The balance shifts

摘要

TAHER ALI AL-AUOAILI, the chief of staff of Yemen's army, has a spring in his step. After a year of stalemate, his five fronts are moving again. As he darts between battlefields hundreds of kilometres apart, he speaks of victories in Beihan, which have reconnected the road from his headquarters in Marib to southern Yemen, and in the Jawf region (see map). Troops have also advanced 6okm north along the coast from Mokha towards Hodeida, the main port of the rebels, called the Houthis. From bases in the desert and coastal lowlands, the alliance of forces arrayed against the rebels is edging its way into the mountains that shelter Yemen's capital, Sana'a, which is still in Houthi hands.