According to reports, the Egyptian President Adbel-Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz met on Saturday to discuss a joint ground attack on Yemen.
Sunday, there are reports coming in that a “limited” Saudi-led force is already on the ground in Yemen’s strategic port of Aden and more troops are on their way, a government official has confirmed to AFP. About 20 troops have landed in the city for a “reconnaissance”.
Fars News Agency reports:
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Sisi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz in a meeting in the Saudi capital on Saturday discussed the military ground incursion into Yemen, the Arabic-language Al-Watan newspaper quoted a Yemeni source as saying on Sunday.
The source said the two came up with the decision to launch a military invasion of Yemen in a bid to take control of the Arab country’s sensitive and strategic regions.
Reports said on Sunday that a limited number of Saudi-led ground troops have crossed the border with Yemen, while several other units have been helliborne to Aden to help Al-Qaeda terrorists and forces loyal to fugitive president Mansour Hadi.
Both AFP and RT confirmed the report, with RT saying that the number of the troops in Aden stands at 40-50. RT quoted a report in Yemen’s local Al-Ghad daily that is linked to Southern separatists, who demand the restoration of the Southern state that merged with North Yemen 15 years ago.
But, the Saudi news website Al-Arabiya denied the report, quoting Ahmed al-Asiri, the spokesman of the Saudi military operations, as saying that the coalition “has not started any major ground operation in the Yemeni port of Aden”.
The Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen TV also quoted an informed military source as saying that no Saudi ground attack or deployment has taken place.
Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 39 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 3,163 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.
Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.
Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.
Niamh Harris
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