Yemen rebels take port city, province near capital

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9. Blowback in Yemen: Houthi advance is a Saudi nightmare

Nothing illustrates the free-wheeling chaos of the Middle East better than what is going on in Yemen.

A small Iranian-backed north Yemeni militia, modeled on Hezbollah and from an offshoot of Shia Islam, has walked into the capital Sana’a, taken over Hodeida, Yemen’s main port on the Red Sea, and is now advancing southwards towards one of the most sensitive straits for oil traffic in the region. Cut off Bab Al-Mandab, or the Mandab Strait, between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa and you make the Suez Canal redundant.

The Houthi offensive, complete with chants of “Death to America, and Curse on the Jews” is being conducted under the nose of a US military base in Djibouti from where drones operated by the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command base attack Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Houthis are even protecting the US embassy in Sana’a.

Whatever the original demands of the Houthis were―they took part in the 2011 uprising and held non-violent protests against social injustice and economic corruption―today they look and act like a well armed, ideologically motivated force bent on seizing control. They have the capital, north Yemen’s main port, and they are now attacking Safer, Yemen’s largest oil company.

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1827/opinion/4485