Clashes Spread Across Yemen from the CFR

Clashes Spread Across Yemen

Clashes between the Yemeni regime and prominent tribal forces continued in the capital of Sanaa today, as the country marches closer to outright civil war (al-Jazeera). Violence also persisted in the southern city of Taiz, where over fifty people have died since the weekend, and the coastal town of Zinjibar, where the forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh have pounded a suspected al-Qaeda insurrection. The Obama administration dispatched top counterterrorism official John Brennan to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in order to increase pressure on Saleh to sign a Gulf-brokered transition agreement--which he has balked at three times already. The United States and its allies in the region fear the chaos in Yemen could spill over to neighboring countries and threaten strategic oil supply lines (Reuters).

In Sanaa, tribal leaders claim hundreds more fighters are mobilizing to support chief Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar--leader of the influential Hashid tribal federation (BBC). Fresh conflict has concentrated in the city's northern Hassaba neighborhood, where government and tribal fighters battle over strategic buildings. Saleh reportedly deployed U.S.-trained Yemeni counterterrorism forces (WSJ) to engage opposition troops commanded by General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar--the country's most prominent military defector. U.S. officials have warned Saleh not to use U.S.-trained forces or weapons against protestors, a contingency that might force Washington to cut aid to the Yemeni regime.

Analysis:

In the CTC Sentinel, Christopher Boucek and Mara Revkin outline the political, economic, and security factors fueling the ongoing violence in Yemen.

This editorial from ArabNews.com discusses the crisis in Yemen and the political intransigence of President Saleh.

In this article for the Huffington Post, Robert Barret discusses the unfolding conflict in Yemen, the role of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and the threat of Yemen becoming the "next Afghanistan."

This CFR issue guide provides a range of background and analysis on the protests in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and on U.S. policy in the region.

Background:

This Reuters timeline lays out the progression of events in the ongoing Yemen political crisis.