Saudi-backed forces “enter Yemeni port, open new front”January 7, 2016 - 12:24 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Saudi-backed Yemeni forces landed by sea at the Red Sea port of Maydee near the border with Saudi Arabia late on Wednesday, January 6 residents said, opening up a new front in a nine-month-old civil war, Reuters reports. Northern Yemen is a stronghold of the Iranian-allied Houthi group, which has seized large parts of Yemen including the capital from forces loyal to the embattled Saudi-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Hadi's forces attempted to push from Maydee's port, pounded for weeks by air strikes and naval shelling, into the surrounding city, but ran into heavy Houthi resistance and landmines, residents told Reuters by telephone. Major General Adel Qumairi of the pro-government forces told Saudi-owned Arabiya TV that his forces had "completely taken control" of the city. But Yemen's state news agency Saba, run by the Houthis, quoted Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for forces allied to the group, as saying the advance had been met by "heroic resistance" that caused them "great material and human losses". Residents of Sanaa reported over 30 Saudi-led air strikes overnight on Houthi targets, in one of the capital's fiercest aerial bombardments of the war. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies has been fighting the Shi'ite Houthi movement to repel what it sees as creeping influence by the group's ally, Iran, Saudi Arabia's bitter rival for influence across the Middle East. The Houthis deny being under Iran's influence and say they are fighting a revolution against a corrupt government and Gulf Arab powers beholden to the West. The Saudi spokesman for the coalition, Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, told Al Arabiya that a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at the kingdom overnight had exploded on launch. Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced the end of a truce that had reduced fighting but had been repeatedly violated by both sides. Photo: Reuters/ Stringer Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | SBP instant transfers now available from 190 Russian banks to Armenia To receive money from Russian banks, easywallet users need to go to their easywallet accounts. Lemkin Institute urges Armenia to respect people’s right to dissent The Lemkin Institute has urged the Armenian government to respect people’s fundamental human right to express their dissent. French-Armenian journalist returns to France after 41-day hunger strike Nicolian said on social media on Sunday, June 2 that he needs to improve his health in order to “continue the fight”. Iran’s Red Crescent sends aid to Armenia’s flood-hit regions The Iranian Red Crescent Society has sent humanitarian aid to the victims of deadly floods that hit northern Armenia on May 25-26. |