Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 425 - Yemen War Mosaic 425

Yemen Press Reader 425: 20.6.2018: Hodeidah: Kämpfe um den Flughafen; Luftangriffe; Bevölkerung flieht; keine politische Lösung – Saudi-Koalition verhaftet jemenitische Menschenrechtler ...

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... Jemens endloser Krieg – Hodeidah, Patt und Frieden – Saudisch-iranische Rivalität – und mehr

June 20, 2018: Hodeida: heavy fighting for the airport; Air raids; population fleeing; no political solution – Saudi coalition detains Yemeni Human Rights advocates – Yemen’s endless war – Hodeida, stalemate and peace – Saudi-Iranian rivalry – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Klassifizierung / Classification

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: German

cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English

cp2 Allgemein / General

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

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp13 Mercenaries / Söldner

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

Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject

Einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:

Yemen War: Introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** A P)

Just Security Authors and Yemeni Human Rights Leaders Detained by Saudi-Led Forces on Travel to Humanitarian Event

On Monday, two prominent human rights advocates, Radhya Almutawakel and Abdulrasheed Alfaqih, the founders of the NGO Mwatana for Human Rights, were detained at Seyoun airport by Saudi-led Coalition forces. They were traveling to participate in an event at the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue in Oslo.

Almutawakel and Alfaqih’s organization has conducted some of the most important independent reporting about abuses in Yemen, raising awareness about harms by all sides to the conflict. They have also authored numerous posts on Just Security, including about a letter Mwatana sent to U.S. business leaders regarding Saudi abuses, the need for an international inquiry into abuses in Yemen, and about flaws in U.S. investigation processes. They have been outspoken advocates for accountability, and have appeared frequently in the press (for example, the Guardian and Democracy Now!). In 2017, Almutawakel was invited to address the UN Security Council, where she briefed states on the war in Yemen and the civilian impacts. They were both awarded the Global Advocate Award at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, and were practitioners-in-residence there last year.

They should be immediately released, and permitted to travel to Oslo. Just Security readers in the U.S. and other governments can help secure their release by requesting that UAE and Saudi forces let them go.

https://www.justsecurity.org/57920/security-authors-yemeni-human-rights-leaders-detained-saudi-led-forces-travel-humanitarian-event/

and

(** A P)

The undersigned human rights and civil liberties organizations urge the Saudi and UAE-led coalition to immediately and unconditionally release Radhya Almutawakel and Abdulrasheed Alfaqih, two prominent Yemeni human rights defenders with Mwatana Organization for Human Rights who were detained in Yemen today.

Authorities working at government-controlled Seiyun city airport detained the advocates on June 18, 2018, as they were preparing to travel abroad to an event at the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue in Oslo. Their detention follows the brief detention of Alfaqih by authorities loyal to Yemeni President Hadi on June 14, 2018.

Mwatana is a globally recognized Yemeni civil society organization, which impartially investigates violations by all parties to the war in Yemen. In 2017, Almutawakel was invited to brief the UN Security Council, where she explained how the war was impacting Yemeni civilians. That same year, she spoke about the impact of arms on the conflict in Yemen at a High-Level Panel at the opening of the Arms Trade Treaty Conference of States Parties. Both Almutawakel and Alfaqih were awarded the Global Advocate Award at Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute, and were practitioners-in-residence there in 2017.

The detention of Almutawakel and Alfaqih comes at a time when millions of Yemenis are suffering from the devastating consequences of violations committed by the Saudi-led coalition during its military campaign in Yemen, widespread abuses by the Houthis and armed groups including al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and the likely impact of the UAE-orchestrated offensive on the port of Hodeidah, critical for the supply of humanitarian aid to the country. The work of Radhya Almutawakel, Abdulrasheed Alfaqih, and other human rights defenders to document the rights violations in Yemen is therefore all the more vital to ensure that the global community remains informed of the rights situation in one of the most underreported conflicts in the world.

The undersigned groups call on the Saudi and UAE-led Coalition authorities to immediately free Radhya Almutawakel and Abdulrasheed Alfaqih, that there be no further threats to their security, and to cease the hindering of the essential work of human rights advocates in Yemen.

Human Rights watch, Amnesty International, and 16 others

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/18/joint-statement-human-rights-and-civil-liberties-groups = https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/human-rights-groups-condemn-arbitrary-detention-yemeni-human-rights-defenders-and-urge

and

(** A P)

Saudi Arabia and UAE: Release Human Rights Defenders, Allow Journalists to Enter Yemen

Freedom House: In response to the Saudi-led military coalition detaining two prominent Yemeni human rights defenders in Yemen’s Hadhramout region as they prepared to fly out of the country, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“The detention of Radhia Almutawakel and Abdulrasheed Alfaqih of Mwatana for Human Rights is part of the Saudi-led military coalition’s effort to seal off Yemen from journalists, human rights activists, and the international community,” said Dokhi Fassihian, senior program manager for the Middle East and North Africa at Freedom House. “Mwatana is a respected, apolitical human rights organization that has provided detailed, well-documented accounts of atrocities committed by all sides in Yemen’s armed conflict. The coalition has already prevented journalists from entering Yemen, and these latest arrests signal an intensification of its information blackout. Almutawakel and Alfaqih should be released immediately, and journalists should be granted access to the country.”

https://freedomhouse.org/article/saudi-arabia-and-uae-release-human-rights-defenders-allow-journalists-enter-yemen

(** B K P)

Yemen’s Never-Ending War

Afrah Nasser, a Yemeni journalist and senior nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, said she has spoken candidly to top officials on both sides in the conflict and was alarmed by their blithe dismissal of civilian concerns. An official in Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s UN-backed government acknowledged the great human price being paid, but told Nasser it was all for the greater good of ridding the country of the Houthis. An official of Ansarullah, the organization representing the Houthis, told Nasser of the great honor of dying in battle and the pride they took in making sacrifices in their quest to resist the hegemonic ambitions of the United States and its allies.
“Nobody really cares about the humanitarian aspect in the Yemen war,” said Nasser. “Neither the Houthis nor the Saudi-led coalition cares about the human cost. The warring parties don’t have any political or humanitarian will to ease the suffering.”
The complicated war in Yemen amounts to a series of loosely interconnected humanitarian crises, making the task for any organization or entity seeking to provide relief that much more challenging. Lawlessness in the form of shootings, kidnapping, and gangsterism—along with a lack of public services—are the major threats to civilians in Aden, while lack of medical and food supplies make residents of the isolated city of Taiz miserable. Very few Yemenis see themselves as a country that is suffering, but rather view the crisis in terms of what it means to their family, town, or tribe. The further attached a Yemeni is from the families and tribes that are suffering, the more divested they are in humanitarian consequences.

As in other conflicts, the emergence of a war economy gives a powerful motive to continue the war, putting vested interests in a position to feed off the misery of civilians. David Harden, a career US diplomat until he left the foreign service two months ago, learned about the war profiteering as he oversaw US efforts to provide relief in Yemen. “The war economy is incentivizing a continuation of the conflict,” Harden said. “Humanitarian assistance is caught up in that. That doesn’t mean that humanitarian assistance doesn’t reach people who need it. But there is systematic manipulation for profit and power.”
Some in Yemen and the West are cautiously cheering the Hudaydah offensive, believing that a quick victory by the Saudi and Emirati coalition would at the very least ease the humanitarian suffering of the people. But given the determination of the Houthis, and the possibility that the Hudaydah battle could drag on, that appears unlikely in the short term.

With continued war on the horizon and entreaties to abide by international law falling on deaf ears, outside players can do more than simply issue statements or allow the cynical assurances of the combatants to serve as fig leaves for their inaction or complicity while hoping for an end to the conflict.
Recognizing the importance of the ports, international powers such as the United States, the European Union, and Russia could take them out of the battlefield equation by placing all four of the country’s major ports under the authority of another country, such as Kuwait or Oman, or entity, such as the United Nations, which has voiced skepticism about taking up such a responsibility – by Borzou Daragahi

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/yemen-s-never-ending-war

(** B K P)

Yemen: The Battle for al-Hodeida Between War and Peace

The strategic balance in Yemen has not changed very much since the Houthis were pushed back from Aden and most of the south during the first year of the war; precipitated by the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in 2014 that broadened into a regional conflict by a Saudi-led coalition in 2015. The change since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed by the Houthis has also not been significant. The loss of Hodeida by the Houthis could make a strategic difference, but it would not necessarily end the war. A peace agreement, though still a difficult proposition, remains possible and in fact the inevitable conclusion to this inhumane war.

The war across the Yemen-Saudi border in the northern front is meant to achieve tactical, not strategic goals.

On the southern front, the situation is somewhat reversed, but also ultimately stalemated. The Houthis were never strong enough to take over all of Yemen.

Currently, the defending and attacking forces in and around Hodeida are roughly equal in number though the attacking force has the edge in armor; not to mention sea and air support. Any direct US assistance, whether above board or surreptitious, could tip the balance in favor of the coalition—but it would have to be decisive in nature in order to do so. Overall and country-wide, ground forces are again more or less equal, with the Houthis having the advantage there because of unity of command and strong motivation.
The Saudi-led coalition can sink itself into a long term quagmire by pursuing total victory, however defined, even if they succeeded in winning the battle for Hodeida. Yemen’s second largest port and fourth largest populated city, sits at the bottom of a slope that inclines gradually upwards and goes through the mountainous region of Hajara and surrounding peaks and valleys before it reaches the plateau of Sanaa. Aerial bombardment would have to totally destroy Sanaa, decimating civilian along with military personnel in order to be able to send coalition forces into the city—and even then, this would leave the Houthis holed up in their mountainous hideouts further north.

The invasion of the south by an ideologically alien northern force was never a viable strategic option and can no longer be rationally pursued at this point. Surely the Houthis realize that by now and are looking for a face-saving, interest preserving way out of the debacle they got themselves into. The Saudi-led war, already bleeding the Kingdom’s foreign reserves and costing an average of $3-5 billion dollars per month for the past three years.

Not to mention the deteriorating image of Saudi Arabia and the mounting pressure on it from the internal community and mounting criticism even within the US Congress. As such, this war cannot rationally be pursued to an ultimate military victory. A more logical choice would be to cut losses and engage in an all-out diplomatic push—creatively presenting options and long-term solutions and recruiting the entire UN security council for that effort.

This has been said before but it’s worth repeating: a compromise on Hodeida could and should be used as a stepping stone towards a comprehensive peace—one that demilitarizes all militias, changes the current government into a genuine coalition cabinet that takes on all regional grievances, north and south, and plans yet again for another national election after a transitional two-year period during which Yemen’s civil society is given free rein to help re-educate voters. In the meantime, development agencies should be provided the security to begin the uphill task of tending to the serious task of humanitarian relief and the long-term challenges of economic development – by Nabeel Khoury

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/yemen-the-battle-for-al-hodeida-between-war-and-peace

(** B P)

Saudi Domestic Uncertainties and the Rivalry with Iran

Most analysis of the Saudi–Iranian rivalry seems to miss the fundamental points that underline the tension. Both countries are not trying to defend themselves from each other. Iran is trying to save itself from either foreign intervention or domestic unrest. While Saudi Arabia does not fear foreign intervention, it is concerned with domestic dissent.

Arguably, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is determined to perpetuate four decades of rivalry and conflict with Iran. Although throughout the twentieth century the relationship between the two countries oscillated between indifference, hostility, rapprochement and tension, since he became the new face of Saudi Arabia in 2015, he has raised Riyadh’s concerns over Iranian expansion in the Arab world and beyond. He seeks to continue his country’s enmity with Iran and privilege the perpetuation of the conflict rather than seek rapprochement. The prince has used the rivalry with Tehran to deflect from the complexity of his own domestic uncertainties.

While not underestimating Saudi regional ambitions that underpin the most recent episode of the troubled and volatile Saudi–Iranian relations, to understand the current roots of antagonism we need not go beyond Saudi domestic uncertainties. These are different from those that in the past had fuelled the conflict.

Today, Mohammad bin Salman needs to keep Iran isolated to deflate the uncertainties he faces, not all of them are related to the prospect of radical Saudi Islamist violence such as the kind that ravaged Syria and Iraq.

The first and most important challenge facing the crown prince is consolidating his own rule and centralising major policy decisions under his umbrella, thus excluding a whole range of other aspiring princes.

The regime, however, has never admitted to facing any domestic threats. Instead, it has always insisted that external threats are the only danger facing the kingdom.

The regime wants to remind both marginalised princes and Saudis that the young prince is fighting an existential threat, represented by the hawkish Iranians. By amplifying the Iranian threat and magnifying his own Arab mission to save the region from Persianisation and shi’ification, Mohammed bin Salman blames Iran for any dissent in the country. This applies not only to the Shi’a protest movement in the Eastern province, but also Sunni dissident especially that emerged during the 2011 Arab Uprisings.

Second, amplifying the Iranian danger and perpetuating enmity with Tehran is a prerequisite for the domestic ideological shift that Mohammed bin Salman under the auspices of his father King Salman has instigated since 2015.

With the Saudi Wahhabi legitimacy narrative subsiding and even gradually being denied and supressed, the Saudi leadership adopted a populist Saudi militarised nationalism, whose main target is Iran with its alleged aggressive Persian counter nationalism. The Saudi war in Yemen was perceived as a necessary response to an existential threat, and a battle for survival for the Saudi nation. Rivalry with Iran keeps the momentum of the emerging Saudi populist nationalism. It strengthens the abstract sense of Saudi national solidarity. Continuing a proxy war with Iran even without a decisive victory in Yemen remains important for domestic reasons. Saudi Arabia is yet to find a diplomatic solution to a conflict that proved to be difficult to win.

Finally, perpetuating enmity with Iran is extremely important for Saudi Arabia’s relation with the West. Any rapprochement between the West and Iran – such as the one that led to the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement – is perceived with suspicion and fear. Saudi Arabia needs to be the only US client, not only in the Arabian Peninsula but also in the region and beyond. Saudi Arabia currently does not accept a return to the status quo ante of the Cold War when Iran provided the military base and Saudi Arabia provided Islamic ammunition against the Soviet Union. The pre-1979 division of labour between the Saudis and the Iranians cannot be reproduced now, given that Saudi Arabia had sought to strengthen its own military capabilities and present itself as the only viable regional alternative power to Iran.

The hostile relationship between the two countries will improve only if the domestic uncertainties subside or fade away. This can be accomplished with Saudi Arabia resolving its domestic challenges with a representative government whose national interest overrides the erratic and grandiose projects of a single autocratic leadership who sees in the perpetuation of the conflict an opportunity to establish legitimacy and eventually emerge as not only the undisputed ruler of Saudi Arabia but also the main arbiter of the affairs of the Arab world as a whole – by Madawi Al-Rasheed

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/06/18/saudi-domestic-uncertainties-and-the-rivalry-with-iran/

(** B P)

Western Media Whitewash Yemen Genocide

But the latest offensive on the Red Sea city of Hodeida threatens to turn the world’s already worst humanitarian disaster into a mass extermination.

The Saudi coalition which includes Emirati forces and foreign mercenaries as well as remnants from the previous regime (which the Western media mendaciously refer to as “government forces”) is fully backed by the US, Britain and France. This coalition says that by taking Hodeida it will hasten the defeat of Houthi rebels. But to use the cutting off of food and other vital aid to civilian populations as a weapon is a blatant war crime. It is absolutely inexcusable.

As the horror of Hodeida unfolds, Western media are reporting with a strained effort to whitewash the criminal role of the American, British and French governments in supporting the offensive. Western media confine their focus narrowly on the humanitarian plight of Hodeida’s inhabitants and the wider Yemeni population. But the media are careful to omit the relevant context, which is that the offensive on Hodeida would not be possible without the crucial military support of Western governments. If the Western public were properly informed, the uproar would be an embarrassing problem for Western governments and their servile news media.

What is notable in the Western media reportage is the ubiquitous descriptor when referring to the Houthi rebels. Invariably, they are described as “Iran-backed”. That label is used to implicitly “justify” the Saudi and Emirati siege of Hodeida “because” the operation is said to be part of a “proxy war against Iran”. The BBC, France 24, CNN, Deutsche Welle, New York Times and Washington Post are among media outlets habitually practicing this misinformation on Yemen.

By contrast, while the Western media repeatedly refer to the Houthis as “Iran-backed”, what the same media repeatedly omit is the descriptor of “American-backed” or “British and French-backed” when referring to the Saudi and Emirati forces that have been pounding Yemen for over three years. Unlike the breathless claims of Iranian linkage to the Houthis, the Western military connection is verified by massive weapons exports, and indeed coy admissions by Western governments, when they are put to it, that they are supplying fuel and logistics to aid and abet the Saudi and Emirati war effort in Yemen.

Last week, the New York Times affected to lament the infernal conditions in Yemen as a “complex war”, as if the conflict is an unfathomable, unstoppable mystery. Why doesn’t the New York Times publish bold editorials bluntly calling for an end to US government complicity in Yemen? Or perhaps that is too “complex” for the Times’ editorial board?

The Washington Post also wrung its hands last week, saying: “The world’s most dire humanitarian crisis may get even worse. Emirati-led [and Saudi] offensive underway against port city of Hodeida, which is controlled by Iran-backed [sic] Houthi rebels.”

In its report, the Post did not mention the fact that air strikes by Saudi and Emirati forces are carried out with American F-15 fighter jets, British Typhoons and French Dassault warplanes. Incongruously, the Post cites US officials claiming that their forces are not “directly involved” in the offensive on the port city. How is that credible when air strikes are being conducted day after day? The Washington Post doesn’t bother to ask further.

In a BBC report last week also lamenting the “humanitarian crisis” in Hodeida, there was the usual evidence-free casual labelling of Houthi rebels as “Iran-backed”. But, incredibly, in the entire article (at least in early editions) there was not a single mention of the verifiable fact that the Saudi and Emirati military are supplied with billions-of-dollars-worth of British, American and French weapons.

Note the BBC’s lame and unconvincing implication of Iran. This is a stupendous distortion of the Yemeni conflict by the British state-owned broadcaster which, astoundingly, or perhaps that should be audaciously, completely airbrushes out any mention of how Western governments have fueled the genocidal war on Yemen.

Elsewhere in the region, Western politicians and media have mounted hysterical protests against the Syrian government and its Russian ally when they have liberated cities from Western-backed terrorists, accusing Syria and Russia of “war crimes” and “inhuman sieges”.

Western media claims about Syria have transpired to be outrageous lies, which have been hastily buried by the media as if they were never told in the first place.

Yet in Yemen there is an ongoing, veritable genocidal war fully supported by Western governments. The latest barbarity is the siege of Hodeida with the callous, murderous objective of finally starving a whole population into submitting to the Western, Saudi, Emirati writ for dominating the country. This is Nuremberg-standard capital crimes.

With no exaggeration, Western news media are a Goebbels-like propaganda ministry – par excellence – whose duty is to whitewash genocide conducted by their governments – by Finian Cunningham

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/06/18/western-media-whitewash-yemen-genocide.html

My comment:

cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: German

(* A K)

Saudische Verbündete rücken offenbar in Hodeida ein

Regierungstreue Truppen haben im Jemen Fortschritte bei der Rückeroberung der wichtigen Hafenstadt Hodeida gemeldet. Soldaten hätten nach heftigen Kämpfen mit der Besetzung des Flughafens der Rebellenhochburg begonnen, hieß es aus jemenitischen Militärkreisen. Nach Angaben jemenitischer Befehlshaber vor Ort wurde der Vormarsch am Boden von Luftangriffen der von Saudi-Arabien dominierten Militärkoalition unterstützt.

Die Gefechte um den Flughafen seien von "beispielloser Gewalt", berichtete ein Anwohner der Nachrichtenagentur AFP am Telefon. Mehrere Familien hätten aus dem Kampfgebiet zu fliehen versucht, wegen der schweren Gefechte aber wieder kehrtmachen müssen. Die jemenitischen Truppen wurden bei der Besetzung des Flughafens von Soldaten der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate unterstützt, wie die amtliche emiratische Nachrichtenagentur WAM meldete.

https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ausland/krisen/id_83963932/jemen-saudische-verbuendete-ruecken-offenbar-in-hodeida-ein.html = https://www.welt.de/newsticker/news1/article177808048/Hilfen-Jemens-Armee-rueckt-unter-heftigen-Kaempfen-auf-Hodeidas-Flughafen-vor.html

und auch https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000081842703/jemen-flughafen-von-huthi-hochburg-hodeidah-gestuermt

(* A K)

Krieg in Jemen: Armee will Hafenstadt Al-Hudaida „in wenigen Tagen“ erstürmen

Die jemenitischen Regierungstruppen wollen mit Unterstützung der Koalition der arabischen Länder die Hafenstadt Hodeida am Roten Meer, die unter Kontrolle der Huthi-Rebellen steht, baldmöglichst erstürmen. Das teilte der Brigadegeneral und Pressesprecher der Regierungstruppen, Abdu Majli, Sputnik mit.

Laut dem Pressesprecher ist es den Regierungstruppen mit Unterstützung der Luftwaffe der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärkoalition am Dienstag gelungen, den Flughafen von Al-Hudaida unter ihre Kontrolle zu bringen. Das nächste Ziel der Militärs soll die Befreiung der Stadt selbst sowie des Hafens von Al-Hudaida sein.

„Die Operation zur Befreiung der Stadt wird blitzschnell sein. Von einem vollen Sieg über die Huthi-Rebellen in Al-Hudaida trennen uns einige Tage“, sagte Abdu Majli.

In den letzten Tagen hätten die Rebellen schwere Verluste an Menschen hinnehmen müssen, so der Pressesprecher weiter.

https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20180619321235355-jemen-huthi-rebellen-al-hudaida/

(* A K P)

Im Kampf um die strategisch wichtige Hafenstadt Hodeidah in Jemen hat UNO-Vermittler Martin Griffiths bei seinem Besuch in dem Bürgerkriegsland keinen Durchbruch erzielt. Der Gesandte habe die Houthi-Rebellen bei Treffen in der Hauptstadt Sanaa gebeten, die Stadt friedlich zu übergeben, sagte ein Sprecher der Aufständischen, Ali al-Kahum.

"Wir werden nicht erlauben, die Stadt und den Hafen von Hodeidah zu übergeben und haben das Recht, unser Land zu verteidigen", betonte der Sprecher. Am südlichen Stadtrand Hodeidahs am Roten Meer eroberten Regierungstruppen nach eigenen Angaben unterdessen den örtlichen Flughafen.

https://diepresse.com/home/ausland/aussenpolitik/5449970/Kaempfe-im-Jemen_UNOVermittler-schafft-keinen-Durchbruch

Mein Kommentar: Die Formulierung hier bleibt unklar, auch englischsprachiger Berichte sind widersprüchlich.

(* A H K)

Mehr als 25.000 Menschen flüchten aus Hudaida

Die seit Tagen andauernden Gefechte um Hudaida treiben Zehntausende in die Flucht

Zehntausende Menschen sind nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen vor den Gefechten um die jemenitische Hafenstadt Hudaida geflohen. Etwa 5.200 Familien oder 26.000 Menschen seien in andere Teile der Stadt oder in die Umgebung geflüchtet, sagte ein Sprecher von UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres.

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2018-06/jemen-hudaida-flucht-huthi-rebellen

(* A H K)

Jemen: Schwere Bombardements - Saudi-Arabien bombardiert wichtigsten Hafen für Lebensmittel

Die Aufnahmen zeigen, wie Rauch über dem Flughafen Hodeida aufsteigt und Zivilisten, die vor den Angriffen fliehen.

Für deutsche Untertitel bitte die Untertitelfunktion auf Youtube aktivieren.

https://deutsch.rt.com/kurzclips/71616-jemen-schwere-bombardements-saudi-arabien/ = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQixRZPh2VE

Mein Kommentar: Bisher wurde vor allem die Gegend um den Flughafen im Süden der Stadt bombardiert, nicht der Hafen im Norden.

(* A H K)

Im Jemen kommt es zur angesagten Katastrophe

Vergangene Woche hat die Regierungsarmee im Jemen ihre Offensive gegen die Huthi-Rebellen in der Hafenstadt Hodeida gestartet. "Das Dröhnen der Bombenflugzeuge begleitet uns nun Tag und Nacht", klagt Qaed Jazou, ein in Hodeida lebender Lokaljournalist, am Telefon. Aus Furcht vor den Truppen seien die Einwohner der Vororte bereits in das Stadtgebiet geflohen. Besonders heftig werde gegenwärtig um den Flughafen gekämpft. (im Abo)
https://www.sn.at/politik/weltpolitik/im-jemen-kommt-es-zur-angesagten-katastrophe-29357902

cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English

(* A H K P)

All you need to know about Yemen's Hudaida offensive

The clashes risk escalating the dire humanitarian crisis in the country, where eight million are at risk of starvation.

The week-long offensive by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and allied Yemeni military forces on the port city of Hudaida has so far yielded little result, but the fighting against the Iranian-aligned Houthi militia group shows no sign of slowing down.

Dubbed Operation Golden Victory, it is the biggest battle by the Saudi-led forces in three years, which began pounding Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthi group took over the capital Sanaa and tried to exert their influence in other parts of the country.

In addition to the naval shelling from the Red Sea, Saudi Apache helicopters are also directing air attacks on Houthi positions. UAE troops are on the ground, backing Yemen's Amaleqa brigades.

According to Yemeni military sources, the death toll so far is up to 216 fighters, including 33 Houthis and 19 soldiers killed in Tuesday's battle. No civilian casualties have yet been confirmed.

The fighting also risks escalating the dire humanitarian crisis in the country, where out of a population of 28 million people, eight million are at risk of starvation, and 22 million depend on aid.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/yemen-hudaida-offensive-180619183607686.html

(* A K)

The battle for Yemen's key port of Hodeida

[Overview]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5860971/The-battle-Yemens-key-port-Hodeida.html

(** B H K P)

Yemen: After Hodeidah

The battle for Hodeidah will now start in earnest. Whatever the outcome, the struggle for the city is likely to mark a shift in the shape and trajectory of the war on par with the Saudi-led coalition’s entry into the conflict in March 2015, the Houthi rebels’ loss of Aden and much of south Yemen in mid-2015, and the death of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in December 2017.

With fighting only now reaching the outskirts of the city proper, bold predictions are already being made about Yemen’s post-Hodeidah landscape. But there are so many variables and such deep uncertainty over how the battle will play out, despite consensus that the coalition will ultimately prevail, that it is impossible to present a single case as the most likely outcome. There are multiple potential scenarios for the battle, each with a different meaning for the trajectory of the conflict.

Background

On paper, there is a clear mismatch: anywhere from 20,000-25,000 coalition-backed fighters with armored vehicles, air support from fighter jets and Apache helicopters, and almost unlimited resources, versus a Houthi contingent reckoned to be no more than 5,000-10,000 men, many of them recent recruits rather than hardened and dedicated fighters (the core Houthi fighting force is likely just a few thousand men), who are likely to be cut off from supplies early in the fight.

Most worrying is the outlook for the estimated 600,000 people who live in Hodeidah, and the millions of Yemenis who depend on the port as a lifeline.

Four Potential Scenarios for the Battle for Hodeidah

Best Case Scenario: A Political Solution

The Coalition’s Plan: A Quick, Clean Win

Most Likely: Several Months of Fighting

Worst Case Scenario: A Protracted, Destructive Battle

Conclusions

The most likely outcome would appear to be something like the third scenario – a battle of two to three months that, optimistically, is ended by external intervention to prevent further humanitarian costs. Several wild-card factors could change this, however.

The United States, which thus far has refused to take part in the campaign despite UAE requests for assistance, could choose to become more directly involved, for example, by providing a minesweeper to help UAE-backed forces enter the port, and throwing its political weight behind the campaign. If, however, the humanitarian situation were to deteriorate rapidly – a cholera epidemic, for example – or a large number of civilians were killed in the crossfire, public opinion in the United States could turn quickly against the campaign, leading to pressure on the coalition from Washington to end the battle and negotiate a compromise deal with the Houthis, particularly if congressional pressure grows.

Then there is the potential for an unexpected “black swan” event that could change the complexion of the conflict. Such an event could include breakthroughs on other fronts (Nihm or Taiz, for example), further infighting among the coalition’s Yemeni allies, or a successful Houthi ballistic missile strike on a civilian target inside Saudi Arabia.

Finally, the end of the battle will only be the beginning of questions around Hodeidah. The coalition has said that it and the Yemeni government will be able to operate the port more effectively than the Houthis. Coalition officials hope that the outcome in Hodeidah will be closer to the outcomes in Mukalla and Marib – where governance and service delivery have improved since rival forces were pushed out (al-Qaeda from Mukalla, the Houthis from Marib) – compared to the experience in Aden, where infighting has become a barrier to effective local governance. If fighting continues along the Hodeidah-Sanaa road, meanwhile, it is unclear how basic goods will be delivered from the port into the country’s main population centers.

Ultimately, the battle for Hodeidah is likely to leave the Houthis in a weakened position militarily, and the coalition with the upper hand in negotiations, as the UAE believes. But this advantage will come at a significant cost, and could serve to deepen the political stalemate, leaving Yemen poorer and hungrier, and still at war. – by Peter Salisbury

http://www.agsiw.org/yemen-after-hodeidah/

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What Awaits Yemen After Hodeida?

In the second part of a Cipher Brief two-part series on the significant implications of the battle for Hodeida, Cipher Brief Expert Norm Roule, who is also the ODNI’s former National Intelligence Manager for Iran, shares his secrets for understanding how today’s actions are influenced by the past and how that understanding may shape the future.

‘Already it is clear that this battle may well be the most significant in the Yemen conflict since the fall of Sana. The political and military consequences of failure, or even a protracted campaign, for either side will be significant. A long battle risks exacerbating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation. During a time of unprecedented humanitarian crises, Yemen continues to be the world’s greatest tragedy. Around 18 million Yemenis (i.e., two thirds of its population) are short of food and of this number, eight million are at risk of starvation. An additional million Yemenis suffer from cholera.’

Coalition Goals

The Hodeida campaign will require attention to several competing priority goals. First and foremost, the Coalition’s operations cannot worsen Yemen’s humanitarian disaster. Instead, the UAE and Saudi Arabia must sustain, and if possible expand, the flow of humanitarian shipments through the port. A tough requirement to achieve while in battle against a foe which has little concern for such issues. Second, Coalition operations must be conducted in a manner which limit civilian casualties. Houthi willingness to launch attacks from civilian areas will therefore constrain the use of Coalition fire power. Finally, in that no one believes the capture of Hodeida will end the conflict, the Coalition must continue to energize the political process between Yemen’s warring parties.

Likely Houthi Response to the Attack

Hodeida will not fall easily. The financial and symbolic importance of the port has likely caused the Houthis to assign many of their most loyal and experienced fighters to the city. Houthi fighters likely number at least a thousand, but possibly several times this number. This force will be augmented by less reliable locally-impressed tribal fighters and child soldiers who are likely to abandon their posts under pressure.

The International Community Response

At the United Nations Security Council, Sweden, Peru and the Netherlands led protests against the Hodeida campaign. The U.S., France, and Britain remain unenthusiastic supporters of the operation, but quietly share Coalition frustrations with Houthi intransigence and the lack of fresh ideas to break the political stalemate in Yemen. Iran continues to spew anti-coalition rhetoric and Houthi propaganda, while calling for a diplomatic solution which will leave its IRGC-supported proxies in power.

Looking forward: Post Battle

Abu Dhabi and Riyadh acknowledge that victory at the port will not end the conflict. The Houthis are likely to withdraw into their home province of Saadeh and mountain strongholds to the north of Amran and to the west of al-Jawf. Houthi control of Yemen’s capital Sana also remains unchallenged. For this reason, the Coalition remains in close contact with United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths to take advantage of any political opportunities for engagement – by Norman T. Roule, Former National Intelligence Manager for Iran, ODNI

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/middle-east/awaits-yemen-hodeida

My comment: Unfortunately, this article is widely spoiled by US / Saudi / UAE propaganda.

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Battle Intensifies for Yemeni Port as Dock Workers Still Unload Aid

Even with all that, the port kept operating.

Dock workers hastily unloaded three ships sent by the United Nations World Food Program that contained enough food for six million people for one month, a spokeswoman, Bettina Luescher, told reporters in Geneva. The sheer amount was a reminder of how the fate of Al Hudaydah has become tied to the fate of millions of vulnerable Yemenis.

The stream of trucks that trundles from the Red Sea port account for about 70 percent of imports in a country where two-thirds of the 29 million people rely on international aid. Aid groups warn that any interruption to that movement would cut supplies to eight million people on the edge of starvation, and cause a sharp rise in food prices for other Yemenis, potentially tipping them into danger.

“We need that port to stay open at any price,” said Elias Diab, a United Nations official in the city reached by phone. “Closing that port means that you’re cutting the last artery to Yemen.”

In a sharply worded statement, the International Rescue Committeedenounced coalition plans to protect Al Hudaydah residents during the offensive as a “publicity stunt” intended to divert international attention.

“The biggest contribution the Saudi-led coalition could make to the humanitarian situation and protection of civilians is to immediately halt the offensive and engage in U.N.-led peace talks,” said Amanda Catanzano, senior director of policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, in the statement.

Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe can be found even at the port gates.

As the battle has raged in recent days, it has inflicted further damage on the city’s water and sewage network, elevating the risk of waterborne diseases.

Aid organizations worry that as the city plunges deeper into chaos, they will be unable to access warehouses filled with emergency supplies of food and medicine that keep the city’s most vulnerable residents alive. By the most pessimistic estimate, 250,00 lives are at risk.

But for now, the most immediate danger to civilians in Al Hudaydah comes from the fighting.

On Sunday night an explosion hit a motorcycle carrying Abdulbari Yahyah Farea and his four children as they fled the fighting near their home beside the airport. Mr. Farea and his sons, ages 3 and 8, died instantly. His two daughters survived.

The eldest, Rawan, 15, dragged her badly injured sister, Hanan, 10, to relative safety.

The fighting continued through the night. By the time the two girls reached a hospital, 12 hours after the explosion and thanks to a small window of peace negotiated by international officials, Hanan was dead. – By Mohammed Ali Kalfood and Declan Walsh

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/world/middleeast/al-hudaydah-yemen-battle.html

(* A K)

Mohammed al-Qadhi is reporting from the ground for Sky News, in Arabic.

Films:

https://twitter.com/EliasdDiab/status/1009040299790913536

https://twitter.com/mohammedalqadhi

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1009049323936669696

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1009048889004101638

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1009017950664261632

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1009043176173142016

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1008998871316422656

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1009008142112309249

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1008978323127427072

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1008313797801660416

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1007714992861384704

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1007896161909342208

https://twitter.com/skynewsarabia/status/1007359521121959936

(* A K)

Krieg in Jemen: Armee will Hafenstadt Al-Hudaida „in wenigen Tagen“ erstürmen

Die jemenitischen Regierungstruppen wollen mit Unterstützung der Koalition der arabischen Länder die Hafenstadt Hodeida am Roten Meer, die unter Kontrolle der Huthi-Rebellen steht, baldmöglichst erstürmen. Das teilte der Brigadegeneral und Pressesprecher der Regierungstruppen, Abdu Majli, Sputnik mit.

Laut dem Pressesprecher ist es den Regierungstruppen mit Unterstützung der Luftwaffe der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärkoalition am Dienstag gelungen, den Flughafen von Al-Hudaida unter ihre Kontrolle zu bringen. Das nächste Ziel der Militärs soll die Befreiung der Stadt selbst sowie des Hafens von Al-Hudaida sein.

„Die Operation zur Befreiung der Stadt wird blitzschnell sein. Von einem vollen Sieg über die Huthi-Rebellen in Al-Hudaida trennen uns einige Tage“, sagte Abdu Majli.

In den letzten Tagen hätten die Rebellen schwere Verluste an Menschen hinnehmen müssen, so der Pressesprecher weiter.

https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20180619321235355-jemen-huthi-rebellen-al-hudaida/

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Yemeni Pro-Gov't Forces Plan to Restore Control Over Hodeidah Port – Spokesman

The next goal of the forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi will be to restore control over the seaport in the city of Hodeidah, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdu Majali told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"The Houthis fled under massive airstrikes. The offensive continues. Our goal is the complete liberation of the city, the strategic goal is the liberation of the seaport," Majali said, confirming that the airport had been recaptured.

He also noted that the Houthis were using the inhabitants of Hodeidah as human shields.

"We want to save the lives of civilians. There are many residents in Al Hudaydah [Hodeidah]. We strive to provide safe areas for its residents, to act cautiously against Houthi militants who are using civilians as human shields," Majali stressed.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201806191065559300-control-hodeidah-port-yemen/

My comment: “Houthi militants who are using civilians as human shields”: All troops fighting in the streets of a populated city do, thus his own troops as well.

(A H K)

My cousins in #Hodaidah regret that they didn't leave the city earlier as it's almost impossible to leave now. Very intensive airstrikes , and Houthis r planting mines in the southern and eastern entrances of the city.Heavy clashes r heard somewhere. wish em safety

https://twitter.com/jaguarofYemen/status/1009069658245357569

(A K pS)

Following the successful control over the Runway of #Hodeidah Airport by the Joint Forces, the clashes have have extended to reach al-Kourneesh road, as #Houthis fighters flee towards residential areas.

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009108759212371968

(A K pS)

A mortar shell fired by the #Houthi militia has fallen on a house of a #civilian citizen at Saddam Street in the port city of #Hodeidah and reports that two girls were injured in the incident. (photos)

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009095059285925888

(A K pS)

The Joint Forces are pushing in an attempt to seize control over the Eastbound roundabout in #Hodaida #Yemen The fighting is around the intersection connecting Sanaa road with R60

https://twitter.com/BShtwtr/status/1009066022102601729

and

The Forces of al-Amaleqeh Brigades have blocked the #Houthi supply-line in Kilo 16, which is the one and only supply-line for the militia group between #Sanaa and #Hodeidah.

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009111229045071874

My comment: They once already had claimed they had seized it.

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Yemen's Hodeida braces for street battles

Trenches, military tanks and civilians fleeing by the busload: Yemen's Hodeida, once a bustling port city, is now bracing for battles in its streets.

Ahmed is one of 600,000 Yemenis who now fear war at their very doorsteps, as a fight for control of the Red Sea region rages between government forces, backed by regional titan Saudi Arabia, and Yemen's Huthi rebels.

For days, Ahmed has been holed up in his living room, certain every night that the fighting would stop by morning.

But after the UN's top envoy for Yemen flew out of the capital Tuesday without announcing a breakthrough in mediation, hope is dwindling for Ahmed.

He, too, says he now plans to flee the only home he has ever known.

"The sounds of the violence have literally not stopped," Ahmed told AFP by phone from his home near Hodeida's international airport.

"There are families who have been trying to escape, but they just can't."

Many of them, like Ahmed, had been banking on UN efforts to take control of the port, through which nearly three quarters of Yemen's imports -- including much-needed aid -- flow.

But those efforts failed this week, with both the coalition and rebels refusing to stand down as air raids continue to target key locations around the area.

One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of arrest, said civilians had been "banned from using their phones to take pictures and are questioned about their movements if they're seen in the streets".

"The rebels have also begun to dig trenches in the streets," he said.

"The city is nearly paralysed."

Mohammed, a student who lives in central Hodeida, said a stream of buses and vans had been carrying panicked families from their homes to areas of relative safety over the past few days.

"It's been non-stop fleeing," he told AFP.

Readying to board a bus headed for Sanaa, one family placed a propane gas cannister, basic food items and a small suitcase for the driver to load into the vehicle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5861683/Yemens-Hodeida-braces-street-battles.html

(A K pH)

Saudi-led coalition leads its fighters into holocaust in Hodeidah: Ansarullah Official

Mohammed al-Bokhiti, a member of the Political Bureau of Ansar Allah and a member of the Shura Council, affirmed that clashes are still ongoing at southern Hodeidah Airport and are hysterically supported by coalition aerial surveillance. ”The Yemeni army confronted all the pro-UAE militiamen attempts in advancing to the airport, leading to heavy losses among them” he added.

Al-Bokhiti said in a statement to Al-Alam television channel: ” All the news about the entry of the UAE forces into Hodeidah airport is only propaganda.”

He pointed out that eight armored vehicles were destroyed in the area of the Dwar-Whadah; in addition, many UAE vehicles were demolished in the district of Durayhemi, while ten others were seized.

http://www.yemenextra.net/2018/06/19/saudi-led-coalition-leads-its-fighters-into-holocaust-in-hodeidah-ansarullah-official/

(* A K)

The Battle for Control of a Key Port City in Yemen Intensifies

Fierce fighting raged Tuesday outside the airport of the crucial Yemeni city of Hodeida as thousands of pro-government fighters backed by a Saudi-led coalition battled Iranian-allied Shiite rebels for control of the Red Sea port — the main passageway for food and aid supplies in a country teetering on the brink of famine.

the UAE-backed Amaleqa brigades, supported by airstrikes and naval shelling from the Saudi-led coalition, tried to storm the southern and western parts of the Hodeida airport. They faced fierce resistance from rebel snipers and land mines encircling the airport.

“It is a vast, open area and the Houthis have covered the ground with land mines to prevent the forces’ advancements,” one Yemeni military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. “It’s back and forth battles.”

Still, the official said it was a matter of hours before the forces would take full control of the airport.

The Amaleqa brigades have captured dozens of rebel fighters, including minors, in the airport fighting, the official said. Combat has been raging at the southern runway less than a mile (one kilometer) from the main airport compound.

Witnesses said coalition warships and warplanes have been hitting the airport and the eastern side of Hodeida around the clock since late Monday, aiming to cut off the main road that links Hodeida and the rebel-held capital, Sanaa.

Government forces have been trying for days to capture the Kilo 16 road to trap the Houthi rebels inside Hodeida and the western coast, and block supplies from coming in from Sanaa.

http://time.com/5316765/yemen-hodeida-saudi-arabia-iran/

(* A K)

Unprecedented heavy naval and areal bombardment over #Hodeidah, worst I have seen so far... clashes at the vicinity of Hodeida city #Yemen additional displaced families continue to flee the conflict

https://twitter.com/EliasdDiab/status/1009040299790913536

(* A K)

Health official says 6 dead in coalition strike

2:45 p.m.

A senior Houthi-linked health official says the Saudi-led coalition has bombed a bus carrying civilians, killing six people on the outskirts of the Yemeni city of Hodeida.

Saudi-led airstrikes on Tuesday heavily bombed Houthi positions and snipers who took over rooftops in Hodeida as forces battled to take control over the airport of the city.

https://www.businessinsider.de/ap-the-latest-health-official-says-6-dead-in-coalition-strike-2018-6?r=UK&IR=T

and

(* A K pH)

Photos: #Hodeidah: Six civilians were killed, including four women, in Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a passenger bus in Ghirasi junction.

https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1829310867364899 = http://www.newnewss.net/fresh-us-saudi-air-strike-kill-injure-ten-civilians-in-yemens-hodeida-photos/

film: https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1009475984314327041 = https://twitter.com/MohammedHojily/status/1009434770386898944

(* A K pH)

More Than 40 Raids Rock Hodeidah Airport

A series of raids rocked Al-Hodeidah Airport and its environs since the morning of the day in an attempt to support the offensive operations conducted by UAE mercenaries aiming for the control of the airport.

Hodeidah Airport’s vicinity has been a home for fierce battles between the Yemeni Army and Ansarullah on one hand, and the UAE mercenaries on the other.

According to a local source, more than 40 airstrikes have been waged on Hodeidah Airport since the morning amid intensive flights by Apache and reconnaissance aircraft at the skies of the airport.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Army and Ansarullah have been repelling multiple attempts to advance by the UAE mercenaries towards the airport.

http://www.yemenextra.net/2018/06/19/more-than-40-raids-rock-hodeidah-airport/

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Saudi-led coalition has so far failed to capture Hudaydah airport despite propaganda

The international airport of Yemen’s western city of Hudaydah still firmly resists occupation by a Saudi-led military coalition despite scores of airstrikes pouring on the compound, a lifeline to millions of Yemenis, thanks to the impoverished country’s army, supported by allied fighters from the Popular Committees and those of the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Since Saturday, the so-called coalition has announced a number of times that they had managed to fully capture the airport, but each time it was revealed that the airport was still in the hands of Houthi fighters and Yemeni troops, and that the compound was only within the reach of repeated air raids.

On Tuesday, Ebtesam al-Mutawakel, the head of cultural front against the invaders in Hudaydah, said Yemeni army troopers and Houthis fighters had successfully repelled attacks launched by Hadi’s militia and the collation’s mercenaries.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/19/565462/Yemen-Hudaydah-airport-

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Commander of the Coast Front confirms full control of Yemeni army on Hodeidah airport

The Commander of the West Coast Front in Yemen Brigadier Abu Zarah Al-Mahrami has confirmed the full control of the Yemeni National Army forces on Hodeidah international airport after fierce battles fought by the army with the support of Arab coalition aircraft against Houthi coup militias.

According to the Yemeni News Agency, Yemeni army forces are advancing from the south-west of Hodeidah airport in a circumventing operation to liberate the center of Durahmi Directorate.

The Agency cited military sources as saying that violent clashes between the Yemeni National Army and militias are taking place in the area of Wadi Nakhl Al-Rumman located on the outskirts of the center of the Directorate, noting that the militias suffered in fighting dozens of deaths, injuries and prisoners, as well as heavy losses in equipment.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777369

(A H K)

UN fears disastrous impact of attack on Yemen’s Hudaydah port

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Bin Ra’ad Al-Hussein, yesterday expressed deep concern over attacks by the Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni city of Hudaydah.

During a speech at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council Al-Hussein said that he feared the attack will affect a large number of civilians and lead to numerous victims.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180619-un-fears-disastrous-impact-of-attack-on-yemens-hudaydah-port/

(* A H K)

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Yemen: Al Hudaydah Update Situation Report No. 3, 19 June 2018

Heavy fighting and airstrikes are continuing in several locations in Al Hudaydah City and southern districts. The frontlines remained largely static in the past forty-eight hours.

Risk that some warehouses outside Al Hudaydah City could become inaccessible. Agencies relocating stocks.

More than 5,000 families are estimated to have fled their homes since 1 June.

Rapid response assistance is being distributed to newly displaced households in Al Hudaydah City and districts.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-al-hudaydah-update-situation-report-no-3-19-june-2018

(** B H K P)

Rescue: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are insincere about providing humanitarian aid and relief to the people of Yemen

The “relief” plan announced by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to protect civilians living in Hodeidah as they attack the port city is a publicity stunt by the Saudi-led coalition (SLC) coalition meant to draw attention away from the undue suffering the attack is causing. The port is absolutely critical to the survival of many innocent Yemenis, and 600,000 civilians living in the port city and surrounding areas are in immediate danger. An attack on or disruption of operations of the port will be catastrophic.

Amanda Catanzano, senior director of policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said,

“The biggest contribution the SLC could make to the humanitarian situation and protection of civilians is to immediately halt the offensive and engage in UN-led peace talks. This is the only way to ensure the safety of Hodeidah’s 600,000 residents and that the millions of Yemenis on the brink of starvation continue to receive life-saving aid and critical imports of food and fuel.

The so-called “relief” plan announced by the Arab coalition in Yemen must be seen for exactly what it is; a justification to launch an attack that will have catastrophic consequences. The modalities for the delivery of this plan are vague, and the plan alone will not address the underlying causes of conflict in Hodeidah nor the level of humanitarian need that will be created by a siege or attack on the port and the city itself.

Nobody following this war for the past three years can believe that the SLC have any intention of prioritizing the well-being of Yemeni civilians. The Hadi government, backed by this coalition, has been in control in Aden and other areas in southern Yemen for three years, yet, innocent Yemeni civilians living in these areas continue to suffer from a total lack of basic healthcare and critical life-saving services.

It is naive to believe that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will follow through on their commitments to provide healthcare, food and economic recovery assistance to the people of Hodeidah, when they have failed to help Yemenis in the areas they already control. The coalition has had plenty of time to rebuild healthcare services and jump start the economy in the south, but they chose to pour money into their war efforts instead. Healthcare services remain inaccessible to the majority of Yemenis in the South and businesses and shops remain shuttered.

If the coalition is sincere in its efforts to protect Yemeni civilians, they would stop the attack and work with aid agencies in Yemen to increase access and security. All parties to the conflict have violated international humanitarian law and all sides must pledge to work with humanitarian aid agencies to immediately ramp up service delivery for those affected by the conflict and launch life-saving aid for those injured in the fighting in Hodeidah.”

To learn more about the International Rescue Committee's work in Yemen, click here.

https://www.rescue.org/press-release/saudi-arabia-and-united-arab-emirates-are-insincere-about-providing-humanitarian-aid

(* B H K P)

Battle rages for Hodeidah as Yemen faces threat of mass starvation

A nightmare is unfolding in Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, with civilians attempting to flee a siege mounted by US-backed forces led by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as bombs and shells explode around them.

Efforts by United Nations special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths to broker a ceasefire were scuttled Monday, after the foreign minister of the UAE, Anwar Gargash, rejected anything outside of an unconditional surrender by the Houthi rebels who hold the port and their immediate evacuation

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a brief statement acknowledging that Washington had assured the UAE regime that it understood its “security concerns,” while urging it to maintain the “free flow of humanitarian aid.”

This is rank hypocrisy, given that the strategic aim of seizing Hodeidah is to cut off supplies to the territory controlled by the Houthis in order to starve the population into submission.

It has since been reported that US military personnel are working together with Saudi and UAE forces to select targ

Given the lack of progress on the ground, the Saudi-led force can be expected to place ever greater reliance on air power, raising the threat that Hodeidah will face a similar fate as Mosul and Raqqa, which were largely reduced to rubble by US bombs, missiles and shells, killing and wounding tens of thousands of civilians.

This air war against the Yemeni people would be impossible without US approval, in terms of political support, arms supplies, the mid-air refueling of Saudi and UAE warplanes and the Pentagon’s staffing of a joint command center in Riyadh that relays US intelligence for targeting airstrikes.

The Trump administration in the US and May’s government in Britain are, together with the reactionary oil monarchies that they arm and support, guilty of massive war crimes in Yemen.

For Washington, Yemen is seen as a means of countering Iranian influence in the region. US officials have claimed, without presenting any credible evidence, that the Houthis act as a proxy for Tehran and are armed and trained by Iran. In reality, both Riyadh and Washington oppose any government in Yemen that is not a servile puppet of Saudi and US interests.

To press its campaign against Iran and for US hegemony in the region, US imperialism is willing to sacrifice the lives of millions – by Bill van Auken

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/06/19/yeme-j19.html

(* B H K)

Hodeida woes

For his part, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, yesterday said: “I emphasize my grave worry regarding the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition’s ongoing attacks in Hodeida – which could result in enormous civilian casualties and have a disastrous impact on life-saving humanitarian aid to millions of people which comes through the port.”

Emirates’ state minister for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on twitter that the aim of the battle is to bring the Houthis to the negotiation table but he did not mention how many lives the innocent Yemeni civilians have to pay for him to achieve this goal.

The air and ground attacks on Hodeida have claimed so far and within the past six days over one thousand lives and displacement of over five thousand families. Many observers believe that the battle for Hodeida will not end the war and if the parties engaged in the urban battles, street fighting and the fighting continued for another month or more, the price then will be the heaviest humanitarian disaster in the worldThe world fear is fair enough and reasonable bearing in mind that the Saudi and Emirates air war on Yemen has killed thousands of Yemeni civilians and has crippled the country’s infrastructure and created the conditions for one of the world’s worst cholera epidemics in 50 years. The offense on Hodeida is simply new phase of devastating the humanitarian situation, and the entire world has expressed grave worries over the possible humanitarian impacts.

https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/19/06/2018/Hodeida-woes

(A K pH)

In #Houthis successful offensive on #Hodeida highway area hundreds of #Saudi and #UAE forces retreated and dozen of #MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles ( MAXxPro and Caimen ) are destroyed.

Yemeni Media #Almassira correspondent present in Hodeida from Al Durayhimi district after Saudi coalition forces retreated (photos)

https://www.facebook.com/muzoo3/posts/401698110332850

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Saudi-led coalition seizes large areas of Yemen's Hodeidah airport: UAE

Arab coalition troops stormed the airport in Yemen’s main port Hodeidah on Tuesday and captured large areas of the compound in battles with Iran-aligned Houthis, a Yemeni military source, the UAE news agency and local residents said.

Residents of the strategic Red Sea city said battles were also raging on the coastal road leading to the densely populated city center from the airport, with Apache helicopter gunships of the Western-backed coalition providing close air support.

“We can hear the sounds of artillery, mortars and sporadic machinegun fire. The Houthis have been using tanks,” a resident close to the coastal strip told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be identified.

“Water has been cut off to many of the areas near the Corniche area because the Houthis have dug trenches and closed water pipes. Many people are fleeing these neighborhoods and going deeper into the city center.”

Saudi and UAE state media accused the Houthis of shelling civilian districts. Residents said the Houthi tanks were targeting coalition forces.

Tuesday’s battles spread panic among local inhabitants.

“My children are terrified. The fighting and the sounds of explosions are everywhere and we are stuck in our house in the district of Rabsa with no running water,” Iman, a 37-year-old mother of two, said tearfully.

“What have we done for all of this?”

Mohamed Sharaf, 44, a civil servant, said he had sent his entire family to Sanaa, the Houthi-held inland capital, several days ago and he was getting ready to leave himself. “There is death and destruction everywhere in this city.”

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security/saudi-led-coalition-seizes-large-areas-of-yemens-hodeidah-airport-uae-idUKKBN1JF0FN?rpc=401&

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Saudi-led coalition storms Yemen's Hodeidah airport compound

Troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition stormed the airport compound in Yemen’s main port city Hodeidah on Tuesday after fierce battles with Iran-aligned Houthis, residents and Yemeni military sources said.

The capture of the airport from the Houthis would be an important gain for the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have promised a quick assault on the city to avoid disrupting aid deliveries through the port.

“They have stormed the airport,” an anti-Houthi Yemeni military source told Reuters.

“This is the first time we hear the clashes so clearly. We can hear the sound of artillery and machinegun fire,” a resident, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

Warplanes bombarded the airport earlier in the morning, the resident added.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/saudi-led-coalition-storms-yemens-hodeidah-airport-compound-idUSKBN1JF0FJ

and

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Yemen latest: Government troops storm Hodeidah airport after fierce clashes

Yemeni government troops, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have stormed the airport of the port city of Hodeidah on Tuesday and seized large parts from the Houthi rebels, the UAE's state news agency reported.

"Many members of the Houthi militias escaped," said Wam. "Dozens of rebels, including field commanders, had been injured or killed during the operation."

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel reported that some rebels had escaped in the direction of the Red Sea and left behind scores of injured fighters.

"The Yemeni army is not allowing journalists into the compound until it is safe and they remove landmines [planted by the Houthis]," Al Arabiya said.

Earlier, military sources said the troops entered the main compound of the airport.

"They have stormed the airport," a Yemeni military source told Reuters. He said the forces came through after fierce battles broke out early in the morning between forces loyal to Yemeni President Abrabu Mansur Hadi and Iran-aligned Houthi fighters, who hold the city of Hodeidah.

Wam also reported on Tuesday that government troops have taken full control of the Al Manar village, west of Hodeidah's airport.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemen-latest-government-troops-storm-hodeidah-airport-after-fierce-clashes-1.741723

also, with map: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-backed-coalition-advances-yemens-hodeidah-airport-191962067

and

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Saudi-Backed Forces Seize Parts of Yemen's Hodeidah Airport

Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi-led coalition warplanes have captured large parts of the airport at Hodeidah, a military commander said, after days of fighting for the country’s aid lifeline.

The civilian terminal, runway and control tower were seized from Houthi rebels who came under heavy artillery and tank fire, according to Abdulrehman al-Mahrami, who leads the Yemeni forces on the west coast front. Coalition warplanes and helicopters struck Houthi positions around the airport, Najeeb Mahmoud, who lives nearby, said by phone.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-19/saudi-backed-forces-seize-parts-of-yemen-s-hodeidah-airport

and

(A K)

Pictures at the start of the joint forces in the process of progress towards Hodeidah airport and stormed in the early hours of the morning.

https://twitter.com/baseem_aljenani/status/1008979829050535936

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Films:

France24: Yemen: Saudi-led coalition takes control of Hodeidah airport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuOf3d8B-Cw

Reuters: Coalition gains in battle for Yemen port city

http://www.reuters.tv/v/evL/2018/06/19/coalition-gains-in-battle-for-yemen-port-city

South Front: Battle For al-Hudaydah Can Become Turning Point In Yemen War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8al_pzuxlPQ = https://southfront.org/battle-for-al-hudaydah-can-become-turning-point-in-yemen-war/

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Saudi, UAE coalition enters airport compound of Yemen's Hudaida

Speaking to Al Jazeera Sami Hamdi, editor-in-chief of the International Interest, highlighted how essential the city's airport and seaport are for the coalition forces and the Houthis.

"The Houthi gamble has always been that as long as they can stay in Sanaa and Hudaida, then international pressure will force Saudi Arabia to the table to discuss negotiations.

"Taking the airport and seaport are absolutely fundamental for the coalition forces because this is the battle that will cut off the lifeline for the Houthis.

"If Hudaida is taken, there will be a severe weakening of the Houthis' position and it may very well force the Houthis into a fight for survival which may make them take negotiations more seriously."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/saudi-uae-coalition-enters-airport-compound-yemen-hudaida-180619055835693.html

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Yemen: Conflict in critical port city Hodeida endangers food aid delivery

Fierce fighting in the Red Sea port city has displaced 5,200 families, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said. The Saudi-led coalition wants to force Yemen's Houthi rebels out of an area already on the brink of famine.

http://www.dw.com/en/yemen-conflict-in-critical-port-city-hodeida-endangers-food-aid-delivery/a-44284225

Remark: Overview.

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UN says over 25K people fled Yemen fighting at Hodeida

The U.N. spokesman says tens of thousands of residents have fled the fighting along Yemen’s western coastline where Yemeni fighters backed by a Saudi-led coalition are engaged in fierce battles with Iranian-backed Houthis rebels.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General, told reporters on Monday that about 5,200 families, or around 26,000 people, have fled the fighting and sought safety within their own districts or in other areas in Hodeida governorate.

“The number is expected to increase as hostilities continue,” he said.

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2018/06/18/united-nations-people-flee-yemen-fighting/36146615/ = https://www.voanews.com/a/un-tens-of-thousands-people-fled-yemen-fighting-hodeida/4444170.html

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Film, Transscript: “Civilian Lives No Longer Matter”: Millions at Risk as Saudi-Led Coalition Attacks Yemeni Port City

Hundreds of fighters have been killed and more than 4,000 civilians have fled their homes in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah since the U.S.-backed coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an all-out offensive last week. Coalition aircrafts bombarded Hodeidah’s main airport Monday, wounding dozens and preventing aid organizations from reaching parts of the city. As humanitarian organizations warn of a catastrophe for a quarter of a million civilians living in Hodeidah amid a conflict that has already killed 15,000 civilians, we’ll speak with Yemeni scholar Shireen Al-Adeimi, whose recent report is headlined “Attack on Yemen Port Shows U.S.-Backed Coalition Willing to Use Starvation as a Weapon.”

SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: I think what’s happening in Hodeidah is a worst-case scenario being played out. Over the last three years, since this attack began on Yemen, Hodeidah was the one—you know, if there were any red lines drawn, that would have been Hodeidah, because any kind of disruption to the aid that’s coming in through the port of Hodeidah means the starvation of millions of Yemenis. Eight-point-four million, like you said, depend on—are on the verge of starvation, and another 22 million people, 80 percent of the population, are relying on humanitarian aid that is coming in through this port of Hodeidah. So while the Houthis control the city of Hodeidah, the ports and the waters have been patrolled by the Saudi-led coalition, and they’ve been controlling what comes in and out of the country through that port. And, you know, their attack on the city right now, led by the United Arab Emirates, shows that there are just no more red lines in Yemen, that civilian lives no longer matter. There’s not even a pretense of civilian lives being, you know, of importance in Yemen.

So, for the last three years we’ve been hearing that Iran is involved in Yemen, that Iran is smuggling weapons to Yemenis through the port of Hodeidah. There is absolutely—there’s zero evidence that any of this has been taking place. Keep in mind that there is a land, air and sea blockade by the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and all this coalition of countries. And somehow Iranians are supposed to have magically transported some missiles to Yemen. So there’s no evidence to what he’s saying. It’s part of the same, you know, talking points that they’re in Yemen to deter Iranian influence, again, without any evidence, without any substantial evidence to back up what they’re saying. So, that is the claim.

And to say that Houthis are preventing aid from coming in, again, it makes no sense, given that the Saudis are the ones controlling what comes in and out of the country.

In Yemen, this is seen as a U.S.-Saudi war on their country. This is not just the Saudis and Emiratis waging war. The Emiratis and the Saudis are relying on U.S. intelligence.

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/6/18/civilian_lives_no_longer_matter_millions

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Yemen: Thousands Flee U.S.-Backed, Saudi-Led Offensive on Hodeidah Port City

Early this morning, coalition aircraft bombarded Hodeidah’s main airport, wounding dozens and preventing aid organizations from reaching parts of the city. This is Yehia Tanani, who was forced to flee with his family.

Yehia Tanani: “Me, my kids, my siblings, mother, father and my cousins, the whole village left. But almost half of us went back with the elderly. The children couldn’t take it. Those who died died, and those who survived survived. Those who were killed are in the refrigerator at the hospital. We know of 10 to 15 bodies that are in the refrigerators. And we don’t know who our enemy is.”

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/6/18/headlines/yemen_thousands_flee_us_backed_saudi_led_offensive_on_hodeidah_port_city

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Spotlight: Yemeni gov't forces continue battles to free strategic Hodeidah from Houthi rebels

On the sixth day of the offensive, the government troops fought sporadic clashes with Houthi militants in several areas of Hodeidah, while Saudi-led warplanes concentrated on shelling Houthi-controlled positions around the city's airport.

The source, who asked to be anonymous, said government forces also targeted Houthis with artillery and mortar rounds, killing scores of rebels in the areas of Hays and Tuhyatah.

"Houthi fighters desperately keep attempting to infiltrate into government-controlled sites but they always fail and get nothing," the local source said.

He added that battles around Hodeidah's airport are still ongoing between the two warring sides amid intensified air raids.

A field commander told Xinhua by phone that Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition started to deploy more troops and armored vehicles around the airport of Hodeidah in a bid to storm and kick the Houthis out of the facility.

Meanwhile, a source from the Operations Command of Hodeidah Liberation told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that "the government forces are establishing a strategic military base on Hodeidah's outskirts to combine the efforts and organize plans for the anti-Houthi operations."

"The military base will be used as main headquarters for the armed forces and experts along with field commanders who start managing the battles from there," he said.

Six well-trained Brigades of the Al-Amaliqah (Giants), with over 15,000 soldiers belonging to the Southern Resistance Forces backed by the UAE, were also mobilized to storm Hodeidah and lead the fighting against Houthis there, according to the source.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-06/18/c_137263203.htm

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Battle of Hodeidah: Wishful Thinking Is One Thing, and Reality Another

As if US and UK forces were not enough, now French special forces are also helping the Saudis and Emiratis to destroy as many lives as possible in the besieged port city of Hodeidah in Yemen.

F- It’s a waste of time for the Saudis and their Western allies to argue that taking the town will put political pressure on Ansarullah and enable the free flow of humanitarian aid through the port. They did promise that at the beginning of the war. Three years later, none of those promises have panned out. Even if anyone sees the assault on Hodeidah as a military success, he or she should know that the offensive is devastating to Yemeni civilians. The resistance front will live to fight another day.

Wishful thinking is one thing, and reality another. French support for the Saudi debacle will only escalate the conflict, heightening the Saudis’ feelings of impunity and condemning Yemenis to endless war and increasing hardship. As maintained by the United Nations, the best way forward is for the Saudi coalition to “give peace a chance”. Put more bluntly, the battle of Hodeidah will not rout the Ansarullah fighters as the nation defenders, much less bring the resistance front to the negotiating table. If this is true, no amount of wishful thinking will change it.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970328001225

Remark: from Iran.

(A K pH)

Saudi-led Coalition Defeated in Yemen’s Hudaydah: IRGC Chief

Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari, the chief-commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), says the coalition led by Arab and Western countries has failed in its operation to seize the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah.

The IRGC chief-commander described the Houthi Ansarullah’s imminent victory over the Saudi-led coalition as a great achievement for Iran’s Islamic Revolution which has influenced the resilient nation of Yemen.

http://ifpnews.com/exclusive/saudi-led-coalition-defeated-in-yemens-hudaydah-irgc-chief/

My comment: This is far from realistic.

(A K pH)

Only 5% of army, popular committees defend Hodeidah: Military official

The forces currently defending Hodeidah province constitute only 5 per cent of the army forces and popular committees, Brig. Gen. Abdullah al-Jafri, spokesman of Yemeni air force and air defense, said on Monday.

"The situation in Hodeidah is normal and controlled, contrary to propaganda of the aggression countries (Saudi-led coalition) on Yemen," al-Jafri added in an interview with Al-Alam TV channel.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499422.htm

Remark: By the Houthi government.

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UN Fails to Push Yemeni Forces to Cede Control of Hudaydah: Report

The UN special envoy who is in Yemen for talks over the port city of Hudaydah and to persuade the Yemeni forces to cede control of the strategic port is going to leave the country without achieving any results, an Arabic language website reported Monday.

In a report on Monday, Arabi 21 quoted sources affiliated with the United Nations as saying that the UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths will leave Yemen today after his talks with the Houthi Ansarullah movement went nowhere.

The UN official arrived in Yemen on Saturday to meet Houthi leaders and offer the United Arab Emirates’ proposed plan for halting its strikes on Yemen’s western port city of Hudaydah, which is controlled by the Houthi forces.

The UN-affiliated sources have said that the negotiations over Hudaydah have not led to any tangible results.

Griffiths was believed to be pushing a deal for Houthi leaders to cede control of the Red Sea port to a UN-supervised committee and halt defending their city against the invaders and Saudi-led mercenaries.

https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2018/06/18/1752260/un-fails-to-push-yemeni-forces-to-cede-control-of-hudaydah-report

My comment: It would be wrong just to blame the Houthis for such a failure. The other side also would not have accepted this. Look at articles below, UAE Foreign Minister has insisted the UAE will not accept anything but an unconditional withdrawal.

And

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UN envoy departs Yemen after failed talks with Houthi leaders

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths left Sanaa on Tuesday, wrapping up a four-day visit during which he spoke with leaders of the Shia Houthi rebel group.

Griffiths will now head to Jordanian capital Amman, a source at Sanaa’s airport told reporters on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

The UN envoy arrived in Houthi-held Sanaa on Saturday to meet with leaders of the rebel group and convey conditions laid down by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding the ongoing fight over Yemen’s coastal Al-Hudaydah province.

On Monday, sources close to the discussions in Sanaa told Anadolu Agency that the talks had failed to achieve any tangible breakthroughs.

According to the same sources, the Houthis have so far refused to hand Al-Hudaydah’s strategic seaport over to UN supervision, asking instead for more time to “study” Griffith’s proposals.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180619-un-envoy-departs-yemen-after-failed-talks-with-houthi-leaders/

And

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A member of the Houthis’ ruling politburo, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, denied Gargash’s assertion that the talks with Griffiths had focused on handing over Hodeidah “because this request is unrealistic”.

“During all his visits, the envoy has discussed a comprehensive political solution that addresses...all fronts and not only Hodeidah,” he told Reuters by telephone.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/saudi-led-coalition-captures-large-areas-of-yemens-hodeidah-airport-uae-idUSKBN1JF0FJ

My comment: The reports are contradicting each other. What really had been proposed to the Houthi government, what did the really refuse?

And

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UN ceasefire efforts fizzle as Hodeida fight ramps up

UN ceasefire efforts in Yemen fizzled on Monday as Saudi-backed loyalist forces press ahead with an offensive to retake the key port city of Hodeida.

After two days of talks in the capital Sanaa, UN envoy Martin Griffiths was due to brief the Security Council Monday on the crisis in Hodeida, an entry point for desperately-needed aid in war-torn Yemen.

But the Iran-backed Houthi rebels rejected a ceasefire and said talks had failed after meeting with Griffiths on Sunday.

Abdulaziz Saleh bin Habtoor [Sanaa government prime minister] accused Saudi-led forces of "escalating their attacks on the western coast when they felt there were serious moves towards a solution".

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/6/18/un-ceasefire-efforts-fizzle-as-hodeida-fight-ramps-up

Comment: Next stage : We'll see widespread allegations of partisan collusion by the UN and the UN envoy "with the enemy", to be made by ALL sides in #Yemen's war. These will include arms smuggling, and intelligence assistance to the invaders. Drafts all ready to roll off the war press.

The late Mohammad Hassanein Haykal (may God bless him) said "Yemen is deadly." This wisdom, Yemenis know instinctively as true. It is well advised for diplomats, and the foreign states all, to remember.

https://www.facebook.com/haykal.bafana/posts/1729063310507005

and

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UN envoy to leave Yemen following talks with Houthis

Martin Griffiths leaves Sanaa after talks with Houthi leaders fail to break deadlock over ongoing fight for Al-Hudeidah

Sources close to the discussions in Sanaa told Anadolu Agency that the talks had failed to achieve any tangible breakthroughs.

According to the same sources, the Houthis have refused to hand Al-Hudeidah’s strategic seaport over to UN supervision and have asked for more time to “study” Griffith’s proposals.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Sunday said the Houthis had consented to withdraw from Al-Hudeidah, hinting at “good news expected from Sanaa”.

The Houthi leadership, however, immediately denied Gargash’s assertions.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-envoy-to-leave-yemen-following-talks-with-houthis/1177782

and

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UN Envoy to Yemen delay his departure after he failed to convince Houthis to hand Hodeida

According to a special source of Almasdaronline said that the UN envoy to Yemen delayed his departure from Sanaa after he failed to convince Houthis to Hand over Hodeida port to the government.

The Houthi Leader “Mohammed Albukhaity” said Yesterday(Sunday), The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith did not come with any new suggestion and it was a continues of the prior discussion in his plan to the grand solution including Hodeida port.

Albukhaity added in his statement to the German News agency “the Envoy did not ask us to hand over nither Hodeida port nor the city and United Nations refused to accept supervising or directing of Hodeida port according to the ex- Un secretary who said this is not among our authorities and the talk at the time was about only censorship.

Handing over the port or the city is not logic, and there was no historical precedent of a country handed a part of its land to the invaders ( an indication to the government forces and Arabic coalition led by Saudi Arabia) and this means giving the invaders peacefully what they couldn’t take military wise and they will ask for more, he said.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99656

My comment: Well, the UAE had demanded a Houthi retreat without any conditions – the Houthis only could refuse this.

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Can a diplomatic solution for Yemen’s Hudaida succeed?

However, the UN’s focus on a Houthi-secession of the port makes a diplomatic solution unlikely. The Houthis unsurprisingly rejected such a proposal, and will stick to this position. They view UN negotiations as too biased towards the Saudi-led coalition, and are wary that if they left Hudeida, further attempts to take more territory would occur.

The UAE and Saudi-led forces, knowledgeable about UN negotiations, upped their bombing campaign on Hudaida. The coalition has already disregarded UN attempts to solve the conflict. Therefore, with neither side willing to concede ground, the fighting will likely continue.

Joost Hiltermann, Middle East and North Africa Program Director at International Crisis group, told me a third option with, “a better chance of success would be a deal whereby the Houthis permit a neutral third-party monitoring of shipments coming through the port, essentially moving UNVIM onshore.”

If the coalition’s massive force weakens the Houthis’ grasp of the port however—by which time the chaos would be unbearable across Yemen—they will likely cut aid supply to Houthi areas. The coalition has already shown it can do this, with its blockade in November last year.

While an arms embargo is unlikely at this point, it would ultimately be successful and effective in ending the fighting, which will take further Yemeni lives.

While the conflict’s backers take a back seat, diplomatic action is once again stalling, and is likely to do so in the future. A worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen is unfolding, where more Yemenis die and the healthcare crisis grows.

Eventually if the battle stalls and when many civilians are hit hard, greater diplomatic action may be pursued – yet for many Yemenis, it could come too little too late – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/can-a-diplomatic-solution-for-yemen-s-hudaida-succeed--18271

(A K P)

Government spokesman deny the acceptance of Houthis to UN envoy Peace terms

And he added “the ones think Houthis have judgment or wisdom is delusional or the ones think Houthis is aiming to stop the bloodshed, all these are leaks but we wish if they are true and Houthis would accept and spare Hodeida the destruction”

Houthis do not understand the Peace language, he said.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99653

My comment: Hadi government. The Hadi government’s “language of peace” seems to be assault, air raids, and shelling.

(A K pH)

Yemen air force carries out drone strikes on Western Coast

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499390.htm

Update: Leaders of mercenaries killed in army’s drone strikes on Western coast

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499430.htm

and

(A K pS)

Government forces shoot down an armed drone with explosives at Hodeida (photo)

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99651

(A K pH)

Aggression warplanes launch 12+ strikes on Hodeidah

The US-backed Saudi-led coalition aggression on Monday launched over 12 airstrikes on Hodeidah province, a security official told Saba News Agency.
The airstrikes were waged on Hodeidah international airport and several areas of Duraihimi district

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499431.htm

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499441.htm

(A K pS)

Houthis continue to dig trenches in Hodeida

Houthis militia continue digging of trenches and tunnels in many Hodeida city streets west Yemen, which witnessed violent battles between government forces and Houthis.

Locals said to Almasdaronline Houthis continue to dig trenches at some Hodeida streets and dust covers and they used some containers in some areas with the deployment of dozens of armed men (photo)

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99655

and more photos of roads blocked by Houthis.

https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1008613373766963200

https://twitter.com/baseem_aljenani/status/1008638867271012352

https://twitter.com/baseem_aljenani/status/1008740207686975489

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Plans in place to isolate Houthi fighters in Hodeidah

Road known as Kilo 16 is main route for sending supplies and weapons from port city to other rebel-held areas

Yemen pro-government forces are planning to isolate Houthi fighters in Hodeidah from other rebel-held areas by cutting off their main supply route, nearly one week into an offensive to recapture the vital port city.

Three units of the Al Amalikah Brigades would be deployed to capture the route known as Kilo 16 which runs east from Hodeidah, said Abdulrahman Al Mashra'ee, the head of the Sons of Hodeidah, a group of prominent citizens.

However, no time frame was given for the operation, with the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, saying on Monday that the road to Sanaa had been kept open so far to give the rebels a chance to withdraw unconditionally from Hodeidah.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/plans-in-place-to-isolate-houthi-fighters-in-hodeidah-1.741661

My comment: They already had claimed they had blocked this road, so what??

(* A H K)

Massive explosions are being heard loudly everywhere in and around the city, residents in #Hodeidah said minutes ago.

https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1008725772863975424

Residents in #Hodeidah discribe the situation there as they are living in hell. Sounds of missiles and bombs everywhere. For them the hot weather is enough and they dont need more suffer by the war.

https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1008726926905741312

A few people in #Hodeidah were able to flee the scene of the battle to safe areas as hundred of thousands others are still stranded in the city waiting for help to get out of there.

https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1008728063562133504

(* A K)

Yemen Houthis Launch Attack on Saudi-Led Coalition's Supply Line

Yemen rebels attacked government supply lines south of Hodeidah, slowing a Saudi-led coalition’s efforts to oust them from the port city through which desperately needed aid enters.

The rebels harried coalition fighters in nighttime attacks from farms located on the Red Sea coastal road south of the city, forcing them to reroute troops and supplies, said a government commander who asked not to be identified discussing the battle’s progress. The coalition responded with gunfire from Apache helicopters, according to the commander and Mohamed Naji, a fighter.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-18/yemen-houthis-launch-attack-on-saudi-led-coalition-s-supply-line

(* B H K)

Film: Battle for Hudaida could make Yemen's humanitarian crisis worse

The battle for Yemen’s most strategic port city continues as Saudi and Emirati-backed forces battle Iranian-supported Houthis.

Losing Hudaida would deal a serious blow to the rebels.

It could also interrupt or cut off food imports for 70 percent of the population.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/battle-hudaida-yemens-humanitarian-crisis-worse-180618134617382.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTXhSEpes38

(A K pH)

Deputy Chief of Staff of UAE Armed Forces Killed in Yemen

Deputy Chief of Staff of UAE Armed Forces Major General Eisa Saif al-Mazrouei was killed in clashes in the Western coasts of Yemen, al-Hudaydah authorities said on Monday.

The Arabic-language al-Alam news channel quoted Deputy Governor-General of Hudaydah province Ali Qashar as saying on Monday that 43 people, including al-Mazrouei and a group of high-ranking Yemeni officers, were killed in the Western coast front (al-Hudaydah) during the Saturday and Sunday clashes.

He added that 253 fighters of the Saudi-led coalition were killed in the past few days.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970328000896

(* B H K P)

Hodeidah and the Saudi Coalition’s Deliberate Starvation of Yemen

The Trump administration has occasionally paid lip service to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, but in practice it has increased support for the bombing campaign, deflected attention away from Saudi coalition crimes, and desperately sought to blame anyone but the coalition for the suffering of Yemen’s population. The U.S., Britain, and France all bear responsibility for enabling and indulging the coalition, and that now extends to supporting an assault that everyone understands will be a nightmare and a death sentence for hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of innocent civilians. The Saudi coalition is in the process of committing what is likely to be one the largest crimes against humanity in decades, and it is doing so with U.S. approval and assistance.

The Saudi coalition has wrecked and starved Yemen for over three years with Washington’s assistance and encouragement, and it now threatens to cause massive loss of life that could end up being measured in the millions.

This is the deliberate, knowing starvation of a civilian population in a desperate attempt to advance an unjustified, aggressive military campaign. It may no be too late to halt the offensive, but if Congress is going to force the issue with the administration it has to do it immediately. If Congress can’t or won’t do something to stop this attack, the U.S. will remain a knowing accomplice in one of the most appalling crimes of our time.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/hodeidah-and-the-saudi-coalitions-deliberate-starvation-of-yemen/

(** A H K P)

Arab coalition bombs Houthis at Hodeidah airport, urges them to withdraw

Arab coalition aircraft bombarded Houthi fighters holed up at the airport of Yemen’s main port Hodeidah on Monday as a senior alliance official said he hoped U.N. diplomacy could coax the Iran-aligned movement to relinquish the city.

On Monday Apache helicopter gunships fired at Houthi snipers and other fighters positioned on the rooftops of schools and homes in the Manzar neighborhood abutting the airport compound, according to local residents.

The upsurge in fighting has wounded dozens of civilians and prevented aid organizations from reaching parts of Hodeidah.

In Geneva, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein voiced concern the Arab offensive could cause “enormous civilian casualties and have a disastrous impact on life-saving aid to millions of people which comes through the port”.

“I emphasize my grave worry regarding the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition’s ongoing attacks in Hodeidah – which could result in enormous civilian casualties and have a disastrous impact on life-saving humanitarian aid to millions of people which comes through the port,” Zeid told the opening of a three-week session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

Yehia Tanani said he and his family left Manzar three days ago and walked for 3 km (1.86 miles), hiding behind walls and under trees to avoid air strikes, before finding shelter at a fish farm. Others stayed to care for family members and cattle.

“They told us that some humanitarian organizations are going to send buses but then they said no buses could come in or out. So we started walking on foot carrying our children, sitting every while for rest while the Apaches hovered above us. We were scared not knowing if we’d be shot or not,” he said.

“Now we’re in this school, no mattresses, no electricity, no water, no bathrooms, nothing. And we have children who need medicine, need food, need anything, but we don’t have anything,” he said, sitting on the floor of an empty classroom of a school being used to house those displaced by the fighting.

Children slept on the floor of empty classrooms while others sat forlornly in the courtyard, where a few items of clothing and blankets were draped over balconies and upturned desks.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/arab-aircraft-hammer-houthis-around-airport-of-major-yemen-port-hodeidah-idUSKBN1JE0P4

My comment: Please tell me why they change the wording. The former headline to this article wsas „Arab aircraft hammer Houthis around airport of major Yemen port Hodeidah“, and the article began by „Saudi-led coalition aircraft“, then changed to the wording as it is used by saudi and UAE media and propaganda: „Arab coalition“. Why?

(* A K P)

UAE's Gargash: Houthis must withdraw 'unconditionally' from Yemen's Hodeidah

Houthi rebels in Yemen must withdraw "unconditionally" from the key port city of Hodeidah, said the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash, as UN ceasefire efforts appeared to have fizzled on Monday.

The "Hodeida port operation will continue unless rebels withdraw unconditionally," he said during a press briefing in Dubai.

He added that the Arab coalition — which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE — has kept the Hodeidah-Sanaa road "open for the Houthi militias to withdraw".

Dr Gargash said that estimates show there are up to 3,000 Houthi fighters in the city, and the operation aims to pressure the Houthis to withdraw from the city and avoid civilian casualties.

Dr Gargash also said that he hoped the UN would be able to convince the rebels to cede control of the port, which the Houthis have been using to smuggle Iran-supplied weapons into the country.

The "Iranian fingerprint is all over these arms", he said. "We are still counting on the UN attempt to pull a rabbit out of a hat."

The UAE official said that the assault aims "to help the UN envoy [Martin Griffiths] in his last chance to convince the Houthis to withdraw unconditionally from the city and avoid any confrontation."

"If this does not happen, be assured we are determined to achieve our targets," he said. "This is not the time to negotiate."

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/uae-s-gargash-houthis-must-withdraw-unconditionally-from-yemen-s-hodeidah-1.741430 and also https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/government/battle-for-hodeida-meant-to-end-wider-yemen-war-gargash and https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/government/UAE-demands-/unconditional-withdrawal-of-houthis-from-Hodeida-1 and http://gulftoday.ae/portal/68b42070-f2f7-4804-9705-80faffee1ff0.aspx and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/18/yemen-crisis-saudi-coalition-demands-houthis-unconditional-withdrawal-from-port

My comment: Nice propaganda. Iranian arms again and the assault as last chance for peace, that’s really twisted.

Comment: Rumours completely without basis.....

Chatter that the UN envoy's next mission to #Yemen capital Sanaa will be to demand the surrender of #Iran capital Tehran to the #UAE to prevent the Hodeidah port military assault.

https://www.facebook.com/haykal.bafana/posts/1729165217163481

And more of this propaganda fireworks:

(* A K P)

War in Yemen is at a turning point: UAE Minister

'Our strategic goal is to end the war in Yemen and that can’t be done while Houthis are controlling Hodeida'

“We are at a turning point (in Yemen). As long as the Houthis hold Hodeida, they will continue to impede the political process. Our strategic goal is to end the war in Yemen and that can’t be done while Houthis are controlling Hodeida,” said Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on Monday in Dubai.

The full control of Hodeida is just a matter of time; we have been extremely careful in protecting civilians, Anwar Gargash said, while addressing the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dubai.

“Hodeida is a money maker for the Houthis, and the people of Hodeida are rejecting Houthis,” Gargash said. They make three billion dollars through trade from that port, he said.

"United Arab Emirates is not new to Yemen and we have been supporting Yemen since the beginning of the seventies," he said.

Commenting on the UN proposals, Gargash said: “The solution in Yemen is a political solution supported by the United Nations, a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue for us, and the cooperation works to prevent Iran from creating militias that kidnap the state and eliminate Al Qaeda.”

“This operation is intentionally calibrated to help UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in his difficult task to persuade the Houthis to unconditionally withdraw from Hodeida,” he said.

“We are convinced that the Houthis are the only obstacle to all peaceful initiatives in Yemen, and now they are losing Hodieda, and I hope they will look at this step more rationally. They must withdraw from Hodeida unconditionally to save the city and save their men and to engage in the political process," Gargash said.

https://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/war-in-yemen-is-at-a-turning-point-uae-minister-1.2238448

My comment: This is propaganda. Just one point: 'Our strategic goal is to end the war in Yemen and that can’t be done while Houthis are controlling Hodeida'

Is wrong. „To end the war“ here does not mean: peace. It does mean: victory. Thus: 'Our strategic goal is to win the war in Yemen and that can’t be done while Houthis are controlling Hodeida' (and after more killing and destroying „Hoodeidah“ will be replaced by „Sanaa“.

And western media widely report Gargash’s tales, one example:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/06/18/uaes-campaign-for-yemen-port-city-test-little-sparta.html

(A K pH)

Yemeni forces kill 123, capture 160 Saudi-led coalition mercenaries

Two lorries filled with the bodies of the Saudi and UAE-led coalition mercenaries arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Sunday, according to Yemenipress news website.

The bodies belonged to mercenary fighters who had been hired by the Saudi and UAE-led coalition in the southern Yemeni provinces, Yemnipress repot added.

Yemeni Defense Ministry had already announced on Saturday that in clashes between Yemeni forces comprised of the Army and popular forces, and the Saudi and UAE-led coalition forces comprised of some Arab states’ armies, more than 500 coalition mercenaries were killed or wounded in the Western Coast front.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/134889/Yemeni-forces-kill-123-capture-160-Saudi-led-coalition-mercenaries

(** A B K P)

Attacking Hodeidah is a deliberate act of cruelty by the Trump administration

Pretensions of humanitarian concern from Yemen by the US, Britain and France reek of hypocrisy, shedding copious tears for the victims of war while supplying the arms and advisers with which that war is being waged.

The Trump administration is guilty of many acts of deliberate cruelty, such as taking away the children of immigrant parents at the US border. But just as the world was watching the lead up to the Trump-Kim Jong-un meeting in Singapore last Monday, the US may have done something even worse by quietly announcing a decision that threatens to kill millions by starvation or disease.

The potential death sentence came in a short press statement by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, effectively giving a green light for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to launch an offensive in Yemen aimed at capturing Hodeidah on the Red Sea.

The eagerness of US officials to avoid accusations of complicity in the Hodeidah attack is a sign that they suspect the outcome may be calamitous. Pompeo was deliberately low-key in his three sentence statement about Hodeidah: “I have spoken with Emirati leaders and made clear our desire to address their security concerns while preserving the free flow of humanitarian aid and life-saving commercial imports.”

Absent from this message for the first time was any call for Saudi Arabia and the UAE not to attack Hodeidah.

The 25,000 Yemeni fighters advancing on Hodeidah are not an independent force but are paid for and under the control of the UAE. “We take our orders from the Emiratis, of course,” a Yemeni field commander in the front line told Iona Craig of The Intercept earlier this month as he called in airstrikes.

The UAE has made it clear privately to US officials that it would not attack Hodeidah without the permission and support of the Trump administration. The White House has decided to escalate the Saudi and UAE-led campaign against the Houthis.

A crude attempt by the UAE to pretend that it is not acting in concert with the US is to announce publicly that its request to the US for satellite imagery, reconnaissance and mine-sweeping had been turned down. Given that countries do not normally put such rejections up in lights, this is clearly another attempt to play down the US role.

Why is the US doing this? Trump is closer to Saudi Arabia and UAE than any another US president and they have put a vast effort into cultivating him.

The Saudis and the UAE are trying to defuse international concerns, particularly in the US Congress, about an impending famine by saying that they are ready and waiting to send in supplies once they have taken Hodeidah. That sounds good, but last year Saudi Arabia even banned chlorine tablets being sent to Yemen though it was suffering from a cholera epidemic – by Patrick Cockburn

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yemen-hodeidah-attack-trump-administration-cruelty-humanitarian-aid-saudi-arabia-a8400856.html?utm_source=reddit.com

cp2 Allgemein / General

(B K P)

Fuad Rajeh: I've read many articles by foreign researchers abt #Yemen war. Some even mentioned overthrow of Imam in 1962. Let's talk abt conflict which began in 2014: is there anyone honest to dig into how Houthis seized power? Someone must talk abt roles of US & its Saudi & UAE proxies.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009242059746742272

Iran did not help Houthis seize power and former president, Saleh, was an ally of US, not Iran. President Hadi did. Was it a miscalculation? Maybe. For me, it was a plot. I was there watching everything. You may ask: but why? Well, why don't you dig into that, too?

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009245258474016770

Conflict with Iran is a good pretext for US proxies to come to Yemen, shape political scene & think about many things including islands, ports & waterways. Their objective is not to help people, but their own interests, and that's why no one wants this disastrous war to end

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009245426439151616

(* B K P)

In Yemen’s Bayda, tribal fighters are out for revenge against the Houthis

Tribal fighters say that with Gulf support they could push forward to Saana

Local men of the Al Omar tribe took up arms against the Houthis under the leadership of Muhamed Salih Abdul Rabb Al Ghoneimi and his deputy Mr Omar. The 180 men of the Abu Jabr Brigade take their name from Mr Al Ghoneimi’s nom de guerre.

“All the front lines fighters are men from around the area, we’re one tribe, everyone came to fight for his religion and his land,” said one of Abu Jabr’s skinny young gunmen on the frontline.

Renowned as fighters, there were originally 280 in the brigade but 60 have been killed and others are injured or on leave.

For Mr Omar and the Abu Jabr Brigade, the war is local and personal. The reason they sided with the government against the Houthi is a grievance that dates back decades. In 1962, Bayda tribesmen fought for the Yemen Arab Republic against Zaydi tribes. “It’s an old revenge story between Houthis and tribesmen in Bayda,” says Abdel Al Qadir Al Rassas, a tribal sheikh from Bayda.

The fighters are all volunteers, but others from the tribe still live in Saudi Arabia and their remittances support the brigade.

The frontline in Bayda consists of defensive sandbagged positions running along hillsides around a string of tiny villages – Yaf’an, Durei’a and Al Zahir. The men look out over Houthi lines 600 metres away. Between them lie minefields planted by the Houthi and the men say it’s a lack of weaponry preventing them from making their advance.

“All we can do now is stop the enemy from taking our houses,” said one fighter named Abu Abdu. “But if we had more weapons we would free our areas and go north to kill them in Sanaa.”

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/in-yemen-s-bayda-tribal-fighters-are-out-for-revenge-against-the-houthis-1.742007

My comment: This article glorifies the militarization of civilians in their local life, what means a militarization of the whole society. It’s not glorious at all.

(* A K P)

Interactive Map of Yemen

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* B K)

Mine Planting .. Houthi Crimes against Yemeni People

Hardly a day passes without the news of the injury or death of a Yemeni citizen due to mines planted by Houthi militias after their successive losses against the progress of the legitimate forces supported by Arab coalition. Yemen has become one of the most affected countries of mine planting disaster since the end of the World War II, with a total of half a million mines planted by the militias in the Yemeni cities.
This huge amount of landmines constitutes a sustainable threat to civilian lives, compounded by the Houthi militias' deliberate, indiscriminate and heavy planting of internationally banned mines in the areas where they expelled from, even in homes, roads, and public facilities.
The mines types the Houthis plant vary. Some of them are handmade in the form of rocks if the area is mountainous and in the form of sand clusters, as well as other known mines of all kinds.
The Houthi militias deliberately plant mines and improvised explosive devices (IED) randomly in the streets, houses, farms of the areas which they are expelled from without taking into account the civilian, children, youth, and the elderly.
According to Local and international human right reports, the Houthi militias planted more than half a million mines in liberated Yemeni provinces, including internationally banned mines that killed hundreds of civilians and caused thousands of permanent disabilities to others.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777355

My comment: By Saudi Press Agency. It’s the Saudis who drop cluster bombs to reach a similar effect.

(* B K P)

The UK has blood on its hands as its ally starves and kills civilians in Yemen

https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2018/06/18/the-uk-has-blood-on-its-hands-as-its-ally-starves-and-kills-civilians-in-yemen/

My comment: An interesting collection of tweets.

(A K P)

Infographic: It’s been 3 months since the UN Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement on #Yemen collectively calling on the UAE and Saudi-led coalition as well as the Houthis to abide by certain commitments. @amnesty @nrc and @hrw have been tracking this:

https://twitter.com/SherineT/status/1008750186141798407

(* A P)

Film: Message from Yemen to leaders of US, Uk and France

https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1008740133192065024

(A P)

Launch of $93M Huawei-installed AdenNet ISP & 4G services this week will transfer control of #Yemen's internet access architecture from Houthi-run capital Sanaa to temp capital Aden city. I expect the transition will be messy. In theory, Aden can cut Sanaa's internet access.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1729118757168127&set=a.103653093048043.7771.100002100572787&type=3

Aden Net etc launch now postponed to 30 July 2018.

https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1009032413761212416

and

(A P)

Hadi launches telecom projects package

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minister Ahmed bin-Daghr launched today a package of telecommunication projects in the temporary capital that include national providers of the phone call, internet service provides and a telecom control center.
The USD 100 million project will include all the accompanying facilities and will be run by Yemeni staff.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99647

(A K P)

Iran's Rouhani says military approach will fail in Yemen - State TV

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Qatar’s ruler on Monday that a military approach in Yemen would fail, Iranian state TV reported, after Saudi-led coalition aircraft bombarded Iran-aligned Houthi fighters holed up at the airport of the country’ main port city Hodeidah.

“The crisis in Yemen should be resolved through political channels ... a military approach will fail ... Yemen’s stability and security is important for the Middle East“.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N1TK3X1?rpc=401&

(* B K P)

Mohammad bin Salman Heralds new Future for Saudi While Plunging Yemen into the Stone Age

Shortly before he unveiled his grand vision for Saudi, called Vision 2030, bin Salman ordered the invasion and occupation of Yemen. While he was meticulously planning which marketing strategy to use in order to re-launch his country as a modern one, he was also plotting how to most effectively choke the entire country of Yemen off from the world.

Both dreams are becoming realized. Saudi women are scheduled to be included much more in the general Saudi workforce, while millions of Yemeni civilians will be subjected to a kind of collective punishment, starvation and deprivation the country has yet to see.

The Selective Opening and Closures of Futures.

The Selective Opening and Closures of Futures

International mediation, for Saudi, means a loss of control from the war effort and thus an obstacle in their strategy to obliterate the Houthi rebels and their sympathizers out of existence.

Bin Salman’s War Strategy

Saudi’s entrance into Yemen included a two-pronged strategy to erase Yemen’s agricultural infrastructure off the map before enforcing a total air and sea blockade on its ports. Bin Salman wanted to make the 29 million people who live inside Yemen, the poorest Arab country, to rely totally on outside aid and then deny them that aid.

Only 2.8 percent of Yemen’s land in cultivated; despite this, about a third of the Saudi and U.A.E. bombs that landed in Yemen hit those areas. Entire farms were destroyed, cattle were slaughtered, roads were made unusable, and economic activity—already stalling by a previous war—halted.

“To hit that small amount of agricultural land, you have to target it.” Martha Mundy, emeritus professor at the London School of Economics and analyst of Yemen’s agriculture, told The Telegraph.

According to her, the data she has been collecting “is beginning to show that in some regions, the Saudis are deliberately striking at agricultural infrastructure in order to destroy the civil society.”

The blockade of Yemen has forced the vast majority of the population to rely on humanitarian assistance to live. To that end, the capture of Hodeidah represents the logical conclusion of bin Salman’s strategy to starve Yemen. Once his forces take the air and sea port of Hodeidah, he controls the supply routes to and from the entire governorate in addition to vital routes to Sanaa.

While it is worth rejoicing in the news that Saudi women may get more rights, bin Salman’s obliteration of Yemeni men, women, and children is the news story constantly lurking behind the headlines which herald Saudi’s ‘new future.’

They are not separate developments but rather part of bin Salman’s grand vision for his country and those surrounding him.

https://www.albawaba.com/news/mohammad-bin-salman-heralds-new-future-saudi-while-plunging-yemen-stone-age-1146416

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

(* B H)

Open Letter to the UN Envoy to Yemen from the Women

The Current Women’s Situation in Yemen.

Five months into the armed conflict, gender based violence increased by 70%[1], the number of documented cases women killed and injured have reached 2,447[2], and the number of internally displaced persons has now reached more than two million, 76% of whom are women and children[3]. Among female-headed IDP and host community households, nearly 21 per cent are headed by females below the age of 18[4]. Child marriage has also increased to 66%[5], as families resort to it as a coping mechanism to address the poverty widening gap and the deprivation of economic opportunities. It is estimated that 8 million have lost their livelihoods[6], amid complete or interruption of civil servants salaries and suspension of the social welfare fund cash aid transfers to vulnerable groups. The collapse of the health system have led to catastrophic consequences, including outbreak of diseases such as cholera reaching to more than a million of suspect cases[7], and where women accounted for 50% of the affected cases[8].

Violation & abuse against women:

Women’s rights violations and abuse have also increased dramatically. Women have been targeted by airstrikes in their homes, weddings, funerals, schools, and markets. They have been directly targeted by snipes, and they have fallen victims of indiscriminate shelling and mines explosions. They have been shot at with live bullets during their peaceful demonstrations and they have been detained arbitrarily.

Women Leading Peacebuilding

Amid this misery, women have not stopped their efforts to make peace especially at the community level[1]. They are at the frontlines to deliver humanitarian aid; to contribute to economic recovery through informal sector and small projects;

They are at the frontlines campaigning for reconciliation; to lead on local truces and security; all of which are efforts that have been ignored and not adequately supported[2].

They are at frontlines to defend the detainees and working to release them; they remain at the frontlines to reintegrate children combatants; to safeguard the community from radicalization;

Participation of women in peacebuilding

Our Recommendations to the newly appointed UN Special Envoy:

In light of the continuation of excluding women, we invite you to take a clear and firm stand on women’s demands mentioned in the National Agenda, and we call on you to:

https://yemenwomenvoices.wordpress.com/

(B H K)

The youngest general. Classic Yemen. Forget the exact wording but youth minister of defense of the youth parliament touring the front making sure they don’t use child soldiers or something along those lines

https://twitter.com/LostWeapons/status/1007682755574951936

My comment: hadi government child soldiers?

(* B H)

Yemen: A Bad Place for Failing Kidneys, as US-Saudi-Led War Cripples Treatment and Transit

Citing the war, lack of medicines, frequent electrical outages, and crumbling transportation infrastructure, Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights in March attributed more than 1,200 deaths over the last three years to a lack of treatment for patients in the advanced stages of renal failure.

Citing the war, lack of medicines, frequent electrical outages, and crumbling transportation infrastructure, Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights in March attributed more than 1,200 deaths over the last three years to a lack of treatment for patients in the advanced stages of renal failure; another 6,000, the agency said, will likely die within the next year or two of inadequate treatment.

Of the 32 dialysis centres Yemen had before the war, four have closed. The other 28 are struggling to provide services — with broken machines, a lack of essential supplies, and unpaid staff. Alexandre Faite, the head of the International Committee for the Red Cross in Yemen, told reporters in March:

Reducing the weekly dialysis sessions causes increased side-effects and a lower quality of life. Without dialysis treatment, the outcome is fatal . . . The urgent needs of dialysis patients underscore how conflict has devastated Yemen’s health care system, negatively affecting many people with long-term health concerns.”

Travel to dialysis centers is frequently a maze of checkpoints and potholes caused by constant bombing. The dialysis center here is particularly difficult to access because the coalition has escalated its attacks in an effort to seize the vital supply line in nearby Hodeida. The clinic is under tremendous stress — some nurses and doctors haven’t been paid for three years — and will likely close this week without an emergency infusion of supplies, doctors told MintPress.

MintPress spoke to several patients suffering from life-threatening kidney ailments. In his 50s, Haj Ahmed is from Beit al Faqeeh district, which is about 45 miles away from the Hodeida clinic. “Instead of traveling here from home for treatment, I decided to live in Hodeida,” she said, as the sound of warplanes could be heard flying overhead. Ahmed said that everyone in the clinic is resigned to a single fact:

We will die eventually by kidney failure or Saudi airstrikes.”

https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-a-bad-place-for-failing-kidneys-as-us-saudi-led-war-cripples-treatment-and-transit/244279/

(* B H)

In Yemen, Selling, Borrowing, Begging To Save Loved-Ones as Cholera Rages

What is taking shape across this Texas-sized nation at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula is an awful, perfect storm, a disastrous collaboration between nature and man that has caused a cataclysm unlike anything the world has ever seen.

When his wife’s vomiting and diarrhea simply wouldn’t stop, 40-year-old Ali Sherwaid, an English teacher, did a quick accounting in his head, calibrating the catastrophe that had befallen him. With cholera ravaging his wife, 28 years-old and nine-months pregnant with the couple’s first child, Sherwaid needed to get her medical treatment. Problem was, the constant Saudi airstrikes had decimated the healthcare infrastructure in Yemen’s northern Sa’ada province, and his village of Fudh was at least 6 hours drive, on bad country roads, to the nearest hospital.

Compounding the crisis was the fact that Sherwaid had no money — Yemen’s civil servants haven’t been paid in months — and he had nothing to pay a doctor to treat his wife, Fatimah.

And so Sherwaid auctioned off his wife’s jewelry, borrowed money from neighbors, bundled his wife’s doubled-over frame into his car, and sped off in the night, headed for al Jomuri Hospital in the city of Sa’ada, some 80 miles away. Days later, as her health continued to break down, his wife was taken to Al Sabeen Hospital in Sana’a, the capital.

In an interview, Sherwaid told MintPress News:

When we finally reached the hospital, my wife was inching towards death.”

What is taking shape across this Texas-sized nation at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula is an awful, perfect storm, a disastrous collaboration between nature and man that has caused a cataclysm, unlike anything the world has ever seen.

Yemen’s is the 21st century’s worst humanitarian crisis and, when measured by the proportion of the population affected, it might well be the worst in a century.

The room of horrors

The cholera ward at Al Sabeen Hospital is a room of horrors. A dozen patients lie motionless in their beds; a couple watches their child take his last breath. A man vomits into a pan, his eyes dry and dazed. Patients’ families kneel in prayer to Allah. When Sherwaid arrived at the camp, the families welcomed him and helped his wife find a new bed. Saeed — a father of two children, ages six and nine, who are infected with cholera — whispers to Sherwaid: “I only want to see my two sons recover from cholera, and then we can celebrate.” He tells MintPress, “My youngest son Salem, six, was first infected, and then he transmitted the disease to his brother.”

After attack on Hodeida, the humanitarian situation worsens

https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-selling-borrowing-begging-save-loved-ones-cholera-rages/244050/

(* B H)

As fighting & displacement escalates in #Yemen, remember the real losers are children. Roughly 2million can't go to school. Here's a clip of me & J Veldwijk @CARE_Yemen speaking to BBC Radio Scotland

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1008772944951160832

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

Hodeidah: Siehe / Look at cp1b

(A H)

Danish Refugee Council: RMMS Mixed Migration Monthly Summary: East Africa and Yemen (May 2018)

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/rmms-mixed-migration-monthly-summary-east-africa-and-yemen-may-2018

(A H)

UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Somalia: Refugees, asylum-seekers and returnees at 31 May 2018

https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-refugees-asylum-seekers-and-returnees-31-may-2018

Somalia: Arrivals from Yemen at 31 May 2018

https://reliefweb.int/map/somalia/somalia-arrivals-yemen-31-may-2018

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Korea: Zustrom von Flüchtlingen aus Jemen auf Jeju entfacht Streit

Der Zustrom von Flüchtlingen aus Jemen auf Jeju hat einen Streit entfacht.

Viele Jemetinen, die vor dem Bürgerkrieg flüchteten, trafen in letzter Zeit auf der südlichen Ferieninsel ein, da dort eine visafreie Einreise möglich ist. Sie beantragten danach Asyl.
Allein in diesem Jahr beantragten über 540 Flüchtlinge aus Jemen auf diese Weise Asyl auf Jeju.
Angesichts des drastischen Anstiegs der Asylbewerberzahlen hob die Regierung das Verbot der Beschäftigung für Asylbewerber binnen sechs Monaten nach dem Asylantrag ausnahmsweise für Jemeniten auf und bietet ihnen auch medizinische Unterstützung an.
Jedoch gibt es immer mehr Gegenstimmen. Mehr als 200.000 Bürger schlossen sich einer auf der Webseite des Präsidialamtes registrierten Petition an, mit der die Verweigerung der Aufnahme von Flüchtlingen auf Jeju verlangt wird.
Dagegen betonen Menschenrechtsorganisationen die Großzügigkeit und Gastfreundschaft entsprechend dem globalen Zeitalter und die Verantwortung der Regierung.
Das Justizministerium setzte am 1. Juni Jemen auf die Liste der Länder, deren Bürgern keine visafreie Einreise erlaubt wird.

http://world.kbs.co.kr/german/news/news_Po_detail.htm?No=71267

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Yemeni Refugees Increase Sharply in Jeju

Nearly 520 Yemenis requested refugee status in Jeju in the first five months of this year, up 12-fold from last year, according to the Jeju Immigration Office on Tuesday.
The resort island off South Korea’s southern coast offers 30 days sojourn visa-free.
After applications for refugee status grew at an unprecedented rate in a short period of time, the Justice Ministry included Yemen on its list of countries whose people are barred entry to Jeju from June first.
Meanwhile, more than 200-thousand people have signed an online petition requesting the presidential office stop accepting all refugees on Jeju Island.

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=137140

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

(* A P)

Media world mourns Yemeni journalist who died from Houthi prison torture

The death of Yemeni reporter Anwar al-Rakan on 2 June, days after being released from detention by the Houthi rebels, has been slammed by press freedom groups around the world.
Rakan's health severely deteriorated during his almost year-long detention at the hands of the Houthis. Images of the reporter on his release show him emaciated and haggard after suffering starvation and torture, and being withheld medication for illnesses he suffered, according to the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate.
According to Rakan's brother, he was abducted almost a year ago after Houthi authorities found his syndicate membership card on him at a checkpoint as he drove from his hometown to the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa.
Rakan had previously worked for the government-run newspaper al-Gomhouria, according to reports in the Yemeni media.

Rakan's family were not told about his detention until the Houthis notified them he was being transferred to hospital, which in part explains why no action was taken on his case, according to Reporters without Borders (RWB).

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/6/19/media-world-mourns-yemeni-journalist-tortured-by-houthis

Remark: His death and torture already had been reported earlier.

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‘We will butcher every Baha’i’: How a small religious minority in Yemen became a key target for the Houthis

‘We will butcher every Baha’i.’

These were the words of a prominent Houthi writer and strategist in response to a speech made by Mr Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis, in March 2018. In his speech, Mr al-Houthi urged Yemenis to defend their country from Baha’is, whom he described as infidels and deniers of Islam, and encouraged acts of violence and incited hatred towards them.

What crimes have been committed by these Baha’is to evoke such animosity and hatred? According to reports, the official charges against some of the current prisoners include ‘showing kindness to the poor’ and ‘displaying good behaviours’. Is it truly possible, as one former prisoner shared, that because Yemen is at war, the Baha’is are criminalised for promoting peace? If the promotion of peace is not the true role of religion, then what else is religion for?

Ever since the founding of the Baha’i Faith in 1844, Baha’is in Iran have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, however, the persecution of Baha’is in Iran became systematic, coordinated, and state-sponsored. Why are we now seeing the same patterns emerging in Yemen?

Additionally, there are other indicators of Iran’s influence in targeting the Baha’is in Yemen.

This latest episode of incitement to hatred in Yemen by Mr al-Houthi, and what may even be defined as incitement to genocide, has not appeared in isolation

The wider implications of this explicit violation of the right to the freedom of religion or belief, in a country that is already reeling from the devastating consequences of war, are deeply alarming.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2018/06/we-will-butcher-every-bahai-how-a-small-religious-minority-in-yemen-became-a-key-target-for-the-houthis/

(A P)

Fadhel : After they killed my son they accused him with drug dealing

The Activists Nabeel Fadhel demanded the authorities in Sanaa to investigate the killing of his son by Houthis armed men.

In a Facebook post in his account Nabeel who heading an ant Human trafficking organization that “Houthis armed men chase his son in Sanaa streets and opened fire upon him and killed him, after they killed him they did not know who he was and after searching him they found an ID in the name of Hymiar Nabeel Fadhel and they took him to 17th July Hospital and they admit his body under the name of Hymiar

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99668

cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government

(A P)

KSA supports Aljawf police with 30 patrol vehicles

The Police Department of Aljawf province received on Monday 30 security patrol vehicles provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security in the government-held northern Yemen province.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-%2019412

(A P)

Hadi receives Arab Coalition military leaders

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the supreme commander of the armed forces, received on Sunday the deputy commander of the UAE forces Staff Brig. Masoud al-Mazrouee, the commander of the Arab Coalition operations in Aden Lt. Col. Fahd Zahem, the commander of the Sudanese troops Lt. Col. Hisham al-Mubarak and the commander of the Bahraini troops Maj. Salman al-Qattany and Maj. Rashed Kamal.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99646

cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

Siehe / Look at cp1b2

(* A P)

UN Envoy’s Proposal on Yemen Includes Hodeidah Settlement

UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths presented to the Security Council the “principle elements” of his proposals to restart political negotiations to end the three-year conflict in Yemen, sources at the Council told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.
His proposal includes a “settlement” for the situation in the Hodeidah province and a “framework” for reviving the political process.
A diplomat said the UN envoy, who took part in the session via closed-circuit television from Sanaa, demanded additional time “to complete talks over his proposal, which he stressed was confidential.”
He explained that the proposal involves 25 items based on the Gulf initiative, the national dialogue decisions and UN resolutions.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1305116/un-envoy%E2%80%99s-proposal-yemen-includes-hodeidah-settlement

My comment: By a Saudi news site. – The UAE had refused any “settlement” for the situation in the Hodeidah province. – Staying based on „the Gulf initiative, the national dialogue decisions and UN resolutions“ – President Hadi’s preconditions – had prevented any peaceful solution for 3 years now. Unfortunately, the UN had bound Griffith to these obstacles.

(* A P)

UN envoy hopes for talks on Yemen peace plan next month

The UN envoy for Yemen hopes to relaunch talks on a peace plan next month despite an offensive on the key port city of Hodeida that threatens to escalate the war and trigger a humanitarian disaster, diplomats said Monday.

Speaking by videoconference from Sanaa, Martin Griffiths briefed the Security Council behind closed doors on his framework for peace talks even as the Saudi-led coalition pressed on with an assault on the city.

A first round of preliminary talks could take place next month to restart negotiations on a political transition, Griffiths told the council, according to two diplomats in the chamber.

Griffiths has been in talks with the Huthis and the coalition about the fate of Hodeida but there has been no breakthrough in the intense negotiations.

The coalition has insisted that the Huthis must fully withdraw from the city and turn over the port to UN supervision, but the rebels have so far only agreed to shared control with the United Nations of the port.

After days of talks with the Huthis in Sanaa, Griffiths told the council that he was consulting with the coalition on the next steps in his efforts to avoid an all-out battle in Hodeida, diplomats said.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/fierce-fighting-yemen-forces-thousands-homes-184550725--spt.html

Comment: I don't know why the UN does not like to understand that peace requires it to get tough with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Try it.

https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1008851643708952576

My comment: Let it sink to realize by who‘s fault the talks had failed: “The coalition has insisted that the Huthis must fully withdraw from the city and turn over the port to UN supervision, but the rebels have so far only agreed to shared control with the United Nations of the port.”

And

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Thread. Security Council meeting on Yemen is happening behind closed doors, which makes it hard for us to know what they're planning. But we're looking to @UKUN_NewYork as penholder to confront the reality that words alone won't be enough in #Yemen.

https://twitter.com/AkshayaSays/status/1008788701114257411

cp7a Saudi-Arabien und Iran / Saudi Arabia and Iran

Siehe / Look at cp1

cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

(A P)

Saudi Arabia dismisses entertainment chief

Saudi Arabia dismissed a senior figure in its fast-changing entertainment sector on Monday, state-owned TV said, removing an official responsible for bringing shows, festivals and concerts to the conservative kingdom under sweeping economic and social reforms.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-politics/saudi-arabia-dismisses-entertainment-chief-idUSKBN1JE2HW

cp9 USA

(A K P)

RSAF colonel receives meritorious service medal

Royal Saudi air force Col. Bader M. Alotaibi received a Meritorious Service Medal for his outstanding achievements as senior country liaison officer at the 82nd Training Wing during a decoration presentation at Sheppard Air Force Base June 15, 2018. The medal was presented to him by 82nd Training Wing Vice Commander Col. Scott Belanger.

http://www.sheppard.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1553541/rsaf-col-receives-decoration/

My comment: Complicity with war criminals.

(* A P)

U.S. to pull out of U.N. human rights body: source

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will announce on Tuesday that the United Sates is pulling out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Trump administration source told Reuters.

The United States is half-way through a three-year term on the main U.N. rights body and had long threatened to quit if it was not reformed, accusing the 47-member Geneva-based body of being anti-Israel.

Reuters reported last week that activists and diplomats said talks with the United States on reforms had failed to meet Washington’s demands, suggesting that the Trump administration would quit.

Washington’s pullout would be the latest U.S. rejection of multilateral engagement after it pulled out of the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-rights-usa/u-s-to-pull-out-of-u-n-human-rights-body-source-idUSKBN1JF24X

Comment: By withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council, the United States admits to the whole world that the U.S. is not interested in human rights.

https://twitter.com/JackSkeptical/status/1009188880988426240

(* B P)

LEAKED STATE DEPARTMENT MEMO ADVISED TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PUSH FOR “ISLAMIC REFORMATION”

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, as part of a dual effort to counter both Iran and the Islamic State, should push for an “Islamic Reformation,” a State Department memo advised the White House last year.

The suggestion was ultimately not adopted as part of the National Security Strategy announced in December, but that a so-called reformation of Islam was up for discussion at the highest levels of the State Department and National Security Council underscores the extraordinary rise of a once-fringe, far-right approach to foreign policy. Were it to be adopted as official policy, it would mark a radical departure by directly inserting the U.S. government into a theological discussion that is carried out almost exclusively among anti-Muslim zealots.

“The goal against Iran and ISIS is to break each’s brand and Islamic extremism,” reads the document, which was obtained by The Intercept. “In seeking a public diplomacy means for undermining the ideological basis for supporting the current Iranian or ISIS structures, an emphasis on ‘Islamic Reformation’ should factor in heavily.”

In addition to the issue of legality, there are fears that the Policy Planning Staff’s “emphasis on an ‘Islamic Reformation’” could backfire on the United States and do more harm than good.

“The idea of the United States promoting some sort of reform of Islam as a tool of foreign policy is a horrendous idea,” Green told The Intercept. “The last thing the United States needs to be doing is intervening in internal theological debates within Muslim communities, irrespective of whether those communities are located in Iran or here in the United States.”

For Green, the U.S. government delving into Islamic theology and “deeming which Muslims are acceptable and which are not” gets into “dangerous territory.” “Frankly, if you want to discredit those groups, the first thing you could do is prop them up and say, ‘This is the theologically correct version of Islam.’”

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/18/islamic-reformation-trump-administration/

My comment: This sounds really strange. The very first thing instead of trying to do Islamic theology (Donald Trump as Imam??) would be keeping away from Wahabites.

(* B K P)

Congress Must Act to Stop US Involvement in the Yemen War

The Trump administration’s hand in this gruesome new chapter of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis highlights the urgency for Congress to act. After all, the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen could not continue without unauthorized US support. Congressional efforts to end this war may not only help to avert a famine in the Arab world’s poorest country; it could also fundamentally change how Washington works. By drawing on the Constitution and partnering with conservatives to rein in decades-old presidential overreach, progressive advocates for peace and restraint are laying the groundwork for a potential sea change in US foreign policy.

There is no more urgent moment to reclaim the Legislature’s constitutional war powers. The framers understood that the momentous decision to go to war requires the informed consent of the American people, expressed through their elected representatives. Our ability to expand democracy into this insulated sphere holds the key to a more peaceful future and the promise of alleviating the unimaginable suffering of millions of innocent people – by rep. Ro Khanna

https://www.thenation.com/article/congress-must-act-stop-us-involvement-yemen-war/

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Zerrissene Familien an US-Grenze"Ein klarer Verstoß gegen Menschenrechte"

Mexiko kritisiert die Trennung von Migrantenfamilien durch US-Beamte an der Grenze. Auch in den USA regt sich Widerspruch. Vier Bundesstaaten verweigern den Einsatz ihrer Nationalgardisten.

Die Zahl der von den US-Behörden von ihren Eltern getrennten Kinder übersteigt inzwischen die Grenze von 2000. Beamte des Innenministeriums sprachen am Dienstag von etwa 2300. Sie würden medizinisch und psychologisch von Fachleuten betreut und dürften nicht länger als 20 Tage festgehalten werden. Unabhängige Psychologen wiesen darauf hin, dass die Trennung von ihren Eltern gerade bei kleineren Kindern zu anhaltenden Traumata führen kann.

Vor einigen Tagen wurden einige US-Reporter kurz in ein ehemaliges Lagerhaus gelassen, wo Kinder und Jugendliche von illegalen Einwanderern festgehalten werden. Kinder sollen in käfigartigen Verschlägen festgehalten werden, sie schlafen auf Gummimatten. US-Medien veröffentlichten einen Mitschnitt, der das Weinen von Kindern in einem Aufnahmelager dokumentieren soll.

Das Kinderhilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen machte unmissverständlich klar: "Die Situation ist inakzeptabel."

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/mexiko-trennung-von-migrantenfamilien-sei-verstoss-gegen-menschenrechte-a-1213908.html und http://www.spiegel.de/video/einblick-in-die-auffanglager-fuer-kinder-in-texas-video-99018481.html

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US Border Patrol: Hundreds of children kept in cages at facility in Texas

The US Border Patrol has allowed reporters to briefly visit the facility where it holds families arrested at the southern US border, responding to new criticism and protests over the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy and resulting separation of families.

Inside the old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing.

One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets.

One teenager told an advocate who visited that she was helping care for a young child she didn't know because the child's aunt was somewhere else in the facility.

She said she had to show others in her cell how to change the girl's nappy.

More than 1,100 people were inside the large, dark facility that's divided into separate wings for unaccompanied children, adults on their own, and mothers and fathers with children.

The cages in each wing open out into common areas to use portable restrooms. The overhead lighting in the warehouse stays on around the clock.

https://www.apnews.com/9794de32d39d4c6f89fbefaea3780769 = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-18/us-border-patrol-facility-in-texas-children-in-cages/9880192

and

(* B H P)

‘I Can’t Go Without My Son,’ a Mother Pleaded as She Was Deported to Guatemala

As a growing number of families are separated as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to control illegal immigration, some parents are being deported before recovering their children.

“I am completely devastated,” Ms. Ortiz, 25, said in one of a series of video interviews last week from her family home in Guatemala. Her eyes swollen from weeping and her voice subdued, she said she had no idea when or how she would see her son again.

As the federal government continues to separate families as part of a stepped-up enforcement program against those who cross the border illegally, the authorities say that parents are not supposed to be deported without their children. But immigration lawyers say that has happened in several cases. And the separations can be traumatic for parents who now have no clear path to recovering their children.

“From our work on the border, we have seen a significant increase in the number of moms separated from their children, and many of them have reported they didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye before the separation, “ said Laura Tuell, the global pro bono counsel at Jones Day, an international law firm providing assistance to refugees in Texas, whose lawyers spoke with Ms. Ortiz.

“Some of the women we have encountered in detention at the border have reported facing pressure to deport voluntarily in order to be reunified with their children,” she said.

Critics say that Ms. Ortiz’s saga is the latest indication that the administration’s new enforcement strategy was rolled out without adequate planning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/us/immigration-deported-parents.html

and more:

https://www.businessinsider.de/psychological-effects-of-separating-immigrant-kids-and-parents-2018-6?r=US&IR=T

http://fortune.com/2018/06/18/border-kids-estimate-total-count/

https://www.axios.com/secret-audio-reveals-migrant-children-screaming-after-separated-from-parents-1529352174-9d4c8e21-d41a-43d0-8016-cfa0b85254fd.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/us/children-immigration-borders-family-separation.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/us/politics/trump-immigration-germany-merkel.html

https://www.propublica.org/article/children-separated-from-parents-border-patrol-cbp-trump-immigration-policy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/drumbeat-of-opposition-to-family-separation-grows-trump-not-budging-idUSKBN1JF177

and how it began:

(* B P)

Thread: How did we get here? In 2015, I shook President Obama’s hand, thanked him for DACA, and asked him to reverse course & close the for-profit baby jails (also known as “family detention centers”) he opened in Dilley & Karnes City, Texas. What he said shook me to my core (thread)

https://twitter.com/ImmCivilRights/status/1008902662828511232

and from Nov. 21,2016:

(* B H P)

Obama created a deportation machine. Soon it will be Trump's

While he is still in office, the president should urgently take action to limit the damage that Trump can do once it’s in his hands

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/21/obama-deportation-mcahine-damage-trump

and also https://www.thenation.com/article/clinton-and-obama-laid-the-groundwork-for-donald-trumps-war-on-immigrants/

https://www.salon.com/2015/12/17/while_peddling_their_anti_immigration_lies_ted_cruz_and_other_gopers_hide_that_obama_is_in_fact_the_deporter_in_chief/

(* B P)

Donald Trump’s New World Order

How the President, Israel, and the Gulf states plan to fight Iran—and leave the Palestinians and the Obama years behind.

The Israeli government, and its most fervent supporters in the United States, expected Donald Trump to deliver a new New Middle East. Less than a month after his Inauguration, Trump met with Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office for the first time. After the meeting, the two men issued a joint statement in which they “agreed that there will be no daylight between the United States and Israel” and “reaffirmed the special relationship” between the two allies. They subsequently called for the formation of joint working groups to expand security cooperation.

Trump’s most ardent anti-Iran advisers on the National Security Council wanted these working groups to help Israel prepare for future conflicts with Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Syria. But efforts by those who wanted to do more to enable Israel to counter Iran met resistance from more cautious elements within the U.S. national-security establishment, who feared that Israel would initiate a military confrontation and expect the U.S. to finish the job.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/donald-trumps-new-world-order

cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain

(B)

Cardiff Yemeni community's agony over war

Members of one of Wales's oldest ethnic communities have told of their devastation as they watch the war in Yemen from their homes in Cardiff.

The Yemenis in Cardiff are descendants of seafarers from the 1930s.

They came and settled in Wales during its coal and shipping days.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44539135

(A K P)

Film: The United Kingdom on the situation in Yemen - Media Stakeout (18 June 2018)

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Karen Pierce, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, on the situation in Yemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pc5RJLB76A

My comment: More hot air.

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

(* B K P)

Malaysia's military involvement in Saudi-led war in Yemen must end - Lawyers For Liberty

Local human rights body, Lawyers for Liberty, says it is concerned with Malaysia's military involvement in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition war against Yemen that started in 2015 and continues to this day.

Referring to the recent assault by the Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the body has called on Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu to explain the actual reasons for the presence of Malaysian troops in Riyadh and their involvement in the war in Yemen.

the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen to the UN Security Council executive director Eric Paulsen said under the previous Datuk Seri Najib Razak (former Prime Minister) administration, former Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein did not respond to the UN's concerns and downplayed any Malaysian involvement, declaring that Malaysian troops were deployed only to evacuate Malaysians from Yemen and for humanitarian purposes.

"If it is indeed true that our troops were deployed to assist evacuation efforts, then the work should have been done by now and there was no need to remain deployed for over three years....

http://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=1472996#.WyjlLDDmPRo.facebook

(* A P)

UAE gives people affected by war and disaster one-year residency visa

The citizens of countries affected by wars and disasters will be able to get the one-year residency visa regardless of their residency conditions

In a major decision, the UAE on Monday announced a one-year residency visa and exemption from accumulated fines to citizens of countries affected by wars and natural calamities.

The decision was cleared in a Cabinet meeting chaired by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, official news agency WAM said.

The citizens of countries affected by wars and disasters will be able to get the one-year residency visa regardless of their residency conditions during a renewable period from August 1 to October 31, the agency said quoting the Cabinet.

https://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/uae-gives-people-affected-by-war-and-disaster-one-year-residency-visa-1.2238640

My comment: 28 millions of Yemenis, 20 millions of Syrians to come??

(A P)

Very interesting story about an exchange between Oman's Sultan Qaboos and a #Saudi Imam giving a Jummah sermon in the country from an interview of Ambassador Charles Cecil.

https://twitter.com/AdamNoahWho/status/1008814760522117128

(* A P)

Bahrain Crackdown: 3 Shia Clerics Sentenced to Death, 8 Others to Life Imprisonment

As the Bahraini regime continues its crackdown on peaceful activists and members of the religious community, it handed down death sentences to three Shia clerics and condemned eight others to life imprisonment.

In this regard, the kingdom’s dissolved main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, announced in a statement that Shia religious figures are being systematically subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture, trials, revocation of citizenship and forced deportation.

The statement added that al-Wefaq recorded more than 347 cases of arrests, summons and various security prosecutions of Shia clerics in Bahrain.

It added that Bahraini security authorities have summoned more than 156 Shia clergymen over their speeches, ideological ten

http://www.newnewss.net/bahrain-crackdown-3-shia-clerics-sentenced-to-death-8-others-to-life-imprisonment/

(A K P)

The former Sudanese prime minister and head of the Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi, said #Yemen's legitimacy was questionable and Saudi Arabia's interest was to find a political solution. He added that #Sudan's role should be to stop the war on Yemen, not to be one of the parties in the conflict

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/photos/a.961595153893515.1073741828.961126490607048/1782990355087320/?type=3

(A K P)

Yémen : interrogations autour d'un potentiel soutien militaire français à la coalition arabe

Sur son compte Twitter, Djordje Kuzmanovic déplore «un choix aux conséquences graves pour la paix [...] dans un contexte de crise grave avec l'Iran». Le responsable du bureau international de la France insoumise n'a pas manqué de critiquer une position «stupide et déshonorant[e]».

L'Insoumis a par ailleurs reproché à Emmanuel Macron d'avoir «engagé militairement [la France] sans en référer aux représentants du Peuple et de la Nation en violation de la Constitution».

https://francais.rt.com/international/51678-yemen-potentiel-soutien-militaire-francais Remark: Reporting in YPR 424, cp1b2.

(* A K P)

Arab group wants India on board in Yemen

UAE envoy says New Delhi can help by extending diplomatic support to the Hodeidah operation on international platforms

The Arab coalition which is fighting to secure the strategic Yemeni port of Hodeidah will be reaching out to India for its support, a leading Arab diplomat said here on Monday.

A formal discussion regarding this would be held during the visit of the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ahmed Albanna, Ambassador of the UAE to India, said the operation at Hodeidah would secure the energy lanes of India with the Gulf, and that the Arab coalition had sourced large quantity of relief material from India to help the Yemeni population.

“The operation at Hodeidah is ongoing and its main target is to fight terrorism that is a common enemy of both India and the UAE. Therefore, support from allies like India will be appreciated, especially in view of our exceptional strategic relationship with India,” said Mr. Albanna explaining that the operation will force the rebels in Yemen to sit down for a negotiated settlement of the conflict that has caused a major humanitarian disaster in Yemen.

Final phase

The military campaign on the port of Hodeidah is reportedly in the final phase as the Houthi militia members are retreating.

The Ambassador pointed out that the UAE was not yet offering a military role to India in the ongoing operation.

“India can help by extending diplomatic support to the Hodeidah operation on the international platforms. The campaign is in accordance with the resolutions of the UN and invitation from the legitimate government of Yemen. Our foreign minister will brief his Indian counterpart on the issue,” said Dr. Albanna.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/arab-group-wants-india-on-board-in-yemen/article24194744.ece

My comment: The UAE international campaign asking for political (mentioning even military) support – by telling odd propaganda stories. The Hodeidah assault would be a fighr against terrorism? This is really odd, it’s so odd that they even do not tell this story in the West. Westeners ger another story. The Hodeidah assault would fit to Inidn interests? The Hodeida assault would secure international shipping? It’s always fighting in the Red sea which threatens shipping, that means exactly this assault does it. The Houthis are “retreating” from HodeidaH? That’s simply a lie too. There is heavy fighting.

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

(A P)

Qatar, Jordan to Restore Full Diplomatic Relations

Full diplomatic relations between Qatar and Jordan could soon be restored, as sources close to political decision-making circles in Amman revealed that an "imminent sovereign decision will be issued pointing to the return of diplomatic relations" between Jordan and Qatar the two countries

https://www.albawaba.com/news/qatar-jordan-restore-full-diplomatic-relations-1146352

cp13 Mercenaries / Söldner

(* B K P)

The UAE In Yemen: With A Lot Of Help From Its Mercs

The UAE has participated in the ongoing, Saudi-led war in Yemen largely through its use of a disparate collection of mercenaries, or to use the accepted euphemism, “private military contractors” (PMC). In 2011, the UAE hired Erik Prince to set up an operation to train foreign personnel, mainly from Latin America, ostensibly for internal defense purposes. But events have shown that the UAE’s dependence on foreign contractors, for military and intelligence purposes, is far greater than previously thought.

One indication of the use of mercenaries by the UAE is to look at headlines about casualties, like “Dozens of Saudi-led Mercenaries Killed, Injured in Yemen’s Western Coast Front” and “Yemeni troops ambush Sudanese mercenary convoy in desert.” Earlier this year, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Britain called on the UN Human Rights Council to form a special committee to investigate the UAE’s recruitment of mercenaries in Yemen. According to the group, the UAE recruited mercenaries to carry out torture and field executions.

Recent news reports show how Cambridge Analytica’s UK-based parent company, SCL group, conducted a surveillance operation in Yemen, using psychological profiling, “strategic communications campaigns,” and infiltration of foreign operatives into indigenous communities through unwitting local partners whom they were instructed to deceive.

In June, BuzzFeed reported that Stephen Toumajan, who retired from the US Army in 2007 after 20 years of service, is a major general for the Emirati military, according to his own statements and a UAE government website.

Given that Toumajan started in Abu Dhabi shortly after leaving the US Army and founded and now leads the UAE’s Joint Aviation Command—which controls the acquisition, deployment, and operation of the majority of the UAE’s combat helicopters—the following incident merits close scrutiny:

On the morning of March 17, 2017, news reports of a massacre began emerging after the survivors docked at the port of Hodeidah in Yemen—with 42 dead bodies in the hull of their ship. The unarmed Somali migrants were headed across the Red Sea Straits toward Eritrea, survivors said, when their boat came under withering machine gun fire from a helicopter. UN investigators later said that “those alive hid themselves beneath the bodies of the dead and remained motionless for about 30 minutes to avoid further attack.” …A UN panel examined the incident and just this January reported that a military helicopter appeared to have committed the massacre. It “fired on the boat for five minutes and then circled the boat and fired again from another direction.”

A recent analysis by Just Security noted that Toumajan’s activities might merit prosecution under the War Crimes Act

If the UAE had to depend solely on its own military forces it would not be fighting in Yemen. It is only fighting in Yemen because of the availability mercenaries and private military forces. Nor is Yemen the only country where the UAE is relying on contractors – by David Isenberg

https://lobelog.com/the-uae-in-yemen-with-a-lot-of-help-from-its-mercs/

(* A K P)

Pakistanis among hundreds killed in Saudi-imposed war on Yemen

Bodies of a number of Pakistanis have been brought to Pakistan for burial from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who were said to have died on the Saudi border with Yemen. They are believed to have lost lives due to Saudi Kingdom’s imposed war on Yemen.
Reports had it funeral prayers of such Pakistanis have been held at their native villages. They were laid to rest and Pakistani nation has been told that they died naturally but Pakistanis believe they were taken to Saudi kingdom to fight as proxy for Saudi Kingdom.

http://en.abna24.com/news/central-asia-subcontinent/pakistanis-among-hundreds-killed-in-saudi-imposed-war-on-yemen_898167.html

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

(A T)

#IslamicState's "Al-Bayda' Press Office" in #Yemen released 10min film 13 June. Slicker than usual. Strong focus on group identity: cooking, eating, reading, praying & outreach classes, not just fighting. Also 1 beheading. Footage showing numbers is old - max 7 men in new footage (photos)

https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1008728872932790273

cp15 Propaganda

(A P)

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center continued to distribute food baskets to needy families in the camps of displaced persons in Al-Khawkhah District and Hays District in Hodeidah Governorate, benefiting 720 individuals of the total allocation of 22,273 food baskets for the Governorate.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/saudi-extends-relief-aid-hodeidah-displaced-people

My comment: Without any shame. The Saudi coalitions’s assault and air raids against Hodeidah drive the people out of their homes, and now this.

(A P)

Yemen Is Not a Sideshow

Curbing Iran's foreign meddling and ending the cycle of destructive fighting will require greater political engagement by the Trump administration.

The Trump administration entered office with a stated commitment to knitting up frayed relations with the Gulf and focusing on Iran’s destabilizing activities across the region. Yet ironically, that never translated into a senior-level focus on Yemen, where those strands come tightly together. In fact, U.S. support for the coalition’s campaign has largely been on auto-pilot, when what its Gulf partners needed most over the past 18 months was a sustained diplomatic effort to enable a credible negotiated settlement.

In this regard, time is not on the coalition’s—or Washington’s—side. In less than two years, Tehran has built a small but hardy train-and-equip program for the Houthis, partially contracted out to Hezbollah.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/yemen-is-not-a-sideshow

My comment: The old anti-Iranian propaganda as if the subject would not be the Yemen war. Well, do not be astonished and look what a think lobby tank this “Washington Institute actually is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Institute_for_Near_East_Policy

(A P)

UAE recovers Iran-made weapons used by Houthis in Yemen

Even as the Arab coalition is making advances in the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, the UAE army has recovered Iranian-made anti-tank missiles, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), sniper rifles and mines used by Houthis as fresh evidence that Iran is fighting a proxy war in Yemen.

A government spokesperson said the army has gathered hard evidence of Iran's meddling in Yemen, and has tabled report to the UN Security council as proof of 'external support' to the Houthi rebels.

"The samples of the advanced weapons used by Houthis reiterates the Iranian influence and support to the Houthis. Both UAE and our partners like Saudi Arabia have found similar evidence in Yemen," an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFA) said during a press briefing in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Iranian-made UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), anti-tank guided missiles, sniper rifles and land and sea mines and other sophisticated weaponry used by Houthis were exhibited to the media as hard proof.

"The evidence of the Iranian influence has been examined, and a detailed report submitted to an expert panel within the UN Security Council," said the official reiterating that the UAE and its partners are working within the international framework.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/government/uae-recovers-iran-made-weapons-used-by-houthis-in-yemen

My comment: We got this story so often now. Yemen is piled up with weapons of all types coming from all over the world. This story (Nikki Haley-like) is arranged now as justification for the assault against Hodeidah, which according to anti-Houthi propaganda is the main gate of entrance for “Iranian weapons” to the Houthis.

Just call this phone number for instance: # For sale: M4 Kultabo Sharma American Abu Khail accessories and full accessories. #Sana'a # For sale_oshra__arms_ personal 771221102 (photos), https://twitter.com/gunsseller/status/1006733280861933568

And more of this Nikki Haley-like show:

(A P)

Arab Coalition lays bare Iranian support for Houthis in Yemen

Drones, ballistic missiles and IEDs have all made their way from Iran to the Houthis

The Arab Coalition has laid bare the extent of Iranian military support for Houthi rebels in Yemen, displaying drones, missiles and Improvised Explosive Devices captured during the three-year conflict.

At a military briefing on Tuesday, advanced weaponry captured from Houthi rebels throughout Yemen offered a glimpse into the vast arsenal of Iranian-made weapons seized by coalition forces.

“Iranian backed Houthi rebels are getting outside help, the evidence is here”, a coalition officer familiar with technical weapons intelligence said.

On display were components from IEDs, some of which were disguised as rocks while others as cooking pots. The official noted that the Arab-Coalition estimated it had defused as many as 30,000 explosive devices since the start of Yemen’s civil war, noting their increasing sophistication over time. “IEDs have been taken to a level difficult for adults to distinguish, imagine how bad it can be for children.”

Also on show were Qasef-1 drones, a near identical replica of the Iranian Ababil UAVs. The Qasef has become the drone of choice for Houthi rebels, sometimes laden with explosives and in other instances equipped with cameras for surveillance. Yet, the coalition official noted that the drones only entered the group’s arsenal in the years after the conflict began. “They didn’t have any capability before the war, within two years they started using small UAVs. This is not possible without external help,” the officer told reporters.

Wiring found on the Qasef drone also had Farsi markings, indicating Iranian origin.

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/arab-coalition-lays-bare-iranian-support-for-houthis-in-yemen-1.742032

and pictures: https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/iranian-support-for-houthis-in-yemen-laid-bare-in-pictures-1.742073#1

Comment: The Coalition's show continues. They still have to use the excuse of 'Iranian passport left behind'.

https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1784260174960338

(A P)

Hodeidah battle decision made by the Yemeni government, KSA says

With regard to military operations currently under way to restore the city of Hodeidah and its harbor from Iranian-backed Houthi militias, he said that the decision came from the Yemeni government as a result of the depletion of all political efforts with the militias, their continuing threat to the navigation in the Red Sea and continuing looting of relief shipments arriving at the port of Hodeidah, pointing out that the reason for the delay of these operations is due to the humanitarian aspect and keenness to give an opportunity for Houthi militias to withdraw peacefully to avoid humanitarian and civilian losses.

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302695256

My comment: There had been serious reports that president Hadi did not want the assault but had been pressed to agree. – Anyway, he has nothing to decide at all anymore.

(A P)

Is intervention required to break the deadlock in Yemen?

The Saudi-led Arab Coalition’s efforts to liberate Yemen’s Hodeidah port follows years of political and military deadlock, as well as a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation for the Yemeni people. Peace negotiations have stalled as the Houthi rebels are unwilling to surrender the country’s largest port. The Houthi rebels know they cannot win the war, but they also know that they cannot remain in power beyond the war. With Hodeidah, they have territory – without it, they will be forced to surrender in order to survive. The port appears to be the rebels’ last remaining major supply line.

Taking back control of the port for Yemen’s legitimate Government will allow the Arab Coalition to pump vitally needed aid into the country, ending an appalling humanitarian crisis

https://reaction.life/intervention-required-break-deadlock-yemen/

My comment: A propaganda rounup. Yawn.

(A P)

Iran in Yemen and Syria — interesting times!

Apart from the seemingly unresolvable problems in Palestine, Iraq and Syria, Iran tops the world’s troublemakers with its involvement everywhere — from Yemen, Kurdistan, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, to as far as Nigeria, Morocco and Mauritania.

Turkey is following the suit

The only good news is coming from Yemen. After two years of secret preparation, Yemeni resistance, supported by Emiratis and Arab Alliance, are taking back Tahama coast on the Red Sea, town by town, till reaching Hodeida.

Therefore, Hodeida, more than the capital Sana, is the Iranian militias’ crown jewel. Losing it and its region of 2.5 million inhabitants and 300-km coast is the closest phase to losing the game. With total air, land and now sea blockade, the Houthis have become landlocked in the mountainous heartland.

The Houthis, in comparison, are doomed to be tightly encircled by the government and Arab Alliance forces. Sooner or later, they would run out of ammunition and fighters. Iran, Qatar and company would be totally cut off. Their options would be limited to total surrender or gradual disintegration and demise.

Game is almost over in Yemen and Syria, for Iran and Qatar.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/537154/Opinion/OP-ED/Iran-in-Yemen-and-Syria-mdash-interesting-times!

My comment: A serious candidate for the palm of “Most stupid propaganda of the week”; But the week still is quite long.

(A P)

Al-Malki: Houthi militias retreating

Addressing a press conference at the Armed Forces Officers Club in Riyadh on Monday, Al-Malki said that the forces have made continuous progress in their advancement on battlefronts in Hodeidah, Saada, Midi, Hajjah and Nahm, and that resulted in inflicting heavy losses to the Houthi militia. In a message from the Coalition command to the people of Yemen, Al-Malki said that the Yemeni citizens should be alerted against the lies unleashed by the Iran-backed terrorist militia.

The spokesman said that the control of the Hodeidah airport by the forces is very imminent, stressing that the port of Hodeidah is a strategic military target through which these terrorist militias receive weapons provided to them by Iran to deliberately trigger chaos in Yemen, and threaten maritime navigation in the Straits of Bab Al-Mandab.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/537157/SAUDI-ARABIA/Al-Malki-Houthi-militias-retreating

and this is the full statement at SPA: https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777268 and https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777277

(A P)

Legitimate Govt. welcomes good offices aiming to make peace in accordance with the three terms of references

Legitimate government has welcomed underway efforts aiming to find out a solution to the crisis the country has been experiencing since Houthi militia carried out its coup against the legitimate government, a solution that should be based on the three well-known terms of reference that are internationally recognized: outcomes of National Dialogue, GCC's Initiative, its operational plan and UNSCRs, specifically 2216.

http://almasdaronline.com/article/99650

My comment: Repeating the same propaganda every day. “Peace” is our victory and the enemies’ capitulation.

(A P)

Massive Yemeni support for Hodeidah's liberation

The process of liberating Hodeidah has gotten a wide-ranging interaction among Yemenis in Yemen's various regions and governorates, according to a survey of the views of some Yemeni people and the monitoring of Yemeni views on social networking sites.

The Yemen National Military Website "26sepnews" monitored today the reactions of Yemeni streets on the launch of the liberation of the city of Hodeidah, noting that many citizens counted the event as a historic decision taken by Yemeni President Abd rabbo Mansour Hadi, as he directed the National Army forces and the resistance supported by the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen forces to move to liberate the province of Hodeidah.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777180

Remark: By Saudi Press Agency.

(A P)

More Saudi / UAE „We are benefactors“ propaganda

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-%2019413

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/emirates-red-crescent-begins-distribution-humanitarian-aid-liberated-areas-hudeidah

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

Hodeidah: cp1b2

(* A K pH)

4 civilians killed in Saudi-led airstrike hits Hodeidah

Four civilians were killed and a girl was injured in Saudi-led airstrike hit their homes on Sunday in Hodeidah province, an official told Saba on Monday.
The airstrike targeted the victims’ home in Mandhar area of Hok district, the official added.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499435.htm

and

(* A K)

At least 5 people have been killed today in an attack by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in al-Mandher area of #Hodeidah in western #Yemen

https://twitter.com/Fatikr/status/1008719796458938368

(A K pH)

Saudi-led airstrike destroys home in Marib

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499388.htm

(* A K pH)

More Saudi coalition air raids recorded on:

June 18:

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499442.htm Amran p.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499441.htm Saada p., Marib p.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499381.htm Hodeidah p. (above cp1b2)

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499377.htm Hodeidah p.

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

(* A K)

Army fires ballistic missile towards Asir

The army and popular forces on Tuesday fired ballistic missile, Badr 1, towards oil giant Saudi Aramco in Abha city of Asir province, a military official told Saba.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499498.htm

(* A K)

Saudi Air Defense Destroys Missile Fired by Houthis From Yemen – Reports

Air defense forces of Saudi Arabia destroyed in the country’s southwest on Tuesday a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen, the al-Ekhbariya TV broadcaster reported.

The Houthis targeted the Southwestern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, according to the al-Ekhbariya TV.

The SPA news agency reported citing spokesman for the Arab coalition Turki Malik that the missile had targeted populated areas. The official confirmed the interception of the missile.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201806191065562790-saudi-missile-houthi-yemen/

(* A K)

Rebels shell village in central Yemen, killing 8 civilians

Witnesses say Yemen's Houthi rebels have shelled a village in the center of the country, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 15.

Residents say the Iran-backed rebels bombarded the Haglan Maris village late Sunday, and that most of the dead belong to one family.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/rebels-shell-village-central-yemen-killing-civilians-55969364

(* A K)

The Nightmare of Mines Threatens the Present and Future of Yemen

Landmines pose a serious threat in the conflict-inflicted areas of northern Yemen, where Government forces and Houthi rebels fought six rounds of conflict between the years 2004 and 2010. In the south, where fighting between government forces and al-Qaeda continues, the threat doubled after the Houthi coup on Yemeni legitimacy. Not only did the Iranian-backed Houthi militia steal Yemen's happiness with war, but it became the first threat to the continuation of life.
Several separate reports by international human rights organizations reported that the Houthis had deliberately planted about one million mines around civilian homes and farms, which resulted in thousands being killed and maimed, and it impeded the return of large numbers of displaced people to their homes in addition to disrupting life in a number of liberated governorates.

https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1777139

Remark: By Saudi Press Agency, that is by the warring party which is pounding Yemen with cluster bombs.

cp18 Sonstiges / Other

(* C)

The Future of Hodeida – Once a Hotbed of Global Espionage – Hangs in the Balance

Consider that the city has long served as a hotbed for global espionage. In part one of a special Cipher Brief two-part series on the port city, Cipher Brief Expert Norm Roule, who is also the ODNI’s former National Intelligence Manager for Iran, shares his secrets for understanding how today’s actions are influenced by the past and how that understanding may shape the future

As the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Yemeni government battle the Houthis, it would be useful to recall some of this history.

Hodeida’s value as an important Red Sea port was well-known in the nineteenth century and drew Western companies. Sometimes to the annoyance of the Ottomans, Britain and Italy maintained consulates at the port to support growing regional commercial and political interests. By end of the nineteenth century, Hodeida’s population included a few dozen Europeans and Americans.

Hodeida is also no stranger to refugees in modern times. Following the expulsion of Yemenis from Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, hundreds of thousands of returning Yemenis formed shanty camps around the city.

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/middle-east/future-of-hodeida-hotbed-global-espionage-hangs-balance

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-424-yemen-war-mosaic-424

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-424 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-424:

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/

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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