.A large Saudi armored force crosses into Yemen to fight Iran-backed rebels
Thursday, Nov. 5, a substantial Saudi armored infantry force and tank column crossed the border into Yemen to do battle with Iran-backed Houthi rebels the day after they killed a Saudi border guard. Saudi air force F-15 and Tornado jets have been bombing Yemeni rebel positions near the border with the southern Saudi Jizan province since Wednesday. The Yemeni Houthi rebels are the second Iranian ally to be attacked after Israel's Cast Lead operation against the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza earlier this year, DEBKAfile's military sources report.
"This is not a hit-and-run, this is a sustained action" to clean out the rebel camps in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, said a Saudi source Thursday night.
Sources in Riyadh report a number of Saudi casualties in the first hours of combat. The Saudis decided to send troops into northern Yemen to wipe out the Yazdi Houthi bases after the rebels crossed into Jizan Tuesday, Nov. 3, and captured three villages in the rugged Jebel al-Dukhan district. They killed a Saudi soldier and injured eleven before being driven out.
At this point, the oil kingdom's royal rulers decided to draw the line lest the Yemeni revolt spill over into southern Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim tribes which have an affinity with the Yazdis, a branch of the Shia. Most of all, they are concerned to prevent pro-Iranian fighters from encroaching on Saudi soil.
In the last two weeks, Saudi warships have helped the Yemeni navy apprehend at least three ships bringing fresh arms supplies from Iran to the Houthis, by the same method as Tehran arms supplies reach Hizballah and Hamas.
Tehran denied it is sending weapons to the rebels, but the Saudi rulers decided that Iran had crossed too many red lines and it was time to go on the offensive before the throne was imperiled by Iranian proxy belligerence.
For the last five months, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been providing Yemeni president Abdullah Salah with military assistance against the Yazdi Houthi insurrection, mainly military equipment and ammunition.
Nonetheless, the Yemeni military has not been able to quell the rebellion. The Houthis' strength has been constantly reinforced from Tehran to the point that the Salah regime is in danger.
DebkaFiles
How much you want to bet they are crushed by Iran.
"This is not a hit-and-run, this is a sustained action" to clean out the rebel camps in coordination with the Yemeni authorities, said a Saudi source Thursday night.
Sources in Riyadh report a number of Saudi casualties in the first hours of combat. The Saudis decided to send troops into northern Yemen to wipe out the Yazdi Houthi bases after the rebels crossed into Jizan Tuesday, Nov. 3, and captured three villages in the rugged Jebel al-Dukhan district. They killed a Saudi soldier and injured eleven before being driven out.
At this point, the oil kingdom's royal rulers decided to draw the line lest the Yemeni revolt spill over into southern Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim tribes which have an affinity with the Yazdis, a branch of the Shia. Most of all, they are concerned to prevent pro-Iranian fighters from encroaching on Saudi soil.
In the last two weeks, Saudi warships have helped the Yemeni navy apprehend at least three ships bringing fresh arms supplies from Iran to the Houthis, by the same method as Tehran arms supplies reach Hizballah and Hamas.
Tehran denied it is sending weapons to the rebels, but the Saudi rulers decided that Iran had crossed too many red lines and it was time to go on the offensive before the throne was imperiled by Iranian proxy belligerence.
For the last five months, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been providing Yemeni president Abdullah Salah with military assistance against the Yazdi Houthi insurrection, mainly military equipment and ammunition.
Nonetheless, the Yemeni military has not been able to quell the rebellion. The Houthis' strength has been constantly reinforced from Tehran to the point that the Salah regime is in danger.
DebkaFiles
How much you want to bet they are crushed by Iran.
posted by madtom at 12:49 AM
17 Comments:
You think the Saudis are too soft? They have the equipment and logistics advantage, and probably all the US satellite intel they need. I'd expect some biblical style massacres largely unreported. I have my money on the Saudis, but if the Iranians decide to go all out, things could get real complicated real fast. They make a mistake and they may find their nuclear ambitions in real trouble-- unless the already have a few in stock which wouldn't come as a great surprise to me.
Oh please the Saudis are the laziest people on the planet, beside they get rid of all their good soldiers in Afghanistan and such to protect the kingdom from coup. They wont last ten minutes. But that is where the fun begins. Next the kingdom will fall and AQ will take right over. You really think they are not walking right into a trap?
You know, I've been thinking. Maybe we have answered an important question.
Obama must be Shi'a
That's a pretty wild analysis and prediction. I haven't seen anything that indicates to me that the rebels have the capability of doing anything more than harassment and otherwise being a pain in the ass. But, if Iran gets involved in a way that changes that, I think it more likely they will be the one falling into a trap. They don't have any real friends outside, and maybe inside, their own borders right now. If you think it's going to be more than a little skirmish, buy US defense industry stocks--- and gold. And domestic energy stocks. To be honest, I'm not so sure that a hot Sunni-Shia war wouldn't be a net plus right now. It seems pretty obvious that one is coming sooner or later and later would likely have less upside for us.
"It seems pretty obvious that one is coming sooner or later and later would likely have less upside for us."
You might be right, there're no time like the present.
A few bombs during pilgrimage couldn't hurt either.
Well, I'd prefer the war take place between governments and not regular dumb Abdullahs just trying to do their thing, but that isn't the way they like to do things, is it? But Iran is going to have some nuclear devices in the near future if they don't have them already, and next to Israel, they have a hard on for the apostate Sunnis and a burning desire to bring back that 12th guy so they can rule the world and all... yeah, might as well try to press their hand now before they are ready.
How about this one. I see two possibilities, the Iranians, with their AQ friends are hiding behind the bushes, or sand dunes, they will dissect the Saudis one by one, or there is no one hiding behind the bushes just a few well placed rebels and the Saudis are going to cut down mostly shia peasants preferably in front of cameras. That should spark some outcries of Sunni barbarism 13 Imams and the rest, which could in part spark some rebellion inside the kingdom and around the world.
Dead Sunnies, or Bad Sunnies, take your pick, there both good.
Oh well, I'll be in prison for refusing the Pelosi mandate when I drop my coverage and refuse to pay for the government plan. I'm not submitting to those idiots in DC or those thugs in Iran, either.
Or drafted, we may meet one day yet Will, in this world or the next.
My young friend, you may get drafted but I'm old enough to be among the first to be exempted from the draft. But I joined anyway, pissed off that they didn't wait long enough for me to win the VN war. Oh to be so young and dumb once more! It's easier being old an dumb cuz you think you shouldn't be expected to actually DO anything at my age except bitch.
But, his Oliness has yet to introduce that new civilian force to equal the US military to bring about real Change in America!, so who knows what the age limit will be for Storm Troopers for the New Millennium?. You think O will have P Diddy design our uniforms? I would proudly serve alongside. You bring high energy explosives, I have the personnel weapons ready and waiting.
You know what, that sort of kidding around sounds way too plausible in the current environment. Forget I said anything, OK?
"I'm old enough"
The camp are going to need roofs
They won't be handing me any tools if Google is anywhere close to what I think it is.
You give me a hammer and a stick of dynamite and I'll show you how to do some damage.
Google? Did you own the stock?
Enough to fence in your own compound and bunker.
Your drunk
See, I knew you knew me!
When my grandchildren ask me what I was doing when the Pelosi/Kennedy Health care Reform Bill passed I can say I had a documented issue with legal drugs and they took advantage of me! Or, I was too ignorant to know what was good for me, depending on how things turn out.
Drudge is a fucking genius. His headline and picture choice tonight is just priceless--- saved it to memory. Not mine, my computers which is immune to human frailties.
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