War toll on women – Chemical weapons and deformed babies – Survivors of raid at refugee boat – Iranian Technology for Houthis – Islah Party – Southern separatists (Hirak) – Berlin Yemen conference website – US and Saudi – Warnings of famine – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp2 Allgemein / General
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche/ UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp13 Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
23.3.2017 – United Nations Population Fund (** B H)
At two-year mark, Yemen’s conflict takes heavy toll on women and girls
“We were already poor before the war,” said Amal*, 25, who was displaced from Taizz Governorate, “but now we do not have a house. We are hungry, and we have children to feed. I go to sleep thinking how I can make money to feed my children and buy them shoes to walk in.” –
Women pay the highest price
Yemen already has one of the highest maternal death rates in the Arab region. But food scarcity is putting the lives of 352,000 pregnant women at risk, and it could harm the health of 2.2 million women of childbearing age who are in urgent need of assistance and protection, according to UNFPA calculations from January 2017.
Some 52,800 pregnant women are at risk of life-threatening complications during childbirth. Meanwhile, the conflict has caused a dramatic breakdown in health services. An estimated 14.8 million people lack access to basic health care, including reproductive health care. Medical supplies are in chronically short supply. Only 45 per cent of health facilities are functioning, and only 35 per cent of these provide maternal and newborn services.
“One night, I was called to help a mother and baby who were dying after a home delivery,” said Safia*, a UNFPA-supported midwife in Lahj Governorate. “There was heavy bombing and a curfew from six in the evening to six in the morning. No one could go out, the pharmacies were closed, and the electricity was also cut off, and it was dark. But I decided to take a risk and walked all the way to her house.”
Safia arrived just in time to save their lives.
Increasing vulnerabilities
Women and girls in Yemen have long endured low status and high rates of abuse, but displacement and the breakdown of protection mechanisms have increased their vulnerability.
- See more at: http://www.unfpa.org/news/two-year-mark-yemens-conflict-takes-heavy-toll-women-and-girls#sthash.LUDhusxz.dpuf
Today, an estimated 2.6 million women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence. Violence against women and girls has reportedly increased by over 63 per cent since the conflict escalated, with over 10,000 cases reported in 2016 alone.
The crisis has also left many women and girls to care for their families alone.
“I am now living in a displaced camp in Ibb Governorate,” Ameera*, 28, told UNFPA. “My husband was working in another governorate. I had no one to support me so I just carried my baby and left. I could not take any of my belongings.”
UNFPA response
UNFPA is working to meet the urgent reproductive health and protection needs of women and girls.
With local authorities, non-governmental partners and other UN agencies, UNFPA has managed to reach nearly 1 million people with sexual and reproductive health care and services addressing and preventing gender-based violence.
http://www.unfpa.org/news/two-year-mark-yemens-conflict-takes-heavy-toll-women-and-girls
- See more at: http://www.unfpa.org/news/two-year-mark-yemens-conflict-takes-heavy-toll-women-and-girls#sthash.LUDhusxz.dpuf
22.3.2017 – New News (** A K)
Babies deformed as Result of Using Chemical Weapons against Yemen
More than 5 cases of deformed babies, which came to Al-Sabeen Hospital in the capital Sana’a from the areas of the western coastal strip , particularly from Haradh and Hodeidah, which resulted from the use of US-KSA aggression for internationally banned weapons during more than 728 days of the ongoing aggression against Yemen. Activists pointed out that there is no doubt that the aggression used chemical weapons and others not announced in the aggression against Yemen for the purpose of experience in Yemeni people (with photos)
more photos:
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1652998974996090
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1652996891662965
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1652992161663438
https://www.facebook.com/The.H.Mobilization/posts/1873069089645158 = https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155343414873641
and
23.3.2017 – Ruptly (** A H)
Film: Yemen: Infant deformities increase after two years of war – Yemen doctor
A doctor at the al-Sabeen Maternity and Child Hospital said that cases of infants born prematurely or with physical deformities were on the rise in Yemen in Sanaa, Wednesday, after a two year long Saudi-led bombing campaign aimed at reinstating the former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
http://news.ava360.com/yemen-infant-deformities-increase-after-two-years-of-war-%E2%80%93-yemen-doctor_f667b3eea.html = http://news.ava360.com/yemen-infant-deformities-increase-after-two-years-of-war-%E2%80%93-yemen-doctor_f667b3eea.html
and
22.3.2017 – Al Masirah TV (** A K)
Film (Arabic): A delegation of rights and media on Wednesday visited some cases that have recently reached the seventeen children's hospital in the capital Sana'a and infected with congenital malformations to monitor and document.
The doctors confirmed that the cases of congenital malformations increased recently and that they came from the areas that have been the most affected by the air raids launched by the aggression in Saada, Hajja, Hodeidah and Taiz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJNaENzdP6M = http://almasirah.net/gallery/preview.php?file_id=3984 and reported here: http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=68765&lang=en
My comment: I cannot link to any western media – That’s nothing they show and report.
21.3.2017 – Aljazeera (** A K)
Film: Yemen refugee boat attack: Survivors speak out
Yemen refugee boat attack: Survivors speak out.
Somali refugees who survived an attack on their boat off Yemen are demanding answers.
Forty-two died when a military helicopter opened fire on their vessel as they travelled to Sudan.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen has denied involvement.
Many were carrying documents issued by the United Nations' refugee agency.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reports.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGUjr7bbnpw = https://twitter.com/ThewarStop/status/844970818509639684
22.3.2017 – Conflict Armament Research (** A K)
IRANIAN TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS TO YEMEN‘Kamikaze’ drones used by Houthi forces to attack Coalition
In October 2016 and February 2017, Conflict Armament Research (CAR) documented seven UAVs, and one UAV engine, in the possession of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Presidential Guard forces. The Presidential Guard reportedly intercepted six of the UAVs in Yemen’s Marib Governorate (hereinafter the Marib seizure). These aircraft allegedly entered the country overland from Oman. The Presidential Guard also recovered a crash-landed UAV near Aden International Airport, and retrieved a damaged UAV engine following an attack by Houthi and Saleh-aligned forces in Marib Governorate (hereinafter the Marib attack).1
On 26 February 2017, Houthi forces displayed four UAVs, which they claimed to have designed and manufactured themselves.2 One of the systems displayed, the Qasef-1 (Striker-1), is identical to the UAVs documented by CAR in the UAE.
Investigations by CAR provide two reasons for concluding that Houthi forces did not manufacture the Qasef-1 UAV. First, the Qasef-1 appears to be a type within the Ababil-II family of UAVs, produced by Iran’s Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). The UAV is similar to, but seemingly smaller than, the Ababil-CH and is consistent with descriptions and imagery of a UAV that has been referred to as the Ababil-T.3 The Qasef-1 not only shares near-identical design and construction characteristics with the Iranian UAV, but also features identical serial number prefixes. These features suggest that the Qasef-1 is an Iraniandesigned variant of the Ababil-CH or Ababil-T. Second, the interception of six Qasef-1 UAVs after reportedly transiting Oman—a known smuggling route for Iranian materiel support to Houthi and Saleh-aligned forces—also suggests that the Qasef-1 is imported, rather than designed or manufactured in Yemen.4
The Qasef-1 UAVs appear to have been shipped in two batches. The DLE engine recovered from the Marib attack (Figure 8) and the UAV recovered from the Aden International Airport crash are labelled with ‘A’ batch codes (Figures 9-12), whereas the six UAVs intercepted in the Marib seizure bear ‘B’ batch codes (Figures 13-16).
These findings strengthen a body of evidence compiled by CAR, which links weapons captured from Houthi and Salah-aligned forces to transfers from Iranian national stockpiles.11
The presence of Iranian-designed and manufactured UAVs in Yemen, not only confirms Iran’s materiel support to Houthi and Salah-aligned forces, but also its role in enabling the groups to conduct increasingly sophisticated asymmetric operations (with images)
www.conflictarm.com/download-file/?report_id=2465&file_id=2467
and abridged by Washington Post:
22.3.2017 – Washington Post (* A K P)
Houthi forces appear to be using Iranian-made drones to ram Saudi air defenses in Yemen
Houthi forces are using a type of drone probably built by Iran to attack Saudi and UAE missile defense sites in Yemen, an arms research organization said in a report Wednesday.
The report, put out by the group Conflict Armament Research, or CAR, looks at seven Houthi Qasef-1 drones and one drone engine recovered by forces from the United Arab Emirates. Six of the drones were captured in October on a known Iranian smuggling route that runs through Oman, while another was found after an attack by Houthi forces near Aden, Yemen, last month.
The Qasef-1 is "consistent with descriptions and imagery" of an Iranian drone called the Ababil-T, produced by Iran's Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, according to the report.
Last month, the Houthis released an infographic indicating that the drone had been indigenously built in Yemen.
"The Qasef-1 not only shares near-identical design and construction characteristics with the [Ababil-T]," the report says, "but also features identical serial number prefixes."
While the Houthis could have outfitted the Qasef-1s with explosives or used them for surveillance, Emirati officials indicated to CAR that they were simply purposed as kamikaze vehicles in a bid to damage the radar stations utilized by U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries.
The identification of the Qasef-1 as a possible Iranian drone variant comes almost two months after Houthi forces used an explosive drone boat to attack a Saudi frigate.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, recently met with top military officials in the Iranian capital in a bid to explore ways to better assist the Houthis.
The arrival of more-advanced weapons in the hands of Houthis is potentially linked to the Trump administration's growing hostility toward Tehran – by THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF, staff writer and a former Marine infantryman
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/report-houthi-forces-using-iranian-made-drones-to-ram-saudi-air-defenses-in-yemen-1.459944#.WNJ496IxmUl and Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Latest-Iranian-threat-Drones-in-the-Yemen-484845 and Voice of America: http://www.voanews.com/a/iran-steps-up-supplies-to-houthis-including-kamikaze-drones/3776658.html
22.3.2017 – Washington Post (** B P)
How war is changing Yemen’s largest Islamist coalition
Relatively little is understood about the complex set of Yemeni partners fighting alongside the Gulf coalition. One of the most important of these local partners has been the Islah party, itself a complex coalition that includes, but is not limited to, affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood. Long considered the largest and most significant Islamist player in the country, Yemen’s Islah party is hardly the organization it was at the beginning of the war.
Islah has changed significantly under the pressures of the war – changes that challenge assumptions based on prewar realities about potential political solutions to the conflict. Analyzing the party’s internal history, and how its policies and even identity have been shaped by its dependence on aid, offers some useful lessons about the dangers of over-relying on known actors at the expense of a more inclusive — if more ambitious — peace process.
What is Islah?
Islah is typically referred to as Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood party, but the reality has always been more complex. Founded in 1990, the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) was a diverse coalition from the outset, bringing together members of the Muslim Brotherhood and tribal leaders, Salafists and conservative business executives.
How Islah benefited from the GCC-led transition but lost standing among Yemenis
As the strongest member of the opposition coalition, Islah became the largest single beneficiary of the 2011 Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered power-sharing agreement, despite the regionwide campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It gained key ministries in the transitional government and had a powerful voice in shaping the National Dialogue Conference.
This political success carried costs, however.
When Islah’s main ideological adversary, the Zaydi Shiite Houthi movement, was blocked from participation in transitional governance, it attempted to turn the tables by adopting anti-corruption language to mobilize against Islah. This, in turn, drove Islah toward an even more dependent relationship on its Gulf patrons and exacerbated growing sectarian tension.
When Houthi militias marched on Sanaa in September 2014, their first actions were not widespread sectarian violence, but rather the targeted suppression of Islah members and demand for a share of the transitional pie. Senior Islah members — including its most capable centrist, Muhammed Qahtan and dozens of others — were disappeared by the Houthis. Other Islahis joined President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Riyadh, or issued their support for the war from elsewhere in the region, including Nobel Peace laureate Tawakkol Karman, financial mogul Hamid al-Ahmar and Islah-aligned Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.
By the onset of the war in 2015, Islah’s party functions had been gradually disabled and eclipsed by the growing role of loosely aligned militias, competing with an ever-growing array of other Islamist actors.
What role can Islah still play?
The war’s unprecedented sectarian polarization has tarnished Islah’s reputation, and its position in any future government will be highly contested. It will have to compete with Houthis and perhaps with a more coherent Salafist faction.
Negotiators may overestimate Islah’s ability to help deliver peace – by Stacey Philbrick Yadav
21.3.2017 – Middle East Institute (** B P)
Peace in Yemen Requires Bridging North-South Divide
The war has straddled a number of cleavages in Yemeni society, including the north-south divide. The Southern Nationalist Movement, an umbrella platform known locally as Hirak, presents a major obstacle to peace as it continues to call for secession for the south. Hirak vocalizes the social, political, and economic grievances of those living in Yemen’s southern provinces.
There is little hope that the Gulf states, backed by American support, will be able to meaningfully resolve Yemen’s civil war as long as they see the conflict solely through the prism of confrontation with Iran.
Hirak’s presence defies the common narrative that largely frames the Yemeni war as an exclusive regional proxy war between heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran. The movement has shifted its demands several times, welcomed support from all sides of the conflict, and increasingly fragmented into fairly autonomous local units that have competed for power and partnered with unsavory groups, including al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula.
The Fragmented Southern Movement
It is important to note that there is no single Hirak, but rather multiple movements under the same name led by various leaders in different regions. Such fragmentation can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. According to the Yemeni Center for Civil Rights poll in early 2010, it found that the “southern cause” could boast the support of 70 percent of the southern population. However, the leadership has never been unified.
Some Hirakis prefer federalism over independence as a viable solution.
Salafi factions, such as the al-Nahda movement, also form part of Hirak’s base. They operate in rural areas, far away from provincial civic centers.
Hirak’s Iranian and Saudi Connections
Throughout Hirak’s existence, both Iran and Saudi Arabia have offered varying degree of support. Iran originally wanted a foothold in the region and saw Hirak as beneficial in pressuring the Saudis, while having access to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. Iran provided financial support and military training to Hirak.
At the outset of Yemen’s civil war, Hiraki leaders initially welcomed Operation Golden Arrow, the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, to push advancing Houthi rebels out of southern provinces. Even though the Houthis differentiated themselves from the oppressive former president, Saleh, Hirak members still perceived the joint expansion by Houthis and Saleh loyalists as an act of northern aggression.
Hiraki leaders hoped that the coalition would be sympathetic, even to the extent of backing the South’s independence as a Saudi-backed state. Saudi leadership, along with Hadi—who had fled to the former South Yemeni capital of Aden after the Houthi rebels’ initial advance, and thence to Saudi Arabia—believed Hirak to be a natural ally vis-à-vis the northern, Houthi-Saleh alliance.
Iranian influence began to wane as Hirak’s leaders realized they had more to gain (or lose) from the Saudi coalition. However, Hirak’s overarching goal—to secede from the rest of Yemen—could not be further from the Saudi-led coalition’s ultimate aims, which are to reinstate Hadi over a unified country while blunting Iranian influence in their backyard. Although Hadi was brought in as a Southerner after Saleh’s removal to unify the country, he does not enjoy popular backing from Southerners who view him merely as a northern puppet. Still, Hirak saw its best option was to position itself for postwar concessions through an uneasy alliance with Hadi and the Gulf states. Beidh switched allegiances from Iran to Saudi Arabia, praising the Saudi-led coalition while continuing to stress that southern aspirations for independence must be recognized.
The Importance of the South
The war has dramatically changed the landscape of the south. Hirak’s autonomous units further metastasized when fighters were asked to continue north with the coalition to liberate lands as far away as Sanaa. Hirak’s troubled relationship with Hadi and the Gulf states reached a boiling point last May when Hirakis clashed with coalition security forces in Aden, after Hirakis entered a security administration building. As such, support, primarily from the Saudis, has dwindled.
Although the South’s independence does not seem currently tenable, Hirak’s demands must be considered at any negotiation table. If not, Yemen will continue to remain unstable. The north-south dimension to the Yemen war is a major factor that the new U.S. administration needs to consider as it frames its Yemen policy and seeks an enduring resolution to the conflict – by Joshua Levkowitz, research associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/peace-yemen-requires-bridging-north-south-divide
3.2017 – Berliner Konferenz (** B K P)
BERLINER KONFERENZ
Vergessene Kriegsverbrechen im Jemen
Mit einer Einführung in den Jemenkrieg, Links zu Filmen, Initiativen und veranstaltungen
https://krieg-im-jemen.jimdo.com/berlin-konferenz/
23.3.2017 – Foreign Policy (** A P)
The Power Struggle for the Throne and the Saudi ‘Reset’ With Trump
Intrigue and war could complicate the budding romance between Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration.
The Saudi side was intent on using the visit to “reset” relations with Washington after the Obama years, as well as to introduce the new administration to the young man who seems destined to be the next king of Saudi Arabia.
The reset mission arguably succeeded. But judgment on the personal coming-out of MbS should be postponed. Inconveniently for the 31-year-old MbS, his older cousin Muhammad bin Nayef (MbN) is crown prince and appears reluctant to let MbS leapfrog over him. The Trump administration must deal with two alternative future Saudi leaders and may — and perhaps should — regard it as premature to decide whom it prefers.
Ultimately, of course, policy differences, not personal ones, will matter most. Everyone in the Saudi leadership shares with the Trump administration a common view on the dangers posed by Iran. But there’s a gap in their respective positions on the war in Yemen and how the kingdom can best be extricated from it. The Saudis have made scant progress there in fighting the Iranian-backed Houthis, and bureaucratic Washington is probably regretting its initial profuse support for the war — a political concession to Riyadh to placate Saudi concerns about the nuclear agreement with Iran. The Saudi military persists in demonstrating that it is, in the words of a Pentagon official during the Obama administration, a “paper tiger.”
If Yemen remains a thorn in the side of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, the two countries seemed to find common ground over economic ties. The Saudi statement said Trump’s changes to U.S. policy coincide “with the undergoing change in Saudi Arabia through ‘Vision 2030,’” MbS’s blueprint for the kingdom’s economic transformation. The official White House readout spoke of “expanded economic cooperation [that] could create as many as one million direct American jobs within the next four years, millions of indirect American jobs, as well as jobs in Saudi Arabia.”
This twist makes the calculus of what each side got from the Washington meetings more challenging. There is clearly agreement to work together, but Yemen is an immediate problem, skewing the discussion about how to tackle the broader threat posed by Iran as well as the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and other terror groups.
The trend lines are obvious. Business can be the key to deeper political alliances, and Saudi Arabia and Israel have more in common than the House of Saud wants to admit. Does a bigger deal await? – BY SIMON HENDERSON
cp2 Allgemein / General
23.3.2017 – The National UAE (* A K)
Yemen war threatens to spill into international arena as maritime risks grow
As the war in Yemen enters its third year and fighting intensifies along its western coastline, the conflict is increasingly spilling over into both sides of the Bab Al Mandeb strait, threatening traffic through one of the world’s most strategic maritime choke points and impeding delivery of desperately needed aid.
The Saudi-led coalition and local forces are fighting to take key ports along the Red Sea coast, but since the end of last year, the rebels have been using increasingly sophisticated weapons and tactics that analysts say are partly the result of Iranian training and equipment specifically for use against naval and maritime targets, including anti-ship cruise missiles, sea mines, speedboat attacks and even a drone boat loaded with explosives.
The new maritime dimension to the war has threatened to internationalise the conflict to an even greater degree, and the US administration is currently reviewing its support to the coalition, possibly with increased assistance or even direct military action against the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies.
Earlier this month, the US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) warned commercial shipping companies that it believes Houthi forces have also laid floating mines around the port of Mokha.
The new threats emanating from the conflict in Yemen are already driving up security and insurance costs for shipping companies. Lawlessness on the coast means greater risk not only from mines and missiles, but also from militants, criminal gangs and pirates taking advantage of the chaos.
Even with a beefed-up international naval presence, maritime security experts say that the threat posed by the rebels and other violent outlawed elements will not be snuffed out easily.
Managing two usually orderly lanes of shipping passing each way through the 25km-wide choke point is one thing; keeping track of large numbers of small boats carrying contraband and other goods between the Horn of Africa and Yemen is quite another, even without the security vacuum in the coastal regions – by Taimur Khan
My comment: It’s rally odd when speaking of threats for international shipment in the Red Sea the main threats are not even mentioned, just Houthi / Saleh retaliatory strikes: that’s the permanent Saudi blockade of harbours, permanent Saudi coalition warships pounding the coast, Saudi coalition air raids bombing coastal towns and harbours, and pounding vessels (as just happened a few days ago, 42 killed). That’s odd and just shows that a propaganda bias matters more than facts. In remembrance to the 42 Somali refugees killed on a boat by a Saudi coalition air raid on March, 16. They don’t matter for UAE (as here) or Western propaganda.
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (* A P)
Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union announce Parliament in Aden only Yemen’s representative
The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union had announced support to the Yemeni Parliament members who have moved to Aden city, the country’s interim capital, and considered the Parliament in Aden as the only representative of the Yemeni people in the Arab and international forums.
Late last January, the Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi issued a decree providing for the transfer of the Yemeni parliament from the capital Sana'a to Aden, so as to preserve the lives of its members and enable them to perform their duties away from the Houthis.
According to the Yemeni news agency “Saba”, the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, in the final statement of its 24th Session concluded Wednesday in the Moroccan capital Rabat, issued a circular to all the Arab parliaments to deal and communicate with the Yemeni parliament in Aden.
It is noteworthy Yemen had participated in the session with a delegation headed by the Deputy Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ali Al-Shaddadi.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89826
My comment: LOL. These are the deputees who followed Hadi’s call and moved to Aden. How many are they? The far most greatest part of Yemeni parliament is at Sanaa and officially had deposed “president” Hadi (declaring his term already had expired Feb. 2014) and had confirmed the Houthi / Saleh “Salvation” government. – And now please tell me: Why this little minority of deputees should be “only Yemen’s representative” and the great majority at Sanaa should not? That’s odd. – How many members does this “parliament” really have?
23.3.2017 – Human Rights Watch (* B K)
Accountability remains crucial for violations and abuses in Yemen
The High Commissioner has repeatedly called for an international investigation into abuses by all parties to the conflict, yet the laws of war continue to be violated and true accountability is starkly lacking.
The Saudi-led coalition has unlawfully bombed homes, markets, schools, and hospitals, killing and wounding thousands of civilians. Human Rights Watch has documented 62 apparently indiscriminate coalition airstrikes – most recently one that killed two students on their way to school – and 18 more where the coalition used banned cluster munitions. In some of these attacks, the coalition has used weapons made and continue to be sold by countries on this Council.
The Houthi-Saleh forces have arbitrarily detained, tortured or forcibly disappeared an unknown number of people, laid anti-personnel landmines, and indiscriminately shelled civilian neighborhoods. We have documented instances where children have been detained and abused by Houthi-Saleh forces, where activists, nongovernmental organization workers and members of the Baha’i community were harassed or intimidated.
Yemen is now among the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions reportedly on the brink of famine. Both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi-Saleh forces have delayed or impede the flow of humanitarian assistance, contributing to many more silent, civilian deaths.
Accountability for these and other violations remains crucial, and international action is urgently needed to pressure the parties to cease ongoing abuses. States could begin by stopping weapons sales to Saudi Arabia until it ceases its unlawful attacks and investigates those that have occurred. The Council should create an independent, international investigative mechanism to examine abuses by all side. But, until then, it should ensure that states support OHCHR’s own investigative efforts and back regular briefings by the High Commissioner on developments so that the conflict in Yemen, and the enormous toll it is taking on Yemeni civilians, is not forgotten.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/23/accountability-remains-crucial-violations-and-abuses-yemen
My comment: The figure of war victims given here is even lower than the (much too low) figure of the UN. I don’t understand the reason for such an understatement.
23.3.2017 – AFP (* B H K P)
Two years on, Yemen stuck in 'quagmire'
Deadly fighting, a rise in jihadism, the threat of famine -- two years after Saudi Arabia intervened against Iran-backed rebels, Yemen is more unstable than ever.
The chaos has also seen fighting erupt in vital Red Sea shipping lanes, and Riyadh's ally the United States stepping up its involvement.
The war has become "a quagmire", Peter Salisbury, a research fellow at London's Chatham House, said ahead of the March 26 anniversary of the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen itself has fractured to the point where its future "as a functioning unitary state" is hard to imagine, he said.
Financed and equipped by the coalition, various factions are aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government against the Huthi rebels and their allies.
But analysts warn of tensions among the anti-rebel forces that will likely lead to internal conflict even if the civil war ends, which is unlikely any time soon.
"The entire country continues to fall apart at the seams" while Yemen's elites look out for their own interests, said Adam Baron, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Along with a severe humanitarian crisis, government institutions and overall security have collapsed, leaving ordinary Yemenis the greatest victims, Baron said.
"And unfortunately there's no sign that there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
Both Washington and Riyadh accuse Tehran of stoking regional unrest, including by arming the Huthis, although Hiltermann and Alley say there has been "very little hard evidence" of such support.
"If Trump rushes headfirst into the Yemeni war, there is a very real risk that the conflict will spiral out of control," they said.
Not only have Saudi actions turned a large proportion of Yemenis against the kingdom, perceptions of Saudi military capability "have been considerably diminished," Salisbury says.
Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, on the other hand, remains prominent even though analysts dismiss him as unpopular and ineffective.
"He's not able to understand that he's not the right man to lead this sort of crisis," Alani said
But with Hadi's "legitimacy" enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution, it would be difficult for the coalition to abandon him "without undermining the entire rationale for entering the war," Baron said – by Ian Timberlake
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/two-years-on-yemen-stuck-in-quagmire/article/488570
23.3.2017 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (A K P)
Saudi-led coalition's SP says military ops will continue till ALL of #Yemen retaken from Houthis. So, UN Envoy's peace plan officially dead?
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/844889733960519680
23.3.2017 – Your Middle East (* BK P)
Yemen is open for all. A tragedy which makes no headline.
A PREY CALLED YEMEN
Back in 2012, although the dictator was overthrown, fear still lingered. Like a patient after a painful operation, Yemen laid bare before eyes. Every inch of its body was vibrating in a rhythm both hopeful and nervous. Victory was in the air but reality worried even the most optimistic soul. And up until this moment, it hasn’t gotten any better.
It is poverty, to start with
The current war aside, the situation has worsened by a staggering rate of unemployment with 60-70% of Yemen’s youth wandering around without a paid job. With 70% of the population under 25, the country is a ticking time bomb. Another gloomy day is also waiting just down the road when the oil reserves that Yemen is so heavily dependent on will be depleted in 2017, and Yemen will be the world’s first country to run out of water in the next decade.
However, what really makes Yemen vulnerable is how the country has always been a battlefield for proxy war between regional powers. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has been casting a shadow over Yemen for decades. A report of NOREF summarizes the troublesome relationship between Yemen and its northern neighbor:
Saudi Arabia opposed the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, and when the country united, Saudi funded insurgent groups. Many tribes remained on Saudi payroll. Long before the revolution, Saudi Arabia’s ultra-conservative brand of Wahhabism already flourished in the birthplace and heartlands of Shia’s Zaydi.
It’s a cunning political game, and also a dangerous one to play. The current Saudi-led attack on Yemen proves that this country is not an easy prey.
Saudi Arabia certainly wants to blame Iran as the aggressor for supporting the Shia Houthis. However, despite the sectarian tone, the conflict is unmistakably a national power struggle.
GUN CULTURE
In Yemen, it is estimated that there are 60 million firearms for a population of 25 million.
Baron concluded that for centuries – if not millennia – tribal custom, more than religious or governmental law, has been the foundation of order in much of Yemen. In the absence of a strong state, most rural Yemenis place greater trust in tribal forms of arbitration than in the governmental version.
THE PEACE THAT NEVER CAME
All in all, after the revolution, Yemen is now even more uncertain and vulnerable than it has ever been. Together with poverty and refugees, three military forces (the Shia Houthis, the government, and Al-Qaeda) tear the country apart. Besides, regional powers keep pressing their teeth deep into its shrinking oil fields. Yemen in transition is open for all, a prey chased by its multiple predators and its own multiple diseases – a tragedy which makes no headline – by Mai Nguyen-Phuong-Mai
http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/culture/yemen-is-a-forgotten-syria_39769
23.3.2017 – Amnesty International (* A H K)
Yemen: Multibillion-dollar arms sales by USA and UK reveal shameful contradiction with aid efforts
The USA and UK are fuelling serious violations that have caused devastating civilian suffering through multibillion-dollar arms transfers to Saudi Arabia that vastly overshadow their humanitarian efforts, said Amnesty International.
Since the conflict began two years ago in March 2015, the US and UK have together transferred more than US$5 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia which is leading the military coalition in Yemen. This is more than 10 times the estimated US$450 million that the US State Department and the UK’s Department for International Development have spent or budgeted to spend in aid to Yemen over the past two years.
“Two years of conflict have forced three million people to flee their homes, shattered the lives of thousands of civilians and left Yemen facing a humanitarian disaster with more than 18 million in desperate need of assistance. Yet despite the millions of dollars’ worth of international assistance allocated to the country, many states have contributed to the suffering of the Yemeni people by continuing to supply billions of dollars’ worth of arms,” said Lynn Maalouf Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office.
“Weapons supplied in the past by states such as the UK and USA have been used to commit gross violations and helped to precipitate a humanitarian catastrophe. These governments have continued to authorize such arms transfers at the same time as providing aid to alleviate the very crisis they have helped to create. Yemeni civilians continue to pay the price of these brazenly hypocritical arms supplies.”
The international community must act immediately to impose an arms embargo and establish a credible international investigation into gross violations committed by all parties to the conflict.
“All states, including the USA and the UK, must immediately halt the flow of any arms that could be used commit war crimes or other serious violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen,” said Lynn Maalouf.
By continuing to supply weapons to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners for use in Yemen, the UK, which is a state party to the Arms Trade Treaty, and the USA, which is a signatory to it, are undermining the spirit of this treaty.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute the USA and UK combined have made arms transfers worth more than US$5 billion to Saudi Arabia since 2015.
According to the UK Department for International Development and ForeignAssistance.gov, which is managed by the US State Department’s Office of US Foreign Assistance Resources, the UK and US governments together have provided or planned to spend an estimated US$450 million in aid to support Yemen since March 2015.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/03/yemen-multibillion-dollar-arms-sales-by-usa-and-uk-reveal-shameful-contradiction-with-aid-efforts/ = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-multibillion-dollar-arms-sales-usa-and-uk-reveal-shameful-contradiction-aid
28.2.2017 – World Food Programme, Logistics Cluster (* A E H)
Infographic: Yemen: Snapshot on Shipping, Food and Fuel Imports, February 2017
Monthly food imports and price fluctuation
Available statistics demonstrate that in February, 321,243 MT of food were commercially imported in Yemen, a 41% decrease compared to January 2017. Specifically, February saw a 34% decrease of food commodities imported through the Port of Hodeidah, a 44% decrease through Saleef and a 50% through Aden. Prices of essential food items continued to rise further in February 2017. The national average price of wheat flour was 37% higher in February than the pre-crisis period; prices of red beans, sugar, and vegetable oil increased by 62%, 33%, and 13%, respectively, compared to those recorded in February 2015. The rising prices of food commodities since January have resulted in the escalation of the cost of the minimum food basket, which rose by 4% compared to January 2017, and is 31% higher than during the pre-crisis period.
Monthly fuel imports vs fuel needs
Some 154,990 MT of fuel were imported in Yemen in February 2017, a 39% increase from January 2017. This however still only covers 28% of the estimated monthly requirements. The availability of fuel commodities is reported to have further deteriorated in several governorates of Yemen due to reduced supplies to the local markets as a result of anticipated challenges of importation caused by the liquidity crisis, as well as restricted access to Hodeidah port. In governorates where the conflict is still ongoing, the scarcity of essential commodities has further worsened. Overland import of goods from Oman and Saudi Arabia still continues with reduced quantities of commodities and frequencies of supply, as reported by the traders interviewed. Official data on these corridors is not available
Average delays in entering ports
Confirming a trend witnessed throughout 2016, the longest berthing delays are experienced at Saleef port, with vessels waiting to berth an average of 85 days in February 2017. These delays are attributable to the very limited infrastructure with a two-berth capacity only, impeding rapid offloading times. Berthing delays at Hodeidah and Aden slighlty increased, with an average of 10.4 days at Hodeidah.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-snapshot-shipping-food-and-fuel-imports-february-2017 and in full: http://www.logcluster.org/sites/default/files/logistics_cluster_yemen_snapshot_february_2017.pdf = http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/logistics_cluster_yemen_snapshot_february_2017.pdf
22.3.2017 – Oil Price (* B K P)
Vital Oil Shipping Lane Becomes Target In Yemen’s Civil War
To the victor of the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran—aka the Yemeni Civil War—will go the spoils of control of the Bab al-Mandab strait. And a bridge between two of the world’s biggest oil-producing regions is indeed a priceless trophy.
The Sunni coalition fears that if the Houthis gain full and lasting control of this port, they could use it to blackmail their enemies, paralyzing oil trade via the passage.
Holding roughly four billion barrels of oil reserves, Yemen itself makes limited use of the strait compared to the vast potential of the waterway – which sees a thoroughfare of four million barrels of oil a day.
Yemen shares access to the strait with its massive northern neighbor, but this is not enough for Saudi Arabia, which is threatened by the distribution competition it could face if Iran gets a direct line through the Red Sea port – which is currently in the hands of Shiite fighters.
Since January 2016, Iran has recovered its oil output from the effects of six years of sanctions that left its ports barren. After Tehran agreed to allow international inspectors to monitor its nuclear power program, it reentered oil sector clashes with Saudi Arabian exporters, who had been servicing clients who had to abandon Iran once sanctions prohibited the purchase of the country’s oil resources.
Should Iran and the KSA have an equal hold on Bab al-Mandab, the power struggle would cause competition in Sub-Saharan African markets to intensify as the receiving region builds the infrastructure necessary to accept oil and gas.
China in 2016 offered support for Yemen’s government, which is backed by a Saudi-led Gulf Arab coalition at war with the Houthi movement, which is backed by Iran and which now controls much of the country.
But this is a tricky balance for China to maintain as it attempts to cut economic and cooperation deals with both sides in this conflict. Beijing is boosting relations right now with both the Saudi royals and Iran.
But China, which never takes sides in geopolitics, but instead uses economic deals to secure subtle influence, is also heavily courting Iran.
But as far as China is concerned, whoever comes out on top in Yemen isn’t the issue—it’s how much either of them will be dependent on Beijing – By Zainab Calcuttawala
My comment: the author permanently confounds Bab el-Mandab street and Hodeidah Port (while never mentioning the name of “Hodeidah”). – Keep in mind that Iran not at all will be interested in any turmoil of international shipping in the Red Sea – simply because also Iranian oil is passing through it. Thus all Saudi claims Iran could disturb international shipping there are nonsense and warmongering propaganda. – More interesting is the idea that these Saudi anti-Iranian claims are the consequence of a trade war on exporting oil and new oil and energy markets showing up. If this is the case, can anybody tell why the West should take side – even militarily as actually in Yemen – in such a conflict??
22.3.2017 – Global Research (* B K)
Somalian Refugees Massacred in the Red Sea Off Yemen Coast
United States engineered war of genocide encompasses contiguous nations and waterways
http://www.globalresearch.ca/somalian-refugees-massacred-in-the-red-sea-off-yemen-coast/5581166
Remark: Overview article.
22.3.2017 – Tasnim News (A K P)
An American author and researcher said the ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen is aimed at cowing the Arab country into the submission of an Anglo-American-Zionist Western Bloc.
22.3.2017 – The National UAE (* A K)
Iran smuggling ‘kamikaze’ drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels
Instead of firing missiles or other munitions, the drone contains explosives inside its body and has been used to crash into radar components of the coalition’s US-made Patriot anti-missile batteries, UAE military officials told Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a UK-based arms transparency organisation primarily funded by the European Union.
With the radars disabled, the rebels are able to fire volleys of missiles at coalition targets, the report said.
The aerial attack drones are the latest sophisticated weapon that Iran appears to have sent to the Houthis whom they support, allowing the rebels to target the coalition and US naval vessels in the Bab Al Mandeb with anti-ship missiles and a drone attack boat. Using open-source data, the rebels programme GPS guidance systems in the drones, which do not carry any video or camera sensors.
"These findings strengthen a body of evidence compiled by CAR, which links weapons captured from Houthi and Saleh-aligned forces to transfers from Iranian national stockpiles," the authors of the report said.
Researchers based their analysis on seven drones and one drone engine which the Houthis used in an attack in Yemen’s Marib governorate. Six of the partially assembled Qasef-1 drones were intercepted by the UAE armed forces in Marib on November 27, 2016, after allegedly being smuggled through Oman into Yemen. The seventh drone crash landed near Aden’s airport, according to UAE forces.
The smuggled drones found in the lorry were missing their nose cones as well as their engines, said one of the CAR researchers Jonah Leff. This may indicate that different components are sent separately.
"The fact that the UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were disassembled while in transit suggests that the Houthis have personnel with technical expertise on UAVs," Mr Leff said. "It is unlikely that the Houthis developed this technical know-how and newly employed tactics without foreign support. From a military equipment perspective, Iran seems to be playing a hand."
The serial number prefix of the intercepted drones was identical to the prefix of Iran’s Ababil variants, the report said. The gyroscopes in the drones that researchers were given access to also had a serial number close to an Iranian Ababil drone used by Iranian-backed militia forces in Iraq.
The report said the Chinese-made engine of the crashed drone was identical to the drone engine used in the Marib attack. Both drones were marked with a handwritten "A", indicating they came from the same batch, while the six new drones were marked with a "B".
While the vast majority of the Houthis’ arsenal, including ballistic missiles, were seized from government military stockpiles before the war’s outbreak, the relatively small numbers of sophisticated weapons such as drones — and likely training by the Iranians to integrate them into complex asymmetric warfare tactics — have proven to be much deadlier – by Taimur Khan
http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/iran-smuggling-kamikaze-drones-to-yemens-houthi-rebels
21.3.2017 – RT (* A K P)
Krieg im Jemen: Pro-Huthi-Armee droht Saudi-Arabien mit Raketenangriffen auf Riad
Droht dem vergessenen jemenitischen Krieg die Eskalation über die Landesgrenzen hinweg? Ein Kommandeur der Pro-Huthi-Armee warnt Saudi-Arabien, dass die schiitischen Milizen technisch in der Lage seien, mit Raketen Riad anzugreifen.
Der Sprecher der jemenitischen Pro-Huthi-Armee, General Sharq Luqman, drohte damit, dass jemenitische Raketen Riad erreichen können. Über einen möglicherweise bereits erfolgreichen Angriff auf den saudiarabischen Luftwaffenstützpunkt "King Salman" nahe der saudischen Hauptstadt gibt es widersprüchliche Informationen vonseiten der verfeindeten Parteien.
Die Raketen vom Typ Borkan-2, in deren Besitz die Milizen zu sein behaupten, haben eine Reichweite von 1.400 Kilometern. Erst vor wenigen Tagen soll Saudi-Arabien eine jemenitische Rakete aus den Reihen der gegnerischen Huthis abgefangen haben, die die Öl-Firma Aramco in Jizan im Visier hatte.
Von einem solchen Schlag gegen Riad erhoffen sich die schiitischen Milizen eine Wende im Krieg zu ihren Gunsten.
Mein Kommentar: Auch RT ahmt westliches Propaganda-Wording nach. Das ist keine „Pro-Houthi-Armee“, sondern die ganz normale jemenitische Armee (bzw. der größere Teil davon), der nun mit den Houthis verbündet ist.
21.3.2017 – New York Times (* B H K)
Film: Refugees in Yemen
March marks the 2-year anniversary of the conflict in Yemen, which has left almost 19 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and displaced millions. Shabia Mantoo, a spokesperson for UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, is taking your questions live about this largely forgotten crisis.
https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/vb.5281959998/10151118054104999/?type=2&theater
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
23.3.2017 – AFP (* A H)
Oxfam: Sieben Millionen Menschen im Jemen von Hungersnot bedroht
Angesichts der anhaltenden Kämpfe im Jemen hat die Hilfsorganisation Oxfam vor einer drohenden Hungersnot in dem Land gewarnt. Zwei Jahre nach der Eskalation des Konflikts "leiden fast sieben Millionen Menschen extreme Not und sind von Hunger bedroht", erklärte die Organisation anlässlich eines am Donnerstag veröffentlichten Berichts zur Lage im Jemen. Mehr als zehn Millionen weitere Menschen seien von Nahrungsmangel bedroht und benötigen dringend humanitäre Hilfe.
Die jemenitische Wirtschaft liege am Boden, dringend benötigte Nahrungsmittelimporte würden erschwert und der Hilfsaufruf der UNO sei "dramatisch unterfinanziert", heißt es in dem Bericht mit dem Titel "Yemen pushed towards man-made famine" (etwa: Jemen wird in eine von Menschen verschuldete Hungersnot getrieben). Die UNO habe den Bedarf für Nothilfe im Jemen auf 2,1 Milliarden Dollar (1,9 Milliarden Euro) beziffert, doch nur sieben Prozent davon seien derzeit durch Finanzierungszusagen der Geberländer gedeckt. "Die katastrophale Versorgungslage wird von den Konfliktparteien und ihren Unterstützern bisher weitgehend ignoriert", kritisierte Oxfam. Die Organisation sprach von der derzeit "weltweit größten humanitären Krise".
Oxfam forderte die Konfliktparteien auf, die Kämpfe zu beenden. Die durch Luftangriffe verursachten Zerstörungen von Häfen, Straßen, Brücken, Lagerhallen und Märkten wirkten sich dramatisch auf die Nahrungsmittelversorgung aus. Denn Jemen müsse rund 90 Prozent seiner Nahrungsmittel importieren. Zudem behinderten Behörden internationale Hilfslieferungen.
Die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International kritisierte die USA und Großbritannien für Lieferungen von Waffen an Saudi-Arabien, die im Konflikt im Jemen eingesetzt würden. Beide Länder hätten Riad seit der Ausweitung des militärischen Konflikts im Jemen im Jahr 2015 Waffen im Wert von insgesamt 4,6 Milliarden Euro verkauft.
Die Summe übersteige die humanitäre Hilfe beider Länder für den Jemen im selben Zeitraum um das Zehnfache, erklärte Amnesty.
Anmerkung: Mehr Berichte auf Englisch weiter unten.
23.3.2017 – Ärzte ohne Grenzen (* A H)
Jemen: Mangelernährung, eine Folge des Konflikts
Vor zwei Jahren eskalierte der Konflikt im Jemen: Die Zivilbevölkerung leidet unter massiven Engpässen bei Nahrung, Treibstoffen, medizinischem Material und anderen Gütern. Das hat schwerwiegende Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit der Menschen.
Millionen Menschen wurden durch den Konflikt vertrieben, hunderttausende mussten ihre Häuser verlassen und in Notunterkünften Schutz suchen. Für die meisten ist medizinische Versorgung unerschwinglich. Deshalb suchen viele erst dann Hilfe, wenn sie bereits sehr krank sind.
Eine der Folgen des Konflikts ist Mangelernährung. Das Krankheitsbild entsteht, wenn Menschen über einen längeren Zeitraum nicht genug Nahrung haben oder bei der Ernährung wichtige Nährstoffe fehlen. Im Jemen wird Mangelernährung vor allem durch die sich rapide verschlechternden wirtschaftlichen Bedingungen begünstigt. Der Konflikt stellt gefährdete Gruppen vor noch schwerwiegendere Hürden, wenn sie versuchen, eine medizinische Behandlung zu erhalten. Dazu kommen Einschränkungen der Mobilität, ein verringertes Einkommen und somit weniger Ressourcen, um ausreichend Nahrung zu kaufen, sowie andere Faktoren – all das zusätzlich zum allgegenwärtigen Elend und all den Erschwernissen, die der Krieg mit sich bringt.
https://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.at/article/jemen-mangelernaehrung-eine-folge-des-konflikts
23.3.2017 – Doctors Without Borders (* A H)
Yemen: MSF withdrawing from Ibb Al-Thawra hospital
Statement by Hugues Robert, MSF Program Manager for Yemen “Due to our inability to run activities according to MSF’s principles of independence and impartiality, we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Al-Thawra hospital in Ibb, Yemen. Our departure is not immediate and will happen gradually over the course of the next three months. MSF has been providing life-saving care in the emergency room of Al-Thawra hospital in Ibb since January 2016, and in the last year over 41,000 patients have been treated.
MSF is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that treats patients irrespective of their religious, tribal, political or other affiliations. All medical care provided by MSF is free of charge and accessible to all, without discrimination.
MSF remains committed to the Yemeni population and will continue its medical activities in nine governorates. We reiterate our call on all parties to the conflict to respect civilian lives and medical structures.”
http://www.msf.org/en/article/yemen-msf-withdrawing-ibb-al-thawra-hospital
My comment: What really did happen there?
23.3.2017 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (A H P)
Last I checked, UN's #Yemen HRP ask for 2017: $2.1B Saudi's contribution to 2015/16 HRPs: $311.4M (infographics)
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/844900658012676097
My comment: Thus, Saudi Arabia paid the equivalent to the coast of 36 hours and about 30 minutes aerial war against Yemen (or about 1/467 of the sum they spent for the bombing war against Yemen).
22.3.2017 – APA / DPA (* A H)
Rotes Kreuz warnt vor Hungerkrisen in Ostafrika und im Jemen
Die Hungerkrise in Ostafrika wird immer schlimmer. Jetzt hat das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz (IKRK) Alarm geschlagen: “Wir haben es mit einer massiven Krise zu tun”, sagte Einsatzleiter Dominik Stillhart am Mittwoch in Genf. Es geht um den Südsudan, Somalia, Nigeria und den Jemen.
Die Hilfe müsse deutlich ausgeweitet werden. Das IKRK hatte Geber um 400 Millionen Dollar ( (370,30 Mio. Euro) gebeten, bekam aber bisher nur ein Viertel. Der Aufruf der Vereinten Nationen für die Nothilfe, bis Ende März 4,4 Milliarden Dollar (4,07 Mrd. Euro) aufzubringen, wurde bis dato nur zu zehn Prozent erfüllt. “20 Millionen Menschen sind in Gefahr zu verhungern. Das sprengt klar den Rahmen dessen, was wir normalerweise sehen”, sagte Stillhart.
“Die Hungersnöte sind in erster Linie eine Folge der langen Konflikte”, sagte Stillhart. Neben der akut nötigen Lebensmittelhilfe müssten die Anstrengungen verstärkt werden, die Konflikte zu lösen. Er zeigte sich aber optimistisch, dass das Schlimmste abgewendet werden könne, wenn die Weltgemeinschaft rasch reagiere.
http://www.vol.at/rotes-kreuz-warnt-vor-hungerkrisen-in-ostafrika-und-im-jemen/apa-1435126038 und ähnlich http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/afrika-und-jemen-20-millionen-menschen-vor-dem-hungertod/19553492.html und zum Thema auch https://www.domradio.de/themen/soziales/2017-03-22/hungerkatastrophe-afrika-und-im-jemen
22.3.2017 – ICRC (* A H)
“Massive scaling up urgently needed to tackle hunger crisis” says ICRC’s Director of Operations
The ICRC is appealing for $400m to help those most affected by the humanitarian crises in Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and north-east Nigeria. The funds will ensure 5 million vulnerable people receive essential aid.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva today, ICRC director of operations, Dominik Stillhart, warned a massive scaling up of aid was needed to avert a further spiralling downwards in these countries.
"Food, water, shelter and health care is required immediately. With our partners from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, we are increasing our response. We are on the ground and delivering aid in all four countries. We witness the massive suffering. Millions of people are denied the very basics to survive."
The director of operations also underlined the need to directly address the root causes of the crisis.
"No amount of aid money will overcome political obstructionism and a failure to abide by the norms of warfare. Ultimately, in these countries, famine is a by-product. The root cause is the presence of long term, intractable conflict. It's the conflict that renders agricultural land unusable, that forces people to flee their homes, and that destroys hospitals and other vital services," said Mr Stillhart.
Mr Stillhart called on warring parties to make every effort to abide by the norms of warfare, and said States must better use their influence to make this happen. "Violations of the laws of war are directly leading to massive suffering so we need to address how war is waged."
In addition to the ICRC appeal, Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners in the 4 countries will need at least a further $100 million to fund their response to the crises.
The ICRC's Middle East director, Robert Mardini, said that with essential goods and supplies running out, there was no time to waste in Yemen: "We're doing what we can, but the needs are huge. The resilience of Yemenis is reaching a breaking point. Parties to the conflict in Yemen must act responsibly. More goods must be allowed into and across the country. Civilians and civilian infrastructure should not be targeted. Humanitarian access cannot be a bargaining chip. To prevent famine, immediate action is needed."
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/massive-scaling-urgently-needed-tackle-hunger-crisis-says-icrcs-director-operations and Reuters report: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-hunger-idUSKBN16T132
My comment: US $ 400 million – that’s the cost of two days Saudi aerial war against Yemen. And we already have reached day 725 now.
22.3.2017 – Oxfam (* A H)
Millions in Yemen knowingly pushed to the brink of famine
Fighters in the Yemen war and their international backers are wilfully pushing the country to the brink of famine, Oxfam warned today, ahead of the two year anniversary of the escalation of the war. Nearly 7 million people have been pushed to the brink of starvation and 70 per cent of the population is in need of humanitarian aid.
Oxfam is calling for urgent action on two fronts: an immediate resumption of the peace process and for donors to provide the additional $2.1bn (£1.7bn) the UN says is needed for the humanitarian response. Currently the appeal is only 7 per cent funded.
Sajjad Mohamed Sajid, Oxfam's Country Director in Yemen, said: "If the parties to the conflict – and those fuelling it with arm sales – continue to ignore Yemen’s food crisis, they will be responsible for a famine.”
“The people of Yemen are being starved to death and may not survive the situation much longer. A fully funded humanitarian response is vital to prevent countless people dying needlessly but ultimately what Yemenis need is an end to the fighting.”
“All sides to the conflict need to understand that famine is the real enemy of Yemen. Preventing famine must take priority over any side’s military aims. The world cannot wait for famine to be declared in Yemen or it will be too late.”
The UK is among a number of countries that are supplying arms and military support to parties to the conflict.
Ports, roads and bridges, along with warehouses, farms and markets have been regularly destroyed by the Saudi-led coalition, draining the country’s food stocks. The Houthi led authority is delaying the delivery of life-saving relief, and sometimes detaining aid workers. This, coupled with a flattened economy, has created an abyss of hunger and led 6.8 million people on the brink of famine.
A blockade has been imposed on Yemen, preventing food coming in the country. While this has been partially eased, new restrictions on shipping and the destruction of many port facilities, such as the cranes of Al-Hudaydah port in August 2015 are punishing the Yemeni population and the country’s food supplies are running a critically low. Fighting on Yemen’s west coast escalated last month, especially around Al-Hudaydah and Mocha ports, which risks cutting off vital supplies to millions of people. In a worst-case scenario where food imports drop substantially or where conflict prevents supplies being moved around the country, famine is possible.
An Oxfam food survey of 2,000 families who have been forced to flee their homes in north-west Yemen, between November and December 2016, found that 85 percent of people were going hungry. The only options they have are to reduce the amount of food they eat or feed what little they have to their children and go hungry themselves. They skip meals and end up buying food of lesser quality, often on credit. Some have no source of food at all and only survive thanks to humanitarian aid and people’s generosity.
In order to save the lives of millions of starving people, Oxfam is urging the United Nations Secretary General to pressure all parties to the conflict to resume peace talks, to reach a negotiated peace agreement and improve the economic situation in the country.
Oxfam is calling for all land, sea and air routes to Yemen to remain open and for attacks targeting military objects related to supply routes and infrastructure to not disproportionately affect civilians in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.
https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-03-23/millions-yemen-are-being-knowingly-pushed-brink-famine = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/millions-yemen-knowingly-pushed-brink-famine
22.3.2017 – Save the Children and 16 NGOs (* A H)
Joint oral statement by Save the Children International
This statement is made on behalf of Save the Children International and 16 NGOs1, comprised of national, regional and international human rights and humanitarian civil society actors, including organizations that provide humanitarian assistance and support to vulnerable children and families in Yemen.
We are concerned by the rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen as highlighted in the High Commissioner’s oral update on the implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 33/16 of October 2016.2
Yemen is in a perfect storm of humanitarian, protection and economic crises, each fuelling the other – Yemen’s civilian population, particularly children, women and other vulnerable groups, are in the eye of the storm and their prospects of survival are being diminished day by day.
The Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan launched last month estimates that 18.8 million people need humanitarian assistance, of which 10 million are children. 7.3 million Yemeni people do not know where their next meal will come from. Nearly 3.3 million people – including 2.1 million children – are acutely malnourished. If there is no action now, famine will happen in 2017.
New threats to the lives of children and other vulnerable people, such as cholera and measles, emerged in 2016 due to the collapse of the health, water and sanitation system and a population made increasingly fragile by forced displacement and malnutrition. More than half of all health facilities are closed or only partially functioning. Child mortality has risen by nearly 20% with every 10 minutes a child dying from preventable causes. This must be urgently addressed.
We are also extremely concerned about the unrelenting attacks on civilians, including attacks on schools and hospitals, and violations of human rights. We call on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law and to fully cooperate with OHCHR in their investigations of violations of international law.
In the light of limited progress made in these investigations to date, the UN should act to establish an independent, international investigative mechanism to reinforce OHCHR’s efforts and ensure accountability
for violations against civilians, including those against children. Finally, we call on all Member States to put pressure on all parties to the conflict to find a peaceful political solution to the current conflict that involves women and minority groups, step up the response, fully fund the 2017 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan to meet the most urgent needs.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-oral-statement-save-children-international-enar
22.3.2017 – AFP (* A H)
NGOs demand access as Yemen suffers 'open-air massacre'
Humanitarian groups on Wednesday demanded access to civilians on the brink of famine in Yemen, describing the two-year civil war in the Arab world's poorest state as an "open-air massacre".
"The bombs that rain down every day in Yemen show an absolute disdain for civilian life," Jean-Pierre Delomier of Handicap International said in a joint statement with five other aid groups.
"Every day our teams, when they manage to reach people, see the physical and psychological distress of the traumatised civilians," he added. "This open-air massacre is intolerable and unworthy or our era."
Helene Queau of Premiere Urgence Internationale told a Paris news conference that Yemen was "one of the countries... where humanitarian groups have the most difficulties."
Transport infrastructure is "partially or totally destroyed, access to airports and ports is very complicated, and bombing by the Arab coalition restricts movements," said Queau, the group's operations chief.
The groups, which also included Medecins du Monde, Care and Solidarites International, accused the coalition of bombing civilian targets indiscriminately and of using cluster bombs, which were banned under an international treaty in 2008.
22.3.2017 – Red Cross (* A H)
Yemen: Much-needed aid finally reaches city of Taiz (photos)
An intense battle for control of Taiz has placed both the city and its people in a state of siege, leaving communities completely cut off from supplies. Water levels are critically low, while food prices are soaring.
Last week, our team were able to enter Taiz, bringing desperately-needed food, hygiene items and blankets for over 7,000 people. This was the first delivery of aid since September 2016.
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/yemen-much-needed-aid-finally-reaches-city-taiz
22.3.2017 – Reuters (* B H)
WIDER IMAGE - Yemen orphanage braves nearby air strikes
After two years of war, orphans in the Yemeni capital Sanaa have only one dream - to survive.
The al-Shawkani Foundation for Orphan Care is located around 100 meters (yards) from the al-Nahdain mountain, widely believed to be an arms depot that has been repeatedly bombarded by Saudi-led coalition's fighter jets.
As the war rages on, the orphans suffer through a constant state of fear and trauma.
"We were scared, and every time we hear the plane's noise, they (orphanage staff) would rush us quickly to the basement fearing for our safety," said Mousa Saleh Munassar, 14.
"Many of my friends have left the orphanage and returned to their relatives," he added. "I expect strikes nearby at any time."
Mousa once dreamt of becoming a doctor, but describes the only dream he and his friends now share: "We want the war to calm down for us to see security and stability come back."
Orphanage director Muhammad al-Qadhi says it relies on the generosity of private donors and charity groups.
But the war has devastated the economy and unleashed a humanitarian crisis, depleting savings and public resources.
"We are going through a pressing need for aid for these orphans amid the scarcity of resources that used to provide for them due to the ongoing war," he said.
Nine-year-old Abdulaziz Badr al-Faisari of the orphanage said he and his fellow orphans were terrified when bombs shake the whole building, but appeared resigned to his fate.
"We have had nowhere to flee." – By Khaled Abdullah (with photos)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-orphanage-idUSKBN16T1HV (most photos) or http://news.trust.org/item/20170322123646-71g9f/ and here easily all photos at one look: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/children-yemen-inside-sanaa-orphanage-that-braving-nearby-air-strikes-1613118
and
23.3.2017 – Your Abilities (A H)
Your Ability organization visited Al-Shawkani Foundation of orphan care in Sanaa few days ago .
Orphans lives difficult circumstances inside the center .
Mohammed Al-Qathi is the director of Al-Shawkani Center said "
Because of the bombardments close the center, the orphans suffer through a constant state of fear and trauma , while windows broken that makes the orphans suffer of cold and there is shortage of food because of the cessation of supporters and the on going complicated situation in Yemen "
Orphans have no one to depend on , they needs Your generosity
We appeals to people for supporting the orphans in Yemen Photos)
https://www.facebook.com/your.abilities.or/posts/294125394339138 = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1313479055371788
21.3.2017 – Your Abilities (A H)
#Yemen 2 years of brutal war in Yemen has brought the country to the brink of starvation and famine. A devastating 2.1 million children are currently acutely malnourished.
3.1 million of civilians forced to flee their homes to live on camps , streets and tents if lucky to find one .
They desperately need food and water to survive (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/your.abilities.or/posts/293679604383717 = https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10155343449333641
21.3.2017 – UNICEF Yemen (A H)
“Two years of conflict have now passed, yet in Dhale there is still fighting and uncertainty. Life has not changed much during that time, except perhaps for me when I got my new leg, giving me a better life in the future.” Qoussai, 12 years old and from Dhale, lost his leg due to the conflict. He has since been supported by UNICEF’s Victim Assistance programme, which provides prosthetic limbs and psychosocial support, as well as help with transport and living costs when he visits the rehabilitation centre in Aden – photo
https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/photos/a.140138722718846.28242.139654236100628/1352092038190169/?type=3 = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1313881975331496
30.12.2016 – UN Children's Fund, Government of Yemen (* A H)
Nutrition Survey Report - Al Dhale’e Governorate Yemen, 20 to 25 August 2016
Al Dhale’e Governorate contains 183 health facilities (5 hospitals, 9 EmOC centres, 24 health centres and 104 health units), however, 41 of these facilities are not functional including 1 hospital, 1 EmOC centre, 5 health centres and 34 health units.
Between 2009 and 2016, number of schools increased from 419 to 482. The total number of school enrolled students is 172,763 (45.7% are females). However, the education process in the governorates is negatively affected by the frequent protests, strikes and closings of schools.
Al
Dhale’e has suffered from political crises since 2006 that converted
to armed conflicts since 2007.
The current ongoing crisis has resulted in huge destruction of infrastructure includingroads, bridges, health systems, schools, markets, and houses and forced several thousands of households to be internally displaced. Due to the recent improvements and reduction of conflict incidences the number of IDPs has declined and in April 2016 only 27,654 people were recorded in the governorate among them the majority (25,296 people) came into Al Dhale’e from other governorates. Moreover, 16,104 people have returned back to their home villages in the Governorate. The IDPs who fled into the governorate became additional burden for the limited resources of the area. The level of acute malnutrition in the Governorate was low before the crisis. However, the recent high and increasing admission for severely acute malnutrition cases could indicate the deterioration of nutritional situation due to both poor consumption and other non-
food problems. Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever, bloody diarrhea, Lower and Upper respiratory infections, Acute Flaccid Paralysis, Malaria, Meningitis, and dengue favor are among the main causes of sickness and morbidity in the governorate. These health problems have increasingly been affecting the population where the medical facilities are being challenged by lack of essential equipment and accessories as well as basic drugs required to provide treatment services.
The level of acute malnutrition in the Governorate was low before the crisis. However, the recent high and increasing admission for severely acute malnutrition cases could indicate the deterioration of nutritional situation due to both poor consumption and other non-food problems. Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever, bloody diarrhea, Lower and Upper respiratory infections, Acute Flaccid Paralysis, Malaria, Meningitis, and dengue favor are among the main causes of sickness and morbidity in the governorate. These health problems have increasingly been affecting the population where the medical facilities are being challenged by lack of essential equipment and accessories as well as basic drugs required to provide treatment services.
Due to the crisis, the food consumption level of about 65% of the households in Ad-Daleh is below the acceptable standard of whom two third are under poor food consumption category. In addition to the suffering of the population from lack of diversified food consumption (quality and balanced food intake), 23% of most vulnerable population had to employ negative coping mechanisms and reduce the amount of food the consume in order to survive through the crisis period.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nutrition-survey-report-al-dhale-e-governorate-yemen-20-25-august-2016 and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SMART%20-Al%20Dhale%20August%202016.pdf
31.5.2016 – UN Children's Fund, Government of Yemen (* A H)
Nutrition Survey of Taiz Governorate 2016 Final Report
1. Executive Summary
A SMART survey was conducted from …. to …. 2016 in three zones namely TC,
TLL and THL in Taiz Governorate (details about districts in each zone are shown on the methodology section). A total of 1458 HHs were surveyed and a variety of HH characteristics information were collected. Data were also collected from 1708 U5 children and 2338 women on the reproductive age 15-49 years.
The survey was designed and aimed at updating information about the nutritional status of children and women and more precisely:
To investigate some of the HHs living conditions that may – directly or indirectly – affect the nutritional status of children and women.
To evaluate the HHs food security situation.
To assess the nutritional status of U5 children and women aged 15-49 years.
To assess the prevalence of infectious diseases, the immunization and Vitamin A coverage among children and follow the trends of IYCF practices.
To track any possible changes in U5MR trends.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nutrition-survey-taiz-governorate-2016-final-report and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SMART%20-Taiz%20Final%20report%20May%202016.pdf
31.5.2016 – UN Children's Fund, Government of Yemen (* A H)
Nutrition Survey of Sana'a Governorate 2016 Final Report
1. Executive Summary
A SMART survey was conducted during May 21st to June 2nd , 2016 in two zones namely SAD and SAT in Sana'a Governorate (details about districts in each zone are shown on the methodology section). A total of 922 HHs were surveyed and a variety of house characteristics were collected. Data were also collected from 1161 U5 children and 2398 women on the reproductive age 15-49 years.
The survey was designed and aimed at updating information about the nutritional status of children and women and more precisely: [as above for Taiz]
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nutrition-survey-sanaa-governorate-2016-final-report and in full: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SMART%20-Sana%27a%20Final%20Report%20May%202016.pdf
cp4 Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
21.3.2017 – Louis Allday (A K P)
While Yemen's history is destroyed, the UK Minister of State for International Development has the gall to tweet this. Obscene (look at image)
https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/status/843783763972804611
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
23.3.2017 – Alalam (* A K P)
Yemen Unveils New 'Asif 1' Missile
The Yemeni defense ministry unveiled a new missile named 'Asif 1' that it said would be used in the war against Saudi Arabia.
Al-Masirah news website reported that the missile was test-fired in action after it hit a military base in Saudi Arabia's Najran province.
"The missile units of the army targeted Rajla military base in Saudi Arabia’s Southwestern border region of Najran with three Asif 1 missiles and the missiles precisely hit the target," a Yemeni military source said.
In relevant remarks on Monday, the official spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Sharq Luqman, underlined that the country is in possession of advanced missiles which can hit the Saudi capital.
"We have been able to develop our weapons and make progress so that they can hit the Saudi capital," Luqman told al-Mayadeen news channel.
Noting that Borkan-2 missile was the first missile which could target King Salman airbase, he said that new missiles are underway.
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1942123
Remark: Look at article in cp1.
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (* A P)
Dozens of CID prison detainees under brutal torture – exclusive source
An exclusive sources in Dhamar province, central Yemen, stated on Thursday that dozens of detainees in the Criminal Intelligence Department prison are exposed to various types of torture on a daily basis by militants of the Houthi group and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A photograph taken by the source, received by Almasdaronline but has reservations to release it, had shown deep and serious wounds in the buttock and legs of one if the detainees due to severe beatings.
The Houthis and allied forces are controlling the prison, and are detaining dozens of opponent civilians in it, the source said.
Dozens of detainees refused to allow taking photographs for them for security reasons, and many of them were even in worse conditions and need urgent surgical interventions, which the Houthi gunmen does not permit. According to the source.
The families of the detainees are complaining that their sons in the CID prison are suffering heinous torture, as a number of them had had their noses broken and others suffered bruises, wounds and burns. Added the source.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89825
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A)
Houthi prominent figure abduct a girl for forcibly marriage – local sources
Local sources in Ibb province, central Yemen, stated that militants of the Houthi group had abducted a young girl to force her marry a prominent Houthi leader.
According to the sources, a 26 year-old young girl was abducted last February by Houthi militants, led by the Houthi leader “N, M, A, Z” in Jabjab area of Hazm al Udain district.
Last Tuesday, the Houthi militants, following the Houthi figure Abu Bashar al Shabibi, abducted the father of the young girl, a businessman, called “M, A, A” in order to force him approve his daughter’s marriage to the Houthi leader, which the girl rejects.
“However, the father had filed a case in one of the course in Ibb, and court ruled in favor of the father”.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89814
23.3.2017 – Hisham Al-Omeisy (B P)
Not trying to rub it in, but what exactly did Houthi/GPC "salvation" gov't of whopping 44 ministers do since its formation? #Corrupt
https://twitter.com/omeisy/status/844876405703892992
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K P)
Sons of Ibb announce general mobilization against Saudi
Sons of Al-Sadda district of Ibb province announced general mobilization to face Saudi aggression.
The protest rally took a placed on Wednesday.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459897.htm
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
Women of Rathmah stage anti-Saudi rally protest in Ibb
Women of Ibb province staged a rally protest to denounce the continuation of the Saudi-American aggression war.
In the rally, which took place on Wednesday, the women of Yemen vowed to not abandon their role towards defending the homeland and will make precious and generous efforts to thwart plots of the Saudi aggression.
The women called on the nation to continue sending fighter men to the front lines to defend the country against Saudi aggression.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459906.htm
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A)
Police seize arms in Sana'a
Police seized weapons in two cars in Al-Thaorah district of the capital Sana'a on Thursday, a security official told Saba.
The official said the police arrested the two cars and the drivers for investigation.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459905.htm
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A T)
Security services arrest 2 al-Qaida terrorist operatives in Bayda
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459900.htm
22.3.2017 – Saudi War Crimes (A P)
Foreign Minister stresses that the threats of aggression on the port of Hodeidah will not dissuade the Yemeni people from confronting it
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hisham Sharaf Abdullah said that the recent threats by the countries of the aggression alliance on the port of Hodeidah and its provocative style will not dissuade the Yemeni people from steadfastness and hesitation in the face of the forces of invasion and occupation, warning against committing such folly that affect the lives of civilians.
"Yemeni forces have high combat capabilities and have the means to force the enemy not to take this foolishness," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Al-Abbasi and Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mutahar Al-Abbasi told the press conference in Sana'a.
He pointed out that 85% of the resources of the Yemeni economy destroyed .. He stressed that the call of the government of salvation to bring peace in Yemen is not a weakness, but an attempt to alleviate the suffering of the people and that the Yemeni people can resist the aggression for decades.
The foreign minister ridiculed the continuation of the Saudi regime in portraying the aggression against Yemen as legitimate against a coup, ignoring the constitutional institutions of the country, headed by the House of Representatives, which is constantly active with Arab and international parliaments.
Minister Sharaf welcomed the commission investigating the crime of the Somali refugees, expressing the cooperation of the rescue government with them and facilitating all procedures to reach the truth.
22.3.2017 – Saba Net (A P)
FM calls NATO to investigate into Saudi using int'l-prohibited weapons against Yemeni civilians
An official of the Foreign Ministry called on NATO to investigate into internationally-prohibited weapons using by Saudi regime to kill Yemeni civilians.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459774.htm
21.3.2017 – Josephjo1221 (A P)
A speech by the Minister of Finance of the Sana'a government and Kamran Company's response to it exposes bullying (document)
https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/844308662260826112
21.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K P)
The Military Industry Unit of the Yemeni Army inaugurated on Tuesday a new ASEF 1 missiles.
The ASEF 1 missile is a short-range.
The army and popular forces pounded on Tuesday Saudi Rajla camp with three-ASEF missiles.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459750.htm
23.3.2017 – Vorarlberg Online (A P)
Film: Jemen: Tausende protestieren gegen Bombardierungen der saudi-geführten Allianz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41gvC-eFgbs
Bemerkung: Schon vor ein paar Tagen, YPR 293, cp5.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
Parliament: Look at cp2
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A T)
Unknown gunmen attack car carrying Vice Interior Minister’s family in Abyan
The source told Almasdaronline that the attack resulted in minor injuries among the security guards escorting the family, and the family members were safe.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89818
22.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
President Hadi, US Ambassador discuss risks of Houthis on international navigation
President Abdo Rabu Mansour Hadi and US Ambassador to Yemen Mathew Tuller on Wednesday discussed the flow of weapons to militias of the Houthis and Saleh and its risks on international navigation and peace.
President Hadi lauded the positive cooperation between Yemen and United States in the fight of terrorism and the US support to Yemen and its legitimate government.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5236
My comment: That’s absolutely odd because the main risk on international navigation are Saudi operations in the Red Sea (bombing boats as just happened)
22.3.2017 – MbKS15 (A K)
#Saudi-led Coalition resumes the pilots training program at Al Anad AB on AT-802 aircrafts & potentially Bell 407 for the #Yemeni Air Force
https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/844553092142129158
Remark: More reporting YPR 283, cp6.
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
23.3.2017 – Haykal Bafana (* A P)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights : No choice but to reiterate call for international independent inquiry on #Yemen war crimes (see image)
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/844963796506566657
23.3.2017 – UN Human Rights Council (* A P)
Human Rights Council holds general debate on technical assistance and capacity building after reports on Afghanistan and Yemen
The Human Rights Council this morning held a general debate on technical assistance and capacity building after hearing the presentation of reports and oral updates of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Afghanistan and Yemen, and the report of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights.
KATE GILMORE, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introduced country reports of the Secretary-General and High Commissioner for Human Rights on Afghanistan and Yemen.
In the oral update on Yemen, Ms. Gilmore stressed that one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, one entirely man-made, was underway in Yemen. Over 21 million Yemenis, 82 per cent of the population, were in need of humanitarian assistance; 14 million were suffering from food insecurity; and at least 1.3 children were acutely malnourished. Almost three million people were internally displaced while the country’s infrastructure had been extensively destroyed and its economy decimated. The living conditions of people in Yemen, simply put, were miserable, deplorable and untenable. The absence of a credible and viable political solution, combined with the relentless escalation of violence over the last three months, was undermining the prospects of an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian aid. The fighting in and around the port cities of Mokha and Hodeida had left thousands trapped and the substantive destruction of infrastructure compromised the delivery of humanitarian aid.
In accordance with the Human Rights Council’s resolution 33/16, the Office of the High Commissioner had strengthened the capacity of the country office in Yemen and had re-established engagement with the National Commission, agreeing together on a programme of joint activities and a list of thematic priorities. Ms. Gilmore urged the de facto authorities in Sanaa to extend cooperation to the National Commission and the teams tasked with the implementation of the above resolution.
Noting that the calls for an international and independent commission of investigation had been dismissed by some as potentially undermining the existing national commission, the Deputy High Commissioner stressed that there were no persuasive reasons to believe that an international and independent investigation could not operate alongside a national commission of inquiry. The existence of one did not exclude the other. The national commission had so far failed to live up to the standards with which it must comply in order to carry out its duties with credibility, including the principle of impartiality. Also, the violations committed in the ongoing conflict were of such gravity that continued impunity could not be accepted. In the absence of a credible mechanism for national remedy, international and independent alternatives were essential. The High Commissioner therefore had no choice but to reiterate the call for an international and independent commission of inquiry into all allegations of human rights violations and humanitarian law, regardless of the alleged perpetrators.
Yemen, speaking as a concerned country, said the situation in Yemen was better than in the last few years, and the Government was doing its level best, putting an end to the insurrection in some areas. To be objective, all violations needed to be addressed. The Yemeni Government had been forced to use military force, and it was thanks to the support of Arab brothers that Yemen had been able to resist the Houthi coup targeting the legitimate regime. The insurrection had been ended but only through sacrifices. A mosque had been targeted recently, and 27 people had been killed. Those acts had to be imputed to the terrorist militia. Previously the Council had called for a commission of inquiry. The Office of the High Commissioner was called on to support the commission so it could carry out its task. The Yemeni Government was willing to receive humanitarian aid through Mokha and other ports, and the airport would also be brought back into service. The Government was preparing a rehabilitation programme for children recruited by militias, and requested humanitarian organizations to assist in making that programme a success. Member States were called on to refrain from circulating propaganda which could hurt the situation.
The Gulf Cooperation Council valued the submission of the report on the human rights situation in Yemen and systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by the Houthi regime, and reiterated its call on the international community to pursue political consultations to achieve peace in Yemen.
Sudan, speaking on behalf of a group of 20 States, said the human rights situation in Yemen required attention and the rejection of the rebels to comply with the peaceful solution was deeply concerning.
Saudi Arabia welcomed the report of the national commission of inquiry in Yemen and urged the implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution 33/16, as well as the recruitment of additional human rights monitors to support the work of the national commission. Saudi Arabia welcomed the efforts of the Yemeni authorities who sought the improvement of the living conditions of the people, and the peace dialogue on the initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Everyone should avoid dealing with the puchists and thus giving them credibility and recognition.
Iraq welcomed the international efforts to deal with the crisis in Yemen and find a peaceful solution. It was necessary to establish a dialogue between all stakeholders without external influence; it was a Yemeni crisis which must be dealt with by the Yemenis. All parties should adopt cooperate to put an end to this crisis. Iraq was ready to support all attempts to find peace in Yemen and address the humanitarian situation of civilians, and urged all States to support Yemen in emerging from the crisis.
With respect to Yemen, Jordan had rejected any attempt to impose external interference in the country’s affairs. Jordan called for the strengthening of negotiations between all stakeholders in Yemen to broker a deal.
Iraqi Development Organization drew attention to the Council’s failure to set up an international commission of inquiry into human rights violations committed in Yemen. The exiled Government was involved in the violation of human rights. The Saudi coalition had used barrel bombs against civilians on at least 60 occasions, and had caused the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
Ecumenical Alliance for Human Rights and Development drew the Council’s attention to the crimes perpetrated by the Houthi militias in Yemen. The Houthi forces had indiscriminately shelled civilian areas and committed murder and torture. Stability and security needed to be established in Yemen, and the legitimate Government supported. The militias ought to be held accountable for the crimes they had committed.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21440&LangID=E = http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/human-rights-council-holds-general-debate-technical-assistance-and-capacity-building-0
My comment: Funny how the Sanaa government is labeled: “the de facto authorities in Sanaa”. – “Yemen” making a statement (the well-known Hadi propaganda) of course is the Hadi government. – And odd statements by several states of the Saudi coalition: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan, the GCC. Jordan “had rejected any attempt to impose external interference in the country’s affairs: The heaviest interference ever is the Saudi coalition bombing, Jordan included. Even the US and the UK do interfere more than Iran (which of course is meant by this Jordan statement). A reasonable statement by the representative of Iraq. At the end, also NGOs make their statements. Repeating Hadi / Saudi propaganda: an “Ecumenical Alliance for Human Rights and Development”, saying not a single word about Saudi air raids. Odd.
21.3.2017 – Reuters (* A P)
Yemen's warring parties should protect ports, not U.N.: spokesman
The warring parties in Yemen are responsible for the protection of civilians and infrastructure and not others, the United Nations said on Tuesday in response to a Saudi-led military coalition calling for the U.N. to supervise a strategic port.
The coalition, which has been fighting Iran-allied Houthi rebels and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since 2015, on Sunday proposed that the U.N. monitor Hodeidah port after an attack on a boatload of Somali refugees killed 42 people.
"Parties to the conflict have a clear responsibility to protect civilian infrastructure and fundamentally to protect civilians. These are not obligations they can shift to others," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.
The refugees had departed Hodeidah en route to Sudan when a helicopter opened fire on Friday, the United Nations refugee agency said. The Saudi-led coalition denied responsibility for the attack.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-un-idUSKBN16S287
Remark: Look at YPR 283, cp1a.
And
22.3.2017 – Asharq Al-awsat (A P)
Yemen Accuses UN of Evading Responsibility
Yemen’s Ambassador to the UN Khaled Al-Yamani criticized on Tuesday the international body for not sending monitors to the port of Hodeidah, which was tantamount to “evasion of responsibility” towards the country and clear disregard to international humanitarian law.
The ambassador expressed his country’s deep regret over the failure of the UN to practice its true role in Yemen.
On Monday evening, the UN rejected a request from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to place the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeidah under its supervision after an attack on a refugee boat last Sunday killed 42 Somalis out of the 140 refugees who were onboard.
http://english.aawsat.com/n-al-rasheed/news-middle-east/yemen-accuses-un-evading-responsibility
My comment: “Yemen” just is the Hadi government. – Also this article is rounded up by the standard propaganda.
20.3.2017 – Paul Gottinger (A P)
UN demonstrates its cowardice (again) by failing to call for an independent inquiry into Apache attack on refugee ship off #Yemen's coast (see image)
https://twitter.com/PaulGottinger/status/843939488648912896
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
22.3.2017 – The Independent (* B H P)
At least 1,000 Saudi Arabian women flee the country each year because of the country’s ingrained misogyny, a sociologist based in the country's capital Riyadh has claimed.
Higher numbers are also believed to leave for the more liberal city of Jeddah.
They are part of an apparently increasing number of women who have tired of the country’s highly sexist social system and decided to leave for a better life, according to Mansour al-Askar of the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University.
He told The Economistthat he estimated more than 1,000 women leave every year.
Saudi Arabia adheres to a harsh version of Wahhabi Sunni Islam and is notorious for strict Sharia law it employs. It remains the only country on earth where women are banned from driving.
Women and are also subject to walis, or male guardians, throughout their lives – usually their father, husband or other male relative.
They must have their permission before engaging in almost any sort of activity, from getting an education or job, to simply leaving the house – by Will Worley
21.3.2017 – Hureyaksa (A P)
Because he refused to violate his wife's offer by a road security man - Taif Riyadh Expressway - was jailed and turned into a deportation after hiding the case (film, Arabic)
https://twitter.com/hureyaksa/status/844171763277692929
cp9 USA
23.3.2017 – The Intercept (* A H P)
WAR CORRESPONDENTS DESCRIBE RECENT U.S. AIRSTRIKES IN IRAQ, SYRIA, AND YEMEN
SENTIMENT IN WASHINGTON may not reflect that the U.S. is at war, but two war correspondents described the astonishing extent and toll of recent U.S. military strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen on Intercepted, the weekly podcast by The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill. This month, independent war reporter Iona Craig covered a tragically botched Navy SEAL raid in Yemen for The Intercept. Craig said the U.S. strikes killed two more children and three more adults, some of whom she had met while reporting her story. “They saw it as revenge — a revenge for killing a Navy SEAL basically — that the Americans were coming back to destroy their village entirely and to make sure that everybody was gone.”
Both Craig and Gopal said that the U.S. risks getting sucked into domestic and geopolitical dramas in the region in a way that could be disastrous.
Craig said the U.S. is already “being seen as very much taking one side” in Yemen. “That could get even worse if now the Trump administration decides to conflate the Houthis with Iran.”
Craig said the only winner is the defense industry. “Well, it’s good business,” she said. “In the first year of the war [in Yemen], the U.S. sold $20 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia has been buying more and more weapons as a result of this war, and the same goes for the British government as well,” she said. “Really it all boils down to financial gain and that’s the greatest win really for the U.S., but it’s an extremely costly one obviously for the civilian population of Yemen.” – by Malak Habak
with Audo (29 min)
Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill
Could Trump Start World War III?
Donald Trump has not started any new wars… yet. But his administration is pouring gasoline on several initiated by his
22.3.2017 – The Intercept (* A H P)
Aid Officials Beg Congress to Help Yemen, While Trump Sends More Bombs
AS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION resumes weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia for its devastating bombing campaign in Yemen — including precision-guided weapons the Obama administration had suspended on human rights grounds — a State Department official told Congress that the two-year-long conflict has led to the largest starvation emergency in the world.
Gregory Gottlieb, an acting assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday that the conflict — which the U.S. is a silent partner to — has left the majority of the Yemeni people struggling to find food.
“In Yemen, more than 17 million people — an astounding 60 percent of the country’s population — are food insecure, including 7 million that are unable to survive without food assistance,” said Gottlieb. “This makes Yemen the largest food security emergency in the world.”
Gottlieb was testifying at a Senate hearing on foreign aid funding and humanitarian crises in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia.
USAID is the foreign assistance arm of the State Department — the same department that signs off on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Since Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen in March 2015, the U.S. has approved more than $20 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia — and looked the other way as the Saudi-led coalition has bombed civilian infrastructure, hospitals, and children’s schools.
The situation has worsened as the Saudi-backed forces prepare to retake the Western port city of Hodeida, once the waypoint of 70 percent of Yemen’s food and aid imports. Near the beginning of the war, Saudi Arabia bombed the cranes that port workers use to unload ships — slowing the pace of work to a crawl. Since then, airstrikes by the coalition have made it virtually impossible for aid to reach the port.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Yuris Dassard, the director-general of the Red Cross, urged the U.S. to help clear access to the port. “You can ensure access to the port. You make sure ensure that the blockade is done with a humanitarian exception.”
He continued: “It will make a lot of difference for a lot of people. … There is no choice. There is no market anymore in Yemen. So the blockade needs to cease, or needs to be managed.”
Last week, 52 members of Congress sent a letter to the State Department, urging it to pressure Saudi Arabia into making the port accessible.
Last year, USAID gave Yemen $56 million in humanitarian aid, but it is unclear if aid will continue at all under Trump. According to a budget outline released last week, Trump wants to slash 28 percent of USAID’s funding – by Alex Emmons
22.3.2017 – US News (* B K P)
Trump's Wars
The president is doubling down on the Middle East quagmires he once criticized.
Trump's most important escalation has been in the War on Terror, substantially increasing the U.S. commitment to wars in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere. Unfortunately, these steps are likely only to draw America deeper into some of the world's most intractable conflicts.
Trump's foreign policy approach during the campaign can be charitably described as incoherent.
Sadly, since his inauguration, Trump has pursued the second of these two approaches. This choice – escalating U.S. involvement in a variety of conflicts – risks dragging his administration further into the very Middle Eastern quagmires he once railed against.
Media reports on Yemen have largely focused on the disastrous rai
The new administration has also effectively doubled U.S. deployments to the campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria
Trump is also considering escalation elsewhere: Another 2,500 paratroopers have been placed at a staging base in Kuwait to support the campaign against the Islamic State group.
Yet in each of these conflicts, additional military force is unlikely to improve the situation. In Yemen, U.S. raids and airstrikes focus on a resurgent al-Qaida and an emerging branch of the Islamic State group. Yet the two terror groups are growing primarily thanks to the Saudi-led war in Yemen, a war the Trump administration enables through air support and arms sales. Increasing military strikes treat the symptoms of Yemen's turmoil, but leave the disease untouched.
And there appears to be little strategic rationale to the president's choices to escalate the War on Terror elsewhere. – By Emma Ashford, Cato Institute
22.3.2017 – FAZ (A P T)
Laptop-Verbot: Warum elektronische Geräte eine Gefahr sein können
Spätestens ab Freitag dürfen Amerika-Reisende von zehn Flughäfen in muslimischen Staaten keine elektronischen Geräte mehr im Handgepäck mitnehmen. Als Grund gibt die Trump-Regierung Terrorgefahr an – oder stecken doch wirtschaftliche Interessen dahinter?
21.3.2017 – The Daily Beast (* A P T)
U.S. Raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen Led to Laptop Ban on Flights, Officials Say
Intel sources fear terrorist can make bombs as small as computer batteries, provoking the ban on carry-on electronics at sensitive foreign airports.
TICKING TABLETS
U.S. Raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen Led to Laptop Ban on Flights, Officials Say
Intel sources fear terrorist can make bombs as small as computer batteries, provoking the ban on carry-on electronics at sensitive foreign airports.
Three intelligence sources told The Daily Beast that the ban on carry-on electronics aboard U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports in North Africa and the Middle East was the result of information seized during a U.S. raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen in January. The United Kingdom joined the U.S. ban Tuesday.
Information from the raid shows al Qaeda's successful development of compact, battery bombs that fit inside laptops or other devices believed to be strong enough to bring down an aircraft, the sources said. The battery bombs would need to be manually triggered, a source explained, which is why the electronics ban is only for the aircraft cabin not checked luggage.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security publicly cited two attacks on flights in the last two years, the downing of a Russian jet over the Egyptian Sinai in October 2015 and an attempt that nearly succeeded in bringing down a jet that had taken off from Mogadishu, Somalia last year and made an emergency landing after an explosion ripped open its cabin. The insurgent group Al-Shababb claimed credit for getting a laptop onboard the flight that had been rigged as a bomb.
The problem with this theory is that it implies that the security screening of electronic devices at the 10 airports is no better than at the airport in a failed state like Somalia. The pilot of the Airbus A320 involved in that incident said of that airport: “the security is zero.” Airport employees had conspired with the bomber to get the laptop through security – by Jane Winter and Clive Irvin
17.3.2017 – The Independent (* A P)
Donald Trump’s renewed ties with Saudi Arabia could intensify ‘regional cold war’ in Middle East, expert warns
Fawaz A Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and the Emirates Chair in Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies told The Independent: “We are witnessing a marked shift from the Obama administration to the Trump administration vis-a-vis the Gulf and Saudi Arabia."
He warned the shift in relationship between the two countries could see Saudi Arabia's proxy war with Iran intensify in Yemen, which is being torn apart by civil war.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are backing opposing sides in Syria and Yemen, accusing each other of terrorism and war crimes while denying interference.
“We are going to see an intensification of the fierce regional cold war between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran.
"We will see a shift from American relative neutrality to major engagement on the side of Saudi Arabia and this will have importance particularly in Yemen.
"Yemen is going to be the major theatre where the US is going to squeeze Iran,” said Professor Gerges.
“The Saudis are delighted that Barack Obama has left the White House. The consensus was that Obama was flirting with Iran at their own expense. The nuclear deal with Iran was the final thing that broke the camel’s back,” said Professor Gerges. For the Saudis, Mr Trump is now seen as a like-minded ally over Iran, who is unlikely to scrutinise the Saudi government over human rights issues.
On the other hand, Mr Trump is keen to see an increased commitment of fighting Isis in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia could be key in committing to it, he said.
“What the Saudis care about and the only thing they care about is Iran. They believe that Iran represents an existential threat to Saudi Arabia.
“Donald Trump and his team have a visceral hatred of Iran and has made it very clear that Iran is a troublemaker and a supporter of terrorism. The Saudis view the Trump administration through the lens of its stance with Iran," he said – by Chloe Farand
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
23.3.2017 – Herald Scotland (* B K P)
Agenda: UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are escalating the misery in Yemen
Last month, the High Court in London heard a judicial review case brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade challenging the legality of the UK Government’s arms transfers to Saudi Arabia amid the current armed conflict in Yemen. Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Rights Watch (UK) and Oxfam all made submissions to the court.
A decision in the case is pending but regardless of the outcome, UK Government ministers should long ago have halted arms sales to Saudi Arabia – instead of ignoring the flagrant breaches of humanitarian law and needless loss of Yemeni lives.
How many more civilians need to be killed, injured, or see their property destroyed through use of these globally-banned weapons, before the international community condemns the use of cluster munitions by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and pressures coalition members to immediately become parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions? – By Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International programme director, Scotland
22.3.2017 – Rebecca NVT (A P)
@AmnestyUK commemorating Yemeni lives this morning and telling UK gov to stop arming Saudi Arabia #yemen
https://twitter.com/RebNVT/status/844515261839495170 and also https://twitter.com/GlblCtznUK/status/844497264420814849
22.3.2017 – Amnesty International (A P)
Paying our respects to 1000s killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen. UK role in this tragedy mustn’t be ignored (photo)
https://twitter.com/AmnestyUK/status/844499279473524737 and referring to https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/stop-uk-made-weapons-claiming-yemeni-lives
22.2.2017 – Foreign and Commonwealth office (* B K P)
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST REF: 0046-16
The UK is not a member of the Saudi-led Coalition conducting operations in Yemen. The UK does have a very small number of staff working in Saudi military headquarters in a liaison capacity only, and has assisted the Saudi coalition in a number of training roles.
However, notwithstanding that there are limited number of liaison officers based in Saudi Arabia full-time, as part of our longstanding defence engagement relationship with Saudi Arabia we work extremely closely with their military and diplomatic officials (often at a senior level) on International Humanitarian law compliance. We have provided training courses and advice and guidance in the UK and Saudi Arabia. This includes International Targeting courses for Royal Saudi Air Force personnel, to improve their targeting processes and support International Humanitarian Law compliance.
Comment: UK confirms it has aided #Saudi in #Yemen through training & targeting. – “to improve their targeting processes and support International Humanitarian Law compliance.”: LOL. A lie or a complete failure. Failure seems hard to believe: A failure still not having been realized after 24 months?
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
21.3.2017 – L’Unione Sarda (* A K P)
Film: "Duemila bombe al Porto Canale", la denuncia di Mauro Pili
[Italian media covering those 2000 bombs to Saudis]
Il deputato di Unidos, Mauro Pili, denuncia l'arrivo di 2mila bombe in piena notte al Porto Canale di Cagliari attraverso un video pubblicato su Facebook.
cp13 Waffenhandel / Arms trade
22.3.2017 – The Independent (* B K)
The UK has made 10 times more in arms sales to Saudi Arabia than it's given in aid to Yemen
Over the past two years, the UK and the US have sold billions of pounds’ worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, arms used to obliterate Yemeni markets and much else.
In Yemen, I’ve met countless victims of airstrikes who’ve lost loved ones or had livelihoods destroyed, leaving them impoverished and destitute. After two years of this, the country is facing a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions, with more than 18 million Yemenis requiring humanitarian assistance.
On the one hand, the UK and US have supported Yemen with around £371.5m in aid during the past two conflict-ridden years. On the other, British and American arms companies, with the authorisation of the UK and US governments, have busily supplied much of the weaponry that Saudi Arabia has used for its devastating attacks in its southern neighbour.
Since the war started in March 2015, the UK Government has approved no less than 194 export licences for arms and related equipment to Saudi Arabia, worth more than £3.3bn (or around 10 times that combined UK-US aid sum). Resisting a sustained chorus of calls to halt arms exports after numerous airstrikes by the Saudis that have violated the laws of war, the UK has repeatedly fallen back on arguments about “assurances” it had received from Riyadh about investigations of more careful targeting.
Similarly, the US sold a record amount of arms to Saudi Arabia under President Obama’s administration, with sales set to continue under President Trump
These arms sales are in contravention of international law. The UK, once a champion of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (which seeks to stem the flow of weapons that could be used for war crimes and other serious violations), is now acting in brazen violation of it. The UK has ratified the treaty, so it is bound by its rules; and as a signatory, the US must not take any action to undermine its object and purpose, one of which is to reduce human suffering.
With arms being shipped to Riyadh at a furious rate, the civilian death toll has risen quickly.
Aid with one hand, missiles with the other. Foreign aid from the UK does tremendous good around the world, but in Yemen it’s heavily compromised by the Government’s security-and-trade agenda. Helping rebuild homes and hospitals is clearly very important, but it doesn’t change the fact that the UK or US are complicit in having supplied the bombs used to destroy them.
Here the UK and US are following the dubious lead of Saudi Arabia itself. While heading the military coalition wreaking such havoc in Yemen, the country’s King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Relief and Works, set up in May 2015 in response to the crisis, has spent $576m in Yemen. Amid dire reports of famine and an irreversible humanitarian crisis, last month it pledged a further $10bn. Huge sums. But the context is coated with pitch-black irony.
But that’s how things are done in Yemen now. Missiles raining down one day, new kit for a bombed-out hospital the next. Such is the UK’s warped Yemen policy. Meanwhile, Yemen’s charred markets lie abandoned and desolate – by Rasha Mohamed, Yemen Researcher for Amnesty International
My comment: The headline is wrong, as the text shows: The correct headline would be: “The UK has made 10 times more in arms sales to Saudi Arabia than it's and the US’ given in aid to Yemen
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
23.3.2017 – Reuters (* B T)
Saudi officials say Yemen's Qaeda arm losing ability to carry out attacks abroad
Al Qaeda's Yemeni arm is losing its ability to export militancy overseas after sustained military pressure on its operations, and Islamic State and Shi'ite militants are instead Riyadh's main internal concern, Saudi Arabian officials said on Wednesday.
The Saudi interior ministry's chief security spokesman Mansour al-Turki told reporters in Paris that he had no specific information on what prompted the new curbs - which also affect Saudi Arabian Airlines - but he suggested there may be a link to al Qaeda in Yemen.
"The U.S. has said they raided al Qaeda people in Yemen and they were able to gather some information, but I don't know whether they found something linked to this," he said.
Asked whether they believed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had the capacity to project operations overseas with innovative bomb designs, including embedding them inside computers, however, the officials said the group had been severely constrained by fighting on multiple fronts.
"They don't have the power to export their activities," said Abdullah Alshehri, a senior counter-terrorism official from the interior ministry.
"It is fighting Islamic State, which is trying to take its place. It is not getting new fighters and after the (Saudi-led) Desert Storm operation it is also fighting the legitimate government and the Houthi (rebels)," he said.
Turki said Riyadh considered the threat of an attack from Islamic State on its soil to be greater given that some 3,500 Saudis had travelled to join the group in Syria and Iraq. Of those, 1,500 remain in the conflict zone with the rest killed.
"Qaeda actually has not been involved in any real kind of terrorism-related incident in Saudi Arabia for three years," he said. "Most of the incidents came from Islamic State or militant groups related to Shi'ites in the eastern province." – By John Irish
http://in.reuters.com/article/saudi-security-idINKBN16T2XG?rpc=401&
My comment: Do not believe too much Saudis are telling about terrorism. Now they are going to be sued because of 9/11.
cp15 Propaganda
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A P)
Houthis commit over 5 thousand violations, crimes against civilians in Al Dhala – report
A report conducted by a human rights organization in Al Dhala province southern Yemen said on Wednesday that the Houthis-Saleh militants committed more than 5764 violations against civilians during the last year. Waey Center for Media and Human Rights have reported …
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89819
My comment: That’s a repetition, already had been „reported“ earlier. A highly arbitrary figure , taken high for propaganda purposes. For being able to recycle this propaganda, they seem again to have created a new “humanitarian” organisation’s name. If you google “Waey Center for Media and Human Rights” you get exactly one match: this article above.
23.3.2017 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Yemen Accuses Iran of Stepping Up Support for Rebels
A Yemeni official told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind all the acts of sabotage in the region.
Adviser to the Yemeni President Abdul Aziz Al-Maflahi said: “It is not surprising that Iran, and particularly its Revolutionary Guards, stand behind such acts to save the Saleh militias and Houthis from their distress after the Yemeni National Army and the Popular Resistance advanced in the western and eastern parts of the country.”
The advisor added there is uncontested evidence that Iran was sending arms shipments to the Yemeni rebels, including the Jihan 1 and Jihan 2 ships intercepted while smuggling weapons to Houthis.
His comments came as Western reports said Iran was stepping up its support to Houthis by sending advanced weapons and military advisers to the insurgents.
http://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/news-middle-east/yemen-accuses-iran-stepping-support-rebels
21.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Vice President calls tribes to support army
Vice President Ali Muhsin Saleh has called the Yemeni tribes to support the Yemeni army to put an end to the coup and impose the state power.
During a meeting with Saadah governorate Hadi Tarshan al-Waili and tribal leaders from Baqim district, Saleh stressed the importance of tribal support to liberate Saadah governorate.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5206
Remark: Hadi government’s governor of Saada (for the small strip of the province up to now occupied by Saudi and Hadi forces)
21.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (* A P)
Asiri: Hodeida port became a military base, not to remain under Houthis control
The spokesperson of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition Ahmed Asiri had stated that the port of Hodeida, western Yemen, has become a military base and cannot remain under the control of the Houthis.
Earlier, the UN has rejected a request by the coalition forces to place Hodeida port under its supervision.
Asiri pointed out that the coalition cannot be sufficed with the inspection carried out in Djibouti, “because there are long distances were prohibited cargo can be loaded into the vessels”.
Regarding the Arab coalition request for the UN supervision on Hodeida port, the Saudi advisor to the Defense Minister said they would like to ask the UN how do they make sure the food and medical aides entering from Hodeida port are going to the Yemeni people.
Asiri added that there are no representatives from the relief parties nor from the UN in Hodeida port.
He also noted that the Arab Coalition has given US$ 1.7 billion for relief projects carried out by the UN in Yemen, adding that Hodeida port cannot remain under the control of the Houthis.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89770
My comment: This seems to be a propaganda preparation and justification of executing more air raids at Hodeida and of a military offensive against Hodeida. The Reuters article which just repeats the “Iran supports Houthis” Saudi propaganda story also might be a part of such a campaign. And this new campaign of course also seems to be a distraction from the Saudi coalition attack at the Somali refugees’ boat off the coast of Hodeida, trying to divert the attention of the public related to Hodeida to the own old propaganda story. – In another case and context (Edward Snowden being accused to be a Russian spy) Glen Greenwald writes: “In lieu of evidence, the propagators of this accusation have relied upon the defining tacticof tawdry conspiracists everywhere: relentless repetition of rumor and innuendo based on alleged inconsistencies until it spreads far enough through the media ecosystem to take on the appearance of being credible.” This fits 100 % to these stories of “Iranians supporting the Houthis”.
And the puppets also are parts of the show:
21.3.2017 – Al Sahwa (A P)
Yemeni official: Hudeidah port is a hub for smuggling weapons
Minister of the Public Administration has said that militias of the Houthis and Saleh use Hudeida port as a hub for smuggling weapons.
He said that the Arab Coalition called to the United Nations to supervise Hudeidah port because it takes care for humanitarian situation of Yemenis.
He called local and international organizations to oversee Hudeidah port, stressing that the government are more interested than any other one to tackle troubles of civilians in all Yemeni governorates.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-5205
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
US–Saudi aggression coalition wages 21 airstrikes on Hodeida
US–Saudi aggression coalition waged 16 air raids on a bridge the province of Hodeida overnight, while the enemy warships shelled Al-Tohayta district in Hodeida.
A security official source told Saba that the aggression coalition warplanes waged 16 raids on the bridge linking directorates of Al-Tohayta and al-Torba, completely destroying it. Also the aggression launched five raids to Al-Salif directorate.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459904.htm
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi aggression warplanes launch 3 airstrikes on Mareb
Saudi aggression warplanes launched three airstrikes on many areas in Serwah district of Mareb province overnight, an official told Saba on Thursday.
The official said the Saudi aggression warplanes launched two airstrikes on al-Makhdarh area and an airstrike on Hailan mountain in Serwah.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459873.htm
22.3.2017 – Ahmad Alghobary (A K)
9 #Saudi air strikes on a bridge in Altorba area #Hudydah #Yemen
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/844634391498383362
22.3.2017 – Yamanyoon (A K PH)
Saudi American Raids Damage Civilian Properties
Fighter jets of the Saudi American aggression waged two air strikes on Nehm district in Sana’a overnight.
The warplanes targeted Ramada area two times, causing damage to private properties and citizens’ farms, an official told Yamanyoon on Tuesday.
http://www.yamanyoon.com/?p=68655&lang=en
22.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Saudi aggression warplanes wage 4 strikes on Sana'a
The US-backed Saudi aggression warplanes launched four airstrikes on Arhab district of Sana'a province, a security official told Saba on Wednesday.
The warplanes hit Yahis area four times, causing heavy damages to citizen's farms and properties.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459759.htm
21.3.2017 – AlMasirah TV (A K PH)
Film: The crimes of targeting the Saudi American aggression against pedestrians and houses of citizens in Saada
Saudi Arabian Airlines, late on Monday evening, committed two crimes in the district of Muziz in Sa'ada governorate, killing and wounding a number of citizens.
The correspondent of the march in # Sa'ada, that the air aggression targeted an air strike a truck to a citizen loaded with iron and cement, on the highway in the Bani Sweid district of the Department of Mzaz, killing three citizens, including a child.
The correspondent of the march that the air aggression targeted another house and the tents of a Bedouin citizen in the area of the plot, which resulted in the injury of a girl and an elderly woman, in addition to the death of a number of livestock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wjjLGexWEM = https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/videos/1652644831698171/
21.3.2017 – Yemen Today TV (A K PH)
Film: Injury of a child and an old woman by bombardment of the air Saudi aggression Directorate of Maza in Saada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhFuPC6dDL8
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Child girl killed by Houthi sniper
A child girl was killed by a sniper of the Houthi-Saleh forces and two other children died on Wednesday under the siege imposed by the Houthis in al Wafi area in Taiz province, southwestern Yemen.
In identical statements, local sources told Almasdaronline that the 10 year-old Rasayel Samed Aqlan was killed by a Houthi sniper in al Shaqab area eastern Saber al Mawadem district.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89813
22.3.2017 – Saudi Press Agency (A K PS)
Air defense system neutralizes Al-Houthi's missiles and protects Saudi and Yemeni cities
The air defense system participating in the coalition forces to support the legitimacy in Yemen has recorded a great success in downing all ballistic missiles that Houthi militias and Saleh's forces deliberately targeted the cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and succeeded in protecting several liberated Yemeni cities from these missiles.
Houthi militias have fired dozens of rockets at populated areas in a number of cities in the Kingdom on the border, such as : Khamis Mushait, Jazan, Dhahran Al-Janoub, Najran, Taif, and Makkah, but all these missiles have been downed before reaching their targeted goals, and without causing any human casualties or material damages.
http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1606011 = http://sites.alriyadh.com/en/article/1157166/Air-defense-system-neutralizes-Al-Houthis-missiles-and-protects-Saudi-and-Yemeni-cities
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
the US–Saudi aggression coalition warships shelled Alfaza coast in Al-Tohayta directorate.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459904.htm
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Coalition battleships destroy Houthis military equipment northern al Mocha
The fighting and artillery shelling between the-pro-government forces and the Houthis-Saleh militants intensified on Thursday evening northern the coastal Mocha district and in the outskirts of Mawza district, southwestern Yemen.
A source in the field told Almasdaronline that the clashes and artillery shelling renewed on Thursday between the two sides on the borders of al Khocha district southern Hodeida province.
“The fighting also expanded western Mawza district, in coincidence with artillery bombardment between the pro-government forces stationing eastern al Mocha and the Houthis militants in western Khalid ben al Walid military camp”.
Moreover, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition battleships had fired 10 missiles on Houthis reinforcements in the northern outskirts of al Mocha, killing seven militants, injuring nine others, and destroying two military vehicles. Said the source.
On another hand, four Houthis were also killed and 10 others wounded late Thursday in air raids launched by the coalition fighter jets on their sites northern al Mocha, the source added.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89827
My comment: And the Houthis are blamed as a threat to international shipment. That gets more and more odd.
23.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries killed Mokha
The army and popular forces thwarted on Thursday a sneak attempt by US-backed Saudi-paid mercenaries in Al-Nar mountain in the east of Mokha , Taiz province, a military official told Saba.
He said one of the mercenaries military vehicle was destroyed during the operation.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459911.htm = http://newnewss.net/?p=3759
23.3.2017 – Almasdar Online (A K PS)
Heavy fighting in Mocha, coalition warplanes pound Houthis sites in Taiz – military source
The confrontations and artillery shelling intensified on Tuesday between the pro-government forces and Houthis-Saleh militants northern the coastal Mocha district in Taiz province, southwestern Yemen.
The fighting broke out Tuesday early morning in the outskirts of al Mocha near to al Khocha district, southern Hodeida province. According to a military source.
The source also added that the pro-government forces in Al Ruwais, Al Zahari, and Dar al-Shuja'a areas have intensively shelled the locations of the Houthis-Saleh militants in the areas between al Mocha and al Khocha districts.
“Seven militants were killed and five others injured in the shelling, while a pro-government soldier was killed and four others injured”.
“On the other hand, the pro-government forces in eastern Al Mocha and northeastern Dhubab districts had also launched artillery and missile shelling on the Houthis-Saleh militants’ sites in Khalid military camp and in western Mawza district”.
Meanwhile, the Arab Coalition aircrafts also launched on Tuesday afternoon three air raids on the militants’ sites eastern Al Amri mountains between Dhubab and Mawza.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89800
22.3.2017 – Gulf News (A K PS)
Yemen forces liberate new area in Taiz
Army launches attacks in two directions with one group heading north towards Hodeidah while the other heads south
Yemen government forces have made fresh territorial gain in their continuing offensive along the western coast by pushing Al Houthi militants from a small region close to Mokha town, army commanders said on Wednesday.
Yemeni forces have split up in two directions: one group have continued north towards Hodeidah while the other group is advancing south towards Taiz.
After days of intensive fighting with the Iran-backed rebels, government forces stormed Al Thoubani region in Taiz’s Mouza district as other forces battled Al Houthi snipers inside the Red Sea Al Zahari region, Abdo Abdullah Majili, a spokesperson for the Yemeni army, told Gulf News.
“The fighting is focused now around Khalid Bin Al Waleed military camp where pockets of Al Houthis refuse to surrender,” he said.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-forces-liberate-new-area-in-taiz-1.1998527
22.3.2017 – Aljazeera (A K)
Film: The Houthis spread naval mines and endangered the lives of fishermen (Arabic)
https://www.facebook.com/AJArabic.Yemen/videos/10155444113044893/
Report: Zulfa Sfeir
22.3.2017 – Saba Net (A K PH)
Army foils mercenaries' infiltration in Nehm
The army and popular forces foiled on Wednesday an attempt of US-Saudi mercenaries to infiltrate toward Nehm district of Sana province, a military official told Saba.
Dozens of the mercenaries killed and wounded in the operation.
Moreover, the national army secured a numbers of the sites in Dawah strategic Mountain in the sane district, the official added.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459779.htm
22.3.2017 – New News (A K PH)
Film: Yemeni army and public forces secure several mountains in Yam area, Nehm district
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FRbsRfcIoA&feature=youtu.be&a
Remark: Success of Houthi / Saleh forces.
22.3.2017 – Yemen Conflict Map (A K)
Map: Yemen Map of control in Khubba front Jizan, March 22
White Line: The border between the two countries
Black Line: The area declared to be breached today
https://twitter.com/YemConfMaps/status/844640913414606849
Houthi / Saleh reports:
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459912.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459909.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459908.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459902.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459891.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459884.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459882.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459875.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459778.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459772.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459762.htm
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news459760.htm
http://newnewss.net/?p=3710 (claiming all victories of March 21).
Pro-Saudi- / pro-Hadi reports:
http://almasdaronline.com/article/89801
Houthi / Saleh films:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llXhwsodoDE&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQRRCi_38_I&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bas45nl91H0&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFNSRzLPnUM&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnbPyfTx-Ys&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhqSO4-Hmpo&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTmue7rY8qo&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147vhdQa_n4&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_7LxZ-HDo&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRcHrPe7hPA&feature=youtu.be&a
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHNWup70TFA&feature=youtu.be&a
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
23.3.2017 – International Federation of Journalists (* B)
Ahmed Al Jaber: the face of the forgotten war in Yemen
Ahmed Al Jaber, former deputy editor-in-chief of Yemen’s state-owned SABA news agency, has received a French visa as a refugee thanks to the international solidarity and the efforts of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)’s French affiliates.
Ahmed was forced to flee Yemen in October 2015 after being threatened with an arrest warrant by the Houthi rebels, who took control of the capital Sana’a in September 2014. Now he is waiting for his wife and 4 children to join him in France and hopefully, to return to his country as a journalist once the war is over.
In the IFJ headquarters in Brussels, Ahmed gently tells his story, half in French, half in Arabic. He still remembers the day the Houthis stormed the building of the SABA news agency in Sana’a, where we has working as the deputy editor-in-chief of the news department employing more than 90 journalists and media workers.
He said that the Houthis didn’t use any physical violence against SABA workers but that they were forced to publish an article saying that the police were friends with the rebels and that they were working together. Then, the workers were asked to leave the building. That was the last day Ahmed worked as a journalist after 17 years as a news professional.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-283-yemen-war-mosaic-283
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-283 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-283:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm
Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:
(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)
http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm und / and http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/
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