Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthi rebels in Yemen is entering its final stages.
“I am confident that the Yemeni conflict has entered its final stage, and I’m optimistic,” Al-Jubeir said.
Crown Prince Salman and Adel Al-Jubeir at a meeting with CENTCOM chief General Lloyd Austin in Riyadh.
“There are indications that the war in Yemen is entering a final phase. The legitimate government forces are now in control of the vast majority of Yemeni territory. There still remain some areas that need to be liberated including Sanaa, but the trend is moving in the right direction.”
Although Saudi and other GCC forces are making gains in the country, victory may still yet prove elusive – or at least take a unconventional form. Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir cited the Houthis’ willingness to talk and recent gains by the coalition but, Angus McDowall in Reuters writes that this may be a premature prediction about the war’s end.
“Saudi military involvement in Yemen would have been unthinkable even a year ago, but with a new leadership and in the crucible of a region-wide struggle with Iran, Riyadh abandoned decades of backroom diplomacy… Riyadh is now immersed in a campaign that seems to be hinged on an early surrender by its foes. Its allies are weak and divided and the outcome of the conflict will go a long way towards determining its future role in the Middle East.”
Saudi Arabia seeks to restore the UN-recognized legitimate government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. “What emerges in Yemen may not be a resounding victory and restoration of stability that is being sought by Saudi Arabia, its allies, and the United States. Al Qaeda and the self-described Islamic State are fierce rivals in Yemen, and Al Qaeda, with years of experience in Yemen, is by far the more potent force,” write Zaid Al-Alayaa and Nabih Bulos in the Los Angeles Times.
Critics of the war point to the significant level of civilian deaths in the conflict, especially from aerial attacks by the coalition. In the eight months after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies began an aerial campaign, more than 5,600 people, including 2,615 civilians and 500 children, have been killed, writes Lauren Carasik in Al Jazeera.
Additionally, Yemen’s economy is a handyman’s dream, and the burden of rebuilding it may rest on Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and only actor able to undertake the responsibility. “Production of oil and gas has largely ceased; assistance by foreign aid agencies and donors, pivotal to projects throughout the country, has been all but suspended; and the local currency has been plummeting in value,” Al-Alayaa and Bulos write.
