ADEN — The UN Security Council on Tuesday imposed an arms embargo targeting the Iran-allied Houthi rebels. It also demanded the Houthis stop fighting and withdraw from areas they have seized, including the capital Sanaa. On the ground, fighters of the southern popular committees made gains against the Houthis on several battlefronts across southern Yemen, including districts of the port city of Aden. In New York, the UN Security Council imposed a global asset freeze and travel ban on Ahmed Saleh, the former head of Yemen's Republican Guard, and on Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, a Houthi leader. Saleh's father, ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and two other senior Houthi leaders, Abd Al-Khaliq Al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim, had been blacklisted by the Security Council in November. The Security Council also expressed concern at what it called “destabilizing actions” taken by Saleh, including supporting the Houthis. The elder Saleh, who was forced to step down in 2012, is widely seen as having a behind-the scenes role in the conflict in league with the Houthis. The resolution imposed an arms embargo on the five men and “those acting on their behalf or at their direction in Yemen” — effectively the Houthi and soldiers loyal to Saleh who are are fighting alongside the Houthis. The council voted 14 in favor, while Russia abstained. Meanwhile, after prolonged street fighting, Houthi fighters withdrew on Tuesday from Aden's Khor Maksar district, where the international airport and foreign missions are located. The pull-out deprives the Houthis of a bridge to downtown areas where they face heavy resistance from local fighters. Southern popular committee sources said they wrested control of an army base loyal to the Houthis after heavy fighting on Monday night near the Balhaf liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, in southern Shabwa province on the Arabian Sea. — Reuters
