Houthis reach center of Aden
A week of bombing by a Saudi-led coalition has failed to force Yemen's Shiite Houthis to the negotiating table or break their alliance with a powerful ex-president, and the defiant militia could now claim the second city of Aden as its next prize.
The fall of the southern port would be more than a symbolic blow to Riyadh because it would complicate Saudi efforts to persuade Yemeni tribal and army units to turn on the Iranian-allied Houthis who have momentum on the battlefield mainly because of a tactical alliance with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who retains the loyalty of much of the army.
The operation by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim states aims to prevent the Houthis, who hold the capital, from winning control of the whole country and extending the regional influence of Iran.
