Africa Horn Now

"We don't take sides; we help you see more sides."

Africa Horn Now
  • Home
  • AHN News
  • Seen/Heard
  • LIFE iN BaW
  • Insight
  • All articles
  • ትግርኛ/ አማርኛ
  • Svenska
  • CONTACT

Gulf ministers meet as Yemen fighting rages

April 30, 2015 By Africa Horn Now

Latest update: 2015-04-30, AFP/France24

Gulf foreign ministers met Thursday in the Saudi capital for talks on their military operation in Yemen, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels have defied air strikes and refused to give ground.

© AFP – Loyalists of exiled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi gather next to tanks on a road on the outskirts of the southern city of Aden

Ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, huddled in Riyadh as warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition pressed on with attacks on rebel positions.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah, chairing the meeting, said the air campaign in Yemen demonstrated the Gulf monarchies’ commitment to helping their impoverished neighbour.

“The Decisive Storm operation showed the GCC’s historical responsibility towards Yemen,” he said.

Gulf nations “will work with the international community to achieve legitimacy and unity” in Yemen, he said, before the ministers continued their meeting in a closed session.

The air strikes were launched in late March as the Shiite Houthi fighters and their allies advanced on the main southern city of Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled after the rebels seized large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.

Hadi escaped to Riyadh, which launched the campaign fearing an Iran-friendly regime taking control of its southern neighbour.

Iran has denied charges of arming the rebels, called for an end to the strikes and pushed for a negotiated settlement.

The conflict has heightened tensions in the region and Iran said Thursday that two of its destroyers sent to the Gulf of Aden had reached the entrance of Bab al-Mandab, a strategic strait between Yemen and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Tehran said the destroyers would stay around the strait until late June, but stressed that its ships would not enter the territorial waters of other countries.

The coalition has imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen.

Last week US officials said an American aircraft carrier and a cruiser left the waters off Yemen and headed back to the Gulf after an Iranian naval convoy also turned back from the area.

Washington suspected the convoy of carrying weapons destined for the Houthis.

Thursday’s meeting was aimed at laying the groundwork for a GCC leaders’ summit on Tuesday, which will also be attended by French President Francois Hollande.

Fresh strikes, clashes

Leaders of GCC countries — many of which are taking part in the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria — are also preparing to meet US President Barack Obama in mid-May in Washington.

All GCC members except Oman are part of the coalition that Riyadh assembled for the air war in Yemen.

The coalition strikes continued on Thursday, despite an announcement last week that the campaign was moving into a new phase.

The rebels have refused to withdraw from territory they seized, in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on their leaders.

Warplanes hit Houthi positions in Aden in the districts of Khor Maksar and Dar Saad, helping pro-government forces to retake positions, sources among the southern fighters said.

Eight people were killed in overnight clashes in Aden, including five pro-government fighters and three civilians, the city’s health chief Al-Khader Laswar said.

He said 44 others were wounded. Details of losses on the rebel side were not available.

The Houthi fighters have joined forces with troops loyal to former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, clashing in Aden with local militia known as “Popular Resistance” units that have sided with Hadi.

Warplanes also hit rebel targets in the central city of Taez, a local government official said, after overnight raids targeted Houthis in the southern provinces of Lahj and Abyan, according to pro-government fighters.

The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in Yemen since late March.

Saudi Arabia was represented at Thursday’s talks by deputy foreign minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, after Prince Saud al-Faisal stepped down from the post of top Saudi diplomat for health reasons. King Salman on Wednesday named Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir to replace Saud, who had been foreign minister since 1975.

Filed Under: AHN NEWS


Do you have questions?  Feel free to contact us!

 [ssba]

WELCOME!

Hummingbirdlogo140906_edited-1Africa Horn Now (AHN) is an independent online publication focused on raising major news and views affecting the lives and times of people living in the African Horn. AHN (https://ahn.nu) goes farther and digs deeper to bring you stories that matter. AHN offers reads that inform, inspire and empower! Sweden is home of https://africahornnow.com.

QUICK MEDIA LINKS (TV/RADIO)

Radio Sweden

EriTv

ድምፂ ረድዮ ኣሜሪካ (VOA Tigrigna)

Radio Erena

ፕሮግራም ሬድዮ መድረኽ (Radio EriMedrek)

ዶይቸ ቬለ (DW Amharic)

EBC TV (Ethiopia)

VOA Afaan Oromoo

VOA/Amharic የአሜሪካ ድምፅ

ESAT Radio

Citizen TV  (Kenya)

NTV (Uganda)

South Sudan TV

Universal Somali TV

SABC (South Africa)

Russia Today

Aljazeera (English)

Aljazeera (الجزيرة نت)

Radio France International (RFI)

France 24

NPR

PBS

BBC

CNN

CCTV (China)

AHN-Weather

 

Archives

  • May 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • June 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014

Tags

aAfrican politics Africa ANC Angola Authoritarian constitutions Authoritarianism not key to China’s economic success authoritarian regimes Authoritarian State authoritarian states Burundi Competitive authoritarian COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Covid-19 democratic government and society Earthquake economy Egypt elections Eritrea Ethiopia FEEDING THE DRAGON Greece hybrid regime type India Kenya Mugabe Nepal new sort of authoritarian rule Nigeria North Korea opposition Pierre Nkurumziza Postcolonial Africa Postcolonial African regimes Presidential Election 2015 Quake repressing civil society and silencing dissent Rwanda South Africa Types of Authoritarian regimes Uhuru US US Trip women's league Zimbabwe

Recent Posts

  • ካብ ውሽጢ ቤት ማእሰርታት ኤርትራ

    May 6, 2021
  • Sudan announces failure of GERD negotiations, returns file to African Union

    November 6, 2020
  • Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin

    November 6, 2020
  • A New Administration Won’t Heal American Democracy

    November 6, 2020
  • Ethiopia blasts Trump remark that Egypt will ‘blow up’ dam

    October 24, 2020
[ssba]

Contact

[contact-form to=’editor@africahornnow.com’ subject=’Contact from africahornnow contact page’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Log In

Copyright © 2022 Africa Horn Now · WordPress · Log in