Friday, August 14, 2009

Yemen's Saada in turmoil

The Yemeni government launched a fresh offensive against Shiite rebels in the restive northern Saada governorate on 11 August in what regional analysts are pitting as the beginning of the 6th Saada war since 2004. Shiite rebels, who favour the formation of a Hashemite kingdom in Yemen, have captured a number of towns and strategic mountain top positions in recent months forcing the government's hand. The army will be keen to force the Houthis to negotiate as soon as possible as a protracted war is not in the interests of the Yemeni state, which is already battling to stem growing secessionist sentiment in southern Yemen and rising Islamist extremism in its eastern governorates.

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