Resumption of Yemen strikes a sign battle entering new phase

The resumption of Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen a day after announcing an end to the nearly month-long bombing campaign is a sign that fighting there is entering a new, uncertain phase.

"All sides are taking stock of where they are in this conflict," said Matthew McInnis, a former military intelligence analyst at U.S. Central Command now at the American Enterprise Institute. "The likelihood of continued fighting is high, and the Saudis will have to judge whether they will commit ground troops."

Wednesday's airstrikes took place in the southern port city of Aden and the central city of Taiz as battles between rebels, or Houthis, and supporters of exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi continued.

Saudi Arabia has made it "very clear we will not allow them to take control of Yemen by force," Saudi ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in the Saudi embassy in Washington on Wednesday.

"The objective now is to go after strategic targets to prevent Houthis' aggressive movements in Yemen," he said. "It's their decision if to enter the political process or whether to keep fighting and try to impose their will on the rest of Yemen."

The air campaign had been focused on arms depots and infrastructure that could be used by the Houthis, who have threatened to overrun Aden and Saudi Arabia's allies in Yemen, McInnis said. With most of those types of targets eliminated, the conflict is entering a new phase that could allow parties on the ground to pursue a political settlement or continue fighting, he said.

Asked about committing Saudi ground troops to the fight, al-Jubeir said, "We don't take any options off the table. We will address that as the time comes."

The rebels called for the resumption of dialogue Wednesday. "We welcome any United Nations efforts that are on the side of peaceful solutions," Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdul-Salam said in a statement.

White House spokesperson Eric Schultz told reporters Wednesday that efforts must now shift from military operations to "rapid, unconditional response of all party negotiations that allow Yemen to resume an inclusive political transition process."

"There's going to be no military solution to this problem, only one that is solved at the diplomatic table," he said.

At least 944 people have been killed and 3,500 others wounded since the start of the airstrikes on March 26, the World Health Organization said.

The rising death toll is a sign that the air campaign in Yemen is counterproductive, but the Saudis have not said clearly what they intend to do going forward, said Marina Ottaway, a Middle East analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"The dynamics of the conflict are becoming more and more complicated," Ottaway said. "The conflict is going to go on for a while, but it's not clear in what form."

On Tuesday, Saudi spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, said the U.S.-backed bombing by the Gulf Arab allies "achieved its goals" and was stopped at midnight (5 p.m. ET) at exiled President Hadi's request.

Asiri did not rule out future airstrikes and said that Saudi ground and naval forces would continue to guard the kingdom's border with Yemen and seize all shipments to the Iran-backed Houthis.

He said the next phase of the campaign — Operation Restoring Hope — would combine political, diplomatic and military actions aimed at rebuilding Yemen and stopping the rebels.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom's defense ministry said the air attacks had "removed threats to Saudi Arabia's security and that of neighboring countries" by "destroying heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles which were seized by the Houthis militia."

The Houthis — allied with forces loyal to a former Yemeni president — ousted Hadi, the country's current Saudi-backed president, earlier this year after taking over the capital of Sanaa last September.

U.S. warships have sailed to blockade Yemen's shores against Iranian efforts to resupply the Houthis, but the rebels can survive for a long time, McInnis said.

Iran — whose Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Sunday urged dialogue to resolve the conflict — would like to prevent the conflict from escalating but has spent years preparing the Houthis to fight a Saudi invasion with guerrilla warfare, McInnis said.

Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara and Katharine Lackey, Paste BN