With Deadly Malice

"One day it is the Houthis, another day it is al-Qaeda and now Saleh's forces. We are getting it from all directions. We deserve some mercy."
Middle-aged Yemenite, Aden

An injured girl reacts as she is carried by a man out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa March 20, 2015.    Credit: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah 
People carry the injured out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa March 20, 2015

Mercy is in somewhat short supply anywhere that the Iranian Republic of Iran has inveigled its tentacles, and Iran has funded, armed and incited the Shiite Houthis to overturn the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. His predecessor, aligned with the triumphant Houthis is now the current president, ensconced in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa.

And it is forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, allied with the rebel Houthis who stormed the airport in Aden several days ago, killing 13 people. The Houthi rebel leaders and Mr. Saleh have all been sanctioned by the UN Security Council. And the assaults against al-Qaeda forces with which President Hadi's government has been cooperating with the United States have been placed in jeopardy. 

As it happens, the dejected citizen of Yemen who had been waiting at the airport won't be seeing any relief in the situation any time soon. He was, in fact, fortunate if he wasn't present at either of the two Shiite mosques that Islamic State claims to have bombed on Friday in Sanaa. Where an estimated 137 people were killed and another 350 wounded.

Houthi militants stand at the scene of a suicide bombing outside a mosque in Sanaa March 20, 2015.    Credit: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah

If it was indeed Islamic State and not al-Qaeda forces, both Sunni, which had planned and carried out those two deadly attacks on the Shiite mosques, then Yemen is in even worse danger than it might have imagined itself to be. It is disintegrating much as Iraq has done, and Syria, with sectarian divisions that have created bloody chaos and countless refugees.

To complicate matters however marginally, is the penchant for weapons supplied by the United States to its favoured factions to somehow make their way into the hands of murderous Islamists. It seems the Pentagon has been unable to account for a half-billion's worth of military aid originally given to Yemen. Weaponry, aircraft and equipment appear now at risk of being taken into the possession of a) Houthi rebels; b) al-Qaeda; c) Islamic State.

What might be seen as routine monitoring of the dispersal and disposal and use of small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies originating in the United States has become an infuriatingly familiar concern. Inconveniently, members of Congress have engaged in closed-door meetings with American military authorities pressing for an accounting of the arms and equipment.

Officials at the Pentagon claim they have few leads, and in any event, there is little they can achieve to prevent the weapons from falling into the wrong hands. "We have to assume it's completely compromised and gone", admitted a legislative aide on Capital Hill, anonymously. It is known, however, that the Iranian-backed Houthis have the Yemen capital and at least nine of the country's 21 provinces.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been busy in conflict with the Houthis around the country, but they deny that they had carried out Friday's bombings, for their leader Ayman al-Zawahri has directed them to have a few Islamist scruples and not to strike at mosques or markets. Is anyone really listening?