This somewhat funny battle map of Yemen was posted by Haykal Bafana some five weeks ago.
The last bigger post on the war on Yemen here was on September 9. Since then nothing important happened there to write about. Little has changed in the positions on the battlefield. The daily Saudi bombing of the cities continues, the Saudi/U.S. blockade on the country continues and a wide raging famine is imminent.
The Houthis are still fighting the Saudis in Marib in the north-east. They are still invading the former Yemeni areas in Saudi Arabia in the north. They are still targeting Saudi ships that come near the Yemeni coast in the west. (Two were allegedly hit.) They still indiscriminately shell Saudi coalition positions in Taiz. Al-Qaeda and Islamic State groups are still gobbling up more territory in the south-east and around Aden. The Saudi attack on the Yemeni highlands and Sanaa is still stuck right where it started.
The Saudi/U.S. coalition included troops from the UAE which had landed in Aden. They brought in the Saudi sponsored "government" of the former president Hadi. But Hadi left the country after just 24 hours on the ground and the building the "government" occupied in Aden was targeted by double suicide car bombs. Some more UAE troops were killed and the "government" went back to reside in a convention center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The UAE troops now keep to their camps.
The "vice president" Khaled Bahah is trying to arrange some peace talks but neither the Saudis nor anyone else is listening to him. The UN is also arranging peace talks but nobody expects any results. The Saudi lunatic "young leader" Mohammad bin Salman-un wants to get whatever he wants or continue the war.
Last week troops from Sudan, paid by the Saudis, landed in Aden. The U.S. is now in a coalition with Sudan even as it accuses the same troops of genocide in Darfur. Yesterday the soldiers from Sudan were attacked with a suicide car bomb and some 15 of them died. Some 500 troops are also suppose to come from Mauritania. They will fare no better. The Saudis also hired 800 Christian mercenaries from Columbia. Al Qaeda and IS are feverishly waiting for them.
The Saudis really believe they can buy everyone and anything and achieve the results they favor. But non of the bribes they paid to this or that Yemeni tribe to fight the Houthis changed the position on the ground. All their high tech weapons fail to decide or end the conflict. None of their mercenary troops have a chance against fiercely independent Yemenis defending their homes. All the support the U.S. gives the Saudis only brings more death, destruction and misery.
This war on Yemen is the most stupid one I can think of. There is nothing to win for anybody. Who will tell the Saudis?