Inside Story

How risky is ground offensive to take Sanaa?

Coalition forces in Yemen are gathering in Marib province for a possible ground campaign towards the capital.

Thousands of troops from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have recently beeen deployed in Yemen to participate in coalition operations in Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa.

Last week, 60 Gulf soldiers were killed by a missile strike launched by Houthi rebels.

The troop build up in Marib could signal a possible ground campaign to retake control of Sanaa. Last month, the port city of Aden was ‘liberated’ by the coalition.

A successful campaign would mean Yemen’s exiled president, now based in Saudi Arabia, and his government could return to the capital.

But how risky would such an operation be? And what does it mean for the conflict in Yemen?

Presenter: Mike Hanna

Guests:

Andreas Krieg – Strategic risk analyst and Assistant Professor at the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London

Ahmed Alibrahim – Political and security analyst who specialises on Saudi Arabia

Abubakr Al-Shamahi – British-Yemeni journalist at al-Araby al-Jadeed