Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Iranian-backed Shi’ites continue to advance toward Yemen’s capital.

The Iranian-backed Al Houthi movement, despite the latest ceasefires, has directed its forces toward Sanaa. The Shi’ite rebels were said to have advanced to positions 10 kilometers from Sanaa International Airport.

“We will not allow any acts of violence here and there by any party trying to undermine security,” Yemeni President Abbed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said.

The sources said Al Houthi, also known as Ansar Allah, has employed such
heavy weapons as artillery and rockets in their drive toward Sanaa. They
said hundreds of Shi’ite fighters, shattering a weeklong ceasefire, were
fighting the Yemen Army and Sunni tribal allies in Hamdan, just outside
Sanaa.

“All parties must comply with agreements reached to resolve latest
tensions and fighting in Amran, Hamdan, Arhab, and Bani Matar,” Hadi said on June 28.

The fighting marked the greatest advance by the Shi’ites to the Yemeni
capital. Until May 2014, Al Houthi was restricted mostly to the northern
province of Saada.

The Shi’ite advance came amid a Yemeni report of a plot by Hadi’s ousted
predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Officials said Saleh supporters were
sabotaging the power grid in an effort to foment chaos in Yemen.

“This is aimed at bringing the wheel of history backward and taking us
to square one,” Hadi, who did not elaborate, said.

  Abbed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, advance toward Sanaa, advance toward Yemen’s capital, Al Houthi rebels, Ansar Allah, Iran-backed Shi’ite rebels break ceasefire