UAE forces rejoin attacks on militants
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – United Arab Emirates fighter planes roared out of an air base in Jordan on Tuesday to pound Islamic State militant positions, marking a return to combat operations by one of the United States’ closest Arab allies in the fight against the extremists.
The Emirates’ decision to launch fresh airstrikes from the kingdom after a more-than-monthlong hiatus was a strong show of support for Western-allied Jordan, which has vowed a punishing response to the militants’ killing of one of its pilots.
It also is likely to quiet concerns in Washington about the oil-rich Emirates’ commitment to the fight.
The seven-state federation, which includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, stopped conducting airstrikes late last year after Jordanian Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh was captured when his plane crashed behind enemy lines, according to American officials.
Yemeni rebels blast foreign ‘pressures’
SANAA, Yemen – The leader of the Shiite rebels now in control of Yemen warned his enemies not to stand in his hard-line movement’s way on Tuesday as the U.S. government announced it was closing its embassy in the country.
Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, who leads the Iran-linked Houthi rebel movement that claimed formal government control of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country last week, denounced reported plans by foreign governments to remove their diplomats as amounting to unwarranted “pressures.”
Al-Houthi didn’t specify the planned U.S. Embassy closure as he issued a sweeping warning that anyone seeking to thwart his tribal movement’s ambitions would suffer unspecified retaliation.
Associated Press
