"The scale of the failed operation is huge with pro-Hadi troops having been bombed by UAE warplanes ..."
It looks to me as if the divide I noted on July 17 between Saudi Arabia and the Emiratis just got a little wider. (See also my July 22 post, The Saudi-Emirati divide is older than the Yemen War.)
Saudi-Backed Offensive To Retake Aden Ends In Total Defeat, Fast Retreat
September 1, 2019 - 06:15:55
Muraselon [H/T Joshua Landis]
The scale of the failed operation is huge with pro-Hadi troops having been bombed by UAE warplanes, routed amid their over-extended advance by Southern Resistance (or Southern Transitional Council; STC) militants and forced into a disorganized retreat out of Aden city.
According to reports, about fifty government troops were killed during the brief offensive operation which saw Saudi-backed forces enter Aden in an attempt to wrest back control of it from the STC militants.
As of the present time, pro-Hadi military units pushed back to the outer vicinity of Aden are completely on the defensive; the state of government forces in nearby Abyan Province (who made gains in the region four days ago) may also be compromised by this defeat – the coming days will likely tell.
Precision airstrikes conducted by UAE warplanes are said to have been a key factor in the initial blunting of the Yemen government offensive and then turning it back on itself.
Furthermore, reports have emerged that STC fighters have now launched a mass arrest operation across Aden to round-up known pro-Hadi loyalists.
It is obvious the separatist group now intends to consolidate its control over the city.
All in all, the event is a testament to the long-known incompetence of Saudi-backed Yemen government forces who have been advertised as a legitimate and trained army but which in practice have proven to be nothing more than a rag-tag mercenary militia.
[END REPORT]
Yuppers, the Saudis are quite upset about the situation:
Saudis Rail Against UAE ‘Betrayal’ as Yemen Fighting Grows
Yuppers, the Saudis are quite upset about the situation:
Saudis Rail Against UAE ‘Betrayal’ as Yemen Fighting Grows
UAE statement refers to Saudi-backed forces as 'terrorists'
By Jason Ditz
August 30, 2019
Antiwar.com
Increasingly open warfare in South Yemen between the Saudi-backed government and the UAE-backed separatists has brought the two Gulf allies into an ugly war of words, and in some cases on Thursday, airstrikes.
The Yemeni government is furious over UAE airstrikes, and that anger is spreading into Saudi Arabia, where there are growing calls on social media to “expel” the UAE from the invasion coalition for what people are describing as a “betrayal.”
Saudi analysts are accusing the UAE of only joining the war to occupy southern ports and islands. That’s actually a long-standing concern, though the Saudis only seem to be noticing that issue now that they are at odds.
UAE officials are being very straightforward about what happened, and are making no bones about defending the attack on the pro-Saudi forces, and backing the separatist groups they’ve long supported.
The UAE Foreign Ministry took things a step farther in their statement, labeling the Saudi-backed forces as “terrorist militias,” and defending their “precise and direct airstrikes” aimed at defending the southern capital of Aden.
The Southern Transitional Council, the UAE-backed force, occupied Aden in early August and has vowed to liberate the whole south of Yemen to declare it as independent. The Saudi-backed forces have tried to reclaim Aden this week, though ultimately were unsuccessful.
[END REPORT]
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