Saudi-led Coalition Special Forces Landing in Yemen

After media reports stating that Saudi troops were engaging Houthi fighters after landing in the port city of Aden Sunday, the Saudi government denied deploying ground troops into Yemen. Journalists on the ground report that Yemeni militia were taking part in the attack. Other reports noted that the tribal fighters appear to have been accompanied by a “reconnaissance” force from the Saudi-led Coalition:

The coalition troops, who included black-clad masked men as well as Yemeni expatriates wearing military-style shorts, landed in a central area between Aden’s neighborhood of al-Mansoura and the airport, said the Yemeni officials and witnesses reached by The Associated Press inside Aden. They said helicopter gunships hovered above the landing area as the troops came ashore.

Other witnesses report that the coalition fighters were dressed in civilian clothes rather than uniforms.

Ali al-Ahmadi, a spokesman for the anti-Houthi group the Southern Popular Resistance, initially confirmed that coalition ground forces had landed in Aden Sunday and were now fighting alongside Southern Popular Resistance militants to take the Aden airport. However, al-Ahmadi would later retract the statement.  Saudis have continued to back the anti-Houthi fighters  with multiple airstrikes on Houthi military positions in Aden. The Houthis also deny the presence of Coalition fighters.

Sources on Twitter are claiming that a separate coalition force traveling in inflatable boats may have suffered a failed amphibious landing, or faced incoming fire from Houthi forces and forced to withdraw:

#Yemen – Confirmed Reports: two reconnaissance military boats of +30 mixed nationalities has been captured offshore #Aden by #Houthis.

— Hashim Almansoor (@AlmansoorHashim) May 4, 2015

@Leo_Iratus rumors flying that failed Naval Landing in #Aden was an ambush. Saudi forces were tricked into coordinating landing with Houthis

— OAB (@Leo_Iratus) May 4, 2015

Such reports are early and unconfirmed, but suggestive that coalition commando operations may be more extensive than previously reported. Reports indicate that fighting is underway to retake the Aden airport, from Houthi control, which would facilitate resupply, and the landing of additional forces if the coalition determines that it becomes necessary.

The Saudis, who have a reputation for being extremely casualty adverse, have continued to deny that a ground operation is underway. As we have previously discussed the Saudis are reluctant to establish a large footprint of boots on the ground in Yemen, even in the wake of a recent Houthi incursion on Saudi ground.  The employment of trained militias, backed by Gulf commandos,  could be a solution to augment the Saudi air campaign against the Houthi rebels. If sending commandos to aid local, ideologically and religiously similar militias against the local government works for Iran in Iraq, perhaps the Saudis believe that turnabout is fair play when employed against Iran’s proxies in Yemen.