Qatar has sent 1,000 ground troops to
Yemen, according to a report by Al Jazeera television. Many fear that
violence in the already war-torn country might escalate even more as the
Arab coaltion forces are preparing to launch a major ground attack.
The Arab-coalition is performing
air-strikes against the Shia rebels, known as Houthis, since March but
it recently decided to escalate even more its intervention in the Middle
Eastern state. The soldiers from Qatar will most probably participate
in an offensive against the Houthis who hold the capital of Yemen,
Sanaa. France24 reported that the Saudi-owned al Arabiya satellite
network said that Saudi reinforcements also crossed a border post
between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
A Qatar-based defence source told Al
Jazeera TV that the number of Qatari troops was less than 1,000 and he
added that “they are as of now not deployed in Yemen but in Saudi Arabia
to protect the border.” However, Jean-Marc Rickli, a professor at
King’s College London who is teaching at Qatar National Defence College,
told Reuters that the Qatari troops “will probably take part in the
overall war effort to retake the capital after the coalition
successfully recaptured Aden last month.”
The Arab coalition supports the exiled by
the rebels, Yemeni government and fights against the Houthis and allied
troops loyal to former president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Shia
rebels forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in March and
Saudi Arabia, which supports Hadi, immediately formed a coalition to
support the exiled Yemeni government. Saudi Arabia also accuses Iran of
supporting the rebels, while the oil-rich country has the support of the
US.
However, many NGOs and the UN urge the
Coalition and the Houthis to respect the international law as the
civilian casualties in Yemen increase every day. Most of the critic is
towards the coalition airstrikes as they hit populated areas and crucial
infrastructures, causing severe civilian casualties. So far, 4,500
people have been killed in the Yemen conflict, including hundreds of
children. UNICEF reported on 19 August, that the conflict in Yemen has
left more than 1000 children dead or injured.
UN also reported in August that sieges in a
number of Yemen governorates, including Aden, Al Dhali, Lahj and Taiz,
have been preventing staple food items, such as wheat, from reaching the
civilian population, while airstrikes have reportedly targeted local
markets and trucks laden with food items. Hilal Elver, the UN Special
Rapporteur on the right to food even expressed her concern, over the
possibly deliberate starvation of civilians.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/qatar-sent-1000-troops-to-yemen/