With the support of nine mostly Arab countries, Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes in neighboring Yemen on Thursday, where for months Houthi rebels have intensified their violent campaign against the government.
The Saudis have pledged to use 100 warplanes and contribute 150,000 soldiers to the newly formed coalition, the Saudi TV network Al Arabiya said.
The Houthis, ever defiant, responded by saying they will meet force with force.
Yemen, a longtime stronghold for one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous branches, has been plunged into chaos since the Houthi rebels began seizing control of the capital and other areas of the country in recent months.
For years, Yemen had allowed U.S. drones and special operations forces to stalk members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the country. But the unrest led to the withdrawal of U.S. special forces from Yemen, leaving that arrangement in tatters.
For Saudi Arabia, such a state of chaos poses considerable risks.
It shares a long border with Yemen, and it looked on with growing anxiety as the pro-Saudi government there crumbled.
The Houthi rebels are Shiite Muslims, and the Saudis consider them proxies for the Shiite government of Iran. They are fearful of the prospect of another Shiite-dominated state in the region.
“What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border,” said CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said America is not involved in the airstrikes.
Nonetheless, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commended the Saudi-led military action in a conference call Thursday with Arab foreign ministers, according to a senior State Department official. Kerry said the United States is supporting this coalition’s efforts through intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and logistical support.
Iran on Thursday condemned the Saudi-led military intervention, calling for an immediate end to the strikes, Iranian state media reported.
The attacks on Houthi rebel positions are a dangerous move that would kill opportunities for the peaceful resolution of the crisis in Yemen, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, according to state-run Press TV
Targeting military compounds
The military campaign came a day after rebel forces captured parts of Aden, the country’s second-largest city, and a nearby Yemeni air base from which the U.S. launched drone strikes against al Qaeda before the Americans evacuated. The rebels also claimed Wednesday that Yemen’s President fled Aden as his opponents advanced.
“We are determined to protect the legitimate government of Yemen,” said al-Jubeir, the ambassador. “Having Yemen fail cannot be option for us or for our coalition partners.”
The Saudi airstrikes appear to be targeting military compounds, headquarters and weapons storage areas.
The Royal Saudi Air Force took out Houthi air defenses and destroyed numerous Houthi fighter planes, a Saudi source told CNN on Thursday. Saudi military aircraft have basically secured most of Yemeni airspace and are consolidating a wide no-fly zone, the source told CNN’s Nic Robertson.
The strikes took place on more than one region, al-Jubeir said.
Journalist Hakim Almasmari, who is staying in the capital of Sanaa, said hundreds of explosions have caused residents to stay in their homes.
“I do expect the Sanaa of a couple of hours ago to be a different Sanaa in the morning,” he said before dawn Thursday.
Fighting fire with fire
A leading member of the Houthis’ political wing, Ansar Allah, said the rebels will not go down without a fight.
“This is a clear aggression and we will respond by a counteraggression,” Ali Al Imad told CNN Arabic. “The Saudi move will unite all the people of Yemen against the Saudis, and the kingdom will pay the price.”
If the Saudis try to invade with ground troops, he said, they will fail.
“They probably will try to avoid that, but if it happened, then they will pay a very high price,” Imad said.
Coalition of the willing
According to Al Arabiya, the following countries have pledged fighter jets to the Saudi campaign: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan and Egypt are offering naval ships, it said.
Arab and senior administration officials from the United States told CNN that an interagency U.S. coordination team is in Saudi Arabia. The sources said the Saudis have not specified what they want yet, but will probably ask for American air support, satellite imagery and other intelligence.
“We can help with logistics and intelligence and things like that, but there will be no military intervention by the U.S.,” a senior administration official said.
President’s location unclear
Meanwhile, there were still conflicting reports Wednesday about the whereabouts of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
A Houthi spokesman, Mohammed AlBukhaiti, said Hadi left Aden on a boat with a Saudi diplomatic team as the rebels approached the port city.
AlBukhaiti told CNN that Hadi went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
But a Saudi source told CNN’s Robertson that the President was still in Yemen early Thursday.
Earlier, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, “It’s pretty clear (Hadi) left voluntarily,” without saying where he had gone. She clarified that circumstances in Yemen caused him to leave his residence, but that rebels did not expel him.
Two senior administration officials said it’s unclear if he left Aden.
