Saudi-Linked Coalition Forces Bombard Houthi Rebels, Regain Upper Hand In Yemen, Analysts Say

Fighters allied with a Saudi-led coalition captured Shabwa province this weekend and made inroads in another major city, Taiz, in the country’s south. Combined, the victories gave the fighting group, known as the Popular Resistance, the upper hand in the battle to oust Houthi rebels from power, analysts on the ground said on social media Sunday.

The conflict in Yemen is the result of a power struggle among Shiite Houthi rebels and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants and troops loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi is living in exile in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis, largely backed by Iran, withdrew from Shabwa Saturday under an agreement with local tribes and officials, a Houthi official said, allowing the Popular Resistance to seize power. By Sunday, the Popular Resistance forces, loyal to Hadi, were also making gains in Taiz, a strategic southern city held by the Houthis since March, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In Taiz, the Popular Resistance forces took control of the governor’s office and other government buildings, but Houthis still controlled a number of outposts.

“We will keep fighting until we liberate the whole country and establish a state of law and order,” said Rashad al-Sharabi, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance in Taiz, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Rashad al-Sharaabi, a spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees in Taiz, told Agence France-Presse 10 rebels and four loyalist fighters were killed in the past 24 hours.

The wins for the coalition this weekend point to the turning tide in the war.

Earlier this month, the coalition landed at least one armored brigade in the southern port of Aden. The brigade consists of 3,000 fighters from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Economist reported. The force is equipped with French Leclerc main battle tanks, Russian BMD-3 infantry fighting vehicles and American mine-resistant troop carriers.

That force then bombarded and outgunned the Houthis, who retreated to surrounding hills. Pro-government forces took back the military base at al-Anad, the biggest air base in Yemen. If pro-government forces maintain a presence there, Saudi Arabia and the UAE can transport aircraft and fighter-bombers to widen the scope of the offensive and drive the Houthis out of much of the south, the Economist reported.

The conflict in Yemen has killed about 4,300 people since March, half of them civilians, according to U.N. estimates. Eighty percent of Yemen's 21 million people have been left in need of aid and protection.