Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 380 - Yemen War Mosaic 380

Yemen Press Reader 380: 29. Jan. 2018: Kämpfe zw. Hadi-Truppen und Separatisten in Aden – Al Kaida im Jemen – USA und Jemen – Saudische "humanitäre Hilfe" – Wasserkrise – POMEPS-Studien – u.a.m

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Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Jan. 29, 2018: Fighting between Hadi army and Southern separatists at Aden – Al Kaida in Yemen – US and Yemen – Saudi "humanitarian aid" – Water crisis – POMEPS studies – and more

Wegen des großen Umfangs an Material geteilt. Alle unten kursiv gesetzten Kapitel im Yemen Mosaik 381:

Because of the great mass of reports, divided. All chapters in italics below at Yemen Mosaic 381:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-381-yemen-war-mosaic-381

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Klassifizierung / Classification

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics

cp1b Am wichtigsten: Konflikt und Kämpfe im in Aden / Most important:Conflict and fights at Aden

cp2 Allgemein / General

cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

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

cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

cp9 USA

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp12b Libanon / Lebanon

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade

cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy

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)

? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating

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

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

(** A H)

Mindestens 30 Flüchtlinge vor Jemen ertrunken

Unter mysteriösen Umständen sind mindestens 30 Flüchtlinge im Golf von Aden ums Leben gekommen. Ihr Boot war vor der Küste Jemens gekentert und offenbar beschossen worden.

Mindestens 30 afrikanische Flüchtlinge sind nach Uno-Angaben vor der Küste des Jemen ertrunken. Überlebende des Unglücks hätten berichtet, dass ihr Boot beschossen worden sei, als es kenterte, teilte das Uno-Flüchtlingshilfswerk (UNHCR) im Jemen mit.

Demnach sei das Boot bereits am Dienstag von Al Buraiqa nahe der südjemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden in Richtung des westafrikanischen Dschibuti aufgebrochen. An Bord hätten sich etwa 50 Menschen aus Somalia und etwa 100 aus Äthiopien befunden.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/mindestens-30-fluechtlinge-vor-jemen-ertrunken-a-1190031.html

(** A H)

30 migrants drown after boat sinks off Yemen: UN

At least 30 African migrants drowned when their boat capsized off war-torn Yemen this week with reports of gunfire being used against those on board, the United Nations said Friday.

At least 152 Somalis and Ethiopians were aboard the overcrowded vessel which left Aden in southern Yemen on Tuesday, the UN refugee and migration agencies said in a joint statement.

"The vessel is believed to have been operated by unscrupulous smugglers who were attempting to take refugees and migrants to Djibouti, while also trying to extort more money from these refugees and migrants," according to the statement.

The boat turned back and "capsized amid reports of gunfire being used against the passengers", it said, adding that it was working with the Yemeni coast guard to try to establish what happened.

"At least 30 people have died in this tragic incident" which occurred near the coast.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5316487/30-migrants-drown-boat-sinks-Yemen-UN.html = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/26/gunfire-used-against-passengers-as-migrant-boat-sinks-off-yemen

and

(** A H)

At least 30 Africans drown off Yemen after boat capsizes: IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that survivors reported the overcrowded boat packed with at least 101 Ethiopians and 51 Somalis had departed towards Djibouti on Tuesday from Aden’s al Buraiqa district.

“The vessel is believed to have been operated by unscrupulous smugglers who were attempting to take refugees and migrants to Djibouti, while also trying to extort more money from these refugees and migrants. The boat capsized amid reports of gunfire being used against the passengers,” it said.

Migrant drownings between Yemen and the Horn of Africa are recorded much less often than on the route between North Africa and Europe, but IOM spokesman Joel Millman said 87,000 people risked their lives to reach Yemen last year.

“There’s a flourishing trade, there’s no question,” he told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva.

“There’s also an enormous trafficking industry within Yemen - people still heading further on into the Gulf states for work. That’s the reason why many of them are in Yemen at all, for further travel to the Emirates.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-refugees/at-least-30-africans-drown-off-yemen-after-boat-capsizes-iom-idUSKBN1FF141

and

(* A B H)

Yemen: 'heartbreaking' mass drowning is latest lethal consequence of conflict

“This heartbreaking tragedy underscores, yet again, just how devastating Yemen’s conflict continues to be for civilians.

“Amid ongoing hostilities and crushing restrictions imposed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, many people who came to Yemen to flee conflict and repression elsewhere are now being forced yet again to flee in search of safety. Some are dying in the process.

“During almost three years of Yemen’s conflict, all parties have flagrantly flouted international law.

“Civilian lives have been devastated by indiscriminate bombing and shelling, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and a spiralling humanitarian crisis that has left more than 22 million people reliant on aid to survive.

“The international community must halt arms transfers that could be used in the conflict, cooperate to ensure accountability for war crimes and other serious violations, and pressure the Saudi Arabia-led coalition to fully lift the restrictions on aid and commercial imports of essential goods which are exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/yemen-heartbreaking-mass-drowning-latest-lethal-consequence-conflict

and

(* A H P)

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, are outraged and saddened at the drownings of at least 30 refugees and migrants off the coast of Aden, Yemen earlier this week.

IOM and partners are working with the Yemeni Coast Guard to further understand the incident. Patrolling teams of IOM, DRC and Intersos have been providing emergency assistance to survivors including medical assistance, food, water and psycho-social support services.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-and-unhcr-condemn-refugee-and-migrant-drownings-coast-yemen

(** A P)

Houthi Movement Releases 650 Supporters of Former President Saleh

Yemeni Houthi insurgents have released 650 supporters of assassinated former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who were detained in December, a source from the security forces told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The military structures [of the Houthis] released today 650 military personnel a month and a half after they were captured as a result of the clashes between Ansar Allah [the Houthis' official name] and the forces of the former Yemeni president in the capital of Sanaa, as well as in provinces of Amran, Hajjah and Mahvit," the source said.

According to the source, another group of captives will be released in the next few days.

The statement confirms earlier reports of an agreement between the Houthis and Saleh's supporters, with Ansar Allah promising to release the former president's allies, except for several of his relatives, revealed to Sputnik in January by a highly placed source from Saleh's party General People's Congress.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801271061125375-houthi-yemen-saleh-supporters/

and

(** A P)

600 involved in December sedition released in Sanaa

The police in the capital Sanaa on Saturday released 600 men involved in December sedition, who participated in the riots that aimed to topple local authorities.
The move came in a response to a general amnesty issue by President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486032.htm

(** B T)

Guns for Hire: How al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Is Securing Its Future in Yemen

In such a conflict, drawing clear lines between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), anti-Houthi militias, tribal fighters and forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE is an increasingly difficult task. This ambiguity, the multiplicity of fighting groups, the ever-shifting alliances and the hundreds of millions of dollars of materiel provided to pro-government forces by Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all helped AQAP survive and thrive (Middle East Eye, October 27, 2017). At the same time, the war has forced AQAP to become a very different organization than it was four years ago.

The war has provided AQAP with a host of opportunities to hone and refine its tactics while continuing to grow its organization. Most critically, AQAP has become more pragmatic and continues to de-prioritize ideology—at least in terms of its day-to-day operations—in favor of building alliances, recruiting and training capable fighters and enhancing access to revenue streams. AQAP has learned from its own mistakes and from those of Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq—ideology might win recruits, but it rarely wins wars. Patience, skilled fighters, alliances and access to money and weapons are what wins or, in the case of AQAP, ensures long-term organizational survival.

The weakening position of Houthi and Houthi-allied forces on some fronts and the, as yet, limited possibility of their retreat from Sanaa will aid AQAP. The inability of coalition-backed forces to secure the areas that they claim to control is made clear by the almost daily attacks and bombings in Aden and across southern Yemen.

If coalition backed forces are able to force the Houthis to retreat, AQAP will move to fill some of the voids left by the Houthis and their allies—at least over the short-term. However, AQAP understands the danger of overexposure. It will continue to conceal itself within Yemen’s matryoshka-like war in order to pursue pragmatic strategies that preserve its alliances and access to licit and illicit trade networks. The leadership of AQAP recognizes that the future belongs to organizations that can rapidly adapt to and exploit dynamic environments – by Michael Horton

https://jamestown.org/program/guns-hire-al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-securing-future-yemen/

(** B P)

AN OVERVIEW ON THE WORLD OF TRUMP: ‘A YEMENI PERSPECTIVE’

At the beginning of 2017, I left Yemen with my colleague and wife, Radhya Almutawakel, to represent the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights in an international advocacy tour. This tour included the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and a number of other European countries. Back then, we thought the world’s lack of attention to the humanitarian tragedy in Yemen was due to insufficient (or non-existent) information on what this war did to Yemeni civilians. However, during the tour, this belief gradually changed, as we conducted dozens of meetings in several capitals and cities with representatives of governments, decision-makers, and legislators. Our discussions were backed by reports and investigative field research done by our field team across different areas of Yemen, with the support of experts in international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Those reports had documented violations committed by all parties to the conflict.

In a meeting with a number of organizations on the situation in Yemen and the role of the US administration, an American diplomat detailed the scale of humanitarian assistance provided by his government to Yemen. When I got the chance to speak, I told him: “The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is not the result of a natural disaster, and we are not conducting a meeting with a relief organization. The crisis in Yemen is the result of certain acts and violations committed by parties to the conflict, especially your allies (Saudi Arabia and the UAE), and such violations are repeated on a daily basis. Your government can play a role far more significant than providing aid, while acknowledging its importance, through putting pressure on its allies to stop breaching international humanitarian law and thus, limiting the scale of this tragedy. Your country is a permanent member at the UN Security Council, a key player within the international community and its different institutions. In this regard, it has an obligation towards different world crises, including Yemen’s.”

During the dozens of meetings in our journey, we kept on reminding officials from the American, French, and British administrations of things that we had thought were common sense—and recognized principles of international humanitarian law—such as the right of civilian victims to an investigation, their right to receive humanitarian aid as well as basic commercial and consumer goods, and their right to freely move and escape the hell of war. We kept on reminding them that all civilian victims across the globe should be supported and treated with common standards, and that perpetrators of violations should be confronted and pressured, regardless of their identities, wealth, or geopolitics.

The United States, by engaging in international mechanisms, has taken the lead among the voices that condemned the violations of the Assad regime and many other rights abusers. This is definitely positive and important, however, it completely ignores the same kind of horrific violations when they are committed by its allies in Yemen. Far worse than that, it has, through diplomatic interventions across the world from New York to Geneva, acted to prevent accountability measures from being undertaken against its spoiled allies (Saudi Arabia and the UAE). The US has also led efforts towards establishing international commissions of inquiry for Syria, Libya, and other crises, yet it completely blocks any attempts to establish an international commission of inquiry in Yemen—or, indeed, any efforts aimed at achieving any form of accountability.

The American, British, and French governments have demonstrated a clear double standard in their responses to different humanitarian crises: their policy, in practice, is that violators not aligned with them should be prosecuted through various means and mechanisms, while allied regimes which commit the same violations should be shielded from accountability.

Accordingly, the international mechanisms–the United Nations chief among them–that are supposed to work on protecting human rights, upholding justice, and maintaining peace, are transformed into malfunctioning bodies: mechanisms that are used by the powerful states to reinforce their dominance and protect their interests and allies.

This is what raises questions among victims in our communities about the usefulness, function, and impact of such mechanisms. Those victims ask about the responsibility of human rights movements and of human rights lawyers and experts. The global human rights movement and its supporters should look for genuine answers to these questions, which are continuously raised by victims of human rights violations in our countries.

Trump claims that he acts on behalf of the American people, their values and aspirations. Whether he is right or wrong, this is a question for the future to decide.

The future will also have to answer several pressing questions that impose themselves on a person like me, who chose to work for human rights, justice, peace, and the values of coexistence and openness while watching the world through Yemen’s window. Meanwhile, the governments of the first world, such as the Trump administration, treat the people of our societies as though our lives were worth less than those of their own citizens, and treat the countries of our region–and its bleeding crises–as a video game functioning on the basis of numerical equations that mean nothing to the game-players – by Abdulrashid Alfaqih, Executive Director of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights.

http://harvardhrj.com/an-overview-on-the-world-of-trump-a-yemeni-perspective/

(** A H P)

"JUST ENOUGH": THE SAUDI-LED COALITION'S HUMANITARIAN PLAN FOR YEMEN

Concise and insightful analyses of the Saudi-led coalition’s Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations (YCHO) plan swiftly followed its Monday announcement. Though the top line number -- a pledge of 1.5 billion USD to UN agencies in response to the 2.96 billion requested by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) from the international community -- is commendable, the YCHO’s fine print only underlines the contradictions shaping the plan for the worse: if Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other coalition governments want to be both warring parties in Yemen’s conflict and the country’s humanitarian saviors, the former will always subsume the latter.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times on the plan, the American Enterprise Institute’s Katherine Zimmerman stated that the YCHO will “‘further politicize aid in Yemen’” by deemphasizing access to ports able to service the greatest number of Yemenis in favor of distribution sites under direct coalition control. Further highlighting this differential access, Jeremy Konyndyk argued that, without guaranteed access to Hudaydah port (the plan extends the port’s opening for only 30 more days) the humanitarian crisis will continue. Capital craves stable markets, and nobody is going to properly finance food imports to a port that can be closed on a whim, ensuring that prices remain unaffordably high. Konyndyk also trains his skepticism on some of the YCHO’s finer details: for example, the 17 “safe passage corridors” for humanitarian goods the coalition plans to build into Houthi-controlled territory are sure to become flashpoints of conflict if implemented unilaterally.

While fully agreeing with these two analyses, it’s worthwhile to both expand on a few of the plan’s specifics and the response the coalition governments hope to get from the United States. First, the plan continues to needlessly undermine the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) for Yemen’s Red Sea ports.

Second, the coalition’s politicization of the humanitarian crisis instrumentalizes infrastructural improvements in coalition-controlled territory that the international community should otherwise laud. Proposed new cranes at Mokha, Aden, and Mukalla will expand port capacities and be an economic boon to the south, long underdeveloped by the central government before the current war; a daily humanitarian airlift to Mareb recognizes the once marginalized province’s new, prosperous status. But the future expanded capacity of Mokha, Aden, and Mukalla ports will still not bring them close to matching the combined capacity of Hudaydah and Saleef ports, which must remain the access focal point of the present crisis. This cynical gaming of Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe is doubly unfortunate.

Ultimately, these shortcomings exist because the plan is geared less toward Yemenis than toward increasingly beleaguered foreign ministries in the United States and Europe. Loathe to cut off military support that enables thousands of civilian casualties for the dubious end of countering Iranian influence in Yemen (influence that coalition air raids have only increased), the coalition’s international supporters have gone all in on rhetorical efforts to get the coalition to ease up on its blockade, which they attempt to isolate from the larger intervention. To stem increasing criticism of international complicity in Yemen’s crises, the US and various European governments need the coalition to offer a superficially credible response to a humanitarian access crisis of its own making – by ERIC EIKENBERRY

https://www.yemenpeaceproject.org/blog-x/2018/1/24/just-enough-the-saudi-led-coalitions-humanitarian-plan-for-yemen

and

(** A H P)

The #Saudi-led coalition’s new aid initiative is part of coalition information operations and to buy international and local support in #Yemen. #SaudiArabia’s #YCHO is politicizing humanitarian relief. Statements like this is more evidence of this.

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/956380684809097216 referring to https://twitter.com/YCHOperations/status/956334608936783873

(** B K P)

Yemen situation report

The Yemeni state is fractured. A political resolution that excludes key stakeholders, such as southern opposition members, will not hold, though the upcoming change in the UN Special Envoy for Yemen presents an opportunity to renew diplomatic negotiations.

The Transitional Political Council of the South (STC) issued an ultimatum threatening to topple the internationally recognized Yemeni government in one week unless President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi dismisses his cabinet.

Russia seeks to contest U.S. influence by restoring its Soviet-era relationship with the Aden-based Yemeni government.

A new humanitarian initiative spearheaded by Saudi Arabia will further politicize the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Yemen.

The appointment of a new UN Special Envoy for Yemen may be insufficient to resume serious peace talks, but may restore legitimacy to the office among key stakeholders.

The fragmentation of late former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s political party weakens the effect of splitting the General People’s Congress (GPC) party from the al Houthi movement.

U.S. and Emirati counterterrorism measures have disrupted AQAP’s ability to operate.

The coalition supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government will continue to splinter as stakeholders seek to secure their interests in the current environment. Political negotiations must also include these groups in order to secure necessary buy-in to the future Yemeni state.

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/yemen-situation-report/2018-yemen-crisis-situation-report-january-24

(** B H K)

160 fishermen killed, over 250 boats destroyed by Saudi war on Yemen: Report

Latest data show more than 150 fishermen have lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries in the wake of Saudi airstrikes against residential areas and non-military sites across Yemen.

According to a report published by Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Thursday, Saudi fighter jets continue to target Yemeni fishermen and their boats at sea, and the air raids have resulted in the death of 160 fishermen and injury of 120 others.

The report added that 20 fishermen have suffered permanent disabilities as they had to have their limbs amputated.

Additionally, the Saudi military aggression against Yemen has led to the destruction of more than 250 fishing boats.

More than 240 Yemeni fishermen are languishing in Saudi prisons and detention facilities as well.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/26/550195/Yemen-fishermen-killed-Saudi-war

(** B H P)

Yemen’s Water Sustainability Crisis

Yemen is presently in a water scarcity crisis, which is defined by the United Nations as having less than 500 cubic meters of water per person per year13. Currently, Yemen’s population lives on only 140 cubic meters of water per person per year14. The World Bank reports that agriculture accounts for around 93% of water use15.

The Republic of Yemen is an arid country and with no perennial rivers; most water used for agriculture comes from rainwater, groundwater and seasonal springs. Yemen grows a variety of crops each needing a different amount of water such as sorghum, millet, coffee and khat. Compared to other crops, khat requires a vast amount more water to grow. Yemen is highly susceptible to climate change where the variability and intensity of rainfall can vary drastically. Sudden floods or droughts have a damaging effect on agriculture in the country. In addition to the lack of water, Yemen is hampered with a scarcity of arable land.

Since Most of Yemen’s geography is desert, pasture or rangeland, only three percent is arable, which leaves minimal room for them to grow additional crops. RoY primarily cultivates its crops in the western portion of the country under Shia control. The lack of proper land for agriculture has led to small and fragmented farms thus making it very difficult to get adequate water to each of them. Additionally, soil erosion and increased salinity is also reducing the amount of arable land. Finally, the large-scale inefficient irrigation systems and the excessive withdrawal of groundwater due to khat’s requirements has led to degradation and desertification of the arable land.

Agricultural success and production can be directly linked to access to water. The farms that have easier and more access to water have much higher yields than those that do not.

Currently, the RoY is experiencing rapid growth and increasing urbanization, which results in a highly-influenced and informed youth who are bombarded with targeted, positive and negative messaging campaigns through various mediums such as social media and radio. As with all societies, family, peers, communities, economic conditions, and societal norms can also significantly influence an individual.

Ultimately, the stakeholders exert their direct and indirect influence over the growing population in an attempt to propagate their respective dogmas and advance their cause. Therefore, an influence campaign that presents valid and potentially loaded information regarding the RoY’s dire water crisis and the accompanying, devastating impact that khat has on its water supply may persuade Yemeni youth to curtail their addiction.

However, khat has served as a social lubricant for the RoY for generations; with 73% of women and approximately 90% of men chewing khat, the aforementioned influence is certainly present

Recommendations

Due to the convoluted and indefinite civil war, the proposed strategies must occur post-conflict; therefore, several assumptions must be true. First, the empowered government is receptive to political, economic, and social change. Second, there is sufficient water remaining in RoY’s aquifers that the proposed strategies will sustain and restore Yemen’s water supply. Third, the government can provide adequate security, so the proposed strategies will not be disrupted due to political instability or internal strife – by David M. Wren

http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/yemen%E2%80%99s-water-sustainability-crisis

(** B P)

Shining a Spotlight on Hate Speech in Saudi Textbooks

But for all the noise surrounding Bin Salman’s domestic policy shifts, he’s been conspicuously silent on the issue of government hate speech, especially speech by state clerics and in the country’s textbooks that targets his fellow Muslim citizens who practice a different form of Islam from the official brand of Sunni Islam promoted by the Saudi state.

The curriculum first provoked widespread controversy for violent and intolerant teachings in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and Saudi authorities have either promised to reform it or declared it “reformed” many times since then.

Nevertheless, the Education Ministry’s school religion books for the 2016-17 school year still included passages that denigrate other religious groups. The curriculum reserves its harshest criticisms for Jews, Christians and people of other faiths, often describing them as kuffar, or “unbelievers.”

In one passage from a secondary school book, the text lists the markersby which one can recognize the approach of the Day of Resurrection, including: “The Hour will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews, and Muslims will kill the Jews.”

The textbooks also repeatedly criticize the Shia and Sufi practice of visiting graves and religious shrines and tawassul (intercession), to call on the prophet or his family members as intermediaries to God. The textbooks state that these practices, which both Sunni and Shia citizens understand as Shia, are grounds for removal from Islam and punished by being sent to “eternal damnation in hell.”

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/01/23/shining-spotlight-hate-speech-saudi-textbooks

(** B H K)

Films: crimes of the forgotten war in Yemen, parts 1–5

(from March 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPB4VsgHVYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGc2ASkLng8 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPyx6teNCZg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkIHWXi98pY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPtJnyna4WU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EPG8cuA6L8

(*** B K P T)

Why it won’t be easy to resolve Yemen’s many wars

on Nov. 10, the Project on Middle East Political Science convened a workshop with a diverse array of scholars and analysts with deep experience on the ground.

The workshop papers — published today in a new open-access POMEPS Studies collection — offer important insight into the central actors, alliances and war dynamics and show how Yemen has fractured in ways that will make any negotiated settlement extraordinarily challenging and fragile.

The binary lens of Iranian-backed Houthis and a Gulf-backed president is deeply and dangerously misleading. Instead, as evidence from the papers in the collection show, there are at least five axes around which events are simultaneously in motion:

The Houthi-Saleh alliance

As April Alley demonstrates, the Houthis were the militarily stronger faction in the Houthi-Saleh alliance, and Saleh’s General People’s Council party may not survive the death of its leader. Since Saleh’s death, the battle lines have changed only marginally, coalition airstrikes continue apace, and U.N. humanitarian agencies struggle to secure access to besieged civilians.

The Southern question

The focus on the battle in the North often distracts attention from the powerful changes on the ground in the South.

As Susanne Dahlgren illustrates, the UAE’s unique role in the South has accelerated the declaration of a Southern Transitional Council and the development of governing capacity as a prelude to secession.

Jihadist militants and Islamists

The war has also transformed the militant landscape in Yemen. The relationship between local grievances, regional identities and religio-political claims makes it difficult to paint militant Islamists with a single brush. Elisabeth Kendall shows how AQAP sought local buy-in through community development projects, positioning itself as more indigenous than the Islamic State.

Laurent Bonnefoy demonstrates the impact of the war on the wider Salafi political field. The war has changed their relationship to the Islamist Islah party and with militant groups in the South. The situation is further complicated by the UAE’s cooperation with many Salafi militias to combat both AQAP in the South and the Houthis around Taiz.

Regional politics

As Kristian Coates Ulrichsen argues, the war in Yemen is also part of a rapidly changing set of regional dynamics. Through the U.N. process, Saudi Arabia has pushed to maintain the fiction that this is primarily a war aimed at reinstalling a legitimate Yemeni president. At the same time, Qatar’s expulsion from the coalition last summer, Oman’s persistent neutrality and the UAE’s quasi-independent policy in the South all raise questions about the extent of Gulf coordination. As Ulrichsen indicates, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have acquired “different zones of responsibility that evolved into competing spheres of influence” in Yemen, raising uncertainty about their future role in a negotiated peace or postwar reconstruction phase.

Yemeni society

Yemenis are faced with the task of reconstructing political institutions, public infrastructure and markets in the face of incalculable destruction. According to polling carried out by Marie-Christine Heinze and Hafez Albukari, local communities have come to rely almost exclusively on local and self-organized forms of security provision. Marieke Transfeld’s research shows that many Yemenis have actually remained quite physically secure during the war, given the urban concentration of the war and the predominantly rural population. These rural communities, however, are also cut off from most public infrastructure and state services.

Ala Qasem and Ala’a Jarban each show the enormously destructive effects of the war for Yemen’s youth.

The essays in the collection are not very optimistic about an inclusive or equitable peace process or reconstruction phase. Peter Salisbury shows how the political economy of war has become entrenched in ways which will defy easy adaptation. The country will have to contend with what Sheila Carapico describes as “de-development” through the targeted destruction of Yemen’s infrastructure and environment.

In light of such challenges, the research in this POMEPS Studies collection can help to inform policies that promote a peaceful resolution to this devastating war and an inclusive and sustainable process of rebuilding. – by Stacey Philbrick Yadav

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/25/why-it-wont-be-easy-to-resolve-yemens-many-wars/?utm_term=.56adeb73f7cc is a condensed version of https://pomeps.org/2018/01/25/why-it-wont-be-easy-to-resolve-yemens-many-wars/

which is the introduction to

(*** B K P T)

Politics, Governance, and Reconstruction in Yemen

Yemen’s war has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. The preventable consequences of the war have been well-documented and the military conflict is now at a stalemate. For Yemenis, 2018 promises a sustained downward spiral.

The war and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen has received relatively little analytical or scholarly attention compared to the conflicts elsewhere in the region, such as Syria and Iraq. Both the Houthis and the Saudi-UAE coalition tightly control access for journalists and researchers, making up-to-date, on the ground research difficult. Media coverage is dominated by propaganda, reinforcing prevailing narratives of either Iranian encroachment or Saudi adventurism. These conditions have not been conducive to sustained, rigorous, empirically and theoretically informed analysis of Yemen. How have political coalitions and movements adapted to more than two years of war and economic devastation? How does governance actually work under the Houthis, the coalition, and in other areas of the country? How has the intervention changed the prospects of the southern secessionist movement? What prospects exist for a political agreement which might end the war?

On November 10, the Project on Middle East Political Science convened a workshop on these questions with participants from Yemen, Europe, and the United States. The invited scholars and analysts all have longstanding research ties to the country, and most have been able to carry out very recent research inside the country. It is worth noting that assembling the workshop proved exceptionally challenging. The highly polarized political situation in Yemen extends to the analytical community, making publishing analysis a potential problem for Yemenis who live – or aspire to return – to Yemen. More directly, changing American travel regulations ultimately deterred numerous invited participants from attempting to reach Washington D.C., including several Yemeni scholars and several European scholars with deep experience in the region. While some participated virtually, the loss of a number of critically important Yemeni and European scholars from the workshop tangibly represents the broader cost to academia of these travel restrictions.

Despite these obstacles, the workshop brought together a remarkable group of American, European, and Yemeni scholars. Their papers and workshop discussions offered insightful analysis into the central actors, alliances, and war dynamics, and how these are likely to shape whatever future agreement may arise in Yemen. This collection offers no clear path forward for policymakers. But it does draw on the depth of knowledge and detailed research conducted by an interdisciplinary group of scholars who have committed themselves to the study of Yemen and who doubtless hope that this research can help to inform policies that promote a peaceful resolution to this devastating war and an inclusive and sustainable process of rebuilding.

Read the full open access collection here.

Introduction:Why it won’t be easy to resolve Yemen’s many wars, Stacey Philbrick Yadav, Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Marc Lynch, George Washington University, POMEPS Director

Collapse of the Houthi-Saleh alliance and the future of Yemen’s war, April Longley Alley, International Crisis Group

A grim 2018 lies in store for Yemen, Peter Salisbury, Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme

Popular revolution advances towards state building in southern Yemen, Susanne Dahlgren, University of Tampere

Sunni Islamist dynamics in context of war: What happened to al-Islah and the Salafis?, Laurent Bonnefoy, Sciences Po/CERI

Impact of the Yemen war on militant jihad, Elisabeth Kendall, Pembroke College, University of Oxford

Endgames for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Yemen, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy

Yemen’s war as seen from the local level, Marie-Christine Heinze, CARPO and Hafez Albukari, Yemen Polling Center (YPC)

Yemen’s education system at a tipping point: Youth between their future and present survival, Mareike Transfeld, Freie Universität Berlin

Gasping for hope: Yemeni youth struggle for their future, Ala Qasem, Resonate! Yemen

Supporting and failing Yemen’s transition: Critical perspectives on development agencies, Ala’a Jarban, Concordia University

The rise and fall and necessity of Yemen’s youth movements, Silvana Toska, Davidson College

A diaspora denied: Impediments to Yemeni mobilization for relief and reconstruction at home, Dana M. Moss, University of Pittsburgh

War and De-Development, Sheila Carapico, University of Richmond

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/10/politics-governance-and-reconstruction-in-yemen/

Collapse of the Houthi-Saleh alliance and the future of Yemen’s war

In short, the collapse of the Houthi-Saleh coalition appears set to deepen the conflict and to complicate the prospects of a durable peace. In their actions, the Houthis are becoming more insular and oppressive; in doing so they are fuelling cycles of violence against them and alienating potential and former allies. For their part, Saudi Arabia and its allies continue to underestimate the Houthis’ military capabilities and their support base in the context of a war that is viewed by many northerners as an existential threat from both Saudi Arabia and domestic enemies. While the Houthis may ultimately not need the alliance with Saleh to continue the war, the political implications are important. Without Saleh’s GPC, the Houthis are more easily labelled by their opponents as a sectarian group aligned with Iran, but more importantly from a Yemeni domestic perspective, bent on implementing an oppressive theocracy based on the rule of Zaydi Imams. These perceptions and stereotypes are reinforcing zero sum politics and making future reconciliation more difficult – by April Longley Alley, International Crisis Group

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/collapse-of-the-houthi-saleh-alliance-and-the-future-of-yemens-war/

In Yemen, 2018 looks like it will be another grim year -by Peter Salisbury

[already linked in YPR 376]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/11/heres-what-2018-may-have-in-store-for-yemen/?utm_term=.517633988d4a = http://www.phuketnews.easybranches.com/story/in-yemen-2018-looks-like-it-will-be-another-grim-year-154281

Popular revolution advances towards state building in southern Yemen

In the shadow of the war, a popular revolution flourishes in southern Yemen that de facto has separated the area from the capital of Sana’a. As the Yemeni state is incapacitated by war and two separate claims for rule, one in Sana’a (the Houthi movement) and the other in Aden (with the internationally recognized president Hadi, actually sitting in Riyadh), an independent state is in the making in the lands that once formed the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). The re-establishment of the PDRY state is part of the demands that the Southern Movement, locally called hirak, has raised for a decade. This structurally loose civil society initiative has managed to gather the entire nation to support the call for independence. Still, it is not clear yet how the re-establishment of the independent southern state will take place.

In the chaos of war and absence of a state power, the South already has seceded. While the STC has chosen its “president,” “cabinet” and “parliament,” all ready to embrace national functions, it is the people in neighborhoods and villages who have taken over power. Among these people, the flag to be raised is the “South Arabian” flag, not the Yemeni flag. Popular Committees have been set up to take care of local safety, activists work to resolve power cuts, and teachers without a salary keep running the schools. In a similar manner, this has happened in the northern cities of Marib and Taiz, which have built their own institutions, again separate from the capital. What is happening in the shadow of war is state-building from the periphery that fully disregards the power struggle in Sana’a – by Susanne Dahlgren, University of Tampere/National University of Singapore

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/12/popular-revolution-advances-towards-state-building-in-southern-yemen/

Sunni Islamist dynamics in context of war: What happened to al-Islah and the Salafis?

While the revolutionary process of 2011 in Yemen had given high expectations to Sunni Islamists, the object of this short article is to examine what these hopes have become after almost three years of conflict. It aims to analyze, in particular, the way the current war has tipped equilibriums. The Sunni Islamist field structured around the three competing branches of Jihadism, Salafism, and the Muslim Brotherhood which have distinct trajectories, means and projects was transformed, largely in favor of the two former and much to the expense of the latter represented by al-Islah. Through such dynamics, the paper (which voluntarily only very briefly touches upon Jihadi groups, leaving much of their analysis to Elisabeth Kendall in this volume) also intends to provide a mapping of contemporary Salafism in Yemen, highlighting how violence has changed the way its activists, militants and leaders interact with other groups, favoring a militarization process.

Salafi militias rose to prominence throughout 2016, not only on the military fronts but also within institutions allegedly loyal to President Hadi. Such a trend is however proving problematic as it is based on the militarization of Salafism and implies a possible merger with jihadi movements – by Laurent Bonnefoy, Sciences Po/CERI

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/sunni-islamist-dynamics-in-context-of-war-what-happened-to-al-islah-and-the-salafis/

Impact of the Yemen war on militant jihad

This memo analyzes the impact of the Yemen war on militant jihadist groups in Yemen, which we generally understand via the categories al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has been the dominant jihad group in Yemen, and the Islamic State in Yemen (ISY), which has failed to gain significant traction. It also briefly interrogates the nature, impact, and prospects of the current counter-terrorism agenda of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States. The war can broadly be summarized as having empowered militant jihad during 2015 to 2016 as well as encouraging the development of serious organized crime networks around the smuggling of weapons and drugs. However, this has been followed, during 2017, by signs of splintering inside jihadist groups as they assess and potentially argue over their priorities and responses to increasing pressure from counter-terrorism offensives. The challenges faced by jihadists include maintaining a minimum base of tribal support or at least neutrality, deciding when to go to ground and when to stay and fight, running essential training and leadership programs in a hunted environment, and managing their apparently increasing turn to criminality to ensure their survival and supply lines. Signs of jihadist spats and leadership rifts, together with a general fluidity in allegiance among the foot soldiers, may mean that it is time to recalibrate our thinking about Yemen’s jihadists away from the simple binary categorization of AQAP and ISY – by Elisabeth Kendall, Pembroke College, University of Oxford

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/12/impact-of-the-yemen-war-on-militant-jihad/

Endgames for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Yemen

When Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched Operation Decisive Storm at the head of a largely Gulf-led coalition on March 26, 2015, it is likely that few in Riyadh or Abu Dhabi anticipated a campaign that would last for years with no political or military victory in sight. The Gulf-led intervention in Yemen – which was renamed Operation Restoring Hope on April 22, 2015 – has reshaped domestic configurations of power in Saudi Arabia and the UAE around a hyper-hawkish axis that appears set to overshadow aspects of Gulf politics for years to come. Developments in Yemen and, since June 2017, the standoff with Qatar have come to symbolize the shift of the two crown princes, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, away from the coalitional balancing of factions that long underpinned royal/ruling family governance in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And yet both Yemen and Qatar have raised broader questions for regional and international partners and adversaries alike as they come to terms with a far more unpredictable and volatile policymaking landscape in both countries, and as the conflict in Yemen appears set to become more chaotic – at least in the short-term – after the death of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on December 4, 2017 – by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/12/endgames-for-saudi-arabia-and-the-united-arab-emirates-in-yemen/ = http://al-bab.com/blog/2018/01/anti-houthi-rivals-clash-yemen-raising-questions-about-saudi-uae-alliance

Yemen’s war as seen from the local level

the war experience differs greatly for people on the local level. While there are areas where the humanitarian situation is extremely dire and economic worries are widespread, this is less the case in other areas. Likewise, there are regions in Yemen that have seen continued fighting and / or bombardment since the beginning of the war in September 2014 / March 2015, whereas other regions have experienced no direct fighting at all. Similarly, the type of security threats and the actors involved vary significantly across region. Indeed, there are areas in Yemen where “the war,” as such, is considered to be over even though the security situation continues to be dire; whereas people in other areas have lost all hope that they may ever see a return of something resembling a normal life again. This paper aims to show how varied and complex the effects of the ongoing war are experienced on the local level, placing a specific focus on the security situation. To this effect, we use data gathered by the Yemen Polling Center (YPC) in February and March of this year.[1]

Yemenis throughout the country have had very different war experiences over the course of the past years and continue to do so. The various threats to personal well-being, whether due to difficult living conditions, security threats, diseases etc., and the sources they attribute to these circumstances influence their outlook on the current political situation and the actors that shape it. Accordingly, these actors are politically legitimized or delegitimized by their actions and the circumstances they create for people on the ground. Any new attempt at peace talks as well as any intervention by the international community in Yemen must recognize this plurality of war experiences, threat perceptions and actors on the ground – by Marie-Christine Heinze, Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) and Hafez Albukari, Yemen Polling Center (YPC)

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/yemens-war-as-seen-from-the-local-level/

Yemen’s education system at a tipping point: Youth between their future and present survival

The war that has tormented Yemen for over two years is putting 4.5 Yemeni children and youth at risk of being completely deprived of an education. Next to the deteriorating security, the destitute economic situation is currently putting enormous stress on the country’s already weak educational system. Nearly half of the country’s population is under the age of 18.[2] Their future is immediately intertwined with the future of Yemen. On the one hand, the lack of education leads to the militarization of communities. On the other hand, without a proper education, Yemen’s new generations will not be able to shoulder the future burden of reconstructing the economy and state that are currently being destroyed, see Carapico in this collection. Problems contributing to the deterioration of education in Yemen are not entirely new, but rather exacerbated by the ongoing war. In fact, the war reverses all progress that has been made in Yemen in terms of the quality and quantity of education provision -by Mareike Transfeld, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin Graduate School of Muslim Cultures and Societies

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/12/yemens-education-system-at-a-tipping-point-youth-between-their-future-and-present-survival/

Gasping for hope: Yemeni youth struggle for their future

The international community can instill hope that young Yemenis are desperately grasping for. It can create the possibility of a better future, one that can be added to the calculus of the young Yemeni trying to balance every day survival with planning for his or her future. It can invest in economic and political development projects, rather than restrict its funding to humanitarian relief. It must demand and support accountability by all parties receiving its development funding. It should exert genuine efforts to reach out to young Yemenis and ask for their input on development projects.

Development efforts should be experimental and agile. The security, health, and financial situation is changing rapidly and requires adequately responsive programming -by Ala Qasem, Resonate! Yemen

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/12/gasping-for-hope-yemeni-youth-struggle-for-their-future/

Supporting and failing Yemen’s transition: Critical perspectives on development agencies

This paper examined interventions by the IMF (supported by other international political and development actors through the umbrella of the Friends of Yemen group) that were taken with the intention of supporting Yemen’s transitional process (World Bank 2017). Despite having relied on studies that show such strategies can have a negative immediate political impact, the IMF made lifting fuel subsidies an immediate and inflexible condition for the Yemeni government to obtain a critical loan. The IMF neglected the political reality obvious to many Yemenis, wherein political actors were looking for opportunities to drive the transitional process to fail. Undeniably, this intervention by the IMF created more harm than good when the Houthi-Saleh alliance used the short-term effects of subsidy reforms as a justification to throw off the transitional process and take power. This shift in power led to the ongoing military and humanitarian crisis in the country. As this paper demonstrates, the IMF loan and its conditionality were a critical contributing factor in ending the transitional process.

There is no doubt that the IMF and other development and international financial actors will continue to resurface in Yemen through humanitarian efforts and post-war dialogue efforts. The ideal degree of integration of development actors in a post-war context is a difficult question to answer, but any future support efforts will have to contend with the failure of the last. Future interventions must be more sensitive to the political realities, gain the public’s trust, and consider both short-term and long-term impacts and needs more seriously – by Ala’a Jarban, Concordia University

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/supporting-and-failing-yemens-transition-critical-perspectives-on-development-agencies/

The rise and fall and necessity of Yemen’s youth movements

The Yemeni revolution, perhaps more so than other uprisings in the Middle East, was initially driven by students and unemployed graduates, generally under the age of 30 and not affiliated with any political parties or groups. Unlike the other uprisings, representatives of Yemeni youth continued to play an active – if not ultimately influential – role after President Saleh’s removal was ushered in by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative. From the early days of the uprising, members of the “Independent Youth” sent representatives to the National Dialogue, continued protesting in the streets, established political parties, and created effective local social movements.

However, faced with entrenched political elites that maintained control over structures of power and their own lack of coherent structure, leadership, and resources, the youth movement fractured and many influential individuals were coopted into existing parties and networks. By 2014, this fracturing and cooptation had shrunk civil society and opposition space in Yemen to pre-2011 levels. After the Houthi takeover of Sana’a and the ensuing Saudi led war against the Houthi-Saleh coalition, many youth activists joined different sides of the conflict, not least because of disappointment with the outcome of the revolution and their own movement. Neither the stunning early success, nor the ultimate “failure” of the youth movements to achieve their goals was inevitable, but the latter was more predictable and remains relevant: the ability to overcome some of the problems of the broader movement will likely determine Yemen’s chance for a civic state.

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/the-rise-and-fall-and-necessity-of-yemens-youth-movements/

A diaspora denied: Impediments to Yemeni mobilization for relief and reconstruction at home

Yemenis abroad have long channeled resources to their families at home, and their remittances in the current war have provided a lifeline to many Yemenis trapped in hellish conditions.[1] But beyond sending cash to kin, diasporas who pool resources can help home-country populations ravaged by violence, hunger, and disease by providing emergency supplies and rebuilding vital infrastructure. Existing studies argue that diaspora can play an important role in relief and reconstruction in their war-torn homelands for several reasons. First, diaspora members use their cross-border network ties as conduits for channeling aid across borders. Second, emigrants who have escaped authoritarian states and settled in democracies gain “voice” and opportunities to mobilize their communities and lobby for support.[2] Third, times of extreme crisis like the one facing Yemen today invoke a sense of collective solidarity and corresponding motivations among diasporas to mobilize for their compatriots at home.

As Yemen endures an unfathomable degree of suffering, it is clear that help from the diaspora is badly needed. Yet the obstacles that currently stand in their way are significant and are unlikely to change unless outside states and international institutions act decisively to end the war itself. – by Dana M. Moss, University of Pittsburgh

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/a-diaspora-denied-impediments-to-yemeni-mobilization-for-relief-and-reconstruction-at-home/

War and De-Development

After late March 2015 when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and some coalition partners deployed advanced, expensive American and British weapons against its impoverished neighbor, Yemen, man-made disaster ensued. Humanitarian and human rights organizations have documented starvation, massive homelessness, casualties, and probable war crimes. The research presented here focuses on the specifically economic repercussions of thirty months of Saudi-led, U.S.-backed aerial bombardment and air-and-naval blockades that disabled productive capabilities, trade, public services, a fragile ecology, and even the ability to collect reliable data. While deposed presidents clinging to power and militias from the Houthis to al-Qaeda have imposed gruesome, gratuitous human suffering, the disproportionate firepower of warplanes and warships has not only killed more people directly but also inflicted unmeasured damage to economies and ecologies. This is acute de-development.

Scholars of Africa, Latin America, and other post-colonial milieus have analyzed similar-sounding circumstances of under-development and dependent development. Under-development implies the extraction of raw materials, agricultural produce, labor, or other assets from a peripheral zone to centers of capital accumulation. Dependent development refers to the ways external control over key sectors like commerce, industry, banking, farming, or tourism constrain economic independence and prosperity. Both concepts, associated with the dependista school, reference appropriation and profit-taking: a net transfer of material or monetary benefits from poor zones to rich enclaves. Middle East scholars Sara Roy and Ali Kadri each introduced the notion of de-development to contextualize circumstances in Gaza, Iraq, and other war-torn territories under assault and siege, where resources and the means of production are demolished rather than expropriated. This brief analyzes how the notion of de-development, which Kadri also calls developmental descent, applies to the asymmetric (and unprovoked) Saudi-Emirati assault on Yemen. Deflation, capital stock depreciation, and ecosystem degradation are serious consequences – by Sheila Carapico, University of Richmond

https://pomeps.org/2018/01/11/war-and-de-development/

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics

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Yemen: Cholera Response Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin: W3 2018 (Jan 15-Jan 21)

The cumulative total from 27 April 2017 to 21 Jan 2018 is 1,046,674 suspected cholera cases and 2,248 associated deaths, (CFR 0.21%), 1102 have been confirmed by culture.

Children under 5 years old represent 28.7% of total suspected cases.

The weekly number of cases is decreasing for the 19 consecutive weeks.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-cholera-response-weekly-epidemiological-bulletin-w3-2018-jan-15-jan-21-enar

(B H)

Yemen: Cholera Suspected Cases (From 27 April 2017 - 20 January 2018)

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-suspected-cases-27-april-2017-20-january-2018

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-suspected-cases-27-april-2017-19-january-2018-0

Yemen: Cholera Attack Rate (%) Population (From 27 April 2017 - 20 January 2018)

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-attack-rate-population-27-april-2017-20-january-2018

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-attack-rate-population-27-april-2017-19-january-2018

(B H)

With her daughter and husband, Maleha stands grieving by the tomb of their 11-year old son Abdulla who died of #cholera while the family was trying to hospitalize him. Abdulla is one of 2,247 people who died of cholera in #Yemen since April 2017 (photo)

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/photos/a.140138722718846.28242.139654236100628/1657209367678433/?type=3

(B H)

Yemen – Cholera and Diphtheria – DG ECHO Daily Map |24/01/2018

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-and-diphtheria-dg-echo-daily-map-24012018

cp1b Am wichtigsten: Konflikt und Kämpfe im in Aden / Most important:Conflict and fights at Aden

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

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Audio: Jetzt bekriegen sich auch einstige Verbündete

Präsident Hadi steht für einen geeinten Jemen. Die Separatisten wollen seine Spaltung und damit zwei unabhängige Staaten.

Vergangene Woche forderten die Separatisten Präsident Hadi dann dazu auf, den Ministerpräsidenten und einige Minister wegen Korruption zu entlassen. Eine Frist, die sie gesetzt hatten, lief nun am Wochenende aus. Eine Demonstration gegen Hadi eskalierte und die Kämpfe mit Hadis Leute begannen.

Der Ministerpräsident, dessen Entlassung die Separatisten forderten, spricht von einem Putsch-Versuch. Mittlerweile rief er aber auch zu Waffenstillstand und Dialog auf, wie der Nachrichtensender al-Arabiya berichtete.

Fraglich ist, wie die Militärallianz reagieren wird, die Saudi-Arabien vor drei Jahren aus verschiedenen arabischen Staaten schmiedete, wenn die Auseinandersetzungen weitergehen.

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/jemen-separatisten-103.html

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Bürgerkrieg: Jemens Regierungschef spricht von "Putsch" durch Separatisten in Aden

Im Jemen ist die Armee von Präsident Hadi nun an zwei Fronten im Einsatz: Im Norden bekämpfen sie die Huthi-Rebellen, in der südlichen Übergangshauptstadt Aden haben Separatisten den Regierungssitz attackiert.

Jemens Ministerpräsidenten Ahmed bin Dagher sprach von einem "Putsch" von Separatisten, seine Stellungnahme klingt verzweifelt: "Sie rücken militärisch vor, errichten neue Kontrollpunkte und greifen die Regierung an."

Gemeint sind südjemenitische Rebellen, die sich in Aden schwere Kämpfe mit Regierungstruppen liefern und offenbar mehrere Regierungsgebäude eingenommen haben. Es sollen mehrere Menschen getötet und mehr als zwei Dutzend verletzt worden sein.

Die Situation sei ernst, erklärte bin Dagher. Nun seien "die Koalition

Die Kämpfe waren zwischen der Armee von Präsident Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi und Kämpfern des Südlichen Übergangsrates (STC) ausgebrochen.

In der vergangenen Woche hatten die STC-Separatisten Präsident Hadi aufgefordert, Ministerpräsident bin Dagher und einige Minister wegen Korruption zu entlassen. Am Sonntag war eine von den Separatisten gestellte Frist an Hadi abgelaufen.

Die STC will einen unabhängigen Südjemen.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/buergerkrieg-im-jemen-regierungschef-spricht-von-putsch-durch-separatisten-a-1190220.html und ähnlich https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article172931678/Jemen-Separatisten-kaempfen-um-Regierungssitz-in-Aden.html

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Separatisten attackieren Sitz der jemenitischen Regierung

In der jemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden versuchen Aufständische, die Kontrolle über den Regierungssitz zu übernehmen. Der Premier fordert Hilfe von Saudi-Arabien.

Jemenitische Separatisten haben in der Hafenstadt Aden den Sitz der international anerkannten Regierung von Präsident Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi angegriffen. Bei den Kämpfen mit Regierungstruppen wurden mindestens acht Menschen getötet und viele weitere verletzt, teilten Sicherheitskräfte mit.

Ministerpräsident Ahmed bin Dagher sprach von einem Putsch der Separatisten, die seit Jahrzehnten für einen unabhängigen Südjemen kämpfen. Er bat die von Saudi-Arabien angeführte Militärkoalition um Unterstützung.

http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2018-01/jemen-aden-abd-rabbo-mansur-hadi-separatisten

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Gefechte zwischen Separatisten und der Regierung in Aden

Die Anhänger des international anerkannten Präsidenten des Jemen und die Separatisten des Südens: Bis Kurzem waren sie noch Waffenbrüder - jetzt bekämpfen sie einander im südjemenitischen Aden.

Am Boden kämpften aufseiten der Hadi-Leute lange auch die Separatisten. Die Huthis brachten die beiden Gruppen zusammen, wenngleich ihre grundsätzlichen Ziele unterschiedlicher kaum sein können: Präsident Hadi steht für einen geeinten Jemen. Die Separatisten wollen seine Spaltung; zwei unabhängige Staaten.

Der Ministerpräsident, dessen Entlassung die Separatisten forderten, spricht von einem Putschversuch. Hat aber mittlerweile auch zu Waffenstillstand und Dialog aufgerufen – wie der Nachrichtensender Al-Arabiya berichtet.

Fraglich ist, wie die Militärallianz, die Saudi-Arabien vor drei Jahren aus verschiedenen arabischen Staaten schmiedete, reagieren wird, wenn die Auseinandersetzungen weitergehen.

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kaempfe-im-jemen-gefechte-zwischen-separatisten-und-der.1783.de.html?dram:article_id=409439

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Separatisten sind in Jemen auf dem Vormarsch

Im Lager der Anti-Huthi-Allianz herrscht Chaos. Verkompliziert wird die Lage durch die Rolle der Emirate und Saudiarabiens.

Jetzt liefern sich in der südjemenitischen Hafenstadt Aden zwei Fraktionen der Anti-Huthi-Allianz heftige Kämpfe. Die einen gehören zum Hirak, der Bewegung für ein unabhängiges Südjemen. Die anderen sind Truppen der Regierung von Präsident Hadi

Am Sonntag gelang es bewaffneten Anhängern eines unabhängigen Südjemen in Aden vorübergehend, den einer Festung gleich verbarrikadierten Sitz der Regierung einzunehmen. Angeblich wurden sie von Truppen Hadis wieder vertrieben. Dieser hat trotz seiner eher geringen Beliebtheit noch eine beträchtliche Zahl Truppen auf seiner Seite. Der Zorn der Separatisten gilt weniger Hadis Person als vielmehr einer Reihe von Ernennungen seitens des Präsidenten, die man im Süden als Provokation versteht.

Vor allem Ministerpräsident Ahmad bin Dagher, der jegliche Anliegen des Hirak ignoriert, ist für viele Südjemeniten ein rotes Tuch.

Verkompliziert wird die Lage durch die Rolle der Emirate und Saudiarabiens. Die beiden Golfstaaten intervenieren in Jemen aufseiten der Anti-Huthi-Allianz, doch unterstützen sie in Aden unterschiedliche Fraktionen.

https://www.nzz.ch/international/separatisten-in-jemen-auf-dem-vormarsch-ld.1351980

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Yemen's southern separatists: thirsting for lost independence

Here is some background on the latest twist in Yemen's tangled conflict:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5321863/Yemens-southern-separatists-thirsting-lost-independence.html

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Yemen’s Southern Movement: What They Want and Who They Are

2007: Formation of Southern Movement

2015 – Present Day War: Alliance and Confrontation

Southern separatists initially backed internationally-recognized Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled from advancing Houthi rebels to his hometown of Aden, and alongside the Saudi-led coalition helped push the Houthis away from southern regions. However, the economic and political issues remained a point of contention.

On April 4, 2017, the Southern Movement established the Southern Transitional Council (STC) – a 26-member secessionist body. Its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the Aden Governorate, was dismissed by Hadi for “disloyalty” at the time. The separatists control the area of Aden and are reportedly supported by the United Arab Emirates.

Fresh Developments

On January 22, 2018, al-Zubaidi accused the Hadi government of “rampant corruption,” and declared a state of emergency in Aden, where the authorities are located. The STC said the president had a week to make his choice.

Hadi, in turn, rejected the ultimatum and banned public gatherings before January 28 – subsequently, clashes erupted.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201801291061144317-yemen-southern-movement/

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Saudi Influence in Yemen Crumbles: Southern Movement Launches Coup

If successful, this could spell the end for Riyadh’s already minuscule political influence in Yemen through the puppet government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The war in Yemen is complex. Western media fails to mention the nuances and alliances that make up the Saudi-coalition as well as Yemen’s resistance to this aggression. The media usually portrays Yemen’s resistance as “Iranian-backed militias” (albeit without evidence) while representing the Saudi coalition as a homogenous group fighting against the so-called Houthis.

However, this couldn’t be further from the reality as long-standing tensions finally reach a breaking point.

The Crumbling of the Saudi Coalition

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) — also known as the Southern Movement or al-Hirak in Arabic — has butt-heads consistently with the Saudi-backed puppet government of Hadi.

Now, the Saudi-led alliance in the south is crumbling.

The Saudi-backed Hadi government — known throughout the media as the “internationally-recognized government” — is extremely unpopular throughout all of Yemen and a significant hindrance to any future peace agreement.

Southern Transitional Council Launches Coup Against Saudi-Puppet Government

The recent round of disagreements erupted last week when the STC promised a coup if Hadi did not dismiss Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr and his cabinet from Aden’s government.

The Southern Movement’s coup appears successful at this point as they now control key government buildings throughout Aden.

STC Secretary-General Zaid al-Jamal vowed to continue to coup until Daghr’s — and likely Hadi’s — remaining influence is wholly removed from their capital in Aden.

“We have announced a new programme of popular uprising that will start tomorrow. People have already started flooding into al-Orouth Square and will not leave until the government is overthrown.”

Just Another Failure for Saudi Influence in Yemen

This coup must terrify the Saudi-led coalition which sought to capitalize on the death of Saleh by isolating Ansarullah and forcing a military victory.

Although the UAE supports the Southern Movement, it also has the support of many people throughout Yemen’s south who view secession as a viable alternative to Hadi.

The STC’s coup is just another nail in the coffin for Riyadh who continues failing against Ansarullah in the northern provinces.

So, what’s next?

Will Riyadh finally call it quits, pack up, and go home?

Or will they continue their battles against the STC in the south and Ansarullah in the north?

If this coup in the south remains successful, it could eventually lead to recognization of the Ansarullah government in Sana’a and even a possible peace process.

http://geopoliticsalert.com/saudi-influence-in-yemen-southern-movement-coup = https://medium.com/@GeopoliticsAlert/saudi-influence-in-yemen-crumbles-southern-movement-launches-coup-f91af7747f9d

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Film by Press TV Iran: South Yemen clashes. #PressTVDebate

https://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV/videos/vb.145097112198751/1886198831421895/?type=2&theater

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BBC, Audio: Separatists Clash With Government Forces in South Yemen

The Yemeni port city of Aden has seen a day of violence between erstwhile allies in the country's civil war. A representative of the World Food Programme on the ground tells Newshour that the city already has a large population of displaced people and that any fighting makes a fragile situation worse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172vr1l9ztr4l3

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#Saudi official news agency report today downplayed clashes in #Aden #Yemen (between supporters of pro-#UAE Southern separatists & pro-Saudi Hadi govt). Hadi govt instead focused on unity & Houthis/#Iran as enemy. (image)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/957644129370017793

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General Ben Brik: Public Events Will Continue till the Dismissal of Ben Doghr’s Corrupt Government

General Ahmed Said Ben Brik indicated that public escalation demonstrations that started today in Al-Oroud Square will continue till Ben Doghr’s government is dismissed

http://en.smanews.org/general-ben-brik-public-events-will-continue-till-the-dismissal-of-ben-doghrs-corrupt-government

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12 killed and 132 wounded in #Aden deadly clashes , according to health ministry. Nine of the injuries are in a critical condition.

https://twitter.com/mohammedalqadhi/status/957740129178865665

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All night shooting in Aden #Yemen, including heavy weapons. Those in Southern part of city, including @ICRC_ye still unable to get out.

https://twitter.com/afaiteICRC/status/957825406601715712

Fighting around @ICRC_ye Mission in Aden #Yemen. Team still unable to move but ICRC hospital could receive patients. Surgical supplies also to be dispatched as soon as possible

https://twitter.com/afaiteICRC/status/957639102689628160

Witness: Pro-UAE forces located in Aden Airport are now shelling pro-Hadi Al-Sawlaban camp. A tough night in #Aden.

https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/957775530257997829

Some southern news papers have been temporarily banned from publishing on Monday, according to Aden al Ghad

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/957796570312990720

Currently things are calm in most of Aden. There are still clashes around the Ma’ashiq Palace where members of @ahmedbindaghar’s government are staying. There are ongoing negotiations between Hadi govt and the Southern Resistance Forces.

https://twitter.com/samwrax/status/957740463015985152

#UAE-backed Hizam Security Forces from #Abyan are deploying to #Aden to assist the STC

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/957712690176290817

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STC National Assembly President Ahmed bin Brik announced that Pro-STC forces arrested more than 200 #AQAP militants in #Aden #Yemen while clearing the city

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/957725849251405824

and

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Ben Brik: We have captured more than 200 terrorists inside presidential protection camps in Aden

https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/yemen/1173657 and translation https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ar&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eremnews.com%2Fnews%2Farab-world%2Fyemen%2F1173657&edit-text=

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Southern Activists Warn the Reform Party against Chaos in Adan through Their Terrorists

Special sources asserted to SAMA news that terrorist elements loyal to a prominent terrorist leader are spreading to block exits of Khour Maxar while more than 25 military convoys, coming from Maasheek, blocked Kriter. Activists called for urgent protection from the Arab Ally, southern resistance and security forces to peaceful demonstrators.

http://en.smanews.org/southern-activists-warn-the-reform-party-against-chaos-in-adan-through-their-terrorists

Remark: Reform Party = Islah Party, supporting “president” Hadi.

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After Controlling the Situation, the Southern Resistance Troops Deploy in Adan and Block Some Roads

Southern resistance troops confirmed its control over all areas that witnessed armed clashes since the early morning of Sunday January 28th, 2018, in Adan. Troops deployed in most districts of Adan and protected Al-Oroud Square where peaceful crowds are protesting Ben Doghr’s corrupt government.

http://en.smanews.org/after-controlling-the-situation-the-southern-resistance-troops-deploy-in-adan-and-block-some-roads

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Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs: #UAE supports the #Saudi-led coalition and has no solace for those who seek sedition.

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/957704008906485761

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Important statement from the Southern Transitional Council regarding the events taking place in the capital Aden

During these hard times that our free capital, Adan, Lives, the southern transitional council is observing consequences of the aggressive acts from Ben Doghr’s governmental forces, with directives of Ben Doghr himself and his minister of interior affairs, against our people who demonstrated peacefully demanding to live in dignity.
Accordingly, the council holds Ben Doghr’s government fully responsible for such tragic acts and confirms his gull commitment with peaceful choices. Our people demonstrated to say his words peacefully but any assault against our people’s right to express his demands necessitates that we will stand for protecting our people and his patriotic gains, victories and sacrifices.
We comfort our southern people and our sons in Adan that everything will be all right. We urge everyone to stand for peace, security and stability. We ask you all to protect all public, private and governmental facilities. We will always at our great southern people’s side and with his rightful demands. We will be the front line to protect our south.
We confirm that our calls were clear and have no military nature and the public demonstrations are all peaceful. But with the dawn of this day, we were all astonished by the deployment of Ben Doghr’s corrupt government’s military troops that blocked the roads and used gun fire against peaceful demonstrators and shed their innocent blood. Such acts led security forces and crowds of our people to protect peaceful demonstrators against corruption and failure of this government.
Therefore, the southern transitional council holds Ben Doghr’s government fully responsible because of violating the calls of the Arab Ally to cool down as the government used weapons to prevent peaceful demonstrators from reaching Al-Oroud Square and shot them with live bullets leading to killings and injuries among them. the council asserts his strong partnership with the Arab Ally in keeping security and stability of Adan that we scarified a lot for her since the beginning of the war.
The southern transitional council calls for the Arab Ally to continue his efforts for cool down in Adan and to listen to the rightful demands of the southern people. The council also calls his Excellency, president Abd Rabu Mansour Hady to follow reason and logic and to listen to the demands of his people in the south, who sacrifices a lot to defeat the coup militias, and to dismiss this corrupt government before the situations is out of control.
Issued by The Southern Transitional Council

http://en.smanews.org/breaking-news-statement-of-comfort-for-the-southern-people-from-the-southern-transitional-council (this is the better translation) and http://en.stcaden.com/news/8163

(A P)

Arab Ally Slaps Ben Doghr’s Government Describing it with Failure

In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the Arab Ally criticized Ben Doghr’s government, describing it with failure and confirmed the rightful demands of the people in the liberated territories. This statement is slap to the face of Ben Dighr’s government and the Reform and Conference parties as they expected the statement will accuse the southern transitional council with mutiny, but the statement came to the contrary of their expectations. The statement is the first Saudi recognition of the southern transitional council’s moves in a positive way. Observers indicated that the statement discouraged all efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hady’s supporters to image the situation as a coup against legitimacy. The Arab Ally called all parties to self-control, especially with the stressful situation in Adan

http://en.smanews.org/arab-ally-slaps-ben-doghrs-government-describing-it-with-failure

My comment: This is the Southern separatists’ interpretation of the Saudi statement – but there certainly is zero Saudi symphathy for the separatists.

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The Southern Transitional Council Appreciates the Statement of the Arab Ally Countries and Asserts His Commitment with Peaceful Methods for Demanding the Government Dismissal

The southern transitional council appreciated the statement issued by the Arab Ally countries, under commandership of Saudi Arabia, and their calls for cool down of public escalations in Adan against governmental disorder. The council also praised their efforts in that respect.
The council confirms to all countries of the Arab Ally and his Excellency, president Hady, that he is fully committed in peaceful pursuit of his demands concerning the dismissal of the government and treating all disorders in all ministries and governorates that had negative effects on providing citizens with their daily life demands.

http://en.smanews.org/the-southern-transitional-council-appreciates-the-statement-of-the-arab-ally-countries-and-asserts-his-commitment-with-peaceful-methods-for-demanding-the-government-dismissal

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Renewed clashes near Aden Mall

Renewed clashes near Aden Mall The eastern entrance to the city of Crater, said that the Presidential Protection Force has been stationed at this entrance since the morning and cut the line Sier.

The force in the clashes resumed with a light and medium range, and the shots were continuously heard from this direction.

https://twitter.com/7adramout_net/status/957789539329654784 with link

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Ten dead as rival Yemenis battle for control of Aden

At least 10 people were killed and about 100 others were wounded as southern Yemeni separatists fought government troops in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, local medics said, deepening a rift between forces that had been on the same side.

The worst clashes yet between southern separatists, who are allied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and forces loyal to the Saudi-based government risk crippling their once united war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen’s north.

The fighting subsided by the evening after Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr ordered a truce and instructed forces loyal to the government to return to barracks, witnesses said.

By evening, some shops were open but the streets were mostly deserted.

The fighting broke out after the expiry of a deadline set last week by separatists from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) for Hadi to dismiss the bin Daghr government, accusing it of corruption and mismanagement. The government denies this.

Gunmen were deployed throughout most of Aden’s districts and there was heavy automatic gunfire and explosions in the southern port city, according to Reuters witnesses.

Armed separatists appeared to gain the upper hand by wresting a key military base in Khor Maksar district in northern Aden and several government buildings from soldiers loyal to Hadi, local newspaper Aden al-Ghad reported on its website.

Residents said that hundreds of pro-Southern demonstrators had gathered in a main square.

Hospitals said at least nine fighters and one woman were killed in the fighting. International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said 86 wounded people were being treated, including seven people from one family whose car was hit by a shell.

Bin Daghr had earlier denounced the separatists’ actions as a coup and said

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-clashes/ten-dead-as-rival-yemenis-battle-for-control-of-aden-idUSKBN1FH06M

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Film: Yemen: Separatists take over government headquarters in Aden

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher has accused separatist forces backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of staging a coup in the southern city of Aden, after they took over government headquarters. The prime minister also called on the Saudi-led military coalition to intervene in Aden, stressing that the UAE was the "decision-maker" in the city. Clashes broke out on Sunday between the army of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is supported by Saudi Arabia, and UAE-backed forces seeking separation from the country's north.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nWUDDVTUA

(* A P)

ABOUT #ADEN
According to eyewitnesses and as reported by "Al-Mashhad al-Yemen" warplanes flew over the sky of Aden just before the clashes erupted and clashes intensified in the districts of Khor Maksar, Aqaba Kriter and Al-Maala, the Directorate of Mansoura and neighborhoods of Arish and Caltex.
The roads have been closed between the areas because of the clashes which saw the use of all types of weapons with continuous and intensive flights of warplanes and Apaches.
Witnesses confirmed the armed militia of the separatist council took over the third presidential protection camp near the Aden security department in Khor Maksar.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1630175210368836/?type=3

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This alleged 'legitimate' #Yemen government? It was expelled from capital Sanaa in 2015 and is today well on the way to expulsion from its 'temporary capital' Aden. It seems to me Yemenis north & south have decided the 'legitimate' government has no legitimacy to rule Yemen.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957658837410045954

Diplomats should deeply reflect on this. I understand the plan is to move the 'legitimate' Yemen government from Aden to Marib instead. It will not change the truth: In the eyes of a vast majority of Yemenis, the Hadi regime has neither the right nor the authority to rule Yemen.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957660819344551936

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If Aden declares an independent South Yemen, Hadhramaut will form an independent state of its own. That is the equation, and that is the trap Saudi & UAE jointly craft against southerners.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957570616328114177

The UAE's DP World will 'help' the rump South Yemen state to run Aden port, and Saudi Arabia will have a southern oil export pipeline through Hadhramaut to the Arabian Sea. Then, the US war on Iran can start. Maybe.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957574081582436352

Mahra and Socotra will also want to separate from Aden and maybe Hadramawt, too. You can end up with 3, 4, or even 5 mini-states with poor political, economic, and security prospects.

https://twitter.com/j_feierstein/status/957613229164900353

Mahra & Socotra do wish to separate from Yemen, hence their physical occupation by KSA & UAE respectively, installation of a proxy as Governor of Mahra & key leaders in civil society being personally threatened with assassination by Riyadh. The proper term is illegal annexation.

https://twitter.com/JonHowarth/status/957617360587886593

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The Southern Resistance in #Aden reassuring others that them and the GCC forces are working together. #Southern_Transition_Council backed by the SR, the Security Forces, and the GCC.

https://twitter.com/SouthYafa/status/957619992262074368

referring to https://twitter.com/NajTV/status/957615359896498176 (with film)

(A P)

[Photos from fighting]

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957538160334041089

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957525277453832192

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957518668673552385

https://twitter.com/sameer_alnamri/status/957477094069620736

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957618702064775168

https://twitter.com/tarebhtoday/status/957549819211534336

Video of live reporting from the scene of heavy armed clashes in Aden city by @Aden_Todey's journalist. Scary.

https://twitter.com/Aden_Todey/status/957601690940792832

Video of clashes in #Aden between pro-STC and pro-Hadi forces #Yemen

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/957651995984388097

Video by AlmasirahTV

https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/957728346179297280

(A P)

Pic of PG (government) forces detained after SRF (separatists) took over the Jabal Hadid base in Aden- one of the largest armories in the city of #Aden. Earlier PG forces gave up a number of bases in solidarity with mass anti corruption protests against PM Ben Daghr’s government.

https://twitter.com/SouthYafa/status/957608594433863680

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Yemen's President Hadi orders his forces to 'stand down' after Aden clashes

Yemen's President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Sunday ordered his forces to cease fire immediately - in the interim capital Aden - after fierce clashes between government forces and southern separatists.

The call to cease fire came in a communique issued by Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher to the commanders of government forces in the southern port city.

"Based on instructions from President Hadi, supreme commander of the Yemeni armed forces, and after talks with the Arab coalition... you must order all military units to cease fire immediately," said the communique seen by AFP.

It ordered government forces "to return to base", and said all positions taken on Sunday should be vacated by all sides unconditionally.

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/1/28/yemen-president-orders-forces-to-stand-down-in-aden

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Yemen's Saudi-backed government, UAE-backed separatists clash in Aden

Aden's streets have emptied except for tanks and armoured vehicles as clashes continue between forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the separatist Southern Transitional Council, backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Clashes first broke out on Sunday morning after pro-Hadi forces prevented supporters of the Southern Transitional Council from organising a protest against Hadi’s government in Aden.

The Southern Transitional Council's forces took over some public buildings and military camps, but presidential forces recaptured some of them, including the government headquarters. Clashes were also reported outside the the Presidential Palace.

Mohammed Mosaed, a journalist in Aden, confirmed that both sides resorted to shelling and gunfire as they attempted to take over public buildings and military camps.

"The presidential forces closed streets that lead to the protest square because the Southern Transitional Council has already threatened that they will form a new government today that will fight Hadi's government," he told Middle East Eye.

Some observers of the situation believe that the solution to tension in Aden is not in the hands of the Yemenis but rather in the hands of members of the the Saudi-led coalition, as Saudi Arabia supports Hadi and the UAE supports the Southern Council.

Journalist Tareq al-Mallah said the tension between Hadi's forces and the Southern Council is not new but this time the Saudi-led coalition had failed to reconcile them before they clashed.

"Early last year, the presidential forces and the Security Belt Forces backed by the UAE clashed in Aden airport, and then the Saudis reconciled them, but this time the Saudis have not done so," Mallah told MEE.

"It is easy for the Saudi-led coalition to stop the war but I believe that there is tension between Saudi and UAE over Yemen."

He stated that the coming days will say a lot about the tension between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over Yemen, pointing out that if the Saudi-led coalition want to stop the war, they will direct their Yemeni allies to stop it.

"If the Saudi and UAE want to stop the clashes in Aden, they can do it in minutes."

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemens-saudi-backed-government-and-uae-backed-separatists-clash-streets-aden-1341308775

(A P)

#Aden Airport continues to be closed.
Passengers were unable to leave because of the clashes and the closure of roads.
Yemen Airways is considering diverting flights to #Sayoun airport if the clashes continue

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1629956923723998/?type=3

(A P)

Film: The Southern Resistance forces control the prime minister's building and enter the office of Ben Dagher

https://twitter.com/SouthYafa/status/957590272128503808

(A P)

Following the clashes in #Aden #today, @MSF ’s Trauma hospital received 50 wounded and 4 dead. 86 is the total number of patients present today in the Hospital.

https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/957661349634551808

Among the victims of the clashes in #Aden today, a family of 7 people received at @MSF Hospital. The mother died and wounded members of the family are still in the hospital, some of them are in critical situation.

https://twitter.com/msf_yemen/status/957640224808624130

(A P)

Reinforcements pour into #Aden from #Yafa and other directorates, to protect the demonstrators who demand the removal of the Legitimate Government of @ahmedbindaghar (photo)

https://twitter.com/SouthYafa/status/957599979325022208

and

(A P)

Unconfirmed reports of 200 military pick ups came from Abyan reinforcing the STC. Meanwhile, STC fighters besieging Hadi-backed military camp in Dar Sa'd. #Aden.

https://twitter.com/SalehAlBatati1/status/957585189550608385

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Aden clashes subside after coalition calls for calm

Heavy fighting between Yemeni government and southern separatist forces left at least 12 people dead in Aden on Sunday before both sides responded to calls for calm by the Saudi-led coalition.

The clashes broke out in the early morning as members of the presidential guard tried to prevent thousands of supporters of the Southern Transitional Council from gathering for a rally in Khour Maksar district.

The fighting subsided by 2pm, although occasional gunfire could still be heard.

The STC promised to abide by the coalition's call for a ceasefire, saying it would continue to press for the dismissal of the cabinet peacefully.

"We trust on the Arab Coalition to intervene with all its power to solve all the troubles caused by the mismanagement of the current government," council spokesman Salem Al Oulaqi said.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/aden-clashes-subside-after-coalition-calls-for-calm-1.699443

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Yemeni PM appeals to Arabs to save Aden after separatists' advances

The Yemeni prime minister on Sunday appealed to Arab countries to save President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s interim capital Aden from falling to southern separatists who have seized large parts of the city in heavy clashes against government forces.

“They are moving militarily, setting up new military checkpoints and attacking camps of the legitimacy (government) ....,” Ahmed bin Dahr wrote in a message on his Facebook page, referring to southern fighters under the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

“This is a serious matter and the coalition and Arabs as a whole must move to save the situation. The matter is in their hands and the hope, as we see it in the government, is on the (United Arab) Emirates,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-clashes-bindaghr/yemeni-pm-appeals-to-arabs-to-save-aden-after-separatists-advances-idUSKBN1FH0JA

(** A P)

Yemen govt warns of coup as separatists take over headquarters

Security sources and residents said clashes appeared to have spread to most of the city.

The government urged the Saudi-led military coalition, which has been supporting Hadi against Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control much of the north, to intervene.

"A coup is ongoing here in Aden against legitimacy and the country's unity," Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher said in a statement.

Shortly afterwards, it was reported loyalist commanders had received orders from Hadi to disengage.

"After talks with the Arab coalition... you must order all military units to cease fire immediately," a government statement said.

On Sunday afternoon, coalition planes flew over the city.

Security sources told AFP that pro-separatist units trained and backed by the United Arab Emirates had taken over the government headquarters in Aden after clashes.

Saudi and Emirati troops present in Aden did not intervene, security sources said.

Separatist fighters and supporters danced at an intersection as truckloads of armed men drove through the streets.

In the late afternoon, security sources said separatists approached the presidential palace where several members of the government were staying, but no clashes were reported.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5321801/Yemen-govt-warns-coup-separatists-headquarters.html

(** A P)

Yemen president orders immediate ceasefire in Aden

At least 15 killed in the southern port city as fierce clashes erupted between government troops and separatists fighting with local security forces

Yemen president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi on Sunday ordered his forces to cease fire immediately after fierce clashes with southern separatists broke out in Aden.

The call came in a communique issued by prime minister Ahmed bin Dagher to the commanders of government forces in the southern port city.

"Based on instructions from president Hadi, supreme commander of the Yemeni armed forces, and after talks with the Arab coalition... you must order all military units to cease fire immediately," said the communique.

It ordered government forces "to return to base", and said all positions taken on Sunday should be vacated by all sides unconditionally.

Earlier on Sunday the Yemeni prime minister accused southern separatists of staging a coup, as security sources said separatist fighters had seized the government headquarters in Aden, Agence France-Presse reported.

At least 15 people were killed in fierce fighting, hospital sources said, as separatists took over the government headquarters. Three civilians were among those killed.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council had planned a rally for Sunday to demand that the country's internationally recognised president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, sack his cabinet. Mr Hadi has called for an immediate ceasefire in Aden.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemen-president-orders-immediate-ceasefire-in-aden-1.699443

(** A P)

Deadly clashes split ranks of Gulf allies in Yemen war

At least 10 people were killed and more than 80 others were wounded as southern Yemeni separatists fought government troops in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, local medics said, deepening a rift between forces that had been on the same side.

The worst clashes yet between southern separatists, who are allied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and forces loyal to the Saudi-based government risk crippling their once united war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen’s north.

The fighting subsided by the evening after Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr ordered a truce and instructed forces loyal to the government to return to barracks, witnesses said.

The fighting broke out after the expiry of a deadline set last week by separatists from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) for Hadi to dismiss the bin Daghr government, accusing it of corruption and mismanagement. The government denies the charges.

Gunmen were deployed throughout most districts of Aden on Sunday and there was heavy automatic gunfire and explosions in the southern port city, according to Reuters witnesses.

Armed separatists appeared to gain the upper hand by wresting a key military base in Khor Maksar district in northern Aden and several government buildings from soldiers loyal to Hadi, local newspaper Aden al-Ghad reported on its website.

Residents said that hundreds of pro-Southern demonstrators had gathered in a main square.

Hospitals said at least nine fighters and one woman were killed in the fighting. International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which received four of the casualties, said 86 wounded people were brought in.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-clashes/deadly-clashes-split-ranks-of-gulf-allies-in-yemen-war-idUSKBN1FH06M

Comment: The clashes in Aden do directly pit Saudi backed forces against UAE backed forces. Whilst there have been reports of coalition splits for some time, this is the most consistent and widespread report and also it seems like one of the most serious

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156334975098641

(** A P)

UAE-backed separatists launch 'coup' in southern Yemen

Murad Abdu, a youth activist in southern Yemen, told Al Jazeera the deployment of Hadi's presidential guard sparked the fierce confrontation with the STC's armed forces.

Heavy gunfire reverberated throughout much of the city with pitched street battles in Aden's Khormaksar, al-Mansoura, and Dar Sad districts, Abdu said.

The streets were empty of traffic with schools, government offices, and most shops closed.

Hani bin Braik, vice president of the STC, blamed Hadi's government for the fighting in aTwitter post.

"They forced us to put on our military uniforms, although we told them we were non-violent. But we were ready," he said.

Responding the announcement, Zaid al-Jamal, secretary of STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi, vowed the "uprising" would continue until Hadi's government was "toppled".

"We have announced a new programme of popular uprising that will start tomorrow. People have already started flooding into al-Orouth Square and will not leave until the government is overthrown."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/separatists-government-headquarters-aden-180128073439998.html

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Yemeni forces clash with separatists in Aden, 8 killed

An Associated Press journalist heard heavy gunfire in the Khor Maksar district, while thick black smoke rose in the sky after an airstrike. The fighting spread to other districts, including areas near the presidential palace.

Witnesses said residents were fleeing the area. Schools and universities were shut down and students were told to stay home. A medical official said at least eight people were killed and 20 soldiers were wounded. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

Airport authorities ordered the evacuation of all planes, fearing that could be damaged in the fighting. State-run Yemenia cancelled all flights to and from Aden.

“We won’t allow a repeat of the painful past in Aden and we will not allow disturbances,” Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghar warned on his Twitter. “The government won’t be the reason behind it.”

Later in the day, bin Daghar addressed the coalition, saying, “the allies should not accept the liquidation of the legitimacy which hosted the coalition in the fight against Houthis.”

https://apnews.com/c5a65045176c4f27a1b062ea443d7cea

(* A P)

Deadly Clashes In Aden Split Ranks Of Gulf Allies In Yemen War

A top military adviser to President Hadi, Mohammed Ali al-Miqdashi, said any move toward rebellion would render the southerners an enemy.

"There is no difference between the Houthis and anyone else who rebels against the legitimate government, no matter who they are - left, right, south, east," said Miqdashi, speaking at a remote military base near the central Yemeni city of Marib, late on Saturday.

A senior southern political source accused the government of pushing the dispute toward an armed showdown.

"The Hadi government was nervous about any demonstration by the people, so they tried to stop it by force thinking that if there were a battle, the coalition would intervene and save them," the source said.

https://en.radiofarda.com/a/yemen-aden-clashes-between-saudi-emirates-proxies/29003044.html

(** A P)

Fighting erupts in Yemen's Aden, several people killed

The fighting erupted after strict decisions issued by the government to ban peaceful demonstrations organized by the STC in Aden province.

A resident in Aden said that forces of the Presidential Guard unit deployed in Aden and opened fire against the anti-government protesters, injuring more than 15 people.

In response, the armed forces of the STC deployed on the streets and tried to protect the protesters, sparking fierce armed confrontations with government soldiers in Aden's district of KhorMaksar.

Witnesses near the scene confirmed to Xinhua that the "army bases of the government were seized by the STC soldiers following hours of clashes."

Explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard ranging out across Aden's main streets, according to a Xinhua reporter in the city.

Apaches of the Saudi-led coalition hovered over Aden's airspace but no strikes were launched.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/28/c_136931292.htm

(* A P)

Yemen Separatists Capture Seat of Government in Aden

Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized the government headquarters in Aden on Sunday after deadly clashes with presidential guards, STC military sources said.

STC forces also broke into the camp of the 3rd Brigade of the Presidential Guards in the city, the sources added on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Pro-government military sources, however, said the camp was still controlled by the 3rd Brigade.

https://www.albawaba.com/news/yemen-separatists-capture-seat-government-aden-1080852

(** A P)

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher on Sunday accused southern separatists of attempting a coup after fighting erupted in the country’s interim capital of Aden, leaving at least 15 dead, including three civilians.

"A coup is ongoing here in Aden against legitimacy and the country's unity," Dagher said in a statement.

The fierce fighting erupted on Sunday between military units loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and security forces backing southern secessionists.

The separatists took control over the government headquarters in Aden, a port city that now serves as an interim capital.

Dagher said that events in Aden were headed towards "total military confrontation" and urged members of the Saudi-led coalition, in particular the UAE, to take action.

“They are moving militarily, setting up new military checkpoints and attacking camps of the [government] ....,” Ahmed bin Dagher wrote in a message on his Facebook page, referring to southern fighters under the separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC.

“This is a serious matter and the coalition and Arabs as a whole must move to save the situation. The matter is in their hands and the hope, as we see it in the government, is on the [United Arab] Emirates,” he said.

At least 15 people were killed in the fighting, hospital sources said. Three civilians were among those killed.

Medical sources told Reuters that at least 10 Yemeni fighters were killed and 30 were wounded.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180128-yemen-pm-dagher-accuses-separatists-staging-coup-taking-over-government-hq-aden

(** A P)

Yemen PM accuses separatists of coup attempt after HQ takeover

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher on Sunday accused southern separatists of attempting a coup in the interim capital of Aden after they took over the government headquarters.

The premier called on the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels to intervene, hours after fierce clashes erupted between military units loyal to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and separatist security forces.

At least six people, including four from pro-government forces, were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes that spread to most of Aden, security sources said.

"A coup is ongoing here in Aden against legitimacy and the country's unity," Dagher said in the statement.

Security sources told AFP that pro-separatist units trained and backed by the United Arab Emirates had taken over the government headquarters in Aden after clashes.

The clashes erupted after separatist protestors were prevented from entering Aden where supporters of secessionists were gathering for a rally to demand the ouster of Dagher's government.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5321697/Yemen-PM-accuses-separatists-coup-attempt-HQ-takeover.html

(** A P)

Several killed in clashes in Yemen's southern city Aden

Several people were killed and injured as armed groups fought each other in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, medical staff at hospitals in the city said.

Gunmen were deployed throughout most districts of the city and there was heavy gunfire, according to reports from residents.

There have been rising tensions between southern separatists, who are allied with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi over control of the southern half of the country.

The two groups had been united throughout Yemen’s three-year civil war against the Iran-aligned Houthi group in the north, but now their feud could cripple the effort by their Gulf Arab backers to roll back perceived Iranian expansion in Yemen.

The clashes in Aden come as a deadline imposed by the separatists for the government to resign expired on Sunday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-clashes/several-killed-in-clashes-in-yemens-southern-city-aden-idUSKBN1FH06M and also https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/aden-clashes-several-killed-as-hadi-troops-fight-local-security-forces-and-separatists-1.699443

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Fierce Aden clashes split Saudi 'coalition' in Yemen

Several people are killed as mercenaries allied to Saudi Arabia fiercely fight pitched battles with separatists backed by the UAE in Yemen's southern city of Aden, deepening a rift between the two sides.

The worst clashes yet between the southern separatists and forces loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi exposed fresh punctures in Saudi Arabia's relentless military campaign against the impoverished nation.

The port city has now turned into a scene where Saudi Arabia and the UAE, members of a Riyadh-led coalition that is waging a war on Yemen, are competing for influence.

The crisis has further deepened in Aden amid recent calls for the secession of South Yemen and bomb attacks by terrorists.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/28/550454/Yemen-Aden-Saudi-Arabia-Mansur-Hadi

(** A P)

Separatists clash with government forces in Yemen's Aden

Yemeni government forces clashed with separatists in the southern port city of Aden on Sunday.

An Associated Press journalist heard heavy gunfire in the Khor Maksar district, while thick black smoke rose in the sky after an airstrike.

Witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisal, said residents were fleeing the area. Schools and universities were shut down and students were told to stay home.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's forces, which have been at war with Shiite rebels known as Houthis since March 2015, deployed across the city to prevent protests by southerners who want to bring down his government and separate from the Houthi-dominated north.

The protests are being led by Aidarous al-Zubaidi, a former Aden governor backed by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition allied with Hadi's government, but has had tense relations with the president.

The UAE has trained and armed forces, known as the Security Belt, who do not answer to Hadi's government.

On Saturday, the coalition issued a statement calling for "self-restraint" and described the protests as "popular demands to fix government flaws."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/separatists-clash-government-forces-yemens-aden-52660493 = https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/separatists-clash-with-government-forces-in-yemen-s-aden-1.508827

(* A P)

Film: Heading the call of the Southern Transitional Council... This is what it looked like today as southerners arrived in Aden

https://twitter.com/saharyafa/status/957369924263055360

Film: The masses continued arriving into Aden throughout the night... This is #SouthYemen, this is the Southern Transitional Council.

https://twitter.com/saharyafa/status/957372172535779328

(A P)

Photo: From Aden city, the 'temporary #Yemen capital' (whatever that means).

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957018698618953729

Remark: This is Hadi’s prime minister Bin Daghr.

(** A P)

Aden on edge as government bans protest ahead of separatist rally

Southern Transitional Council is demanding the sacking of Yemen's prime minister

Yemen's temporary capital of Aden was tense on Saturday as the government banned public gatherings ahead of rally by supporters of a southern separatist movement.

Thousands of people had already arrived in the southern port city ahead of the Sunday deadline given by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to sack his cabinet.

The council accuses prime minister Ahmed Bin Dagher and his ministers of corruption and mismanagement and had given Mr Hadi one week to dismiss him.

The interior ministry said on Saturday that it was banning "any gatherings, sit-ins or marches" in Aden and that these would be considered "acts that target stability and calm".

All armed groups were also banned from entering the city, the ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency.

Mr Bin Dagher met on Saturday with senior commanders of the Saudi-led military coalition supporting Mr Hadi, the prime minister's office said.

"The meeting expressed its utter opposition to any call for chaos, violence or vandalism in the interim capital, Aden," it said.

However, an STC official said the planned rally in Khour Maksar district would go ahead.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/aden-on-edge-as-government-bans-protest-ahead-of-separatist-rally-1.699347

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Interior Ministry bans assemblies and protests in Aden

The Interior Ministry in Aden has issued a statement that bans assemblies and protest rallies in Aden after the southern separatist movement led by the previously fired governor of Aden Aideroos Azabidi continues to threaten it will overthrow President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government.

"Out of its interest to dissipate the opportunity from the enemies of security who want to deflect the Yemenis' battle focused against Iran's stooges, the Ministry has decided to ban any rallies or protests in the temporary capital Aden," said the statement issued on Friday.

The statement said such rallies would be considered acts that target "peace and stability."

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14990

The conflict between the Southern separatists and president Hadi’s government of prime Minister Bin Daghr is heating up:

(A P)

Severe Conflicts among Ben Doghr and Several Northern Ministers and Southern Ministers Threaten to Split and Join the Transitional Council

Close sources to Ben Doghr’s government indicated that severe conflicts occurred between Prime Minister Ahmed Ben Doghr and several northern ministers inside Maasheek Palace, the government’s residence, because of their fear of southern people’s anger. In addition, sources asserted that several southern ministers threatened Ben Doghr to split and join the southern transitional council.

http://en.smanews.org/severe-conflicts-among-ben-doghr-and-several-northern-ministers-and-southern-ministers-threaten-to-split-and-join-the-transitional-council

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Minister of Interior Affairs Threats to use Violence While Tens of Thousands Mobilize to Adan

Minister of interior affairs in the corrupt government threatened southern peaceful demonstrators to use violence in response to their peaceful demonstrations. Southern activists called for urgent interference of the Arab Ally to prevent the government from acting violently against peaceful demonstrators who are claiming their rights, asserting at the same time that nothing will prevent the southern people from mobilizing to Adan and claiming his rights. On the other hand, tens of thousands of southern citizens started mobilization to Adan in response to calls of the southern resistance to participate in the demonstrations aiming to overthrow the corrupt government.

http://en.smanews.org/minister-of-interior-affairs-threats-to-use-violence-while-tens-of-thousands-mobilize-to-adan

(* A P)

Tomorrow marks the end of the one week deadline that the "Southern Resistance Forces" gave Hadi to sack PM bin Daghir. As expected, Bin Daghir doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

Unclear how the SRF, STC and other associated forces will respond to the passing of the deadline. For their part, key Hadi allies--most notably, Minister of Interior Ahmed al-Maisari--have signaled preparedness to respond to any further potential (or perceived) provocations.

https://twitter.com/adammbaron/status/957253433794486272 and longer thread

(** A P)

Yemen government bans protests in Aden ahead of separatist deadline

Yemen’s internationally-recognized government said on Saturday it had banned public gatherings in Aden ahead of a deadline given by southern separatists to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to dismiss the cabinet.

The Southern Transitional Council, comprising senior political figures allied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced last Sunday it planned to oust the government of Ahmed bin Daghr over allegations of corruption and mismanagement if Hadi did not dismiss it within a week.

The new crisis could jeopardize a rare opportunity offered by the death of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh last month that had given a Saudi-led coalition the chance to isolate Iran-aligned Houthi fighters and end a devastating war that began in 2015.

In a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said it had ”decided to ban any gatherings, sit-ins or marches in the interim capital, Aden.

“These actions will be considered acts that target stability and calm,” the statement said, adding that all armed groups will also be banned from entering Aden.

Residents said they had not seen any extra security in Aden, where armed forces loyal to Hadi’s government, the Southern Transitional Council and the Saudi-led coalition are all present.

But witnesses said government forces were deployed on roads leading to the presidential palace in the Maasheeq area, where the government is based.

Witnesses also said that thousands of people had arrived in Aden from across the former South Yemen

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-southerners/yemen-government-bans-protests-in-aden-ahead-of-separatist-deadline-idUSKBN1FG0FU

My comment: As the separatists had called for a great rally at Aden (see articles below), violent clashes might occur.

(* A P)

[Photos of Southerners coming to Aden for rally]

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957288083472437248

(** B P)

South Yemen: The Anti-Hadi Takeover

The Aden-based “Southern Transitional Council’s” (STC) armed wing of the “Southern Resistance Forces” (SRF) issued an ultimatum to Yemeni President Hadi to change his government or risk being overthrown.

The Council has been struggling to restore the Cold War-era state of South Yemen's independence, which was lost after the country merged with North Yemen in 1990 in what some Southerners say became a grotesquely unfair relationship with its other half.

The resultant destruction in the former lands of what was once called North Yemen and the stalemate between Houthi and coalition forces there convinced some Southerners that they could more easily pursue their independence dreams now that their rival half of the country has been turned into a de-facto failed state. Furthermore, the country's internationally recognized government is based in the former South Yemeni capital of Aden, thus giving its people leverage in determining their future relationship to the nominally unified state. It's with this in mind that the Resistance Forces told President Hadi that he has until next week to sack his Prime Minister and the cabinet or face a de-facto coup. The Southerners clearly want to flex their political muscles, and they reportedly have a foreign patron behind them too, the UAE.

Andrew speaks with Summer Ahmed, South Yemeni activist and US-based representative of the Southern Transitional Council and Prof. Dr. Bischara Ali Egal, Chief Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Center for Strategic and International Studies (Audio)

https://sputniknews.com/radio_trendstorm/201801271061096353-south-yemen-the-anti-hadi-takeover/

(** B P)

Tensions simmer between Yemen's government and southern secessionists

Though the government declaration of the 2018 budget has revived hope among many in Yemen, there lurk serious challenges ahead. These challenges could yet blow up and trigger fresh chaos in Aden.
On Sunday, leading southern separatists gave Riyadh-based President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi one week to dismiss the Bin Dagher's government. Otherwise, they warned, they would "take matters into their own hands" and overthrow the prime minister.

In a meeting spearheaded by Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, the head of the Southern Transitional Council, the anti-government southerners accused the administration of rampant corruption and the intentional starving of the people.

The Southern Resistance Forces declare a state of emergency in Aden and announce that it has begun the process of overthrowing the legitimate government and replacing it with a cabinet of technocrats," read a statement."

This indicates the simmering tension and widening rift between the two sides. Since last year, the southern secessionists have been openly defying and occasionally clashing with the Saudi-backed government in Aden. Nowadays, the tension has mounted to a worrying level that could jeopardise peace in the south.

Political observers have warned against any escalation in Aden - since this could open a window to violence among the southerners themselves. The confrontation would be bloody, considering each of the two sides have been maintaining thousands of loyal soldiers in Aden. While the city currently enjoys some peace and services, it could turn into ruins if the two sides, the southern forces and government forces, opt for military action to subdue one another.

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2018/1/25/tensions-simmer-between-yemens-government-and-southern-secessionists

My comment: There is pro-hadi propaganda in this article. Any hope in Yemen because of the Hadi government’s 2018 budget?? LOL.

And this Iranian media stresses the rivalry of the supporting Arab forces as background of this conflict:

(* B P)

UAE, S. Arabia Intensify Power Struggle in Southern Yemen

Conflicts between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi will intensify in the next few weeks as the UAE is determined to speed up implementation of its strategy to take control of Southern Yemen with all its islands and ports, media reports said on Saturday.

Yemen's state-run news agency reported that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are each trying win a larger share in Yemen and kick the other outside its zone, although the two are partners in the coalition. While Riyadh is seeking to establish control over Northern Yemen to Sana'a, Abu Dhabi supports the militants supported by the coalition in the Southern provinces.

The UAE is attacking the government of fugitive president Mansour Hadi which is supported by Saudi Arabia and wants to empower Ahmed Ali Saleh, the son of the former Yemeni president.

Most analysts and observers believe that conflicts between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi will intensify in the next few weeks, the Yemeni news agency underlined.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961107001455

(* A P)

STC (Southern Transitional Council) is organizing a peaceful protest and possibly a sit-in around Ma’asheeq where the PM and cabinet reside in Aden. They’re asking all southerners to participate promising armed protection by pro-UAE Security Belt forces.

https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/956611383491219456

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After a Meeting of Southern Academics, Trade Unions, Teachers, Students and Youth, A Call for Mobilization to Al-Oroud Square – Adan and A Comprehensive Civil Disobedience

ith the time line, given by the southern resistance forces to president Hady to dismiss Ben Doghr’s government, approaching its end, a meeting was held in Adan on Thursday January 25th, 2018 where southern academics, trades unions, teachers, students and youth discussed the deteriorating conditions of the political, economic and social aspects of life in the south. In response to calls of the southern resistance forces to dismiss the corrupt government of Ahmed Ben Doghr, the meeting decided to call the southern people all over the south for mobilizing in Al-Oroud (liberation) Square – Khour Maxar – Adan next Sunday January 28th, 2018 A. D. – Jumada First 12th, 1439 H. during the marsh, the escalation program will be announced.

http://en.smanews.org/after-a-meeting-of-southern-academics-trade-unions-teachers-students-and-youth-a-call-for-mobilization-to-al-oroud-square-adan-and-a-comprehensive-civil-disobedience

and

(* A P)

Thousands of Southern Citizens Prepare to Mobilize to Adan Next Sunday in Response to the Call for Escalation Released by the Southern Resistance

In response to the calls of southern transitional council and the time line declared by the the southern resistance to dismiss the corrupt government, intensive preparations are underway in all governorates and directorates of the south to mobilize to Adan next Sunday with the end of the announced time line to dismiss Ben Doghr’s government. In Hadhramaut, the mobilization commission held its meeting headed by Anwar Al-Tamimi, vice chairman of the southern transitional council of Hadhramaut and decided to mobilize to Adan on Saturday January 27th, 2018 to participate in million marshes to overthrow Ben Doghr’s government. The southern resistance forces asserted that they will protect all crowds mobilizing to Adan to overthrow this corrupt government.

http://en.smanews.org/thousands-of-southern-citizens-prepare-to-mobilize-to-adan-next-sunday-in-response-to-the-call-for-escalation-released-by-the-southern-resistance

Remark: Southern separatists continue heir pressure against the hadi government and their escalation tactics.

(* A P)

Twenty-one southern Yemeni commanders denied signing a document condemning the Transitional Political Council of the South (STC)’s threat to secede from the internationally recognized government, according to a STC January 23 statement from STC Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al Gaythi. The STC threatened on January 21 to topple the Hadi government in southern Yemen in one week unless President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi dismisses his cabinet and puts its members on trial for crimes against southern Yemen. The STC is an Emirati-backed governing body that seeks autonomy in southern and eastern Yemen.[2]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-january-26-2018 referring to http://alyoum8.net/news/13988

(* A P)

Commander of the Hadi government Presidential Protection Forces Mehran al Qabati stated on January 24 that his forces will respond to provocations by the Southern Resistance Forces aimed at Aden security forces. The Transitional Political Council of the South (STC) created an independent security apparatus, dubbed the Southern Resistance Forces, on January 21 and threatened to topple the Hadi government in one week if internationally recognized President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi fails to dismiss his cabinet. The STC is an Emirati-backed governing body that seeks autonomy in southern and eastern Yemen.[1]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-january-25-2018

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Aden in the spotlight: war-torn port city tries to dust itself off

Amid the carnage of the civil war, Aden is the only major city in Yemen looking open for business - but it still has a long way to go before full recovery

Now Aden must work out how to recover from ruinous damage sustained during the 2015 offensive, in which Al Houthis came within a whisker of seizing the city. Parliament reconvened in Aden last August, and announced the county’s first budget since 2014 earlier this month - a step towards normality. But with an uneasy coalition in place, achieving stable governance remains very difficult, says independent journalist Mohammad Al Qalisi.

“Aden is controlled by many groups: Hadi’s forces, [separatist movement] the Southern Resistance’s forces , the Salafi militias. And the government still faces many other problems, like Al Qaida and Daesh.”

He says the character of this city of 1.7 million people, framed against the smoky backdrop of the extinct Shamsan volcano, has changed.

“It was a liberal city, with a mix of people - northerners, southerners, people of Indian origin. But the war turned everything upside-down. Now freedoms are being reduced, and it’s moved to being close-minded, which is one of the biggest problems the city, and the country, faces.”

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/aden-in-the-spotlight-war-torn-port-city-tries-to-dust-itself-off-1.2160326

My comment: by an Emirati media, mixed with Emirati self-raising propaganda.

(** A B P)

Yemen’s southern separatists’ untimely ultimatum

The southern separatists issued a statement accusing the government of rampant corruption and waging a misinformation campaign against the southern leaders using state funds. It gave President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi a one-week deadline to dissolve the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr.
The Southern Transitional Council was formed in May 2017 and is headed by Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, a former governor of Aden province who was removed from office by Hadi the previous month. Former Minister of State Hani bin Braik, who leads an armed group of a few thousand men responsible for security in the southern provinces, and several provincial governors are also members.
The council’s stated goals are as ambitious and defiant as it gets: To push for independence, manage the southern provinces, and represent them domestically and internationally.
Although the council pledged to work with the Arab coalition against Iranian expansionism in Yemen and the region, and to cooperate with international partners in the fight against terrorism, the GCC was quick to reject the new body and stress its support for Yemen’s unity. Still, the potential significance of the council’s formation, apparently with members representing all southern provinces, did not go underestimated by GCC officials and Al-Zubaidi was quickly invited to Riyadh for talks.

It remains unclear whether the independence movement is representative of the ambitions of all southerners. The destructive conflict and the unrealizable ambitions of the Saleh-Houthi alliance have accelerated Yemen’s fragmentation, but the fault lines are not necessarily defined by the old north-south border.
Other provinces across Yemen, including Marib, Taiz and Hadhramaut, seem to share with southern separatists an aversion to being ruled by the General People’s Congress from Sanaa.

Southern separatist leaders have previously expressed their desire not to rush into independence before they have a grip on resources and institutions. Either they feel that moment has come or, more likely, they are testing the waters and increasing their leverage for future negotiations with the Arab coalition and other concerned parties – by Manuel Almeida

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1232901

My comment: This is the Saudi view of the Southern separatists’ moves.

(** A P)

Yemen’s southern separatists take case to Congress

US policymakers have long been split over how far to support the Saudi-led campaign against Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis.

Now that debate is about to get even more complicated as southern secessionists from the port city of Aden take their grievances against the US-backed government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi straight to Washington. The so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC) hired Grassroots Political Consulting earlier this month for $15,000 a month to “solicit support for the STC and the people of South Yemen to regain their sovereignty and independence,” according to newly filed disclosure forms.

The firm was hired to “provide political and strategic advice to the STC” while also offering to “lobby, provide informational materials, conduct meetings and offer to testify in committee hearings.”

The secessionists’ Washington foray comes as they threatened to overthrow Hadi’s UN-recognized government on Sunday unless he replaces Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher and his cabinet with a government of technocrats. Council leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi charged the Hadi government with “waging a misinformation campaign against the southern leaders using state funds,” and accused it of being beset with “rampant corruption.”

“It’s the lack of education, lack of safety, lack of infrastructure and the corruption that has kept the finances within the government itself and prevented it from being distributed for those absolutely critical elements for the people of South Yemen,” Daniel Faraci, the director of Grassroots Political Consulting, told Al-Monitor.

US policymakers have long been split over how far to support the Saudi-led campaign against Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/01/yemen-congress-hadi-aden-uae-separatists-stc.html

Following several articles by the Southern separatists’ media agency, reporting of how they try to enforce the separation of Southern Yemen by “occupying” president Hadi:

(* A P)

Shatara: Overthrowing the Government is not Overthrowing the Legitimacy and Hady is One of Us

Lofty Shatara, member of the presidency of the southern transitional council, asked president Hady to block the road in front of those who are trying to create a southern/southern conflict. Shatara said that there is still time for the president to ratify the situation and our demands of overthrowing the government don’t mean that we are overthrowing the legitimacy as president Hady was, and still is, one of us. He also indicated that overthrowing the government is a public demand as this government led citizens to stage where they don’t have anything to lose. Shatara also asserted that the southern transitional council will never stand against president Hady.

http://en.smanews.org/shatara-overthrowing-the-government-is-not-overthrowing-the-legitimacy-and-hady-is-one-of-us

(* A P)

Ben Brik Warns the Arab Ally from Ignoring the Demands of the Southern People

Shiekh Hany Ben Brik, vice president of the southern transitional council, through his official account on tweeter, warned the Arab Ally from ignoring the demands of the southern people saying that if the Arab Ally doesn’t support such demands, this will bring disappointment to men on the southern front that may lead to complete lose of trust, adding that this lack of trust may make things very difficult to mobilize those men to fight for the Arab Ally to liberate northern territories. Ben Brik also indicated that the interest of corrupt persons, meaning Ben Doghr’s government, is to attract us to a prolonged war with Al-Houthi militias.

http://en.smanews.org/ben-brik-warns-the-arab-ally-from-ignoring-the-demands-of-the-southern-people

(A P)

Shatara Calls the Arab Ally for Saving the Situation in Adan Before it Gets Out of Control

Lotfy Shatara, member of the Supreme Association of the Southern Transitional Council and Chairman of Media Department, called the Arab Ally to interfere to save the situation in Adan before it gets out of control. This warning came one day after the statement of the southern resistant demanding the dismissal of Ben Doghr’s government and declaring martial law.

http://en.smanews.org/shatara-calls-the-arab-ally-for-saving-the-situation-in-adan-before-it-gets-out-of-control

(A P)

Ben Brik to SAMA News: Now is Zero Hour

http://en.smanews.org/ben-brik-to-sama-news-now-is-zero-hour

(* A P)

Lamlas: We Are Partners and Changing This Government is a National Duty

Ahmed Hamed Lamlas, member of the presidency of the southern transitional council said: “we are still partners with the legitimacy and the Arab Ally in the war against Al-Houthi and the Iranian Project till Sanaa is Arabic again”. In a post on his official account on face book, Lamlas said: “therefore, we should criticize and change the failure in administrative work and services in the liberated southern territories, especially with the failure of the north to advance and exhausting financial resources of the Arab Ally. We are fed up of this absurd and the change of this government is a national duty”.

http://en.smanews.org/lamlas-we-are-partners-and-changing-this-government-is-a-national-duty

My comment: This seems to be the new tactics of southern separatists: They try to persuade (or to force) “president” Hadi to side with them and their goals and their new-borne institutions, and to abandon his government and the goal of a unified Yemen. They want to “get” Hadi as internationally he still is seen as the representative of “legitimacy” in Yemen (although in fact this status ended already Feb. 27, 2015). But this hardly will work. Hadi’s Saudi puppet masters hardly would be interested in that – by supporting such a political solution they would give up any claim that there is any “legitimacy” with them in Northern Yemen.

cp2 Allgemein / General

(* B K P)

Where do Yemeni missiles come from?

How did Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters lay their hands on ballistic missiles? How did the militiamen acquire the know-how to maintain, launch and even upgrade their arsenal?

Ever since the Yemeni forces unveiled their game-changing capability, Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United States, have been furiously pointing their fingers at Iran

But was the answer that simple? Has Iran been able to sneak missile parts into Yemen even though the impoverished country’s important ports and airports are under a strict blockade by Saudi military forces to the point that aid shipments and even medical crew sent to the country seldom get the chance to actually enter the country and help soothe the humanitarian crisis that is in full swing there?

Pyongyang has been always interested in striking ties with South Yemen for its communist past, where it was ruled by the Marxist party, the National Liberation Front, and its successor, Yemeni Socialist Party.

North Korea even backed an ill-fated secession bid by South Yemen in 1994.

In 2015, a South Korean intelligence official claimed that Pyongyang had provided Yemeni forces with no less than 20 Scud missiles.

The allegation was later on confirmed by a former North Korean security official, who told the South Korean news outlet Yonhap that Pyongyang had even sent engineers to help Saleh’s government with the technical part.

Yemen has so far unveiled two variants of its new Borkan family of missiles that are thought to be upgraded Scuds.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/28/550512/Yemen-missile-Houthi-Ansarullah-Iran-North-Korea-Scud-Borkan

(B H K)

Die UNO und der Jemen-Konflikt

Cholera, Hungersnot, Vertreibung: Immer wieder beklagt Jemen zivile Opfer in dem seit 2011 andauernden Bürgerkrieg. Doch das Flehen der UNO um sofortigen sicheren Zugang für Helfer in dem Land wird seit Jahren ignoriert. Nun haben der UN-Sondergesandte und der Nothilfekoordinator ihre Posten aufgegeben.

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/desillusioniert-die-uno-und-der-jemen-konflikt.799.de.html

Bemerkung: Etwas oberflächlicher Überblicksartikel.

(B K P)

Interactive Yemen map

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(A H P)

Saudi fuel aid arrives in Sana'a

A number of tank trailers carrying fuel, an aid from Saudi Arabia, have arrived in the capital Sana'a, local sources said on Saturday. International organizations in Sana'a will sponsor the distribution of the aid in the Houthi-controlled city.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14991

(* B H K)

Film: The devastating effect of Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen’s infrastructure

https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1771507906478529

(B K P)

Turmoil in Yemen: Implications for Regional security of Middle East

If we go deep into the history one easily identify the causes of division and fault lines of the brewing conflict since the independence of Yemen. It is one of the artificially created states by the colonial powers in order to indirectly rule them by giving legitimacy to tribesmen who have no experience of ruling a country. The incompetence of tribal lords promoted weak and self-serving ruling elite that deepens the roots of conflict in Yemen. In the same manner, a role of external powers cannot be overlooked as they try to take advantage of fragile government to achieve their ulterior motives rather than resolving their domestic issues.

http://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/01/27/turmoil-yemen-implications-regional-security-middle-east/ = http://www.eurasiareview.com/28012018-turmoil-in-yemen-implications-for-regional-security-of-middle-east-analysis/

My comment: I cannot recommend this article, which is stays cursory in many points. There are evident mistakes. Saleh was not Sunni. For Yemen, it is misleading speaking in “Shia” at all. And, a “Shia”-Sunni divide did not play a great role in Yemen’s past. And a Houthi-Mehi war – what should that be??

Comment by Judith Brown: This is total RUBBISH!!! Firstly since independence there has not been a Shafi Sunni and Zaidi Shia split in Yemen - and in fact during the wars of independence the Deposed Yemeni Shia monarchy was supported by SAUDI ARABIA - with its extremist Sunni doctrine. The people of Yemen - Sunni and Shia - who fought for independence included Shia AND Sunni. The Shia and Sunni divide in Yemen was insignificant and indeed the two groups prayed in the same mosques - it was class, wealth and tribal affiliations that divided Yemen. Secondly in 2011 this article states that mostly Shia rose against the government.

Well the people rose against Saleh the president who was himself Shia, the government was a mix of Shia and Sunni members, and those that rose included students and young people of any religion, the two main tribal confederations of Bakils and Hashids who were mostly Shia but with some Sunni members, the Islah political party who are mostly Sunni with some Shia members, the Southern secessionists who were Sunni, the people of Taiz who were mostly Sunni, and the Yemen army split, with the brigades under the command of Sunni Salafist Ali Mohsin opposing the president. This does not sound like a Sunni Shia split to me and indeed it wasn't. The war has caused some religious divide to happen but even here it is not clear.

The Houthis (Zaidi) were at war with the government since 2004 then headed by Saleh (Zaidi) who used members of the Hashid tribe (Zaidi) and the brigades headed by Ali Mohsin (Salafist Sunni) to fight them. In 2027 the Houthis (Zaidi) killed ex president Saleh (Zaidi) because he had decided to side with Saudi Arabia (Sunni).. The UAE backed secessionists (Sunnni) are currently fighting Saudi backed Yemeni troops (Sunni) in Aden. Sunni countries in the Saudi-led coalition fell out with Qatar (Sunni) during the course of the war. In trying to fit the war in Yemen into a religious feud the writer has written an imagined and inaccurate reality. If they want an expert opinion - them why don't they consult an expert.

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156335104128641

(* B K P)

Washington, London ‘Complicit’ in Saudi War Crimes in Yemen: Int’l Lawyer

A senior Canadian human rights attorney denounced Washington and London as “complicit” in the Saudi war crimes in Yemen and said the oil-rich kingdom’s money has provided Riyadh with diplomatic protection in the United Nations Security Council.

“The profit some arms suppliers are making through selling weapons to the Saudis and their allies presents strong opposition to taking action against the Saudis,” Edward Corrigan from Ontario said in an exclusive interview with the Tasnim News Agency.

“The US and British governments are providing diplomatic protection to the Saudis at the UN Security Council as they are making tons of money selling arms to the Saudis and their Allies,” he said.

“The inaction of the US and Britain on the crimes being committed by the Saudis and their allies and their covert and even open support amount to complicity in the Saudis war crimes,” the human rights lawyer noted.

Following is the full text of the interview:

https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2018/01/27/1638663/washington-london-complicit-in-saudi-war-crimes-in-yemen-int-l-lawyer

(* B H K)

Film: Jemen - der vergessene Krieg

Tod durch Bomben, Hunger, Cholera und jetzt auch Diphterie – im Jemen spielt sich zur Zeit eine der größten humanitären Katastrophen der Welt ab. Die Weltöffentlichkeit schaut weg

https://www.zdf.de/kultur/aspekte/jemen-der-vergessene-krieg-104.html

(A P)

Haben Huthi-Rebellen Hilfsorganisationen die Arbeit im Jemen untersagt?

Die Vereinten Nationen schlagen Alarm: Betroffen von dem Verbot durch die aufständischen Huthis sind angeblich 35 internationale Organisationen im Jemen - mitten in einer der schwersten humanitären Krisen der Welt.

Doch nun sickerte in UN-Kreisen die Information durch, Huthi-Rebellen hätten 35 Hilfsorganisationen der UN und anderen Agenturen und Gruppen die Einsätze in den von ihnen kontrollierten Gebieten untersagt.

Auch auf einem Tweet der Botschaft der jemenitischen Regierung in Washington ist eine Liste der betroffenen Hilfsorganisationen aufgeführt, darunter die Weltgesundheitsorganisation, das UN-Kinderhilfswerk und die Entwicklungsgruppe Oxfam. Ein UN-Vertreter, der nicht genannt werden wollte, bestätigte der Nachrichtenagentur AP, dass man in Verhandlungen stehe. Nähere Details berichtete er nicht. Ein Sprecher des von den Huthis betriebenen Gesundheitsministeriums soll die Berichte über ein Verbot dementiert haben.

http://www.dw.com/de/haben-huthi-rebellen-hilfsorganisationen-die-arbeit-im-jemen-untersagt/a-42294787

Mein Kommentar: Sehr zweifelhaft. Diese Hilfsorganisationen berichten z. T.laufend über ihre Arbeit im Jemen, und die Huthi-Regierung streicht ihre positive Beziehungen zu den Hilfsorganisationen heraus – schon um zu zeigen, dass sie ein Ansprechpartner auf internationaler Ebene ist.

(A P)

Yemeni rebels accused of banning UN agencies, aid groups

U.N. sources said Wednesday that Yemen's Houthi rebels have banned over 35 U.N. and international agencies and relief groups from working in the territory under their control, allegations denied by a rebel spokesman.

A ban would make it even harder to respond to what the U.N. says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. sources told The Associated Press that negotiations are underway, without providing further details. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the press.

A leaked document posted on Twitter by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, operated by the government, showed a list of 35 agencies, including the World Health Organization, the U.N. children's agency and Oxfam. The document, purportedly signed by a Houthi-allied deputy health minister, orders officials to "ban them from movement in and to governorates."

"The organizations listed here work in the health sector and haven't passed through the Health Ministry to obtain permission for staff, medicine, and medical supplies to move between governorates and towns. They work unilaterally," the document said.

A spokesman for the Houthi-run Health Ministry denied there was a ban.

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/yemeni-rebels-accused-of-banning-un-agencies-aid-groups-1.508315

My comment: Sounds quite dubious, many of these organizations regularely reort their work in Yemen, and the Houthi government emphasizes its good relations to these organizations.

(B H K)

US maintains support of Saudi-led coalition in Yemen war even as NATO allies stop selling weapons

Germany and Norway have recently announced they would stop selling weapons to countries in the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen.

But the US told Business Insider that it has no intentions of halting weapons sales or support for the coalition.

The war in Yemen has caused mass starvation and been dubbed “the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”

http://www.businessinsider.sg/germany-norway-stop-selling-weapons-to-saudi-led-coalition-2018-1/

(B P)

Thread by Haykal Bafana: When I moved to #Yemen in 2010, I could drive from Hadhramaut to Sanaa, unarmed. Wife & I went shopping in Sanaa, unarmed. No one in Sanaa was armed, at all. Then, 2011 came.

Many of you heap praise and sound loud applause for the Arab Spring, but in front of my eyes, the Arab Spring in Yemen was nothing but a full toilet flush of the entire Yemeni state. Well done.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/957007505284005888

(* B H K )

Audio (25 min): Whither the Yemen Crisis

Ambassador Stephen Seche, former Ambassador to Yemen, currently Executive Vice President of the Arab Gulf States Institute, and Katherine Zimmerman, Research Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), discuss the political and humanitarian crisis in Yemen with host Carol Castiel. The devastating conflict, which started as a domestic fight exacerbated by the fallout from the Arab Spring uprising, has since 2015, morphed into a proxy struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

https://www.voanews.com/a/4204348.html

(* A P)

U.S. seeks to boost case against Iran with U.N. Washington visit

The United States will seek to boost its case for United Nations action against Iran when Security Council envoys visit Washington on Monday to view pieces of weapons that U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley says Tehran gave to Yemen’s Houthi group.

Haley and her 14 council colleagues will also lunch with President Donald Trump, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said Friday.

The Trump administration has for months been lobbying for Iran to be held accountable at the United Nations, while at the same time threatening to quit a 2015 deal among world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program if “disastrous flaws” are not fixed.

The U.N. ambassadors will visit a military hangar at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling near Washington, where Haley, the U.S envoy to the United Nations, last month presented remnants of what the Pentagon said was an Iranian-made ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Nov. 4 at Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, as well as other weapons.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-un/u-s-seeks-to-boost-case-against-iran-with-u-n-washington-visit-idUSKBN1FF2OL

and

diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat that US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on all permanent members of the Security Council to visit Washington on January 29 and hold high-level meetings with US officials.
The sources said that those meetings, which could include one with President Donald Trump, would prove Iran’s role in exporting arms to Yemen, including ballistic missiles to Houthi militias, in addition to Tehran’s role in shaking stability in the Middle East by supporting Lebanon's “Hezbollah.”
The diplomatic sources also spoke about a Russian-Western dispute that took place at a UN closed meeting when Moscow expressed its reservations over some points mentioned in a UN report on Yemen's civil war.
“Haley plans to invite her colleagues to inspect parts and remains of ballistic missiles launched by Houthis on Riyadh and other Saudi cities, and to reveal that those missiles came from Iran,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1155316/exclusive-houthis-muscat-soon-discuss-int%E2%80%99l-proposal

and overview http://alwaght.com/en/News/122678

My comment: More bullshit propaganda to come.

And

(* B P)

Washington Plays Host To UN On Iran – OpEd

Facing dreadful shortages in its stockpile of Iranophobia necessary to scuttle the much-dreaded Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration is now trying a more nuanced game by throwing an indirect jab, through Yemen.

Assuming for a moment that the Houthi rebels have somehow smuggled those US-made components to upgrade their pre-war arsenal of missiles, the question then is what would prevent them to also smuggle Iran-made components, given the state of lucrative arms black market today? Another question is how come the Saudis have not made the similar cry about the Houthi missile that was supposedly intercepted on January 20th?

The likely answer is that the so-called Iran “evidence” is a one-shot deal, somehow procured, and here one cannot rule out the role of sinister copy cats particularly by the ever industrious Israelis, and that the more recent missile has none of the Iranian fingerprints, in which case one must ask why would the Houthis need Iran’s assistance in the first place for their (short-range) missiles when they already have plenty to play around with, loosely stated.

But of course, it is perfectly legitimate to ask the much more pressing question regarding the inhuman, on-going atrocities against a whole population in Yemen perpetrated by the Saudis and their allies, who have managed to trap the UN in one of its most shameful episodes — of imposing a one-way arms embargo on the Houthis while giving green light to the US and British-backed Saudi-led coalition to throw Yemen back to the stone age

Seeking to deflect attention from the Saudi war crimes and US’s own complicity, the Trump administration is now zeroing in on Iran’s conventional missiles in order to, as the saying goes, hit several birds with one stone, that is, on the one hand to cast blame for the Yemen war on Iran and its alleged “proxies” in Yemen and, on the other, to gain leverage in its current bid to introduce fresh restrictions on Iran’s missile program, pegged to the Iran nuclear accord as one of the 4 provisions introduced by the White House in its “fix it or nix it’ frenzy.

the new American tendency to replace the demons of Iranian “hegemony” with this totally disrespectful attitude, disrespectful of Iran’s power and regional clout, is symptomatic of a perpetual misperception denude of balance and objectivity, inviting disaster. – By Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

http://www.eurasiareview.com/29012018-washington-plays-host-to-un-on-iran-oped/

And

(A P)

MP: Trump's attempt to demonize Iran ‘beating the air

A senior Iranian lawmaker says US President Donald Trump's effort to demonize Iran by accusing the Islamic Republic of supplying ballistic missiles to Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah fighters is futile and an example of "beating the air."

"Trump is making desperate efforts to portray a negative image of the Islamic Republic of Iran and I believe these measures are [like] beating the air," Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi told reporters on Sunday.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/28/550475/Alaeddin-Boroujerdi-Ansarullah-missile-Trump-Haley

and

(* A P)

US trying to turn UN against Iran: Analyst

“Nikki Haley is trying to convince the United Nations that Iran is responsible for the rocket that the Houthi Yemenis fired,” Dr. Kevin Barrett, an author and political commentator, told Press TV on Saturday.

“This is supposed to somehow get the UN on board with the Trump administration’s crusade against Iran,” Barrett said, but added, “I don’t think that is going to happen, the world is fed up with Donald Trump, with the Trump administration and indeed with US policy.”

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/28/550460/US-UN-Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Nikki-Haley

and

(* A P)

Top Security Official Dismisses Claims about Iran's Missile Delivery to Yemen as Stupid

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani deplored the allegation raised by Saudi Arabia and its western allies about Iran's missile delivery to Yemen as outrageous and foolish.

"It is impossible to deliver missiles to Yemen which is tightly besieged," Shamkhani said on Thursday.

“Obama and Trump both acted dishonestly in regards with their commitments in the JCPOA,” Shamkhani added.

Shamkhani stressed that when Yemen is so strictly blocked by Saudi Arabia, US, and Israeli regime that no food can be delivered to the war-hit civilians, woman, and children, it is so stupid to say that they are supplied with missiles.

“Missiles are not small things. They have their own size and weight which makes it impossible to carry them with boats. When a country is so tightly blocked in air, sea, and land, it is very stupid to make a claim like that,” he added.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961106000589

(* B P)

After Saleh, Yemen is descending into anarchy

The Houthis are under military pressure and are expected to lose some territory and considerable local popularity due to their harsh rule, but any attempt to oust them from Sanaa or Hodeidah would cause large-scale civilian casualties.
The revival of the peace process has never been more urgent. This will need a national unity government, and the shaping of a federal framework that will maintain national unity while providing space for local aspirations. This will require a high level of statesmanship from national leaders, international political support and huge resources from global sources for immediate relief and the restoration of facilities and infrastructure. Otherwise, the state will collapse into fratricidal war that could endanger stability across the region – by Talmiz Ahmad

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1232306

My comment: This is very sound for a Saudi media!

(* B K)

Yemen’s Houthis control 100 miles of Saudi Arabia’s territory

The Houthi armed group control a large swath of territory inside Saudi Arabia, The New Khalijhas reported, however the kingdom has not mentioned this publically.

“The real story is about a cover-up of Saudi military embarrassment and the imminent risk of wider conflict from which Iran, at little cost to itself, will only profit,” Simon Henderson, Baker Fellow and Director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Programme at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said.

“The Houthis effectively control a strip of Saudi territory several miles deep along the border, from opposite the city of Jizan eastwards to Najran – we are talking about 100 square miles of the kingdom, possibly more,” he added.

“There is some debate whether the land can be described as occupied or not, and occasionally the Saudi military makes forays into it, but essentially it serves as a launching area for Houthi attacks on Saudi military positions and border towns,” Henderson continued.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180126-yemens-houthis-control-100-miles-of-saudi-arabias-territory/

(* B P)

When Saudi and UAE are held accountable for their crimes and are ordered to rebuild #Yemen and pay restitution to every man, woman, & child whom they've killed, maimed, starved, or otherwise harmed, $1.5 billion will be a drop in the bucket.

https://twitter.com/shireen818/status/956653977445240832

(B E P)

I wish everyone at Davos had spent the week before with me in Yemen

Davos is a wonderful forum to bring these issues to the fore, but a trip up Yemen's mountains might benefit some of those here with a greater understanding of the planet beyond the confines of a few blocks in Manhattan.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/25/opinions/everyone-at-davos-should-spend-a-week-in-my-shoes-robertson-opinion/index.html

Comment: Exactly. When the world's richest 1% took 87% of the world's income last year something is seriously wrong.

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156326319403641

(B H K P)

Norwegian Refugee Council: 10 things you should know about the crisis in Yemen

The crisis in Yemen is described as the world's largest humanitarian disaster. Today, Yemen is on the brink of a famine, and in the coming month, thousands are expected to die due to lack of food and medicine.

Here are 10 things you should know about what is happening in Yemen:

https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/january/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-crisis-in-yemen/

(B K P)

Conflict and cover-up: The real story of what is happening in Yemen

As being played in Washington, the Yemen story is one of worsening famine caused at least in part by inaccurate Saudi bombing of pro-Iranian Houthi tribesmen. The real story is about a cover-up of Saudi military embarrassment and the imminent risk of wider conflict from which Iran, at little cost to itself, will only profit – by Simon Henderson

http://thehill.com/opinion/international/370552-conflict-and-cover-up-the-real-story-of-what-is-happening-in-yemen

My comment: This is somewhat US-biased. The headline is promising more than it really is: There certainly is no arms smuggle via Oman as claimed here.

(A P)

Johnson in Saudi Arabia as Quartet on Yemen to Meet in February

The Quartet on Yemen is scheduled to be held in early February, but the meeting’s location has not been set yet, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman told Asharq Al-Awsat.

"We talked about the agreed critical goals in Yemen which are, first and foremost, to sustain the measures that have been taken over the course of the past weeks to expand humanitarian access,” a senior US State Department official said following the meeting.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1154361/johnson-saudi-arabia-quartet-yemen-meet-february

My comment: This “quartett” (US, UK, Saudi, UAE) are close allies and warring parties in the Yemen war, now playing the role of Fighters for peace. A scam.

(* B H K)

Film: International pressure is growing to end the #Yemen war. But governments need to face up to fundamental policy contradictions. Here’s a 1 minute extract from my interview on Al Jazeera this week. Yes of course it’s more complicated, but ultimately it boils down to this.

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/956173640030150656

(A E K)

Seeminen und Bomben: Verbände warnen vor Risiko durch Jemen-Krieg

Die internationale Schifffahrt sorgt sich um die Sicherheit nahe dem Golf von Aden – allerdings nicht wegen Piraten, sondern wegen dem Krieg im Jemen. Große Verbände haben deshalb jetzt neue Empfehlungen herausgegeben. (nur registriert; ansonsten auf English im folgenden Artikel)

https://www.hansa-online.de/2018/01/featured/91976/minen-und-wasser-bomben-grosse-gefahren-durch-jemen-konflikt/

und

(* A E K)

Minengefahr vor dem Jemen

Vor den wachsenden Gefahren einer sogenannten asymmetrischen Kriegsführung gegen Handelsschiffe im Seegebiet vor der Küste des Jemen sowie der Bab al-Mandeb-Meeresstraße warnen die drei Schifffahrtsorganisationen International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Bimco und Intertanko die Reedereien.

Das erhöhte Sicherheitsrisiko für die in diesem Seeraum verkehrenden Schiffe ergibt sich aufgrund des von einem massiven Militäreinsatz begleiteten Bürgerkriegs im Jemen

So bestehe die Gefahr von konkreten Anschlägen durch Seeminen oder auch andere hochexplosive Sprengkörper, die ferngezündet werden.

http://www.thb.info/rubriken/single-view/news/minengefahr-vor-dem-jemen.html

Mein Kommentar: Die Gefahr von bewußten Anschlägen auf Handelsschiffe besteht sicher nicht, natürlich die Gefahr eines “Kollateralschadens” von Kampfhandlungen und Seeminen.

(* A E K)

Ships at Risk from Sea Mines Near Yemen

In response to the threats arising from the conflict in Yemen, BIMCO, ICS and INTERTANKO have published interim guidance on maritime security in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb. Shipowners and operators should be aware of new threats in the area, say the organizations. The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) have advised that a range of threats other than piracy, such as sea mines and water-borne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs), are potential risks in the area.

Missiles

Missiles are long range, accurate and powerful weapons and have been used against military ships in the region. There is no indication that merchant shipping is likely to be deliberately targeted, but there is the risk of misidentification or collateral damage to merchant shipping.

Sea Mines

Sea mines have been used to deter and deny Saudi-led coalition forces access to key ports in Yemen’s southern Red Sea area. Whilst merchant shipping is not the target, sea mines may affect commercial ships using these ports or routeing close to the Yemeni Coastline.

Water-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (WBIED)

An attack involving a WBIED is likely to involve one or more skiffs approaching the merchant ship at high speed firing both small arms and Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs). One or more of the boats may be laden with explosives. On the basis of current understanding it is assessed that merchant shipping is unlikely to be directly targeted by a WBIED, however the risk of collateral damage or misidentification remains.

Attacks

WBIED attacks have been used against Saudi coalition warships and associated assets such as military supply ships in the southern Red Sea

https://maritime-executive.com/article/ships-at-risk-from-sea-mines-near-yemen#gs.zIErevA

My comment: Stating that commercial ships are not a target. The danger is due to naval warfare in the Red Sea.

(* A E K)

Shipping groups issue guidance in response to Yemen conflict

A coalition of shipping industry bodies have published new security recommendations in response to threats to mariners including mines and water-borne improvised explosive devices, linked to the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Intertanko, BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping developed the guidance for ships transiting the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb based on advice from the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Combined Maritime Forces.

The guidance advises merchant ships to review and update risk assessments and plans and to use the Maritime Security Transit Corridor in the region after first registering with EUNAVFOR's regional office and the UK's Maritime Trade Operations authority.

Separate from the “more familiar regional threat of piracy”, the threat of encountering explosives is new, according to the groups, and the “threat patterns and mitigating measures differ”.

http://www.tankershipping.com/news/view,shipping-groups-issue-guidance-in-response-to-yemen-conflict_50567.htm

cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade

(* B H P)

Audio: Yemeni Port May Close, Shutting of Humanitarian Relief for Millions

Aid groups have relied on the Port of Hodeidah to transport urgently needed food and supplies to the people of Yemen. The U.N. World Food Program has described the port as “a humanitarian lifeline for millions who are on the brink of famine,” but last year the port was closed by a military coalition led by the Saudis, and then only re-opened for a limited time after intense international pressure.

Stephen Anderson, country director for the U.N. World Food Program in Yemen, discusses the humanitarian crisis in the country and concerns about the Port of Hodeidah’s possible imminent closure.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/yemeni-port-may-close-shutting-humanitarian-aid-millions/

(* B H P)

The Starvation of Yemen Hasn’t Ended

Despite a modest easing of the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade of Yemen over the last month, the civilian population is still being starved of essential goods.

The coalition blockade was already contributing significantly to the famine and cholera crises in the country before it was tightened in November, and Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe will continue to get worse as long as the coalition impedes the delivery of aid and commercial goods. Short of a full and permanent lifting of the blockade, Yemeni civilians will continue to be cruelly deprived of essential goods and countless lives will be lost to preventable starvation and disease.

So long as the U.S. enables the Saudi-led war on Yemen, the coalition will continue to starve and wreck Yemen. The world’s worst humanitarian crisis isn’t getting any better, and it cannot be ended under current conditions. The Saudis and their allies are still trying to strangle Yemen into submission, and we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that they have relented if they briefly relax their grip – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-starvation-of-yemen-hasnt-ended/

(* A H P)

Norwegian Refugee Council: Saudi aid package to Yemen insufficient unless blockade ends

The recently announced Saudi aid package to Yemen will not solve Yemen's humanitarian needs unless it also allows for unhindered entry of commercial and humanitarian food, fuel and other vital supplies in through all of Yemen's ports, including Hodeida, NRC said today.NRC also called on the coalition to ensure that all aid delivery is in line with long-standing humanitarian principles.

“Increased resources and efforts that will bring more aid to Yemeni civilian are welcome,” Jan Egeland said. “But if the Saudi-led Coalition really wants to relieve the suffering in Yemen, it should completely lift the blockade on commercial imports, including fuel, that is crippling the country.”

Humanitarian aid alone will not meet Yemen’s humanitarian needs, NRC said.

Fuel is particularly important to avoid the spread of hunger and disease. Shortages are driving up fuel prices and reducing the amount of money people have left to cover basic costs: food prices have increased, water prices are up and the cost of public transport has doubled, which mean fewer people can get to work, look for work, send children to school or reach medical treatment.

https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/january/saudi-aid-package-to-yemen-insufficient-unless-blockade-ends/

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B H)

Film: 17 million women, children & men in #Yemen are facing famine. The clock is ticking, their lives are at stake

17 million women, children & men in #Yemen are facing famine. The clock is ticking, their lives are at stake

https://www.facebook.com/StopTheWarOnYemen/videos/vb.319595141544022/805331426303722/?type=2&theater

(B H)

IFRC warns over escalation of humanitarian crisis in Yemen

President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Francesco Rocca has warned against escalation of humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The prevalence of contagious diseases and food shortage have put many Yemenis, especially children, at risk of death, Rocca said Saturday night in Red Crescent national conference held in Rome.
The humanitarian condition in Yemen is very critical. The continued blockade of Yemen has brought about famine and hunger for millions of people in the country. Millions of Yemenis are now infected with cholera, he said.

http://en.abna24.com/news/middle-east/ifrc-warns-over-escalation-of-humanitarian-crisis-in-yemen_879584.html

(* B H)

The Four Famines: The Alarm Bells Are Ringing, But Who Is Listening?

If there were a global siren to signal that a humanitarian crisis has tipped over the threshold to a catastrophic scale, it would be ringing loudly right now. Today, 20.7 million people are starving or at risk of starving in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and northeastern Nigeria.

The media, particularly U.S. domestic outlets, have not given this situation the attention it so desperately warrants. The world is too distracted and distraught over political drama, (un)natural disasters, and protracted conflicts. Understandably so. If we don’t respond urgently, though, 2017 is poised to become the year that the world turned its back on a global food insecurity crisis of historic proportions. We still have time to listen to the sirens.

Q1: Did we know this crisis was coming?

Q2: Is this humanitarian crisis really “unprecedented”? How does it compare to the past?

A2: The United Nations has described the current catastrophe as “the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations.” FEWS NET has warned that “the combined magnitude, severity, and geographic scope of anticipated emergency food assistance needs during 2017 is unprecedented in recent decades.”

Q3: How is famine related to conflict and U.S. national security?

A3: Last month, the UN Security Council issued a Presidential Statement explicitly linking the four looming famines to conflict for the first time, emphasizing that “ongoing conflicts and violence have devastating humanitarian consequences and hinder an effective humanitarian response…and are therefore a major cause of famine.”

Each of the four potential famines is compounded by protracted conflict.

Q4: What is the United States doing to help?

A4: The United States remains a global leader in humanitarian response and is the largest donor in all four countries.

Q5: What are the long-term effects of famine?

https://www.csis.org/analysis/four-famines-alarm-bells-are-ringing-who-listening

Comment: “The United States remains a global leader in humanitarian response”: This is propaganda as the US also is the global leader in fueling wars, destruction and dispair.

(* B H)

Film: Arrival of fresh water – this is how the Yemen disaster is looking like.

https://www.facebook.com/barman999/posts/10156158028819456

(* B H)

Nutritional Screening during Polio NID Campaign, Yemen - 2017

To screen all children 6-59 months of age for malnutrition using Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) across the country in conjunction with the Polio NID and refer the identified malnourished cases for treatment and care.

To generate district wise data on the prevalence of acute malnutrition (MUAC only), and contributing to understanding the possible impact of the outbreak of cholera/AWD on the nutritional status of children.

The campaign implemented by:
- 18,768 mobile team.
- 2,650 fixed teams

The campaign implemented in the period of 23rd Oct – 1st Nov.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/nutritional-screening-during-polio-nid-campaign-yemen-2017

(* B H)

Aktion gegen den Hunger:

Alle 10 Minuten stirbt im Jemen ein Kind

wir können uns nicht aussuchen, wo wir geboren werden. Die Lotterie des Lebens gleicht einem Glücksspiel, bei dem wenige auf der „Gewinnerseite“ und viele auf der „Verliererseite“ stehen.
Die Jungen und Mädchen, die zur Zeit im Jemen zur Welt kommen, könnte es kaum schlechter treffen: Denn alle 10 Minuten stirbt im bitterarmen Jemen ein Kind. Millionen Jungen und Mädchen leiden an starker Unterernährung und viele von ihnen sterben an vermeidbaren Krankheiten. Diese Kinder sind dringend auf unsere Hilfe angewiesen.
Mehr als 1.000 Tage dauert das Leid der Menschen im Jemen nun schon: Gewalt, Flucht, Cholera und Hunger haben das Land in eine humanitäre Katastrophe unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes hinabgleiten lassen.
Unser Team im Jemen kämpft unermüdlich für die Menschen in Not und versorgt Frauen, Männer und Kinder mit Trinkwasser, Lebensmitteln und medizinischer Hilfe. Dabei zählt wirklich jede Sekunde!
Gemeinsam mit Ihnen können wir Leben retten – im Jemen und auf der ganzen Welt.
Ihre Spende macht einen Unterschied! Vielen Dank.

(A H)

Human Needs Development - HND :

GREAT NEWS for our donors in "SAVE A FAMILY IN YEMEN" campaign and Australia!!

We were able to distribute"150" food packs to the most vulnerable families in Dhamar, a Yemeni northern governorate far away from Sanaa with about 250 km.

The families in Dhamar considered to be of the most vulnerable families in the country. They have been facing hunger, malnutrition, lack of clean water and other most life's basic needs. (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/HNDngoYE/posts/958272884324179 = https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1628044887248535

(* B H)

The number of people in need in #Yemen has increased from 18.8M in 2017 to 22.2M in 2018. This is an increase of almost 3.5M people whose lives are being torn apart by #conflict, severe economic decline, collapsing public services, loss of livelihoods and other challenges. (infographic)

https://www.facebook.com/UNOCHAYemen/photos/a.542292342559673.1073741828.541116599343914/1432582163530682/?type=3

(* B H)

UNICEF-Film: „Wir Kinder im Jemen“. Alltag im Bürgerkriegsland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkdrDU1R8mw

(* B H)

KRIEG IM JEMEN: TOD, KRANKHEIT UND KUGELN ENTKOMMEN

Wie lebt man als Kind dort, wo jeden Tag geschossen wird - egal, wohin man auch geht? Wie sollen Mädchen und Jungen gesund bleiben, wenn es keine Nahrung gibt?

Unser UNICEF-Kollege Lachlan aus Neuseeland bloggt über die aktuelle Lage und das unendliche Leid der Kinder im Jemen:

Aufgrund der anhaltenden Konflikte im Jemen und den benachbarten Ländern ist fast jedes einzelne Kind im Land dringend auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen. Der Jemen ist momentan einer der schlimmsten Orte auf der Welt, um ein Kind zu sein.

Mörser und automatische Waffen anstelle von Büchern und Bleistiften – so sieht die bittere Realität in Jemens Klassenzimmern aus. Dutzende Schulen werden derzeit von bewaffneten Gruppen besetzt gehalten. Mehr als 1.500 wurden in diesem Krieg teilweise zerstört, 265 komplett. Und trotzdem ist die kaum vorhandene Bildung für 4,5 Millionen Kinder derzeit noch ihr geringstes Problem. Fünf Kinder werden im Jemen jeden Tag getötet oder verletzt. Insgesamt waren es mehr als 5.000 Kinder seit dem Ausbruch der Gewalt im März 2015. Und es werden täglich mehr.

Etwa 1.800 Kinder wurden bereits als Kindersoldaten missbraucht – die meisten von ihnen sind tot.

Diejenigen, die die Kämpfe bisher überlebt haben, müssen täglich um ihr Überleben kämpfen. Um nicht zu verhungern, sind viele gezwungen, zu betteln oder auf der Straße nach Essbarem zu suchen. Für Kinder wie Ashaq und seine acht Geschwister gehört der Überlebenskamp zum schrecklichen Alltag.

"Wir müssen betteln, um Essen zu bekommen. Ich würde gerne eines Tages nach Saada zurückkehren, wo alles einfacher war.", erzählt der 14-Jährige. Die Geschwister mussten aus ihrer Heimat in Sadaa fliehen und leben jetzt mit vielen anderen Geflohenen in der Khamir-Siedlung. "Unser Leben hier ist schwer und demütigend.", sagt Sadaa.

Schätzungen zufolge sind im Jemen 21 Millionen Menschen auf Hilfe und Schutz angewiesen, elf Millionen davon sind Kinder.

In Trümmern zu spielen ist für Jemens Kinder Alltag – der Besuch einer Schule gehört für viele schon nicht mehr dazu. Jemens Bildungssystem steht kurz vor dem Zusammenbruch: 200.000 Lehrer wurden in den letzten neun Monaten nicht bezahlt.

https://www.unicef.de/informieren/aktuelles/blog/krieg-im-jemen-dem-tod-entkommen/158298

(? B H)

VIDEO. Au Yémen, un enfant meurt toutes les dix minutes, victime de "la pire crise humanitaire du monde"

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/proche-orient/yemen/crise-humanitaire-au-yemen-un-enfant-meurt-toutes-les-dix-minutes_2580540.html

(B H)

Heartbreaking video of an old women fainted from hunger in the street in #Sanaa #Yemen Have you fainted from hunger ? Put your self in her shoes then you will know about our country crisis .

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/956958387052400642

(* B H)

Audio: I Took on My Village Elders to End FGM

From 26:30: Ahmad Algohbary was 22 when the conflict in Yemen started leaving thousands dead and millions starving. He hadn't planned on getting involved, but when his friend was killed in an airstrike Ahmad decided to start saving young children who have been impacted by the conflict.

We spoke to Mokhtar Alkhanshali a few months ago, he comes from a family of coffee farmers from Ibb province in Yemen. As a boy Mokhtar would help pick the coffee cherries in his school holidays. In high school, he was interested in politics, and planned to become a lawyer. That was until he tried his first really decent cup of coffee.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvqpb

(B H)

World Food Programme, Logistics Cluster: Yemen - 2017 Operation Overview, January 2018

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-2017-operation-overview-january-2018

(* A H)

Mercy mission: Oman airlifts injured civilians from Yemen

Two Royal Air Force Oman flights between Muscat and the Yemeni capital Sana'a have airlifted injured Yemeni civilians to safety.
Flights from Muscat to Sana'a returned wounded Yemenis who had been successfully treated in the Sultanate, and later brought civilians injured in the ongoing conflict, according to the government news agency.

http://timesofoman.com/article/126912/Oman/Mercy-mission-Oman-airlifts-injured-civilians-from-Yemen

(B H)

UAE medical team meets needs of Hadramaut hospitals

In line with the continued UAE support for Yemeni people in their untold suffering at the hands of the Iran-backed Houthi militias, a medical team of the Emirates Red Crescent has paid onsite tours of a number of hospitals in Hadramaut to meet their requirements and ensure their readiness to fulfil Yemeni people's needs.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302662615

My comment: Medical help is used for propaganda.

(* B H)

GATHERING THE RAIN IN YEMEN

many humanitarian organisations are working on projects that will provide solutions for Yemen in the long-term, in addition to providing shorter-term humanitarian aid.

One way Tearfund is helping is by supporting the construction of rainwater cisterns in Yemen, which last for up to 10 years. Cisterns are holes dug in the ground and then lined with bricks and cement. They can store rainwater water for communities for months.

Because Yemen is one of the world’s most water-poor countries, communities often are forced to truck water into villages – an expensive and labour-intensive option. Drilling wells is also expensive and depletes underground sources of water, which are already extremely low.

However, collecting and storing rainwater is a local, sustainable method of sourcing water for the community for up to three months – the duration of the dry season.

https://www.tearfund.org/en/2018/01/gathering_the_rain_in_yemen/

(B H K)

Yemen Protection Cluster Key Advocacy Messages (January 2018)

Peace and human rights belong to all people of Yemen

The international community should create space for the people of Yemen, including women, youth and civil society, to demand peace and human rights, and participate in processes toward those ends.

All parties to the conflict should commit openly (through written declaration or legislation) to respecting international humanitarian law, national laws and the human rights of the displaced and conflict-affected people of Yemen.

The Government of Yemen and de facto authorities should facilitate and fully cooperate with the “group of eminent international and regional experts” in their upcoming examination of abuses since September 2014.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-protection-cluster-key-advocacy-messages-january-2018

My comment: “de facto authorities“ means the Houthi government at Sanaa – what a screwed wording!

(B H)

Cash-for-Work Programs Empower Yemenis

The partner provided short term employment opportunities to the most vulnerable and food-insecure households through cash-for-work activities—including rehabilitation of irrigation and water systems, roads, and schools—to mitigate the economic effects of ongoing conflict in the country.

Samira worked on a USAID/OFDA supported project to rehabilitate the road in her village. After receiving her first payment from the program, Samira reported, “I paid all my debts at the shop and was able to help my daughter

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/cash-work-programs-empower-yemenis

(* B H K)

Film: Yemeni parents are living out a nightmare.

https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/956321345272348673

(B H)

Rehabilitation of this school in Ibb #Yemen where the community contributed 65% of the cash & @SFDYemen the remaining. In #Taiz Al Azeziya district, village cooperative funds are paying for the operation of 9 schools. We need to scale up community development. (photos)

https://twitter.com/Wesamqaid/status/953316420145774592

(B H)

Over the next 3 months 600 fishers in #Yemen will be supported by @SMEPSYEMEN @UNDPYEMEN to regain livelihoods with grants to repair boats and buy new engines. Each boat back at sea creates 4 jobs. (photo)

https://twitter.com/Wesamqaid/status/955517035550822405

(* A H)

Omani man set for fourth relief trip to Yemen

Nasr Al Jadhamy’s fourth trip to Yemen is intended to alleviate the suffering of people caught in the civil war that is currently raging across Oman’s south-western neighbour.
Al Jadhamy will be leading a convoy of five trucks to Yemen at the end of January, having previously visited the country during Ramadan and immediately after Eid in 2017, after his first trip to the war-torn country early last year.
In addition to his usual haul of food and clothing, Al Jadhamy has also managed to secure an ambulance, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and medicines for those who have little left in Yemen.
“The last time I was in Yemen, we stopped at the hospitals to see what the situation was and what they required,” recalled Al Jadhamy. “When we got back to Muscat, we looked for people who could help us, but it was all in vain. Fortunately, out of nowhere, an Omani family approached us and offered to help get the equipment for the hospitals.

“As I had no experience in such matters, they agreed to gather the goods on their own and then hand them to me to deliver,” he added.

http://timesofoman.com/article/126872/Oman/Omanis-trip-to-Yemen-aimed-at-alleviating-the-sufferings-of-people

My comment: A hero of our time.

(* A H P)

Cranes Go Beyond Construction

To accelerate the offloading of critical supplies in Yemen, USAID has taken the extraordinary step of supporting our partner the UN World Food Program to purchase four mobile cranes. Facilitating their “migration” over 1,850 miles of land and sea turned out to be a major operation.

Our logistics expert Gurmeet Philora was on the ground and gives us a unique, behind-the-scenes look.

Q: USAID is not in the habit of providing cranes for humanitarian responses. Why provide them this time?

USAID and our partners ship a lot of life-saving supplies to Yemen, and these cranes will help us unload cargo much, much faster. Right now, it takes around a week to unload a large cargo ship. The cranes will cut that down by three or four days because each crane can move up to 60 metric tons at once. Also, these four cranes could increase the capacity of the port by up to 40 percent -- which means 40 percent more food, medicine, and other relief supplies for people in need.

The cranes are mounted on a truck, so they are mobile, and that’s a good thing because it allows for maximum flexibility. Once a crane is driven over to a ship that needs unloading, the crane is raised up on jacks for stability and the crane arm can be extended out -- it can go as high as a 14-story building.

https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2018/01/24/en/cranes-go-beyond-construction = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/cranes-go-beyond-construction

My comment: The US make great propaganda screams about these cranes financed by them – valuing might-be 0,01 % of the sum the US made by selling arms to Saudi Arabia and its allies.

(* A H)

KSA: ICRC oversees repatriation of 27 Yemeni minors

Upon a request from Saudi authorities and the Arab Coalition, an ICRC team oversaw and helped in the repatriation of 27 Yemeni children aged between 8 and 17, as part of the ICRC’s neutral humanitarian intermediary role.

The ICRC team of four delegates, including a medical doctor, met with representatives of the Arab Coalition who briefed them on the release operation of the children. The team were also provided with all of the necessary information before the release operation began.

The ICRC team then travelled to Sharoura, accompanied by colleagues from the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, where the ICRC team was able to register and have private interviews with the children according to the ICRC standard working methods. The children were then handed over to the Yemeni authorities who will then proceed with their reunification with their respective families.

https://www.icrc.org/en/document/repatriation-of-27-yemeni-minors and by Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-children/arab-coalition-hands-over-27-child-soldiers-to-yemen-government-statement-idUSKBN1FE2UT

and

(* A K H P)

Child soldiers transferred to Yemeni forces for rehabilitation

Dozens of children enlisted by Iran-backed Houthi militias have been transferred to Yemeni forces to be rehabilitated through Saudi-funded programmes.

The rebels recruited and deployed the youths on the northern front, where 27 were captured by Saudi forces last week.

The handover was carried out by the International Red Cross and the Saudi Red Crescent authorities in Marib province, Saba Net reported

The Houthis began storming public schools in rebel-held areas earlier this month to recruit pupils as fighters, some through kidnapping.

Pro-government forces captured 50 soldiers on January 8, and found 30 were underage, some as young as 10 years old.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/child-soldiers-transferred-to-yemeni-forces-for-rehabilitation-1.698624

Remark: This by Emirati media, and Saudi Press Agency: http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1713423

And photos: https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/956876526112395265

Comment: Child soldiers are a terrible problem - as are child marriages - but with no jobs except in the military, and schools damaged and destroyed by the war, and teachers salaries not being paid, it is an inevitability that children will want to join the fighting, in order to earn and importantly to eat.

https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156326297593641

(* B H)

The plight of being pregnant in today’s Yemen

When Amna, a 30 year old woman from Sanaa, Yemen, gave birth to her second child, the baby was born with severe disabilities and died immediately.

“Throughout my pregnancy I had only bread and water. My husband had lost his job and we could only afford very little food to feed the family. I was malnourished and lacked vitamins and folic acid for a healthy pregnancy”, Amna told UNFPA.

UNFPA and humanitarian partners are working to ensure that women of childbearing age receive reproductive health services through mobile clinics that have been integrated with nutritional services across the country.

However, a number of challenges are making it difficult to reach those in need, particularly as tensions between Houthi rebels and the General People’s Congress escalated dramatically in early December 2017.

http://arabstates.unfpa.org/en/news/plight-being-pregnant-todays-yemen

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

Eingebetteter Medieninhalt

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B H)

Yémen : "Avant la guerre, nous étions heureux", aujourd'hui "nous survivons"

Les déplacés vivent donc comme ils peuvent. A l’ouest de d’Aden, plusieurs familles se sont installées à l’intérieur d’une école. "On a fui les raids aérien, les bombes, les roquettes, on vivait dans la peur", témoigne Saïd, arrivé avec ses quatre enfants il y a 15 jours.

Ces déplacés sont originaires de la région d’Hodeidah

Dans cette école, les conditions de vie sont sommaires, des couvertures posées sur le sol et des sanitaires fermés. Badrié porte dans ses bras un enfant de neuf mois. "C’est dur, nous survivons ici, nous dit-elle. On n’a rien à offrir à nos enfants. Il n’y a pas d’électricité, pas d’eau, pas de lait, pas de couches… Toutes nos réserves sont épuisées." Ces familles vont devoir quitter cette école et bientôt grossir les rangs de ces déplacés sans abri qui vivent dans une extrême précarité (with audio)

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/proche-orient/yemen/yemen-avant-la-guerre-nous-etions-heureux-maintenant-nous-survivons_2583410.html

(B H)

UNO: Humanitäre Hilfe für Jemen

Die UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe hat auf die dramatische Lage der Menschen im Jemen hingewiesen. „Der Jemen braucht dringend eine rasche politische Lösung. Bis diese erreicht ist, benötigt das Land verstärkt humanitäre Hilfe“, fordert Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer, Geschäftsführer der UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe. Drei Millionen Menschen seien geflüchtet, und rund elf Millionen Jemeniten befinden sich den Angaben zufolge in akuter Lebensgefahr. Die Lebensgrundlage der Menschen ist demnach durch anhaltende Gewalt, den Ausbruch der Cholera und eine Hungersnot zerstört worden. Die Folge seien Fluchtbewegungen ohne Aussicht auf Rückkehr.

http://www.die-tagespost.de/politik/pl/UNO-Humanitaere-Hilfe-fuer-Jemen;art315,185377

(B H)

UN High Commissioner for Refugees,

Yemen: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Planned Activities for February 2018 onward

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-shelternficccm-cluster-planned-activities-february-2018-onward

Yemen: IDPs Hosting Sites (as of January 2018)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-idps-hosting-sites-january-2018

Yemen: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Dashboard for December 2017

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-shelternficccm-cluster-dashboard-december-2017

Yemen: Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster 3Ws for activities implemented in December 2017

https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-shelternficccm-cluster-3ws-activities-implemented-december-2017

(B H)

U.S. Food Assistance Renews Optimism for Refugees in Djibouti: Food and cash-based assistance improves nutrition, income

In 2017, WFP reached more than 50,000 people in Djibouti, including 19,000 refugees like Abdi and Aden, with critical food and nutrition assistance. WFP activities also provide children under 5 years old and pregnant and lactating women with specialized nutritious foods for the treatment and prevention of acute malnutrition.

https://reliefweb.int/report/djibouti/us-food-assistance-renews-optimism-refugees-djibouti-food-and-cash-based-assistance

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

Siehe / Look at cp 1

(A P)

Yemen House of Representatives Resumed today sessions of 2018. The House is doing its monitoring and legislative role (photos)

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957293403057938433

My comment: For doing this, the quarum must be reached. How many MPs were present?

(A T)

Dr. Raji Ahmed Hamiduddin, president of Iqra University, was assassinated on Saturday in al-Kahera street. (photo)

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.963391330380564.1073741829.961126490607048/1629216893798001/?type=3

and

Ansarullah (Houthi) figure and university professor, Raji Hamid Addin, assassinated in #Sanaa #Yemen by a gunman on a motorbike. (photo)

https://twitter.com/Anas_Shahari/status/957258649528922114

(A K P)

[New Houthi fighters; films, photos]

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957125137610039296

https://twitter.com/Abu_IbrahimA/status/956958677084360706

https://twitter.com/Al_ameer__M_A_/status/956588175975104513

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957123345606168576

(A K PH)

Ansarullah Vows to Use New Missile to Change Equations in Yemen War

A senior Ansarullah official announced on Saturday that the movement will unveil a newly-developed missile in the near future to change the scene of the battle in favor of Yemen in the war against the Saudi aggressors.

"The missile will most likely change the military trend of the war," Abdolquds al-Shahari, a media official of Ansarullah, was quoted by the Russian Sputnik news agency as saying today.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13961107001720

(* A P)

Todesurteil für Bahá'í im Jemen

Im Iran werden Bahá'í seit mehr als hundert Jahren verfolgt. Jetzt ist offenbar auch im Jemen die Jagd auf die religiöse Minderheit eröffnet: Hamed bin Haydara wurde dort vor einem Sondergericht zum Tode verurteilt. Menschenrechts-Organisationen und die Bahá'í-Gemeinde selbst sind entsetzt.

"Der Richter vor diesem Gericht hat auch eine öffentliche Hinrichtung angeordnet. Allerdings ist der Zeitpunkt der Hinrichtung nicht festgelegt worden. Dieses Urteil wirft natürlich die Frage nach der Zukunft der ganzen jemenitischen Bahá'í-Gemeinde auf. Wir reden hier von einigen Tausend. Die große Sorge ist, dass diejenigen, die derzeit in Haft sind - es sind also sechs weitere Bahá'í noch in Haft und die Gemeinde insgesamt ist einem sehr großen Druck ausgesetzt - und die Sorge ist, was ist die Zukunft dieser Bahá'í?"

Denn im Jemen sind fortan alle demokratisch gewählten Bahá'í-Institutionen verboten.

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/religioese-minderheit-todesurteil-fuer-baha-i-im-jemen.886.de.html?

(A P)

Photo: In Houthiland kids dream to be fighters. They dream to kill and be killed to please Abdulmalik Al-Houthi.

https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/956536498433773569

(A P)

Yemen's women sport is priority - Sport Minister

Minister of Youth and Sport Hassn Zaid on Thursday said the Yemeni women's sport came as priorities of the ministry's strategic tasks.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485857.htm

(* A P)

President heads parliament extraordinary meeting

President of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad on Thursday headed extraordinary meeting of the parliament.
In the meeting, the Parliament speaker Ali al-Raiee praised the role of the Parliament members in confronting the Saudi-led aggression coalition war, and highlighted the steadfastness of the Yemeni people.
President al-Sammad stressed that the parliamentary institution has remained an obstacle in the face of Saudi-led coalition forces.
President al-Sammad stressed also on the importance of the Parliament's role in the establishment of the state of law and order.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485856.htm

photos:

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/956530093458972672

My comment: Did it meet the quorum?

Comment: Members of the House of Representatives are abducted by the Houthis. The leaders of the conference, which are inside as well, including the ministers of the government of Ben Habtour, do not injure any of them anymore; they treated them as kidnappers and did not consider what was issued. In any case, the number of attendees 32 members; they do not have legitimacy even to work a traffic violation

https://twitter.com/Ali_Albukhaiti/status/956603847933333504

(* B P)

Death sentence of Bahá’í follower in Yemen must be quashed – UN rights experts

UN human rights experts* have urged the de facto authorities in Sana’a to annul a death sentence handed down against a follower of the Baha’i faith, reiterating calls for an immediate end to persecution of the community in Yemen.

“We are deeply shocked that Hamid Kamali bin Haydara has been sentenced to death purely on the grounds of his religion,” the experts said in a joint statement. “Furthermore, based on the information we have received, we believe that his sentencing on 2 January, and the whole judicial process against him, did not fulfil the basic guarantees of a fair trial and due process.

“This persecution of the Bahá’ís cannot continue. It is unacceptable for the Yemeni Government and the de facto authorities in Sana’a to target anyone based on religion or belief, especially those belonging to religious minorities.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22611&LangID=E

Remark: “de facto authorities in Sana’a“ is he screwed UN wording fort he Sanaa government.

(A P)

Yemen Houthis free detained U.S. citizen, sends him to Oman: local sources

A U.S. citizen held by Yemen’s Houthi group since September last year has been released and taken to Oman aboard a flight that also carried a senior leader of the Iran-aligned group, sources in Sanaa said on Thursday.

Danny Lavon Burch, who works for the Yemeni Safer oil company and is married to a Yemeni citizen, was detained in Sanaa after taking his children to school, according to two colleagues.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-usa/yemen-houthis-free-detained-u-s-citizen-sends-him-to-oman-local-sources-idUSKBN1FE2JS

(A P)

Houthis' female extremists destroy library in Sana'a mosque

Houthi female extremists escorted by men have destroyed the library one one of the famous mosques for "containing books that differ from Hussein al-Houthis' interpretation of Islam," eyewitnesses said.

The sources said the female militants stormed into Asalam Mosque (Peace Mosque) in al-Qaa square in downtown the capital Sana'a, and set ablaze the books in the mosque's library, the eyewitnesses told Newsyemen website (based outside Sana'a) on the condition of anonymity.

The library burning is one of myriad cultural cleansing acts perpetrated in regions controlled by the Shiite Islamists.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14908

(A P)

Houthis abduct tens of passengers in Ibb-Dhale'a road

Houthi gunmen in Yemen's central province of Ibb have kidnapped dozens of passengers traveling in the road between Ibb and Dhali'a province during the past two days, local sources said on Tuesday.
The rebel militiamen "abducted more than 50 passengers, most of them are blue-collar workers in unskilled jobs."
The abductees were taken to Ibb Central prison, said the sources without knowing why.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14905

(A P)

Houthis ban 36 NGOs from operating apart from their oversight

The Houthis have decided to prevent 36 international, regional, and local relief organizations from working in areas under their control apart from the rebel militia's direct oversight.

The rebels' self-proclaimed health ministry issued a circular to all health offices in the provinces and districts under their control to disallow the listed organizations to operate on their own, on the grounds that such organizations, by the nature of their work, shall only operate under the health ministry's oversight.

Yemeni officials accuse the militia of pressing NGOs to work for the radical group and to connive in the militia's seizing and manipulating of aid that should go to the destitute people without any hinders or interventions.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14907

My comment: These reports by anti-Houthi Islah Party media. Fact, fiction or intentional misinterpretation will be hardly distinguishable.

(A P)

The Yemeni minister of labor, Ms Fayjeh Sayed, visits sons and nephews of deceased President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the prison in Sanaa. Ms Fayka Sayed is Assistant Secretary General of Saleh's party,General People's Congress

https://twit]ter.com/narrabyee/status/956536088054697984

(B K P)

[Photos of Houthi “martyr” cult, with anti-Houthi slogans by author]

https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/957092515601178624

https://twitter.com/ammar82/status/956928249728249856

https://twitter.com/BasherGafree/status/957132867066318849

https://twitter.com/BasherGafree/status/957132867066318849

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1b

(* B P)

An increasingly relevant point from @peterjsalisbury, Hadi gov has been using oil revenue to build a patronage network in southern #Yemen. If the STC attempts to secede in a few days it may face real opposition from Hadi loyalists in the south. (text in image)

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/956585393725558784

(A T)

Hadhramy Elites Announce the Killing of Two Terrorists and Arrest of Third

Hadhramy Elites forces in Doen – north east of Hadhramaut, announced that it launched a qualitative operation that led to the killing of two terrorists and the arrest of a third

http://en.smanews.org/hadhramy-elites-announce-the-killing-of-two-terrorists-and-arrest-of-third

(A K P)

Baath party calls for lifting Houthi blockade on Taiz

The Arab Baath Socialist Party in Yemen has called for "quickly lifting the blockade imposed by Houthis on Taiz."

In the conclusion of its meeting in the temporary capital Aden on Monday, the party issued a statement calling for "the liberation of Taiz city and other areas" still under the rebel militia's control to be completed.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14904

(A K P)

Marib security seize drugs, weapons bound for Houthis

The head of Public Relations at Marib Security Police, Colonel Lutf al-Dahmah, said that the Special Security Forces seized 86 kilograms of cannabis and drugs that were on board a truck at the Najd checkpoint in the highway linking Marib to Baidaha province, heading toward Sana'a.

More than 200 pieces of Kalashnikov firearms was also seized with the drugs all bound for the Iran-backed insurgents.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14906

(* A T)

Imam assassinations in #Yemen: Local press reports that Imam 'Arif al-Subayhi of al-Rahma mosque in #Aden's al-Mansoura district was assassinated today by unknown gunmen on a motorbike. This article claims it's the 18th such assassination in Aden.

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/956240932470493185 with link

(A P)

#Saudi intervention in #Yemen's #Mahra not all military. 4 new trash trucks are welcome. Smart branding. Emblazened with "Gift from KSA to Mahra Governorate". Reminiscent of #AQAP branding 2 years ago in Mukalla: "Gift from the Sons of Hadramawt..." on side of bus. (photos)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/956219602412949505

(A P)

Fifty-nine southern Yemeni commanders released a statement on January 23 rejecting the Transitional Political Council for the South’s (STC) threat to overthrow the internationally recognized Hadi government in southern Yemen. The statement claimed that STC’s threat to secede does not accurately reflect the desires of all southern actors. The statement warns that STC’s secession would destabilize the south and allow terrorist groups to re-establish a foothold in Aden.[1]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-january-24-2018

(* A P)

Grassroots Political Consulting Works Yemen Crisis

Grassroots Political Consulting has a $180K one-year pact to represent the Southern Transitional Council of war-torn Yemen. The contract went into effect Jan. 1.

The Washington-based firm is to provide political and strategic advice to the STC on how to achieve its goal of declaring an independent state comprised of the southern part of Yemen.

Coalition members Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are now split over the future of Yemen, according to a report in Aljazeera on Jan. 22.

The Saudis, who support Yemen’s government, now “want out,” while the UAE is backing the STC and has become more involved in the war.

Aljazeera reports STC’s ultimate goal is to overthrow Yemen’s government.

http://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/10075/2018-01-24/grassroots-political-consulting-works-yemen-crisis.html

cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

(* A K)

International Council of Museums to Publish Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk for Yemen

The ICOM Red List will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In an effort to help protect endangered Yemeni art and antiquities for future generations, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) is publishing an Emergency Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk for Yemen. The List will be presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on January 31, 2018, and made publicly available on February 1, 2018.

The launch at the Museum will include remarks by leaders in the field who will discuss the objects at risk and how to prevent them from being sold or illegally exported. Speakers will include Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO of The Met; Suay Aksoy, President of ICOM; Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; and His Excellency, Ambassador Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Yemen to the United States.

ICOM and The Met have been longtime partners and the Museum continues to support the organization’s mission to ensure the conservation and protection of cultural goods.

Thanks to the scientific contribution of international experts and museums from Yemen, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany, the Red List identifies categories of objects from Yemen that are most at risk of being illicitly trafficked.

https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=219496

cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy

(* B E H)

Yemen sees solar energy grow despite civil war

The disrupture of the country’s power system, which is being caused by the ongoing civil conflicts, is pushing Yemenis to resort to solar as a primary source of energy. According to preliminary estimates, more than 300 MW of PV power generators were installed in Yemen since the war began in 2015.

Solar energy is expanding at a faster pace in the Middle East, including in Yemen, a country which is plagued by an ongoing civil conflict since 2015.

According to the policy paper, “Study on the Use of Solar Energy and its Future in Yemen”, published by the local NGO, Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), the total installed PV capacity in Yemen is estimated to be around 300 MW.

Almost all of this capacity was installed in the country in the period 2015-2017 in both urban and rural Yemen, stress the authors of the report. More recently, they go on to say, many farmers have resorted to solar pumping schemes.

These results were made possible by the initiative, Promoting the Use of Solar Technology, which was launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2014.

However, according to a recent statement from Yemen’s Minister of Electricity and Energy, Abdullah al-Akwaa, the country’s installed PV capacity may be even higher. “Yemenis produce what might total 400 MW of solar power on their own initiative, as they purchase and install solar panels on their roofs to get free energy from the sun,” said the minister at the International Solar Alliance fair in Abu Dhabi last Thursday, according to Saba Net.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/01/24/yemen-sees-solar-energy-grow-amid-civil-war/

(* B E H K)

Film (by Press TV Iran): Saudi war’s crippling impact on Yemen's economy

Saudi Arabia’s deadly airstrikes and crippling blockade on Yemen has dealt a severe blow to the already fragile economy of the conflict-ridden country since the beginning of the war in 2015. A Press TV team has visited the coastal city of Al-Hudiedah to reveal the impacts of Saudi-led war on businesses and the daily life of people in the area. Mohammed Al-Attab reports from Al-Hudaydah.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/27/550302/Saudi-wars-crippling-impact-on-Yemens-economy-

(B E)

The Monk Of Mokha: An Interview With Dave Eggers And Mokhtar Alkhanshali

On January 30th, 2018 the new book from noted author, novelist, and McSweeney’s founder Dave Eggers will be released through Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House. Titled The Monk of Mokha, it’s 300+ pages that tell the story of Mokhtar Alkhanshali, Yemeni-American coffee professional and founder of the coffee company Port of Mokha. The book chronicles his journey from working in an apartment lobby in San Francisco to becoming one of his generation’s most important coffee professionals, braving war and personal hardship to help redefine the coffees of Yemen to a new generation of coffee lovers.

http://sprudge.com/interview-with-dave-eggers-129670.html

(B E)

In 2009 : 1 dollars = 180 Yemeni Rial (YR) 20 Liters petrol = 4.7 dollars = 850 YR. 20 liters of gas = 1.9 dollars = 350 YR . In 2018 : 1 dollars = 450 Yemeni Rial . 20 liters petrol = 16 dollars =7200 YR . 20 liters of gas = 11.11 dollars = 500 YR. This is my home #Yemen .

https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/956601687191572481

(* A E P)

Money for nothing: Riyadh's cash injection does little to revive Yemen

Saudi Arabia last week poured $2bn into Yemen's central bank to save the rial and ease prices - but ordinary Yemenis have seen no change

But the move appears to have failed - while the rial initially rallied to 400 to one US dollar, it soon began falling again and stood at 450 on Thursday this week.

And food prices remain as high as ever - the Saudi cash injection did not reach the street, and traders still cannot buy dollars for imports and must pay inflated black market prices for their foreign currency.

Yousef al-Aghbari, a food trader in Taiz, told MEE that the black market rate for one dollar was still hovering around 500 rials.

"Banks refuse to sell us dollars because they still don't have enough," he said. "The black market still controls the situation - their rate is 500 rials, and that means food prices remain as high as they were before."

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-rial-poverty-saudi-arabia-1198233558

My comment: All this could be expected for sure. Anything else was propaganda.

(* B P)

RIYADH VIOLATES YEMEN’S SOVEREIGNTY, MANAGES THE CENTRAL BANK IN ADEN

Informed sources in the southern Yemeni province ,Aden, confirmed that , the Saudi ambassador to Aden Mohammed Al- Jaber, who had arrived two days ago, accompanied by a Saudi administrative team will manage the bank in the province.

A move, considered by observers to be a confirmation of the imposition of Saudi Arabia its financial right on south Yemen, while others counted it as a violation of sovereignty of Yemen.

Economic analysts said that, the corruption of Ben Dagher government is normal, because it operates without censorship.

The resigning government of Hadi are not trusted by Saudi Arabia and the UAE ,they are only used to pass suspicious deals aimed the Yemeni people, their capabilities and freedom.

Today, Riyadh has demonstrated its lack of confidence in Hadi and Ben Dagher, when it demanded in return for the $ 2 billion deposit announced recently, to assign a special committee of Saudi administrators and economists to manage the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden.

http://www.yemenpress.org/yemen/riyadh-violates-yemens-sovereignty-manages-the-central-bank-in-aden.html

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* A T)

Drone attack kills seven in southeastern Yemen

At least seven people were killed on Saturday in a drone airstrike in southeastern Yemen, health officials said.

A drone, which is thought to belong to the US, targeted a vehicle carrying seven civilians in Said district of southeastern Shabwah province.

At least six people were members of the same family, Anadolu Agency quoted local sources as saying.

They were targeted when they were on their way back after recovering a 14-year-old boy from the captivity of Al Qaeda, the sources, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

However, according to security sources who spoke to AFP, all seven passengers were Al Qaeda members.

https://www.trtworld.com/mea/drone-attack-kills-seven-in-southeastern-yemen-14659

and

(* A T)

Drone attack kills seven civilians in southeastern Yemen

Six members of same family were among dead, local sources say

At least seven civilians were killed on Saturday in a drone airstrike in southeastern Yemen, health officials said.

A drone, which is thought to belong to the U.S., targeted a vehicle carrying seven civilians in Said district of southeastern Shabwah province.

According to local sources, six people were members of a same family.

They were targeted when they were on their way back after recovering a 14-year-old boy from the captivity of Al-Qaeda group, the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/drone-attack-kills-seven-civilians-in-southeastern-yemen-3033426

and

(A T)

Drone strike kills 7 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

https://pakobserver.net/drone-strike-kills-7-qaeda-suspects-yemen/

and

(* A T)

7 al-Qaida militants killed by U.S. drone in Yemen

Seven militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch were killed when a U.S. drone strike targeted their vehicle in the southeastern province of Shabwa on Saturday, a government official told Xinhua.

"A four-wheel drive vehicle carrying seven al-Qaida operatives was bombed with two missiles fired from an unmanned U.S. aircraft in Shabwa," the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

He said that the airstrike, which destroyed the vehicle, killed the seven al-Qaida members inside onboard.

The pre-dawn airstrike took place in the former bastion of al-Qaida militants in Alsaeed area of Shabwa.

Witnesses confirmed to Xinhua that the "identities of the killed militants are unknown because they were badly burned with fire."

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/27/c_136929577.htm = V

My comment: So what???? Civilians? “Suspects”?? Militants?? Oh, “unknown because they were badly burned with fire”.

(A T)

Air Raids Target Al-Qaeda Posts in Al-Musainea – Shabwa

A robot plan launched launched air raids on posts of Al-Qaeda in Al-Musainea – Al-Saeed – Shabwa, minutes ago. Local sources indicated that the robot plan launched several raids on Gebel Muzab – Al-Musainea. Air raids led to the killing of tens of Al-Qaeda terrorists in addition to tens of injuries, including second row leaders of Al-Qaeda.

http://en.smanews.org/breaking-news-air-raids-target-al-qaeda-posts-in-al-musainea-shabwa

Remark: By Southern separatists’ news agency.

(A T)

New #AQAP video of attacks against al #Houthi forces in several locations in al Bayda governorate, central #Yemen. Largely a standard video of POV GoPro shots, militants operating artillery, & songs. Ends with martyr complication in which nearly all were killed by U.S. airstrikes (photos)

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/956269828981055488

(A T)

1/ Is #alQaeda #Yemen on a recruitment drive in al-Bayda' - In 1 week we've had 2 Bayda' videos + #AQAP Abu al-Bara' al-Ibbi's 15 pager laying into stay-at-home tribesmen. Today's latest 29min video plays up male bonding over guns, trucks, booty & a sing-along about #US #drones (film, images)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/956252934169415680

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

Siehe / Look at cp

(* A K PH)

Saudi coalition air raids, day by day:

Jan. 26: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/965211470295885/?type=3

Jan. 25: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/965210973629268/?type=3

Jan. 24: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/965209510296081/?type=3

Jan. 23: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141.1073741828.551288185021551/965208443629521/?type=3

(A K PS)

Photo: #Saudi Air Force K-3 Tanker assigned to the 23rd Sqn refuels F-15C and F-15S fighters during a combat mission near #Yemen's border. By: Rihan

https://twitter.com/MbKS15/status/957649739033571328

(A K PH)

Civilian killed in Saudi aggression airstrike onTaiz

A civilian was killed on Sunday when the US-backed Saudi aggression coalition airstrike targeted a bulldozer in Taiz province, a security official told Saba on Monday.
The air strike hit the bulldozer in Sharab junction

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486160.htm

(* A K PH)

Report: 20 Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit Yemen provinces over Friday

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485974.htm

(* A K PH)

3 civilians Of one Family, mostly children, killed In Saudi airstrikes on Taiz

At least 3 civilians on Saturday were killed and 3 others injured, mostly children and all of one family, when Saudi-led aggression coalition airstrikes hit a citizen’s home in Yemen’s southern province of Taiz, a security official told Saba.
The aggression warplanes hit a civilian’s home in al-Taizzyiah district, which resulted in the killing of a woman and two children and injuring a man and two children, all of them from the same family.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485976.htm and photos: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/957318311309643778

film: https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1788962914468098/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/957355121456840706

(A K PS)

Arab Coalition Forces bombard Houthis in Taiz

The Arab Coalition Forces in Support of Restoring Legitimacy in Yemen have bombarded Houthi militias in Al Wazi'ya Directorate, south west of Taiz Governorate, killing scores of the Iran-backed rebels who had been on their way to carry out further acts of terror on the Yemeni territories.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302662609

(A K PH)

3 civilians killed in Saudi airstrike on Yemen's Jawf

Three civilians on Thursday were killed and two others injured when the US-backed Saudi-led aggression airstrike hit their car in Jawf province, an official told Saba.
The airstrike targeted the car in Rahub area of Barat-Enan district

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485848.htm

(A K PH)

2 civilians killed in Saudi airstrike on Sanaa

Two civilians were killed on Wednesday when the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition launched an airstrike on Bani-Hushaish district of Sanaa province, a security official told Saba.
The airstrike waged on Dhubab area, the official added.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485672.htm

(A K PH)

Film: Aggression targeting the last bridge in the Directorate of Baqam Sa'ada 26-01-2018

By targeting this bridge, the aggression has been done to all the bridges between the Directorate of Baqem border and the capital of the province of Saada

https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1787836931247363/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/956997882401484801

(A K PH)

Film: Directorate of Manaba in Saada province

https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1786609474703442/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/956636768207597569

(A K PH)

US-Saudi aggression airstrike kills two civilians in Sa'ada

Two civilians were killed on Wednesday in a hostile US-Saudi airstrike in al-Safra district in Sa'ada province, security official told Saba.
The official said that the US-Saudi aggression coalition warplanes waged an air raid on a car while it was passing on Nushur bridge in the district, killing the two civilians
The car was completely destroyed, the official added.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485732.htm

photos:

https://www.facebook.com/jamil.alabiad.9/posts/2033290043583682 = https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156322269218641

film: https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1785464578151265/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/956263858108280833

(* A K PH)

More air raids recorded on:

Jan. 28:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486156.htm Lahj prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486146.htm Jaqf prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486145.htm Saada prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486144.htm Hajjah prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486139.htm Nehm, Sanaa prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486052.htm Hajjah prov-

Jan. 27:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486004.htm Taiz prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486016.htm Serwah, Marib prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486024.htm Kamaran Island, Hodeoda prov.

Jan. 26:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485918.htm Hodeidah prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485915.htm Saada prov.

Jan. 25:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485837.htm Taiz prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485836.htm Taiz prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485824.htm Taiz prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485834.htm Marib prov.

Jan. 24:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485747.htm Jawf prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485746.htm Hajjah prov.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485737.htm Taiz prov.

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

(A K PH)

2 civilians injured by Saudi border guards' fire in Saada

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486143.htm

(A K PS)

Arab Coalition Forces bomb Houthi militias' mobile missile launcher

- An Arab Coalition aircraft has bombed a military vehicle belonging to the Iranian-backed Houthi militias near Hayes of the Al Hudaydah Governorate in Yemen.

The vehicle was used by the Houthi militias as a platform to launch rockets into the city of Hayes.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302663039

(A K PH)

21 mercenaries arrested in Dhamar

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486053.htm

(A K PH)

Film: Crimes of aggression and mercenaries against the sons of Taiz 27-01-2018

Childhood in Taiz is slaughtered on the guillotine of aggression and its mercenaries. A child between life and death and three others were injured by the fall of the shells of mercenaries on their house in the area of Jarrah, and intensive raids on citizens' homes

https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1789000577797665/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/957365045876482048

(A K PH)

Film: 2 citizens injured by a rocket and a Saudi artillery in the Directorate of # Shada # Saada

https://www.facebook.com/Hona.Almasirah/videos/1788971551133901/ = https://twitter.com/Hona_Almasirah/status/957357355011887104

(A K PS)

Houthi terrorists bombard civilian houses in Yemen’s Marib with Katyusha rockets

A rocket fired by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists on a house on the outskirts of Yemen’s Marib killed a Yemeni woman and wounded three others, according to Saudi state-run news channel Al-Ekhbariya.
A local source said the Katyusha rocket – which is fired from a truck – struck the home of one of the families who had returned from being displaced to their area in Jadaan northwest of Marib province.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1234496/middle-east

(A K PS)

Houthi shot dead a woman in Taiz on Friday evening, the latest in hundreds of victims of sniper shootings in Yemen's central city.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-15018

(A K PH)

Saudi missile, artillery shelling targeted Saada

Missile shelling was fired to several areas of Munabeh and Razeh border districts, damaging residents' farms and properties

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news486033.htm

(A K)

the Yemen army brought down a drone controlled by Houthis in southwestern Taiz province.

Troops downed a reconnaissance drone over Jarrah Mountain in northern Taiz which was reportedly on a mission to locate Yemeni army positions

https://www.trtworld.com/mea/drone-attack-kills-seven-in-southeastern-yemen-14659 and https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-15017

Remark: Pres. Hadi army.

(A K PH)

video #Taiz, last night. Heavy clashes on the ground and Coalition's airstrikes. Civilians caught in between.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XZVNp38sG4

photos: dead Houthi fighters, taiz

https://twitter.com/JosephJo1221/status/957540237072269313

(A K PS)

Houthi militia kill new journalist in Taiz

Shiit Islamist rebels shot dead Osama Sallam al-Maqtari a freelance reporter as he was covering ongoing clashes between government forces and the terrorist militia near Mohammed Ali Othman School in downtown Taiz on Saturday.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14988 and photo https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1628659093853781/?type=3

(A K PS)

Houthis launch a ballistic missile on al Khocha city, No victims

Houthi gunmen fired on Thursday a ballistic missile at al Khocha city southern al Hodeida province, which is under the control of the government forces, eyewitnesses said.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/96711

(A K PS)

Houthis killed, injured five members of a family in Taiz

The Houthi rebel militia killed one man and injured four of his relatives in Oseifira in Taiz on Thursday. The Iran-backed extremists fired mortar rounds onto the house incurring the casualties, local sources said.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14956

(A K PS)

Al-Mahramy: A Mass Military Operation is Underway and the Militias are Collapsing with Our Forces Too Close to Heis

A massive military operation started on Friday morning in the west coast front with tens of killings and injured among Al-Houthi militias in addition to capturing several militants. Liberation forces of the west coast advanced to control vast areas that were controlled by the militias

http://en.smanews.org/al-mahramy-a-mass-military-operation-is-underway-and-the-militias-are-collapsing-with-our-forces-too-close-to-heis

(A K PS)

Army finds weapons caches and landmines in West Coast Front

Yemen's army has found weapons caches and large quantities of landmines as it continued to comb the areas on the West Coast fronit to purge it from the Houthi rebels.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14989

(* A K)

Yemen's President Orders Intense Attacks on Al Houthis, Seizing Several Locations in Taiz

Yemeni army troops seized control of several locations in the southern city of Taiz on the second day of an offensive designed to break the Al Houthi siege on Yemen’s third largest city. Local army commanders said on Saturday that government troops, backed by massive air cover from Saudi-led coalition fighter jets, stormed a number of villages, mountainous locations and large parts of the northern, southern, western and eastern suburbs of the city.

The current offensive began on Friday when hundreds of government troops simultaneously attacked Al Houthi militants on the city’s outskirts. The coalition’s fighter jets undertook dozens of sorties on Friday and Saturday, striking Al Houthi locations, paving the way for ground forces to advance.
Al Bahar said government forces focused on cutting off supply routes from other provinces to Al Houthis in Taiz. For instance, on the northern edges of the city, government forces stormed Al Wa’aesh mountain range that overlooks a strategic road linking Taiz city to the Al Houthi-held Ibb province.
Other forces engaged in fierce clashes with Al Houthis on a mountain range that overlooks another road on the western edges connecting Taiz to Hodeida.

https://www.albawaba.com/news/yemens-president-orders-intense-attacks-al-houthis-seizing-several-locations-taiz-1080304

and

(* A K)

Yemen forces move to break Houthi siege of Taiz

Backed by Saudi-led air strikes, pro-government forces are attacking Houthis on several fronts

Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi have launched an operation to break the Houthi siege of the city of Taiz, under the cover of Saudi-led air strikes.

The campaign began on Thursday, with pro-government forces attacking the Houthis on several fronts in Taiz province and advancing in some areas, according to military sources.

Nabil al-Adimi, one of the leaders of the pro-government fighters, said his forces attacked Houthis on the eastern front of the city, prompting them to flee the area. Still, sniper fire and landmines prevented his soldiers from advancing any farther, Adimi said.

"The Houthis planted landmines everywhere in Taiz ... when we attacked them, they fled the area and left hundreds of landmines and some snipers on the tops of hills, so we are advancing very slowly," Adimi told Middle East Eye.

"This does not mean we will not advance,” he said. “We are advancing amid all obstacles and after we pass through the fields of landmines, we will advance more easily.”

He said Saudi-led air strikes are targeting Houthi snipers and their military vehicles, which has helped the pro-Hadi fighters advance.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/military-campaign-break-siege-taiz-1155565272

(*A K)

Yemeni officials say heavy fighting in Taiz kills 48

Yemeni security officials and witnesses say fighting between Shiite rebel forces and others loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government in the southwestern city of Taiz has killed at least 48 people on both sides.

They said Friday that fighting intensified earlier this week when forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi attempted regain full control over the city and expel rebel forces surrounding it.

They also said that Saudi-led coalition forces backing Hadi carried out several airstrikes on Houthi-controlled bases.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/yemeni-officials-heavy-fighting-taiz-kills-48-52629608

(A K PH)

Child killed in Saudi mercenaries artillery shelling on Yemen's Taiz

A child on Thursday was killed and three others injured in artillery shelling of Saudi-paid mercenaries on a house in Taiz province, an security official told Saba.
The artillery shelling targeted the house in Osaifera area

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485823.htm

(* A K PS)

Arab Coalition Forces, Yemeni National Resistance Forces on outskirts of Hayes Directorate

The Arab Coalition Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia, and the Yemeni National Resistance Forces, continue their advance along Yemen's Red Sea Coast.

The forces, with the support of the UAE Armed Forces, launched a surprise attack on Friday liberating a number of villages and areas, striking a blow to the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

Coalition troops continue to advance towards the centre of Hayes, approximately eight kilometres away.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302662836

(* A K)

Saudi-led coalition-backed forces renewed an offensive on Taizcity, central Yemen on January 25. Hadi government forces attacked al Houthi positions in eastern and northern Taiz city, while coalition warplanes struck al Houthi forces in western and northwestern areas of Taiz city. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants participated in a previous offensive by anti-Houthi forces to push the Taiz city frontlines further east and capture key locations in June 2017.[2]

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/gulf-of-aden-security-review/gulf-of-aden-security-review-january-25-2018

(A K PS)

Arab Coalition seize Houthi facilities on Yemeni coast

The Arab Coalition Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen today announced that its forces have carried out mopping-up operations in support of the Yemeni army as it advances along the country’s Red Sea (west) coastline.

The operations found storage facilities containing rockets and missiles belonging to the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, as well as warehouses containing large quantities of mines, radio equipment and improvised explosive devices, IEDs

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302662478

(A K PS)

West Coast Liberation Forces Surprise Al-Houthi Militias and Controls Al-Nujaiba and Other Territories

West coast liberation forces launched a sudden military operation on Tuesday morning for inspecting the villages and territories between Arfan, south of Heis, to Al-Hamely – Moazea directorate. The liberation forces controlled Al-Nujaiba and several other villages on Al-Hodeida / Taez axis.

http://en.smanews.org/west-coast-liberation-forces-surprise-al-houthi-militias-and-controls-al-nujaiba-and-other-territories

Liberation Forces of the West Coast Advance North of Al-Nujaiba and Control Several Territories

Liberation forces of the west coast continued its advance north of Al-Nujaiba – being controlled last Monday – and caused Al-Houthi militias severe casualties. Military sources in the west coast front indicated that the forces are advancing north to meet the forces stationed in Arfan, south of Heis.

http://en.smanews.org/liberation-forces-of-the-west-coast-advance-north-of-al-nujaiba-and-control-several-territories

Remark. By Southern separatists’ media.

(A K PH)

Air defense shoots down Saudi reconnaissance plane in Marib

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news485761.htm

(A K)

Hadi government forces backed by the #Saudi-led coalition opened a new front against the al #Houthi movement in Sa'ada governorate, northern #Yemen. Hadi government forces are attempting to enter Sa'ada through Razih district, western Sa'ada. (map)

https://twitter.com/MaherFarrukh/status/955821969584336901

Remark: Earlier reporting YPR 379, cp17.

(A K PS)

Dozens killed in clashes and Saudi air strikes across Saada in Yemen

Clashes in the Yemeni rebel heartland of Saada province have killed 40 rebel fighters, Saudi media said on Wednesday, while the rebels reported nine civilians among 22 dead in Saudi-led air strikes.

The rebels were killed in clashes over the past 24 hours with a pro-government alliance backed by Saudi Arabia, which controls several pockets of the province along the Saudi border, the kingdom's state-run Al-Ekhbariya television reported.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/dozens-killed-saudi-airstrikes-and-clashes-across-saada-yemen-2112758773 and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5306973/Dozens-killed-attacks-Yemen-rebel-heartland.html

(A K PS)

Failed Houthi militia-launched ballistic missile falls on house near Sana'a airport

A failed Houthi militia-launched ballistic missile has fallen on a house near the airport in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, according to reports.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1232231/middle-east and also https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-14903

My comment: ??

cp18 Sonstiges / Other

And follow news from Yemeni mountain village of Burra (that’s Burra: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronnyreportage/6333550037 )

at https://twitter.com/hashtag/Burra?src=hash

On #Burra moutain the ambulance service is a man that carries the sick on his back to the nearest road. Can take 3 hours.

https://twitter.com/Wesamqaid/status/956112523559866370

#Coffee from #Burra #Yemen with floral, citrus, jasmine aroma and notes of papaya & passion fruit. Its one of the worlds unique coffees now enroute to #Amsterdam for cupping! (photo)

https://twitter.com/Wesamqaid/status/953989779774898176

Meet beautiful Rasha :) wearing #Burra's traditional outfit. All women wear the same. The white part is rapped around their waist to help their back when climbing mountains to their farms! Its almost 3+ hours to climb there. The road is tough! (photo)

https://twitter.com/FarahWazeer/status/955804244648562689

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-379-yemen-war-mosaic-379

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-379 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-379:

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

http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose

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