Yemen rebels assume control in Sanaa; US resumes drone strikes

SANAA, Yemen – Amid deepening political turmoil here, the United States has resumed drone strikes against al-Qaida’s most feared franchise without seeking approval from the Shiite Muslim rebels who have tightened their control of a government once considered a close American ally.

The insurgents, known as Houthis, dissolved Yemen’s parliament Friday and announced plans to set up interim bodies to run the government, a move that opponents said amounted to a coup. The capital was calm but tense as armed men loyal to the movement quickly filled the streets.

Yemen has been roiled by uncertainty since the Houthis seized the presidential palace and put U.S.-backed President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi under house arrest on Jan. 22, leading him and his Cabinet to tender their resignations.

Over the last two years, Hadi had strongly supported U.S. military and CIA drone strikes and special operations raids against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. The Yemen-based group has repeatedly sought to bomb U.S. airliners and last month claimed responsibility for the massacre of 12 people at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

Counterterrorism cooperation was so close that President Barack Obama in August hailed Yemen as a model for the American-led campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

But the Houthis surged out of their northern stronghold in September and claimed large tracts of Yemen, including much of Sanaa, the capital. The U.S. was forced to halt drone strikes in November as a three-way power struggle raged between Hadi’s security forces, the Houthis and AQAP.

Although Houthi fighters have battled the al-Qaida branch, which is Sunni Muslim, the Shiite Muslim insurgent group is deeply suspicious of American aims in Yemen and is publicly opposed to the drone strikes. U.S. officials believe the Houthis have received financial and military support from Iran.

American officials in Yemen have been in indirect communication with the Houthis, but have not begun a working relationship, according to U.S. officials familiar with the diplomacy who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Instead, the Obama administration pressed ahead on its own and launched three drone strikes against AQAP targets in the last two weeks.

The attacks “are a pretty clear signal that the U.S. is not going to step away from what it considers to be very much in its national security interest,” said Stephen Seche, who was U.S. ambassador to Yemen from 2007-10. “The message is, ‘You can rest assured we’re going to be very diligent about doing what we feel we have to do.’ ”

In the most significant raid, a drone-launched missile on Jan. 31 killed Harith bin Ghazi Nathari, a spiritual leader of AQAP and a member of its top command. The militant group announced his death online.

U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, say the Houthis appear to have turned a blind eye. They haven’t objected to the drone attacks or sought to halt operations in the country by U.S. special operations teams.

Even if the Houthis agree to support the U.S. effort, their contributions are likely to be limited, experts say.