Yemeni government says to attend UN-sponsored talks with Houthis

Also on Sunday, al-Qaida militants set up security checkpoints and began enforcing sex segregation at the sole college in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, neutral and pro-government security officials there said. He echoed claims by Gulf powers that Yemen’s Shiite Houthis are receiving backing from the Iranian government.

The United Nations could not immediately be reached for comment but its deputy secretary general, Jan Eliasson, said on Thursday he hoped negotiations to end the war could start by the end of October, despite “deep mistrust” between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But Islamic State has also hit out against the Arab military alliance supporting Yemen’s embattled government. “Any accusation that civilians are being intentionally targeted by the coalition is simply propaganda being disseminated by those who are using Yemen as a staging ground for their violent, revolutionary agenda”. Corker credited the Saudi-led coalition’s “use of American equipment and training with surprising effectiveness”.

The coalition is trying to reinstate the government of President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, which crumbled after rebels overtook the capital, Sana’a, last year, forcing him to flee to Saudi Arabia. One official from the Hadi administration told Reuters that “the coalition raid hit the wrong target”.

The United States thus has strong policy and legal reasons for pressuring Saudi Arabia to end the carnage in Yemen, as well as very significant leverage on the Saudis. That law prohibits military sales to forces that have engaged in gross violations of human rights, which would obviously include the blatant violations of the laws of war committed in Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition has had its successes, retaking Aden in July and driving the Houthi forces and followers of Saleh from southern Yemen.

In a videotaped message, an IS commander thus stated their objective: “We have come to Yemen, with men hungry for your blood to avenge the Sunnis and take back the land they have occupied”.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media while witnesses declined to give their names for fear of reprisals. “Their position is we have these guys on the run, so why stop now”.