Yemen leader's loyalists drive Houthis from Aden
Houthi rebels withdraw from city centre as Saudi planes drop medical aid and weapons to forces backing president.
03 Apr 2015 17:17 GMT | War & Conflict, Middle East
Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a spokesman for the Arab coalition told a press conference air strikes had significantly degraded the Houthi fighters' military capacities and Hadi loyalists had gained ground in the city.
Asiri said the Houthis were only creating "media opportunities" when they captured the presidential residence in Aden, and were cornered in some areas.
Despite inflicting heavy losses on the Houthis, the airstrikes might not be enough to halt their advance, said Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, who has reported extensively on Yemen.
"Airstrikes have never really been so decisive. The Houthis can easily blend with the local population and they have almost the entire support of the Yemeni army," he said.
"They [Saudi-led coalition] know they cannot win this war without putting troops on the ground...they are probably waiting for more weakening of Houthi defences [before they do that]."
Asiri accepted it would be difficult for the Saudi-led coalition to eliminate the Houthis entirely because they were moving in many small groups.
Early on Friday, warplanes from the coalition dropped crates of weapons and medical supplies by parachute over Tawahi, a district on the far end of the Aden peninsula which is still held by Hadi loyalists, fighters told the Reuters news agency.
More at:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/yemen-leader-loyalists-drive-houthis-aden-150403132431234.html
The crates included light weapons, telecommunications equipment and rocket-propelled grenades, they said.
The coalition, which is trying to reassert Hadi's authority as a prelude to political negotiations, has repeatedly said that sending ground troops into Yemen remains an option but not an automatic move.
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