06-19-2018, 10:48 PM
*** 20-Jun-18 World View -- Saudi coalition claims to have captured airport in Yemen's Hodeidah
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Saudi coalition claims to have captured airport in Yemen's Hodeidah
****
![[Image: g180619b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180619b.jpg)
Tribal Yemeni fighter in town of al-Bayda on May 9 (The National)
The news agencies of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are reporting that
troops from the Saudi-led military coalition have taken control of a
large part of the airport in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah on Tuesday,
recapturing it from Iran-backed Houthi rebels that have controlled the
port since 2015.
This comes a week after the coalition began large-scale ground
operations against the port city, supported by air and naval forces,
as we described in "15-Jun-18 World View -- Saudi Arabia and UAE launch a 'catastrophic' assault on Port Hodeidah in Yemen."
However, the road that leads from the airport to Hodeidah's city
center is heavily populated, and there is still heavy ground fighting
going on with the Houthis, with the coalition fighters supported by
close air support from Apache helicopter gunships.
Capturing the airport is an important first step for the coalition in
recapturing the port city, but a lot more is necessary. Hodeidah is
densely population with around 600,000 people, and the Houthis are
well entrenched within the population. It's feared that the urban
house-to-house fighting will go on for months, just as we've already
seen in the fights by Iraqi forces against ISIS in Mosul or the
Kurdish YPG forces against ISIS in Raqqa in Syria. Similar urban
fighting in Hodeidah could cost the lives of as many as 250,000
people, according to UN estimates.
It's not expected that the Saudi coalition will use the same tactics
that Bashar al-Assad used in ejecting opposition rebels from Aleppo
and Ghouta in Syria. Al-Assad used barrel bombs laced with chlorine
gas specifically targeting women and children, and also used Sarin gas
to kill large numbers of civilians. Even with the use of chemical
weapons, those battles took several months. The National (UAE) and Reuters
****
**** United Nations renews its peace plan proposal
****
The fear of casualties resulting from the Saudi coalition assault on
Hodeidah goes far beyond the possible casualties in the port city
itself. NGOs use the port to import badly need humanitarian aid,
including food, water and medicines, for 8 million Yeminis, out of a
total population of 22 million. Many Yemenis are already on the verge
of starvation already, and the closure of the port for even a few days
could be disastrous.
Somewhat miraculously, the port remained open on Tuesday, and
the UN World Food Program was able to unload three ships containing
enough food for six million people for one month.
Under Houthi control, NGOs had been able to bring humanitarian
supplies through Hodeidah port. However, the Houthis charged NGOs
steep license fees to dock their ships, so the port has been a major
source of income for the Houthis. Furthermore, the port has been a
lifeline for the Houthis war supplies including, allegedly, weapons
systems provided by Iran.
For those reasons, losing control of the port would be a major
setback for the Houthis, and have a significant negative impact
on their war effort.
In the last few weeks, the United Nations had proposed a peace plan
where UN peacekeeping forces would take control of the port, so that
the fighting between the Saudi coalition and the Houthis could stop.
However, the Houthis rejected that peace proposal, since control of
the port is essential to their war effort.
The Saudi coalition are now demanding that the Houthis must withdraw
completely from Hodeidah and hand over control to the UN.
UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, who has been in Yemen's
capital city Sanaa negotiating with the Houthis, hopes to restart
talks on a peace plan next month. Assuming that the Saudi coalition
have control of the vital parts of Hodeidah, the hope is that the
Houthis will yield control of the urban areas, rather than remain
entrenched with a resulting bloodbath in urban fighting.
Al-Jazeera and The National (UAE) and AFP
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Yemen, Houthis, Iran, Saudi Arabia,
United Arab Emirates, UAE, Hodeidah,
Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Aleppo, Ghouta, Raqqa, Iraq, Mosul,
Martin Griffiths, Sanaa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Saudi coalition claims to have captured airport in Yemen's Hodeidah
- United Nations renews its peace plan proposal
****
**** Saudi coalition claims to have captured airport in Yemen's Hodeidah
****
Tribal Yemeni fighter in town of al-Bayda on May 9 (The National)
The news agencies of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are reporting that
troops from the Saudi-led military coalition have taken control of a
large part of the airport in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah on Tuesday,
recapturing it from Iran-backed Houthi rebels that have controlled the
port since 2015.
This comes a week after the coalition began large-scale ground
operations against the port city, supported by air and naval forces,
as we described in "15-Jun-18 World View -- Saudi Arabia and UAE launch a 'catastrophic' assault on Port Hodeidah in Yemen."
However, the road that leads from the airport to Hodeidah's city
center is heavily populated, and there is still heavy ground fighting
going on with the Houthis, with the coalition fighters supported by
close air support from Apache helicopter gunships.
Capturing the airport is an important first step for the coalition in
recapturing the port city, but a lot more is necessary. Hodeidah is
densely population with around 600,000 people, and the Houthis are
well entrenched within the population. It's feared that the urban
house-to-house fighting will go on for months, just as we've already
seen in the fights by Iraqi forces against ISIS in Mosul or the
Kurdish YPG forces against ISIS in Raqqa in Syria. Similar urban
fighting in Hodeidah could cost the lives of as many as 250,000
people, according to UN estimates.
It's not expected that the Saudi coalition will use the same tactics
that Bashar al-Assad used in ejecting opposition rebels from Aleppo
and Ghouta in Syria. Al-Assad used barrel bombs laced with chlorine
gas specifically targeting women and children, and also used Sarin gas
to kill large numbers of civilians. Even with the use of chemical
weapons, those battles took several months. The National (UAE) and Reuters
****
**** United Nations renews its peace plan proposal
****
The fear of casualties resulting from the Saudi coalition assault on
Hodeidah goes far beyond the possible casualties in the port city
itself. NGOs use the port to import badly need humanitarian aid,
including food, water and medicines, for 8 million Yeminis, out of a
total population of 22 million. Many Yemenis are already on the verge
of starvation already, and the closure of the port for even a few days
could be disastrous.
Somewhat miraculously, the port remained open on Tuesday, and
the UN World Food Program was able to unload three ships containing
enough food for six million people for one month.
Under Houthi control, NGOs had been able to bring humanitarian
supplies through Hodeidah port. However, the Houthis charged NGOs
steep license fees to dock their ships, so the port has been a major
source of income for the Houthis. Furthermore, the port has been a
lifeline for the Houthis war supplies including, allegedly, weapons
systems provided by Iran.
For those reasons, losing control of the port would be a major
setback for the Houthis, and have a significant negative impact
on their war effort.
In the last few weeks, the United Nations had proposed a peace plan
where UN peacekeeping forces would take control of the port, so that
the fighting between the Saudi coalition and the Houthis could stop.
However, the Houthis rejected that peace proposal, since control of
the port is essential to their war effort.
The Saudi coalition are now demanding that the Houthis must withdraw
completely from Hodeidah and hand over control to the UN.
UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, who has been in Yemen's
capital city Sanaa negotiating with the Houthis, hopes to restart
talks on a peace plan next month. Assuming that the Saudi coalition
have control of the vital parts of Hodeidah, the hope is that the
Houthis will yield control of the urban areas, rather than remain
entrenched with a resulting bloodbath in urban fighting.
Al-Jazeera and The National (UAE) and AFP
Related Articles:
- Saudi Arabia and UAE launch a 'catastrophic' assault on Port Hodeidah in Yemen (15-Jun-2018)
- Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders as Yemen war drags on (27-Feb-2018)
- Iranian advisors are 'on the ground' with Houthis in Yemen, supplying weapons and intelligence (06-Jan-2018)
- UAE backs out of Saudi coalition in Yemen, saying 'War is over' (17-Jun-2016)
- Brief generational history of South Yemen (29-Jan-2018)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Yemen, Houthis, Iran, Saudi Arabia,
United Arab Emirates, UAE, Hodeidah,
Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Aleppo, Ghouta, Raqqa, Iraq, Mosul,
Martin Griffiths, Sanaa
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
