Yemeni warplane fleet destroyed in raids, Saudis say
Erin Cunningham, Heba Habib and Ali al-Mujahed
CAIRO — Arab leaders announced Sunday that they would form a joint military force to intervene in neighboring states grappling with armed insurgencies. It is a dramatic step to quell the unrest that has broken out in the wake of the region’s uprisings, but some analysts warned it could exacerbate the conflicts that have polarized countries and left hundreds of thousands dead.
The announcement at a summit of Arab leaders in Egypt came as warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition carried out scores of airstrikes across Yemen overnight Saturday and again Sunday, the fourth day of a campaign against Shiite rebels known as Houthis. That coordinated operation, involving mostly Arab countries, could represent a prototype for future joint Arab military interventions in the region.
Arab officials said they still need to hammer out the details of the proposed joint force, but broader questions remain over the ability of Arab countries — many of which have killed scores of their own citizens — to stem the region’s wars through military action. Arab armies, while well-equipped, are largely untested and lack the training to fight guerrilla-style conflicts with rebel forces such as the Houthis. From Yemen to Libya to the battlefields of Syria, armed groups have exploited fresh violence to seize power or rout rivals. The result has been deepening polarization and rising death tolls across the region.
“Without a component for political dialogue, this force will be ineffective and even detrimental” to the region, said Abdel Salam Nasia, an independent member of Libya’s parliament who attended the summit in Egypt.
Last month, Egyptian fighter jets carried out airstrikes against militant targets in eastern Libya after jihadists beheaded 20 Egyptian Christians there. Egypt then called for a broader intervention to battle Libya’s militant Islamist groups but was rebuffed by U.S. and U.N. officials seeking a negotiated end to Libya’s violence.
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