It could cause an industry recession.