12-07-2015, 10:14 AM
(continued)
Yemen's security forces have split loyalties, with some units backing President Hadi, who was driven out of the country, and others backing the Houthis and Mr Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has remained politically influential. Mr Hadi is also supported in the predominantly Sunni south of the country by militia known as Popular Resistance Committees and local tribesmen.
Both President Hadi (Sunni, US-backed) and the Houthis (Shia, Iran-backed) are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has staged numerous deadly attacks from its strongholds in the south and south-east.
The picture is further complicated by the emergence in late 2014 of a Yemen affiliate of the jihadist group Islamic State, which seeks to eclipse AQAP and claims it carried out a series of suicide bombings in Sanaa in March 2015.
After rebel forces closed in on the president's southern stronghold of Aden in late March, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia responded to a request by Mr Hadi to intervene and launched air strikes on Houthi targets. The coalition comprises Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
Ref: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
Yemen's security forces have split loyalties, with some units backing President Hadi, who was driven out of the country, and others backing the Houthis and Mr Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has remained politically influential. Mr Hadi is also supported in the predominantly Sunni south of the country by militia known as Popular Resistance Committees and local tribesmen.
Both President Hadi (Sunni, US-backed) and the Houthis (Shia, Iran-backed) are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has staged numerous deadly attacks from its strongholds in the south and south-east.
The picture is further complicated by the emergence in late 2014 of a Yemen affiliate of the jihadist group Islamic State, which seeks to eclipse AQAP and claims it carried out a series of suicide bombings in Sanaa in March 2015.
After rebel forces closed in on the president's southern stronghold of Aden in late March, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia responded to a request by Mr Hadi to intervene and launched air strikes on Houthi targets. The coalition comprises Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.
Ref: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423