Aden, Riyadh: The Saudi-led coalition has not started any major ground offensive in Yemen’s port city of Aden, its spokesman said on Sunday after a Yemeni newspaper reported that an Arab force had landed in the city and was battling Al Houthi fighters.
Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said there were no non-Yemeni forces fighting in Aden, but said the coalition would continue to assist local militias fighting Al Houthis. He said he could not comment on whether the coalition had deployed any special forces to Aden.
A Yemeni government official and a militia commander had said earlier that a “limited” number of Saudi-led ground troops deployed in Yemen’s second city Aden on Sunday to support loyalist groups fighting the Al Houthi militia, .
“A limited coalition force entered Aden and another force is on its way” to the southern port city, said the official who requested anonymity.
A leading member of the popular committees, a locally recruited militia loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, said that the force “will start helping us in fighting” Al Houthis.
He said the troops will mainly back pro-Hadi fighters around the rebel-held international airport, which was the focus of renewed heavy fighting overnight.
Other militia commanders confirmed that a few dozen coalition soldiers, mostly from Gulf states, were on the ground in Aden.
Yemen’s Al Ghad newspaper reported that an Arab ground force arrived in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday and started fighting Al Houthi forces.
“The first push of the Arab ground force arrived on Sunday morning in Aden and began to take part in battle,” the newspaper said, citing its reporters. The newspaper is linked to southern separatists demanding the restoration of the southern state that merged with North Yemen in 1990.
Military officials said at least 20 Arab coalition troops had landed in Aden on a “reconnaissance” mission.
The officials and witnesses reached in Aden said the black-clad and masked troops landed Sunday in a central area between the city’s neighborhood of Al Mansoura and the airport. They said helicopter gunships hovered above the landing area.
There were no reports of fighting between the Arab troops and Al Houthis and their supporters, who have for weeks been trying to capture the strategic port city on the Arabian Sea.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorised to brief journalists.
Defending Aden are fighters loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled Aden to neighboring Saudi Arabia in March.
The coalition declared an end to its Operation Storm of Resolve on April 21, saying the campaign would enter a new phase dubbed Renewal of Hope focused on political efforts, aid deliveries and fighting terrorism.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Assiri had said repeatedly during the first phase that a ground intervention was on the table if needed.
The Saudi-led coalition has been conducting an air war against the rebels and their allies since March 26 but this is the first reported ground deployment inside the country.
