News Analysis: Saudi-led coalition under pressure to pull out of Yemen

Military operation by Saudi-led coalition is expected to be lowered in Yemen amid growing pressure on the coalition amid worsening humanitarian crisis and laws of war violations, observers here said.

Observers argued that a key reason for the decision to lower the Saudi-led military operations in Yemen was that it followed a recent deal with the Houthis to cease fire on the Saudi border with Yemen.

With the truce with the Houthis on the border, Saudi Arabia succeeded in tackling a dangerous repercussion of the intervention and that in turn might pave the way for a broader deal, said Yaseen Al-Tamimi, a political analyst and writer.

Observers divided into those who said the move comes after the coalition has achieved the main goals of the military intervention and those who said it has failed to accomplish the mission well.

Rashad Al-Sharabi, a political analyst, said the main goal of the Saudi-led decisive storm which was to restore legitimacy of the Yemeni government has been achieved.

"Moreover, the Arab military operations have weakened the Houthi militia which carried out a coup against the government and enabled the pro-government forces to advance on all warfronts," he said.

Abubakar Abdullah, a political analyst and writer, said Saudi Arabia is facing growing pressure by the international community after counter-productive results from the military campaign including possible war crimes and worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

"In addition, Saudi Arabia is concerned if it continues the intervention without achieving the objectives successfully. If Yemen faces scenarios of Iraq or Syria, Saudi Arabia will face more threats to its national security. Therefore, it is seeking a good way to pull itself out of Yemen," Abdullah said.

For his part, Al-Tamimi said the main strategic goal of the military intervention which is to put an end to the Houthi influence in Yemen has not been achieved yet.

"Thus, the decision to lower the combats in Yemen raises many questions about the future of these combats especially as such a strategic goal does not only concern the stability of Yemen but also regional security and stability," said Al-Tamimi.

Since the Saudi-led military intervention began in late March of last year, the coalition has helped the pro-government forces to drive the Houthi militia out of the southern regions, a victory which paved the way for the return of the government into the temporary capital of Aden.

Also, the Houthi militia has received devastating blows in other regions due to airstrikes that targeted Houthi forces and their military equipment.

The above results besides the truce with the Houthis on the border represented a remarkable success by the coalition.

According to Al-Sharabi, the coalition has succeeded in training and preparing the Yemeni forces that are now battling and advancing on the Houthis at all warfronts.

Abdullah said it is early to say Saudi Arabia and others will be committed to rebuilding Yemen which has been devastated by the civil war and airstrikes.

"For now, Saudi Arabia is still busy with efforts to stop the military operations in the country. Maybe it will then seek a way to start the reconstruction as victorious from the war," said Abdullah.

Al-Sharabi expected lowering the Saudi-led combats will not lead to a complete ceasefire in Yemen at least at the short and medium terms. Endit