7/18/2019 Yemeni Rebels Persist Even as Their Home Region is Destroyed in War

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 Yemeni rebels persist evenas their home region isdestroyed in war

Damage is seen following a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's northwestern city of Saada

May 22, 2!"# $Stringer%&euters

(y )li al-Mu*ahed and +ugh aylor  une 2!

SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Houthi rebels are enduring fierce bombing raids in their

northern strongholds, as a Saudi-led campaign pounds neighborhoods, markets and

power facilities, according to residents and aid workers.

7/18/2019 Yemeni Rebels Persist Even as Their Home Region is Destroyed in War

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ut the insurgents ha!e not onl" sur!i!ed — the" are threatening to push the war

 be"ond this countr"’s borders.

Since earl" #a", the rebels and their allies ha!e launched near-dail" attacks o!er the

mountainous border into Saudi Arabia, e!en firing a Scud missile, according to Houthifighters and foreign anal"sts. $he Houthis sa" that the" ha!e killed do%ens of Saudi

soldiers and ci!ilians.

$he Saudi attacks and rebel response are raising the tempo of the three-month-old

 war, which has dramaticall" worsened a long-standing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

“$here’s a risk that with continued aerial bombardment of Houthi targets, the Houthis,

in turn, will push e!en harder to attack southern pro!inces &of Saudi Arabia', creating

a securit" disaster for the Saudis,( said $heodore )arasik, a *ubai-based e+pert on

#iddle astern militar" issues.

 Anal"sts sa" that the Houthis ma" be tr"ing to pro!oke the Saudis into launching

ground attacks in northern Yemen, which could lea!e them with hea!" casualties. n

//0, Houthi rebels killed more than 1// Saudi troops in border skirmishes. $he

recent Houthi cross-border attacks also ma" be intended to strengthen the rebels’

 bargaining position at 2.N.-sponsored peace talks that began $uesda".

 [  In Yemen, thousands of child soldiers join the fight  ] 

$he Saudis and a mostl" Arab coalition launched the air war in #arch, after the Houthi

rebels o!erthrew  the go!ernment of 3resident Abed 4abbo #ansour Hadi and pushed

to the southern cit" of Aden. Saudi Arabia, the region’s foremost Sunni power, !iews

the Shiite rebels as pro+ies of its enem", Shiite ran.

4esidents and aid workers sa" that the Saudi-led offensi!e has been especiall"

de!astating in northern Saada pro!ince, the Houthi heartland, a destitute farming

region. $here, neighborhoods and !illages ha!e been le!eled, the" sa".

7/18/2019 Yemeni Rebels Persist Even as Their Home Region is Destroyed in War

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“$he le!el of destruction in Saada is 5uite o!erwhelming,( said $eresa Sancrist6!al, an

emergenc" coordinator with the aid group *octors 7ithout orders. 2ntil late last

month , she worked at the 4epublican Hospital in Saada 8it", the onl" functioning

medical center in the pro!ince. $he airstrikes ha!e hit power facilities, banks and

nearl" e!er" go!ernment building, she said. She recalled that the hospital recei!ed a

stead" stream of wounded ci!ilians.

rig. 9en. Ahmed Asseri, spokesmen for the Saudi-led coalition, declined to discuss

the number of coalition air raids conducted in Saada. He denied that ci!ilians are being

targeted, emphasi%ing that :precise weapons( are used if Houthis create :command-

and-control centers among ci!ilians.(

$he Houthi leadership, based in Saada, has weathered the wa!e of Saudi bombings,

according to rebels and anal"sts. ;ighters use the region’s crags and ca!es for co!er,

the" sa". And the rebels sa" the" are now taking the fight to their enemies.

“ 7e’re killing their soldiers and threatening their cities,( said Ali Abdullatif, <=, a

Houthi rebel who said he had participated in cross-border raids from Saada.

$he Houthi fighters ha!e been firing artiller" at Saudi militar" posts and cities and

launching guerrilla attacks on Saudi troops along the border.

n #a", Houthi attacks forced the Saudis to cancel flights and close schools in Na>ran,

a Saudi cit" near the border.

arlier this month, rogue Yemeni militar" units working with the rebels fired a Scud

missile from Saada toward Saudi Arabia’s largest air force base, located near the

southwestern cit" of )hamis #ushait. According to Saudi media reports, the missile

 was intercepted. $he Houthi allies appear to ha!e a number of such missiles, which

ha!e a range of // miles or farther, anal"sts sa".

 Asseri, the Saudi spokesman, declined to disclose figures on Saudi forces and ci!ilians

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killed in the Houthi cross-border raids.

$he Saudis had hoped that their bombing campaign and an air and na!al blockade of

 Yemen would force the Houthis to pull back to the north and allow the reinstatement

of Hadi’s go!ernment, which currentl" operates out of 4i"adh, Saudi Arabia’s capital.

ut those ob>ecti!es ha!e not been achie!ed, dealing an embarrassing blow to Saudi

 Arabia’s leaders, said 8hristopher *a!idson, an e+pert on 3ersian 9ulf countries at

*urham 2ni!ersit" in ritain.

He said that continued rebel attacks could be especiall" damaging to the credibilit" of

*eput" 8rown 3rince #ohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. $he

 "oung leader is o!erseeing the war, which is part of a more asserti!e foreign polic"

adopted b" his father, )ing Salman, who ascended the throne in ?anuar".

“;or the Houthis to win, all the" ha!e to do is hold their positions,( *a!idson said.

 .he war/s toll$he destruction in Saada reflects the mounting toll from the war. #illions of Yemenis

are suffering shortages of food, water and fuel. Air raids and battles between Saudi-

aligned militias and the Houthis and their allies ha!e killed more than ,=// people,

 wounded appro+imatel" 11,/// and displaced more than half a million, according to

the 2nited Nations.

 [ War in Yemen pushes health-care facilities to the brink of collapse ] 

$he Houthi fighters honed their guerrilla tactics in Saada during an insurgenc" that began in //@. After an uprising in /11 that unseated Yemen’s longtime president, Ali

 Abdullah Saleh, the rebels became the countr"’s dominant power.

$ameem al-Shami, a health ministr" spokesman in the Houthi-dominated go!ernment

in the capital, Sanaa, said that the Saudi air raids ha!e hit food markets, medical

7/18/2019 Yemeni Rebels Persist Even as Their Home Region is Destroyed in War

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facilities and at least fi!e ambulances in Saada. ut collecting data on ci!ilian

casualties is difficult, he said.

 Adnan al-afla, </, said that he spent a month li!ing in ca!es with his wife and two

children after planes from the Saudi-led coalition began pounding his !illage in thea5im area of Saada earl" last month.

“ 7e tried to get back to our !illage to collect our belongings, but there was nothing left.

Bur home and C/ other homes were completel" destro"ed,( said afla, who fled to

Sanaa this month.

 7omen and children were among those killed b" the airstrikes, he said.

n a report last month, Human 4ights 7atch accused the Saudi coalition of targeting

Saada with cluster bombs, which can be especiall" lethal to ci!ilians because the"

scatter small munitions o!er a wide area.

$he Houthis appear to be flaunting their attacks from Saada and other areas near the

Saudi border. Dideo footage purporting to show recent rebel strikes on Saudi troops

has been posted on social media sites, though the authenticit" of the images could not

 be !erified.

#ohammed al-ukhaiti, a senior Houthi official based in the capital, declined to sa"

how man" raids the rebels had conducted in Saudi Arabia.

“f the Saudis donEt halt their attacks, then all options are still open for us to respond,(

he said b" telephone.

 Abdullatif, the Houthi rebel, said b" telephone that the destruction in Saada has

caused residents to rall" around the Houthis.

“$he Saudi attacks ha!e done nothing but unite us,( he said.

7/18/2019 Yemeni Rebels Persist Even as Their Home Region is Destroyed in War

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 Naylor reported from Beirut

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+ugh aylor is a (eirut-based correspondent for .he 0ost# +ehas reported from over a do1en countries in the Middle ast for suchpublications as .he ational, an )bu Dhabi-based newspaper, and .he ew

 York .imes#

3osted b" $ha!am