Ground war feared as Houthi forces move on southern Yemen

Forces aligned with the Iranian-backed Houthi movement continued their advance into areas of southern Yemen on Friday, as Saudi Arabia conducted a second day of airstrikes intended to stop them.

The Houthis’ continued advance in the face of heavy airstrikes has raised the possibility of the Saudi-led coalition’s deploying ground troops – a move that would continue the Yemeni civil war’s escalation toward a regional battle.

The Saudi government has said it has no plans to send troops, but has declined to rule out the possibility. On Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, whose government depends heavily on financial aid from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf monarchies, said Cairo was prepared to send troops “if necessary.”

Residents and local news reports said that Houthi-aligned forces were fighting in the streets of Aden, the southern port town where the Saudi-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, had until recently prepared to make his last stand.

Hadi lost control of the capital, Sanaa, to the Houthi forces months ago. He finally escaped last month to take refuge among his supporters in Aden. On Wednesday, he disappeared again as the Houthi forces closed in, surfacing Thursday night in Saudi Arabia. His supporters said he was en route to an Arab League summit meeting this weekend in Egypt and it was unclear whether he would return to Yemen any time soon.

Houthis were also reported to be making gains in the restive southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah, both of which were expected to pose stiff resistance to the group. Both provinces are home to pockets of Sunni Muslim extremists, including al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch.

The extremists loathe the Houthis as heretics because they follow a variant of Shia Islam. The Houthis represent a minority among Yemen's mostly Sunni Muslims, but the group has gained momentum by forming an alliance with Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

He has helped to enlist important parts of the military and security services still loyal to him to fight alongside the Houthis against Hadi's forces. Saleh and the Houthis have built other support by tapping into popular grievances with the Hadi government, beginning with its attempts last year to cut price subsidies in the arid and impoverished country. – (New York Times service)