What is going on here?

Saudi Arabia's disastrous ground war in Yemen grinds on to some obscure end.  The news is filled with catastrophe for Saudis+allies+mercenaries.  At the same time the Saudi air force continues to delight in killing civilians in the towns in a sort of knee-jerk spasm of traditional Saudi hatred and fear of the Yemenis.

I find this picture featured on the South Front site to be intriguing.  Where is this place?  It is undoubtedly northern Yemen.  The fat slob in a  futa (sarong), the dazed young'un with a cheek full of qat, the general scruffiness of the scene all point to that.  But there are interesting features to the photo.  That tan colored vehicle seems to me to be an armored G model Mercedes SUV with a factory built mount for a .50 cal. or 20mm. gun.  The character on top has stuffed the bore with something to keep dust out.  I would like to see what happens if he fires the piece without removing the obstruction.  This is yet another nice north Yemeni touch.  The vehicle looks fairly new.  Are these Yemenis allied to Saudi Arabia?  If not, then how would the Houthis get this automotive beast and who would be paying for it and other s like it?  Mercedes is now manufacturing factory built "technicals?"

The same sort of question applies to the SRBM ground to ground missile systems that the Yemeni Army is using to good effect against the Saudis.  Where do these things come from and who pays for them?  the Yemeni Army had some experience with Soviet systems like the SCUD but these are different. 

And the in the background we have an NGO facility belonging to Mother Teresa's order of nuns.  Say what?  pl

Comments

[Bill Herschel]

That picture gets around:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-05/pope-shocked-by-diabolica-attack-on-yemen-care-home/7224048

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/yemen-attack-pope-francis-missionaries-of-charity/

http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/daesh-blamed-yemen-care-home-attack-pope-shocked%E2%80%99

Aden is under the control of the "Coalition", so that is a Saudi vehicle.

Supposition from 7,000 miles away from the scene.

[Linda Lau]

Yemen continues to amaze. It would be comical were it not all so deadly.

[turcopolier]

Linda Lau

It was heaven for me, a blend of Kipling and Evelyn Waugh. pat

[Charles Cameron]

Col. Lang:

The Chicago Tribune has related video with a report on the killing of four nuns in Aden:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-yemen-retirement-home-attack-20160304-story.html

Vatican Radio has another image of the vehicle:

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/04/four_nuns_of_mother_teresa_slain_by_gunmen_in_yemen/1213055

[Jonathan House]

Is that a woman with red hair woman standing behind the front of the SUV? If so, is that puzzling/significant in any way?

[turcopolier]

JH

IMO that is a Yemeni man with a rag on his head. pl

[b]

The place is in Aden, South Yemen. Four Mother Teresa nuns were killed there recently.
http://www.theinsider.ug/16-killed-in-a-retirement-home-in-yemen/

The armored vehicle is a Al-Shibl-1 or 2 from Saudi Arabia. It is likely operated by some Yemeni mercenaries. Notice that the rear tire replacement does not really fit.

[LG]

When were you there sir?
I worked there four years ago. It was as if I had wandered back home. My former boss, a new York Jew (ethnically very different from me) said the exact same thing about the country. Hr had worked there in the seventies.

[Nightsticker]

Col Lang,

I first read Kipling's "Kim" in 1950
at boarding school in England. It was a prize
for attention to my studies in reading class. Looking
back it was an Epiphanic event; I never outgrew wanting
to be like Kim. Not sure I ever fully achieved it, but
I like to imagine that Cantonese/PRU/the Bu was pretty
close to Urdu/hill people/the Department.

Nightsticker
USMC 65-72
FBI 72-96

[Amir]

Would the Russians payback the Saudi's support for radicals, with SRBM for Houtis?

[Babak Makkinejad]

All:

From Abdullah al-NafisiKuwaiti Professor of Political Science in Kuwait:

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-and-Israel-face-the-same-strategic-dilemma-Kuwaiti-political-analyst-says-449291

[Babak Makkinejad]

Col. Lang:

The abject failure of Muslim charity is also on display: The Catholic Christians are there helping Muslim Arabs while the various Islamic Charities are absent.

Nay, it is Muslim Arabs that are killing and maiming fellow Muslim Arabs; not Hindus, not Jews, and not Shia.

[Mark Pyruz]

That is a Saudi-assembled Al Shibl 2 (“Cub 2”) armored vehicle. RSLF operates this vehicle type; here is a knocked-out and abandoned example at Jizan region, Saudi Arabia, from 24AUG15:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9l1eSngWqz0/VdrPSA5GeAI/AAAAAAAASXw/eDppWazEJ1M/s1600/image69.jpg

SRBM types include Yemeni Army OTR-21 Tochka (NATO: SS-21 Scarab) mobile missile launch system, and R-17 Elbrus/Hwasŏng-5/6 (Scud-B) using MAZ-543 TEL.

[turcopolier]

LG

I was DATT/ARMA in San'a in the early '80s. pl

[bth]

According to the article a total of 16 people counting the four nuns and one priest were murdered in the single attack by gunmen pretending to visit their mothers in the retirement home.

[turcopolier]

Mark Pyruz

When did the Yemenis acquire the missile systems? Thanks for the clarification. pl

[turcopolier]

All

I would be willing to bet some of my own money that the men in the photo are from the former North Yemen. pl

[BraveNewWorld]

I would add to that the company formerly known as Black Water arranged for a bunch of Columbian mercenaries to be brought over. But it is the Sunni UAE that are footing the bill for that largess.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-31/recruiting-mercenaries-for-middle-east-fuels-rancor-in-colombia

Mean while the former founder of Black Water under investigation for douchebaggery.

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federal-investigation/

[Outrage Beyond]

Around the time the Saudi attack started, when the first Tochka SRBM was launched, I recall seeing an article saying that the Yemeni army had around 19 of them on hand. (Wikipedia says they used them in 1994, so they've apparently had them on hand for a while.) There have been ongoing reports of launches every few months, perhaps a half dozen reports or something in that range. (Wikipedia lists 5 launches.) Which would leave around a baker's dozen left. Of course, some might have been destroyed by the Saudi bombing, but even so, one suspects some remain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTR-21_Tochka

[turcopolier]

Babak

The Catholic in me says that they have gone to their reward based on their faith and works. The crusader in me hungers for the blood of the killers. pl

[The Beaver]

Colonel,

Syria not Yemen: Have you seen this latest one?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-nixed-cia-plan-could-have-stopped-isis-officials-n549111

" The CIA in 2012 proposed a detailed covert action plan designed to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but President Obama declined to approve it, current and former U.S. officials tell NBC News.

It's long been known that then-CIA Director David Petraeus recommended a program to secretly arm and train moderate Syrian rebels in 2012 to pressure Assad. But a book to be published Tuesday by a former CIA operative goes further, revealing that senior CIA officials were pushing a multi-tiered plan to engineer the dictator's ouster. Former American officials involved in the discussions confirmed that to NBC News."

I guess they wanted another "vacuum" à la Libya and contrary to what they believed ( or still believe) ISIS would have flourished.

IIRC : back during Pres Clinton administration circa 1996 , there was a plan like this ( CIA covert op) to take down Saddam Hussein - it was another Silver Bullet Coup (manqué)

[Degringolade]

Sorry about the off-topic....but when you take a look at this, it isn't all that off-topic.

https://www.occrp.org/en/panamapapers/overview/under-scrutiny/

[Brunswick]

The Popular Commitee ( Ansruallah Movement) has form months made claims that the Yemen Airforce members, lacking aircraft to fly, have converted large numbers of obsolete SAM-3's into Surface to Surface missiles.

http://www.janes.com/article/57411/yemeni-s-75-sam-reportedly-back-in-action

[Chris Chuba]

Here is a link that I found that says that the Yemeni's were able to convert the Russian SA-2 from a surface to air missile into what they call a Qahir-1, surface to surface missile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaher-1
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/yemeni-missile-strike-devastates-saudi-army-mareb/

I first heard about it from www.almasdarnews.com, btw thanks for mentioning the website Col, it is now on my regular reading list. On a happy note, I read that the SAA liberated Quraytayn from ISIS, another Sunday liberation. Little or no mention in our MSM of course.

Getting back to Yemen, I wonder if the Houthi's have any capability of manufacturing Qahir-1,'s or other missiles? I don't know the complexity of these things. If they were able to convert and operate the missile then they definitely have some technical capability. I hope so. The Saudi's claim that they have budgeted $700M per month for this war which is 6 times more expensive per month than the Russian operation in Syria. I guess it's expensive having to import mercenaries.

[Abu Sinan]

It gets even more interesting with the news that Bahah has been removed from his post and replaced by Alli Muhsin al Ahmar. This would indicate a growing rift between UAE and the Saudis and leaves al Ahmar in a very strong position because Hadi has very little support and al Ahmar would end up being the prime candidate to replace him. I see this pretty much as a Salafiyah coup instigated and supported by the KSA. It doesn't bode well for peace as the hate between Saleh and al Ahmar are well known. I also wonder what the many southerners who have been supporting KSA actions in Yemen think about this? As things heat up along the Saudi border again, it looks like the south have been willing tools in a bid to fill the Yemeni government with Salafiyah leaders.