Ground incursion looms over Yemen
Oversized military trucks painted in desert beige hauled tanks in the same camouflage color down a dark highway late Saturday past glowing billboards in the Saudi Arabian town of Jazan.
With the border with Yemen little more than 20 miles away, the trucks captured on a video distributed by the news agency Reuters also carried a message: Suggestions of a ground incursion into Yemen, which is in the throws of a Houthi rebel uprising, may be more than just talk.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have both spoken about the possibility of putting boots on the ground before. And on Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said he expected coalition troops to be in Yemen within days.
Saudi leaders have said that if troops do go in, they won't leave until they have degraded the Houthis' ability to do battle, CNN's Ian Lee reported. The Houthis are apt guerrillas. A fight on the ground could prove bloody and lengthy.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Shia Houthis, who deposed the Yemeni government and seized territory in a series of offensives, began its military action last week.
Saudi Arabia has set up a blockade, effectively cutting off Houthi supply lines, and its air force controls Yemeni airspace. They have threatened to attack ships that might supply the rebels.
The Shia Houthis are allied with Iran, a majority Shia nation. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of beefing up the Houthis' weaponry for their offensive.
The United States voiced approval of the airstrikes. It's supporting them logistically and aiding coalition forces in locating targets, but it is not participating in active battle.
Houthi rebels and the government began doing battle in 2004, but arrived at a ceasefire in 2010, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country has seen much unrest in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising.
Yemen was plunged into chaos when the Houthi rebels, who have long felt marginalized in the majority Sunni country, began seizing control of the capital and other areas of the country last fall.
Houthis moved into Sanaa in September, sparking battles that killed a few hundred people before a ceasefire was called. In January, they surrounded the presidential palace and Hadi resigned and was put under house arrest.
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