... Menschenrechtler bedroht – Sexueller Missbrauch als Folter im Südjemen; Foltergefängnisse – Amnesty-Bericht: Saudische Blockade, Huthi-Bürokratie – Der Westen hatte seine Chance – und mehr
June 22, 2018: Hodeidah: Fighting for airport and in residential quarters; Air raids; Civilians fleeing; looming famine – A look at Yemen – Yemen and Iran – Human Rights workers at risk – Sexual abuse as torture in Southern prisons, torture prisons – Amnesty report: Saudi blockade, Houthi burocracy – The West had got its chance (German) – 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
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
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
cp2a Allgemein: Saudische Blockade / General: Saudi blockade
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
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
Neue Artikel / New articles
(* B K P)
Yemen, As Simple as Possible
Yemen is a tough place to explain, let alone understand. It is a proxy war, a civil war, an anti-terrorist operation, and a politically-driven humanitarian catastrophe all taking place side by side, one on top of the other.
We’re going to try anyway. In 1200 words or less, let’s explain Yemen.
https://geopoliticsmadesuper.com/2018/06/20/yemen-as-simple-as-possible/
My comment: In the beginning (explaining the local actors) quite serious. The second part is quite bad and repeating propaganda, giving a great role to Iran and totally neglecting the role of the US and the West.
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K)
She named her child “Enough”SHE NAMED HER CHILD "ENOUGH"
A Rare Look at Yemen’s War, Where Children Starve and Hospitals Are on Life-Support
Stunted by War
Sabaeen Hospital, on a main road near a mosque in Sanaa, is the final stop for severe cases of malnutrition in children. Most families come here from rural areas where the closest basic health facility may be over two hours away. Those who can afford to travel to Sabaeen bring little with them — only a few changes of clothes and the hope that their infant or toddler will survive.
Ali Qasim al-Ajil held his daughter Kawthar, a pale and lethargic 6-month-old, dressed in layers of bright clothing to keep her warm. The family is from Bani Hushaish, a two-hour drive from Sanaa.
“It started with cholera, right after she was born,” al-Ajil said. “Since then, she hasn’t been able to nurse; her mother also hasn’t had enough to eat, so she didn’t give any milk. We’re all farmers in our area. We can barely afford flour and gas. No one has work since the war started. Life is so expensive.”
In the next room, 9-month-old Bushra cried on the bed next to her mother. Her limbs were thin and her ribs prominent, but her belly was swollen, a sign of electrolyte imbalance. Thin blue veins were visible beneath her pale skin. Like Kawthar, she couldn’t breastfeed. She had been in the hospital for a month, but had made little progress, growing from 6.6 pounds to 8.1.
Six-year-old Ahmad Ghalib stood next to his mother, mouth agape and eyes wandering, knees knocking together. Ahmad is from a small village in Amran, north of the capital, and his mother claimed that doctors said his mental handicap was due to chronic malnutrition.
“He didn’t eat well from the day he was born, but for the last three years it’s been very bad. We couldn’t afford to vaccinate him. … He’s been here for 20 days, but there’s no point in staying. We’re going home tomorrow,” she said.
UNICEF estimates that nearly 400,000 children in Yemen suffer from severe acute malnutrition and nearly 2 million are chronically malnourished, a condition that causes stunting and physiological and psychosocial delay. The children who do survive will likely feel the health impacts of those delays for the rest of their lives.
Hospitals on Life-Support
At Jumhuri Hospital in Sanaa, the main referral center for patients with kidney failure, Dr. Majed al-Qadasy faces a failing dialysis situation.
“We were supposed to close just last week; we were completely out of supplies,” al-Qadasy said. “[The International Committee of the Red Cross] helped us out so we could stay open. Our patient quota is supposed to be 70 patients per day; we’re now treating over 100 on the weekdays. But the big problem is our staff has no salaries.”
“We’re working double time, and haven’t had any real pay for years now,” he continued. “Our doors are always open to those who need help, but we don’t know how much longer we can keep going.”
Forced to Flee
The north has received the brunt of coalition airstrikes and the blockade, but the humanitarian situation is dire across the country. Thousands of Yemenis have fled south from frontline areas in Hodeidah and Taiz, where Houthis battle various local factions supported by the coalition. Many of them have ended up outside desert villages in Lahij, just north of Aden. While some families have managed to move in with relatives, poorer families and those from the darker-skinned muhammasheen class, who often face discrimination, have taken refuge in makeshift settlements with little support from international NGOs (with photos) – by Alex Potter
https://theintercept.com/2018/06/21/yemen-war-humanitarian-crisis/
Comment: Alex Potter is a great writer, and here she examines and describes the impact of the war on Sanaa. It really is worth a read - highly recommended.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156782286318641
(** B K P)
Yemen: Background to the Manufacture of a Proxy War
Of the regional states affected by the Iran–Saudi rivalry, Yemen is the most remote; until recently it was also the least significant. While Saudi Arabia has been deeply involved in Yemen for decades, Iran remained marginal. In 2018, in the context of the internationalisation of the Yemeni crisis on the one hand, and the US and Saudi focus on attributing all problems in the region to Iranian evil doing, this situation has changed and is likely to worsen in the near future. Following US abandonment of the Iran Nuclear Deal (or JCPOA), it is likely that additional regional anti-Iranian actions may well increase Iran’s currently limited intervention in Yemeni affairs with further unfortunate consequences for Yemenis.
Yemen–Iran relations before 2015
During the transitional regime which followed the 2011 popular uprisings, and while the Hadi regime cooperated with both the Huthi movement and Saleh’s General People’s Congress, the issue of Iranian involvement with the Huthi movement was in abeyance. By contrast, during this period, Iran gave both financial and media support to some Southern separatists.
Yemen in the Saudi–Iranian Rivalry
In March 2015, when launched, Decisive Storm was described as having a single aim ‘to restore the legitimate government of President Hadi from takeover by Huthi militias’. Mohammed bin Salman, then Minister of Defence, certainly expected to improve his political clout within the Kingdom through the rapid victory of his air force equipped with advanced expensive US and other western craft and weaponry. But, as his military coalition sank into the quagmire now in its fourth year, Iran’s role is now the dominant discourse while the ‘legitimate’ Yemeni government is rarely mentioned. While other important aspects of this rivalry are discussed in detail in other papers, one of the reasons for this changed explanation is the need to justify the coalition’s failure to achieve its military aims despite modern equipment, troops from many nationalities, air strikes and international diplomatic and technical support.
While Iran widely publicises its political support for the Huthis, its practical involvement is far more debatable, particularly with respect to training and the supply of ballistic missiles which the Huthis are increasingly frequently launching against targets in Saudi Arabia. Alongside ground incursions on Yemen’s north-west border with Saudi Arabia, these missiles are the Huthis’ military retaliation against the more than 16,000 coalition air strikes which have caused massive destruction in Yemen, let alone the air and naval blockade responsible for the disastrous humanitarian situation. Iran’s limited support is trivial by comparison with the claims made by the Saudi-led coalition and its western backers which now assert that the Huthis are nothing more than Iranian proxies, neglecting Huthi demonstrated independence from Iran when they ignored Iranian advice to stay out of Sana’a and avoid attacking Aden. The missiles themselves are pretty unsophisticated, little more than improved old Soviet scuds. A sober assessment of Iranian involvement and use of the Yemen issue in its rivalry with Saudi Arabia also presents Iranian internal debate about Yemen and the Huthis. This diversity of views is currently absent in Saudi Arabia, where Mohammed bin Salman allows no alternative views to his own.
Many questions deserve further discussion – by Helen Lackner
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/06/21/yemenbackground-to-the-manufacture-of-a-proxy-war/
(** A P)
Human rights workers at risk in Yemen
Eighteen human rights groups and civil liberty organisations, including Amnesty International, have warned the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen about the arbitrary detention of their Yemeni colleagues. The warning came in a statement seen by MEMO yesterday.
Radhya Almutawakel and Abdulrasheed Alfaqih, two human rights defenders with the Mwatana Organisation for Human Rights, were detained unlawfully on 18 June by authorities operating in the government-controlled Seiyun City Airport in the war-torn country.
“The authorities confiscated Almutawakel and Alfaqih’s telephones and other personal belongings, and held the advocates for approximately 12 hours,” said the joint statement. “The advocates were given no reasons for the detention, but were told by the detaining Yemeni government security forces that they were not permitted to travel and were being arrested at the behest of the Saudi and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-led Coalition.”
The two human rights defenders were released yesterday following mounting pressure by human rights groups worldwide. However, they continue to face threats from the coalition. “After their release,” the statement explained, “they received further threats from officials that they could be detained again soon.”
Both Almutawakel and Alfaqih work to document rights violations in Yemen, one of the world’s most underreported conflicts. The actions of the Saudi-led coalition apparently breach the right to liberty, the right to be free from arbitrary detention (Article 9), the right to liberty of movement and to leave to any country (Article 12), and the right to freedom of expression (Article 19) as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The detention of Almutawakel and Alfaqih looks to be part of a broader pattern of harassment and repression of human rights worker in Yemen committed by all sides to the conflict.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180620-human-rights-workers-at-risk-in-yemen/
(** B P)
Sexual abuses rampant in UAE-controlled prisons in Yemen
Beatings on Saturdays, torture on Sundays, and Monday was a break. The next three days were the same routine. On Fridays, it was time for solitary confinement.
From inside a Yemeni prison controlled by the United Arab Emirates — a top U.S. ally — a Yemeni detainee held without charges chronicled torture and sexual abuses through drawings. Smuggled to The Associated Press from the Beir Ahmed prison in the southern city of Aden, the drawings offer a grim glimpse into a hidden world of flagrant human rights abuses by UAE officers acting with impunity.
Sexual violence is a primary tool aimed at brutalizing the detainees and extracting "confessions," the artist and six other detainees told the AP.
The drawings — made on plastic plates — show a man hanging naked from chains while he is being subjected to electric shocks, another inmate on the floor surrounded by snarling dogs as several people kick him, and graphic depictions of anal rape.
"The worst thing about it is that I wish for death every day and I can't find it," the artist said, summing up nearly two years in detention that started last year after he spoke against the Emiratis in pub lic.
The UAE's secret prisons and widespread torture were exposed by an AP investigation last June. The AP has since identified at least five prisons where security forces use sexual torture to brutalize and break inmates.
"They strip you naked, then tie your hands to a steel pole from the right and the left so you are spread open in front of them. Then sodomizing starts," said one 46-year-old man who has been in detention for more than two years and who, like other detainees, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
A former security chief who was involved in torturing to extract confessions told the AP that rape is used as a way to force detainees to cooperate with the Emiratis in spying.
"In some cases, they rape the detainee, film him while raping, use it as a way to force him to work for them," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. The official has since defected from the Emirates and fled the country.
https://apnews.com/amp/7994b4508e9c4a5eaf8a1cca9f20322f = https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sexual-abuses-rampant-uae-controlled-prisons-yemen-56020957
and
(** B P)
UAE Officers Film Themselves Raping, Torturing Men In Yemen "Hidden Prisons"
The photos reportedly smuggled out of Aden depict a man hanging from chains while being electrocuted. In another, an inmate cowers on the floor surrounded by snarling dogs as people kick and beat him. There are also graphic depictions of anal rape. (images)
Remark: Largeley repeating the AP article, but showing more pictures.
Pictures also here: https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1831854377110548
and
(** B P)
Sexual abuse rife at UAE-run jails in Yemen, prisoners claim
Hundreds of detainees have been sexually abused at a jail in southern Yemen believed to be run by the United Arab Emirates, according to several witnesses.
Fifteen officers who arrived at Beir Ahmed prison in Aden were wearing headdresses, but their accents were from the UAE, Associated Press reported. They lined up the detainees and ordered them to undress and lie down. The officers then searched the anal cavity of each prisoner, claiming to be looking for contraband mobile phones.
The men screamed and wept. Those who resisted were threatened by barking dogs and beaten until they bled, witnesses said.
Descriptions of abuse suggest sexual torture is rampant in UAE-controlled prisons in Yemen.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/yemen-sexual-abuse-uae-run-jails-prisoners-allegations
and
(** B P)
YEMEN: U.S Involvement in UAE Controlled Torture and Detention Centres
Yesterday, reports flooded corporate media in the West of the torture sites and prisons in the south of Yemen. Previous reports had also highlighted potential U.S involvement in the detention centres, with U.S forces allegedy working as interrogators in these dens of suffering for the Yemeni people.
The Legal Centre for Rights and Development in Yemen and ARWA Rights have been documenting the hideous crimes committed in these makeshift prisons and torture chambers for some time. According to Mohammed Al Wazir of Arwa Rights:
“This is what occupiers and their local forces do to subdue those who rebel against their authority. The case in Yemen is not any different. (These torture centres have been established by) powers backing a Saudi UAE Coalition who have occupied parts of the South. It comes as no surprise to me. I know some people who are from the South who have said that torture is rampant.”
The reports from both Arwa Rights and LCFRD provide horrifying details on the methods of torture used against civilians by the UAE forces and Yemeni forces loyal to the Saudi Coalition, backed and sponsored by the U.S. U.K. and France who have supplied the munitions & aviation refuelling for the Saudi war of aggression against a popular resistance movement that has so far repelled disproportionate force, starvation, cholera and torture to defend their right to self determination without the dehabilitating effects of Saudi colonization.
In June 2017, Human Rights Watch produced a report
Al Wazir told me that the numbers of alleged cases and allegations provided by survivors of these torture centres or their families have increased exponentially. In email correspondence with Vanessa Beeley of 21st Century Wire, Al Wazir explained the background to the rise in the torture cases:
“From the outset of the war on Yemen, the Saudi Coalition and the Hadi government-in-exile it backed provided material support to armed groups in Taiz belonging to Hamood Almikhlafi and Adel Abdeh bin Numan (better known as Abu al-Abbas) both of whom operated under the command of the Saudi Coalition.
With support from the Saudi Coalition and the Hadi government it backed, the armed groups under the local command of Almikhalifi and Abu al-Abbas allegedly detained civilians in Taiz arbitrarily on discriminatory grounds such as national origin, sectarian considerations and political affiliations; and committed torture, cruel and inhumane treatment against those civilian detainees as well.”
Al Wazir summarised the allegations received by LCFRD. I have paraphrased below:
Testimony received by LCFRD from released detainees details the heinous methods used against these civilians. All were restricted, hands tied behind their back, blindfolded before they were taken to different locations, confined to unsanitary, small spaces, interrogated, beaten before being transferred to buildings converted into torture chambers – disused school classrooms, cafeterias. Once inside these buildings the detainees would be subjected to further torture or cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment at the hands of their captors.
Detainees would be locked into tiny rooms where waste water had overflowed onto the floor. Mentally ill people were also taken off the streets and confined in these conditions alongside other detainees. Psychological torture was rife, threats of being beheaded, burned alive, being thrown off a building or mountain which was allegedly carried out with some of the detainees according to the allegations documented by LCFRD. Detainees were threatened with all manner of retribution if they ever spoke about their experiences after their release.
Food and water was witheld and when offered was not fit for human consumption. The detainees were only allowed to shower once every five days and were not given clean water to perform their ablutions before prayers. No medical treatment was provided for detainees who contracted disease in the filthy environment or whose torture-inflicted wounds became life-threateningly infected.
This was wholesale humiliation and degradation of human dignity, inflicting of extreme pain and suffering upon a people already subjected to almost every manner of deprivation and terror by the U.S, U.K sponsored Saudi Coalition throughout the last three years of unlawful aggression against this recalcitrant nation that has refused to bow down to such abject cruelty and brutality.
LCFRD Testimonies
The following are a number of the testimonies taken from detainees and their families by LCFRD:
The U.S, for all their posturing as the world’s moral authority, are the world’s expert in some of the most heinous torture practices therefore it should be no great surprise that the UAE, a close ally of the U.S, is practising similar techniques to those used in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other CIA-run black sites globally. While the US feigns moral outrage when it comes to the alleged crimes of nations, like Syria, targeted for regime change or destabilization, the U.S are engaged in enabling and carrying out some of the most egregious human rights abuses and violations of our time – by Vanessa Beeley
http://21stcenturywire.com/2018/06/21/yemen-u-s-involvement-in-uae-controlled-torture-and-detention-centres/ and also at https://www.rt.com/news/430484-uae-yemen-guantanamo-beeley/
and
(* B P)
The UAE Runs Torture Prisons in ‘Liberated’ Yemen
The UAE and its proxies have been brutally abusing Yemenis in these prisons for years, and they have done so in the name of “counter-terrorism.” The U.S. government feigns ignorance about what the Emiratis are doing, but it continues to work with the UAE in Yemen and it strains credulity that no one from our military knows what is being done to these detainees. According to the AP report, it is likely that some American military personnel are aware of what is happening
At best, the U.S. is ignoring a lot of evidence that one of its “partners” is torturing its prisoners in Yemen. If the U.S. knows about and tolerates this, it is complicit in violations of international law and human rights abuses. While all of this is going on, our government continues to provide unstinting support to the UAE’s military campaign in Yemen.
In addition to the obvious immorality and illegality of these abuses, the torture of detainees is a guaranteed way to strengthen terrorist organizations.
The UAE is likely creating many more terrorists with its brutal treatment of Yemeni detainees, and it is subjecting countless Yemenis to horrifying abuse while it occupies part of the country that they and their coalition allies are busy wrecking and starving. Even if the U.S. is not directly involved in the torture of Yemenis at the hands of the UAE, it appears to be tacitly allowing appalling crimes to be committed because the perpetrator is deemed to be one of our “allies.” – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-uae-runs-torture-prisons-in-liberated-yemen/
and
(* A P)
Film: Can international community act on torture claims in Yemen?
Investigation reveals prisoners are beaten, tortured and sexually abused in secret centres run by the UAE.
What can the international community do in response to these torture revelations? And, more importantly, what will it do?
Presenter: Peter Dobbie; Guests: Nader Hashemi - Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver; Hakim Al-Masmari - Editor-in-Chief & Publisher, The Yemen Post; Hussain Al-Bukhaiti - Pro-Houthi Journalist/Commentator
and
(A P)
UAE denies torturing and secret prisons claims and held local authorities the responsibility
The United Arab Emirates denied any relation connecting it to the secret prisons and detention centers and held the local authorities the responsibility regarding the claims of violation revealed by international and local news agencies.
The Emirati delegation to the United Nations in Geneva said “the Yemeni Authorities in full control of the detention system both local and federal”
The delegation added in a tweet in its official account “UAE did not manage any prison or detention centers in Yemen”
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99696 and tweet by UAE mission https://twitter.com/UAEMISSIONGENF/status/1009504110691962906
Comment by Iona Craig: That'll be like the thousands fighters in Hodeidah that the UAE pays, trains, commands and funds yet claims not to control either.
https://twitter.com/ionacraig/status/1009741460521017345
My comment: Just putting the blame on their Yemeni puppets… But these are supported, payed and armed by the UAE; this denial is not very convincing!!
Comment: How dare they lie!! UAE is running south & southeast regions in #Yemen with support from anti-internationally recognized Govt proxy forces "Security Belt & provincial elite forces"! Govt has complained to UN two times about UAE practices including preventing it from doing its job
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009719805736255488
(** B H P)
BLOCKADE GEFÄHRDET MILLIONEN MENSCHEN
Die saudische Koalition hat mit dem Sturm auf die Hafenstadt Hodeida begonnen. Für die Zivilbevölkerung muss das Schlimmste befürchtet werden: Amnesty dokumentiert in einem neuen Bericht, dass sowohl die saudische Koalition als auch die Huthi lebenswichtige Hilfe blockieren.
Kollektivstrafe für die Bevölkerung
Seit 2015 halten die Koalitionskräfte eine Seeblockade gegenüber den von den Huthi kontrollierten Teilen Jemens aufrecht. Unter dem Vorwand, Waffeneinfuhren zu verhindern, werden Schiffe, welche die Häfen von Hodeida und Saleef anlaufen wollen, intensiv kontrolliert und Hilfslieferungen verhindert oder verzögert – dies trotz einem von der Uno ins Lebens gerufenen Überprüfungsmechanismus für zivile Schiffe.
Dadurch ist das Gesundheitswesen im Jemen weitgehend zusammengebrochen und die Hungernot im Land wurde verschärft. Die Tatsache, dass die Seeblockade nach dem Beschuss der saudischen Hauptstadt Riad durch Raketen der Huthi verhängt worden war, spricht für eine gegen die gesamte Bevölkerung gerichtete Kollektivstrafe. Dies käme einem Kriegsverbrechen gleich.
Die von Amnesty geführten Interviews mit Vertreterinnen von im Jemen tätigen NGOs beschreiben willkürliche, bürokratische Prozeduren, mit denen die Huthi die Kontrolle über die Hilfsgüter erlangen wollen und die Verteilung der dringend benötigten Hilfslieferungen massiv behindern. Verschiedene Gesprächspartner berichten auch von geforderten Bestechungsgeldern. Das internationale Recht verlangt die freie Verteilung humanitärer Hilfe an die von Krieg und Konflikt betroffene Zivilbevölkerung.
Offensive auf Hodeida droht Lage weiter zu verschärfen
und der vollständige Bericht: https://www.amnesty.ch/de/laender/naher-osten-nordafrika/jemen/dok/2018/blockade-gefaehrdet-millionen-menschen/strangehold-_coalition_and-huthi_obstacles_compound_yemens_humaniatrian_crisis.pdf
(** B H P)
Yemen: coalition's 'stranglehold' on aid deliveries is endangering millions - new report
Millions of lives are at risk in Yemen because food, fuel and medical supplies are being deliberately delayed on entry to the war-torn country by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and then further delayed in distribution by the country’s Huthi authorities, Amnesty International warned in a new report released today.
The 22-page report, Stranglehold, shows how the Saudi-led coalition has imposed excessive restrictions on the entry of essential goods and aid, while the Huthis have obstructed aid movement within the country. These obstacles - compounded by the deadly Saudi-led military assault on the vital port city of Hodeidah - have exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen and violate international law.
Since 2015, the coalition has repeatedly tightened its naval blockade on the Huthi-controlled ports of Saleef and Hodeidah, seriously impeding Yemenis’ access to food.
The restrictions and delays placed on fuel and medical supplies have also contributed to the collapse of the country’s healthcare system. The manner and timing of the tightened restrictions - coming after Huthi missiles were fired at the Saudi capital Riyadh - suggest it could amount to collective punishment of Yemen’s civilian population, which would constitute a war crime. Meanwhile, the Huthi authorities have also created barriers to the delivery of humanitarian assistance within Yemen, with aid workers describing to Amnesty how overly bureaucratic procedures have caused excessive delays.
Excessive Saudi inspections
Saudi Arabia started to inspect vessels and delay or restrict access to Yemen’s Red Sea ports in 2015, claiming it was enforcing an arms embargo set by UN Security Council Resolution 2216. As a result, in 2015 the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) was established to clear commercial vessels destined for Yemen’s Red Sea ports while ensuring compliance with the arms embargo.
Nevertheless, the coalition maintained its inspections of ships, even after UNVIM had cleared them to proceed to port, subjecting them to excessive delays. Vessels travelling to Yemen’s Red Sea ports had to wait for coalition clearance for an average of 120 hours in March and 74 hours in April this year.
On 15 March, the UN Security Council called on member states to inspect vessels already cleared by UNVIM “in an efficient and timely manner”. The coalition has continued to ignore this call and to misuse the inspection regime, preventing the delivery of essential goods and humanitarian aid. These delays have exacerbated a crippling fuel shortage, which has reduced access to food, clean water and sanitation and contributed to the spread of preventable diseases. According to five medical staff interviewed by Amnesty, the lack of fuel has also made it harder to run hospitals.
Aid workers say Huthis deliberately restricting flow of aid
Amnesty spoke to 11 senior aid workers in Yemen who all said the Huthi authorities were using excessive and arbitrary bureaucratic procedures to restrict the movement of humanitarian staff and aid. In one incident, an aid official described how, once supplies reached the country, it took the organisation two months to move the supplies out of Sana’a: “The most difficult part was getting the aid out of the warehouse once it was in Yemen.”
According to the aid workers, the Huthi authorities are also attempting to control the delivery of aid and to influence who receives it, and in which areas. One aid official told Amnesty they were “often told by Huthi forces to hand over the aid and that they would distribute it”. Several aid workers described incidents in which government workers had demanded bribes from humanitarian groups in order for them to approve projects or movements of staff.
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/yemen-coalitions-stranglehold-aid-deliveries-endangering-millions-new-report and special report http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-22/yemen-houthis-and-saudi-forces-hold-up-food-aid-fuel/9897684
My comment: Just let it sink (from abc report): United Nation staff inspect ships bound for Houthi controlled ports in support of a UN Security Council arms embargo established in 2015.
However, the coalition mounts subsequent inspections by boarding ships in international waters, or diverting them to coalition controlled ports.
Further inspections are allowed if there are reasonable grounds to believe the ships are smuggling weapons but in those cases the Security Council must be notified and the coalition has rarely done that.
Amnesty International said it was aware of just one case.
(** B K P)
Der Westen hat seine Chance gehabt
Anstatt seinen eigenen Untergang zu betrauern, sollte der Westen endlich seine Verantwortung für das Elend der Welt anerkennen.
(…) Das falsche Selbstbild des Westens Suggeriert wird dabei selbstverständlich immer eine moralische Überlegenheit des Westens. Geredet wird schließlich nicht nur über die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Vorteile einer amerikanischen Schirmherrschaft, die die Länder der Europäischen Union zu verlieren fürchten, sondern der Westen wird auch umstandslos mit Demokratie, Menschenrechten und Rechtsstaatlichkeit gleichgesetzt….
Denn all diese Werte hat der Westen zwar stets gerne in seinen Sonntagsreden im Mund geführt, aber nicht unbedingt immer sein tatsächliches Handeln daran orientiert. Ganz im Gegenteil hat er sich insbesondere gerne dann auf sie berufen, wenn es ihm darum ging, seine fragwürdigen militärischen Interventionen – denen meist ganz andere Motive zugrunde lagen – moralisch zu rechtfertigen. Das überhöhte Selbstbild des Westens, und darin liegt eins seiner fundamentalen Probleme, ist immer schon eine Illusion gewesen, es war immer schon eher ein Ausdruck seiner Arroganz als seiner tatsächlichen – moralischen oder praktischen – Überlegenheit über andere politische Systeme und Regionen der Erde. Darum aber kann der Niedergang des Westens nur den überraschen, der dieser Illusion erlegen war.
(…) Es gibt also hier keine Ausrede. Es liegt auf der Hand: Die Kriege, Konflikte und Desaster, wie wir sie zurzeit überall auf der Welt erleben und die den Westen in Bedrängnis bringen, sind ein langgezogenes Echo auf die Politik, wie sie in den Jahren nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion vom Westen selbst vorangetrieben wurde. Es stellt die Konsequenz einer Politik dar, die, anstatt die historische Stunde zu nutzen, um Frieden auf der Welt zu schaffen, sich in Arroganz, Hochmut und Dummheit verschanzte. Die auch nach dem Ende des Kalten Krieges weiter Krieg spielen wollte und damit die Gewaltspirale immer weiterdrehte – von Ortwin Rosner
https://derstandard.at/2000081608243/Der-Westen-hat-seine-Chance-gehabt
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Seuchen / Most important: Epidemics
(* A H)
Yemen: Cholera Attack Rate (%) Population (From 27 April - 11 To 13 June 2018)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-attack-rate-population-27-april-11-13-june-2018
(* A H)
Yemen: Cholera Suspected Cases (From 27 April - 11 To 13 June 2018)
https://reliefweb.int/map/yemen/yemen-cholera-suspected-cases-27-april-11-13-june-2018
cp1b1 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Deutsch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: German
(* A B H K)
Jemen: Die Befürchtung eines Häuserkampfes in al-Hudaida
Die von den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten unterstützten jemenitischen Milizen melden die Eroberung des Flughafens. Ziel der Operation "Goldener Sieg" ist der Hafen. Dazwischen liegen Wohngebiete
Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate exponieren sich
Auffällig ist, dass sich die Emirate bei dieser Militär-Aktion exponieren. Saudi-Arabien, das die Anti-Huthi-Koalition im Jemen anführt, wird nun in der Berichterstattung im Hintergrund gehalten. Das ist aus mehreren Gesichtspunkten interessant: einmal grundlegend, dass es so gut funktioniert, Saudi-Arabien im Hintergrund zu halten, spielt es doch eine wichtige Rolle im Jemenkrieg, der häufig als Krieg gegen Iran um die Machtstellung in der Region dargestellt wird.
Dass Saudi-Arabiens Rolle bei der Offensive in al-Hodaida im Hintergrund bleibt, ist vermutlich politische Absicht, die sich mit der Medienmacht Saudi-Arabiens gut steuern lässt. Dazu kommen exzellente Verbindungen, die saudische Vertreter zu Medien und andere Einflussorgane auf die Öffentlichkeit (z.B. Think Tanks) in Washington und London haben. Bei al-Jazeera ist noch ganz deutlich von einer saudischen und VAE-Offensive die Rede.
Grund für die öffentliche Zurückhaltung bei der Operation "Goldener Sieg" könnte sein, dass das Haus Saud die schlechte Presse scheut, die es in den letzten Monaten zum Jemen
Die Söldner
Den schmutzigen Bodenkampf überlassen die Emirate nämlich den jemenitischen Streitkräften, die keine wirklich "ordentliche, staatliche Armee" darstellen, sondern ein Bündnis aus Gruppen und Milizen, die in vielen kritischen Berichten als Söldner dargestellt werden, die von den reichen Golfstaaten bezahlt werden.
Es handelt sich um schätzungsweise 20.000 bis 25.000 Kämpfer, berichtet Peter Salisbury.
Die Luftangriffe
Sie werden sie von der Luftwaffe der Emirate unterstützt und vom VAE-Kommando "beraten" bzw. angeleitet. Zwischen Flughafen und dem zu erobernden Hafen liegen acht Kilometer und dichtbesiedelte Wohngebiete; die Luftangriffe der letzten Tage auf Wohnviertel an der Peripherie von Hudaida, die zu Toten unter der Zivilbevölkerung geführt haben, sind ein Signal dafür, was im schlimmsten Fall passieren wird.
Gemeint ist damit ein langwieriger Häuserkampf mit Luftunterstützung, der bei einer Bewohnerzahl, die bei mehreren Hunderttausend liegt (manche nennen 300.000, andere 600.000), zu sehr vielen Toten führen wird. Dazu kommt die Bedeutung der Hafenstadt als Ort, der für die Versorgung von geschätzt 70 Prozent der Bevölkerung im Jemen verantwortlich ist.
Laut Yemen Post soll es in der vergangenen Woche 1.000 Luftangriffe gegeben haben und 50.000 Geflüchtete. Schon jetzt leidet die Stadt unter einem Wasserversorgungsproblem – von Thomas Pany
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Jemen-Die-Befuerchtung-eines-Haeuserkampfes-in-al-Hudaida-4089529.html = http://www.neu-presse.de/jemen-die-befuerchtung-eines-haeuserkampfes-in-al-hudaida/
(* A H K)
Arabische Koalition nimmt wichtigen Flughafen im Jemen ein
Nach der Eroberung des Flughafens der jemenitischen Großstadt Hudeida durch ein von Saudi-Arabien angeführtes arabisches Militärbündnis wachsen Sorgen vor einer humanitären Katastrophe.
Bewohner berichteten am Mittwoch, die Allianz bombardiere Stellungen der Huthi-Rebellen entlang von Straßen, die zum Flughafen führten. Viele Bewohner versuchten, die Stadt zu verlassen. Die meisten hätten dafür aber nicht genügend Geld.
Seit der Eskalation der Kämpfe hat es bereits Verletzte unter Zivilisten gegeben. Zudem wird die Arbeit der Hilfsorganisationen durch die Gefechte erschwert.
https://de.reuters.com/article/jemen-k-mpfe-flughafen-idDEKBN1JG167
und auch http://orf.at/stories/2443852/
(* A H K)
Saudische Koalition: Flughafen von Hudaida im Jemen erobert
Weiten Teilen des bitterarmen Landes droht nun der endgültige Kollaps. Der Flughafen liegt etwa zehn Kilometer Luftlinie vom Hafen Hudaidas entfernt.
Dazu Abeer Etefa, Sprecherin des Welternährungsprogramms der Vereinten Nationen:
"Die Verteilung von Nahrungsmitteln ist im Gange. Wir hoffen, dass der Hafen weiter offen ist. Er ist eine Lebensader für viele Menschen. Rund 70 Prozent der humanitären Hilfsgüter kommen über diesen Hafen".
http://de.euronews.com/2018/06/20/saudische-koalition-flughafen-von-hudaida-im-jemen-erobert und Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCMFNWGgX0w
(* A K)
JEMEN – KRIEGSBERICHT VOM 19. JUNI: DIE SCHLACHT UM AL-HUDAIDA KANN ZU EINEM WENDEPUNKT IM JEMEN-KRIEG WERDEN
Am Boden sind die koalitionsgeführten Streitkräfte auf den Flughafen von al-Hudaiah vorgerückt und haben die Kontrolle über einen Großteil davon übernommen. Jedoch befinden sich einige Positionen des Flughafens immer noch in den Händen der Huthis.
Auch haben die koalitionsgeführten Streitkräfte, bei dem Versuch die Stadt auf dem Flügel zu umgehen, die Umgebung von Al-Matahen, östlich von Hudaidah eingenommen. Dieser Vorstoß ist ist nur dank massiver Luft- und Artillerieangriffen auf Stellungen der Huthis in den betreffenden Regionen gelungen. Ein weiterer Faktor ist, daß die Stadt von flachem Gelände umgeben ist.
Die Huthis reagieren auf das Vorrücken der Koalition mit flankierenden Angriffen auf die Versorgungslinien für die Durchschlagkraft ihrer Gegner. Am 18. Juni hat der Huthi-Beamte, Ali al-Emad, dem Hisbollah-nahen Kanal, al-Mayadeen, berichtet, daß seit dem 13. Juni etwa 160 Kämpfer der koalitionsgeführten Truppen gefangengenommen worden seien.
Videos und Photos zeigen ebenfalls, daß die Koalition bereits signifikante Verluste an militärischem Gerät erlitten hat.
cp1b2 Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah: Englisch / Most important: Hodeidah battle: English
Siehe / Look at cp7
(* A H K)
UN #Hodeidah: hundreds of thousands of civilians remain at serious risk as battles rage. 25% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and if nutritional support from humanitarian partners is disrupted, it risks the lives of almost 100,000 children.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009937558644641792
A reminder:
(B K P)
From the February 2014 #Yemen National Dialogue (GCC-imposed) 'decision' to carve Yemen into 6 federal regions to this latest 2018 battle for Hodeidah port, the central Saudi/UAE goal has remained the same: To landlock the Houthis. (map)
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1009817382326538240
(* A B H K)
What you need to know: The battle for Hodeidah
The Yemeni port is one of the key fronts in the three-year war - but a prolonged fight could only worsen the country's dire humanitarian crisis
How big are the sides involved in this battle?
According to a senior Chatham House consultant, the Saudi-led coalition has up to 25,000 fighters, in addition to fighter jets and Apache helicopters, involved in the operation.
The Houthis have no more than 10,000 mostly inexperienced fighters around Hodeidah.
What are the likely outcomes of Operation Golden Victory?
A Saudi-led victory in Hodeidah would see the coalition gain control of a strategic source of supplies and revenue, thereby tipping the balance of the war in its favour.
Adam Baron, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), said that the loss of the port would be a “major blow to the Houthis, both in terms of loss of a key city and loss of port income.
“The coalition is keen to make the battle as clean as possible, particularly owing to the importance of the port. Nonetheless, there is still a risk that the Houthis could pull them into urban warfare, something that would risk significant infrastructure damage and civilian suffering."
What about the humanitarian outcome?
This could be dire: Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, is already suffering “the worst cholera outbreak in modern history” due to the lack of sanitation and clean water.
[Overview]
Comment: Well I'm a bit surprised to read this on Middle East Eye. It says that the Emiratis have 25,000 men and the Houthis about 10,000 'inexperienced' fighters. Now the Houthi militias have been fighting since 2004 some battle or another and I don't think they have inexperienced fighters. So I don't know what to think about this journalist - I don't think I've read his accounts of the war before.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156782347718641
(* A B H K P)
Hudaydah’s Resistance: A Turning Point Or An Infliction Point For War In Yemen? – Analysis
Hudaydah has a population of around four-hundred thousand people. The problem for the coalition in launching this campaign on Hudaydah is that the civilians who live in the city have no means of evacuating. For example, gas prices increased, there was no genuine effort to protect civilians who are in harm’s way, there was not enough food and medicine reaching Yemenis who are located in the populous areas of Northern Yemen and this was a worst-case scenario for the humanitarian community.
Another problem, probably the most important problem with this offensive by the Arab coalition is that from a military prospective, there is a winner or loser, but on the other hand, the coalition might be waging an operation that could at a minimum take two months which could cause devastation to an already devastated Yemen. It also means that food and medicine can’t get to people, civilians could get hit by airstrikes, and we won’t have peace. This signals that so far ongoing negotiations have failed and there is either the military solution or no solution at all.
The challenge to all of this is to note that all sides including the Arab coalition, the Houthis, and the Yemeni Government are not backing down, but choosing themselves over the civilians, and that is the most devastating factor of them all.
There is no military solution in Yemen, but we have to look for a political solution. However, there could be a way for a political solution if all the parties to the conflict were willing to negotiate.
A realistic scenario could be for the United Nations to come up with a settlement for both sides to accept where the Houthis would surrender the port to the Arab coalition and the Yemeni Government in exchange for an end to the war where there could be room for negotiations on a political solution. Could this happen, who knows, but there is still a long way to go.
Out of all the conflicts in the Middle East, Yemen is an area that could be manageable if there was a political will from both sides to come to the negotiating table.
My comment: Handing over the harbour to the Arab coalition would be no solution at all. If, it must be anded to a neutral third party.
(* A B H K P)
Port in a Decisive Storm: The battle for Hudayda
Despite their apparent loss of the airport, the Houthis continue to launch fierce attacks in the city and, unless there is a breakthrough in Griffiths’ negotiation efforts, they seem unlikely to leave without a battle. It is not just a matter of attempting to hold the city: the Houthis aim to send a message to the coalition by making its offensive as difficult as possible. Indeed, the group has already responded to its recent setbacks by attempting to send in reinforcements.
But, even if one treats an eventual coalition victory in Hudayda as a foregone conclusion, the city’s future is still clouded. In many regards, the “how” of Hudayda’s capture is as important as the “if”. The United Nations and the coalition have emphasised their aim to keep the port and a humanitarian corridor open. Yet an extended battle for Hudayda could cut Yemen’s central commercial and aid lifeline
In any case, the battle for Hudayda will likely overshadow nearly all other issues in Yemen for as long as it continues. The offensive has already delayed – if not derailed, at least temporarily – Griffiths’ months-long preparations for a new round of peace talks. Sardonic references to Griffiths as the “UN envoy for Hudayda” underline the operation’s outsized effects on his mission.
It is crucial to maintain foreign governments’ and media outlets’ attention on Hudayda. International actors must continue to pressure both sides in the Yemen conflict to maintain the flow of aid and prevent catastrophic civilian hardship. The message must be clear that violations of international humanitarian law, including intentional sabotage of the city’s infrastructure, will be recorded. Establishing an independent international inquiry into such violations – in line with the calls of many Yemeni and foreign human rights groups – is arguably the most obvious and effective means of doing so. International coordination is key to magnifying this message.
Finally, international actors must continue their work to de-escalate the broader conflict and rebuild trust across Yemeni society.
http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_port_in_a_decisive_storm_the_battle_for_hudayda
Comment: Another article on Hodeida offensive, this time from the European Council for Foreign Relations. This time talking about the slowness of progress towards the port, with a UAE dominated perspective.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156782297893641
My comment: The EU asking for an international investigation of war crimes in Yemen – which had been blocked by the US and EU countries several times now.
(A B K P)
Yemen: The attack on al-Hodeida
[Overview and British government’s position]
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/world-affairs/defence/yemen-the-attack-on-al-hodeida/
My comment: The British government is hypocritical up to the reach. The UK togerther with the US and France had voted down a Swedisch request to ask for an immediate end of the assault and a ceasefire. Shame.
(* A H K)
Photos: The human flood leaving #Hodeidah: over 25K have fled '#UAE's humanitarian mission'.
They have nowhere to go.
Roughly 600K are stuck in the city
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1786751498044539
for reading: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180621-un-5200-families-flee-fighting-in-hudaydah/
(A H K)
In an emergency relief operation, the Bonyan Development Foundation (B.D.F) has been following up the mass displacement in the districts of southern #Hodeidah by distributing food aid to 2,000 displaced families to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation resulting from the increasing displacement of civilians from their districts in southern of Hodeidah province from the West coast,
The Foundation (B.D.F) is monitoring the displacement process through a rapid field survey through its delegates. the survey is carried out on a daily basis as soon as the displaced persons arrive at the houses they received and settled in. (photos)
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1787821131270909
Remark: A Houthi-affiliated organisation.
(A K pS)
The #Houthi militia fighters continue to dig hundreds of trenches all over the port city of #Hodeidah, By such practices, the Houthis do destroy the networks of water and sewage . (photo)
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009855755510599680
(* A K pS)
Local official: Hodeidah will be surrounded to force Houthis to surrender
The army and popular resistance forces advanced towards the Yemen Mobile roundablout and the al-Rabsah area in Hodeidah adjacent to the city's airport which the armed forces captured from Houthi rebels a couple of days ago.
The rebels are exploiting the densely populated areas to amass tanks, vehicles and mortars in preparation to re-attack the airport.
"The next military move will be to encircle the city of Hodeidah from all directions, and force the Houthi militia to surrender or flee out of the city," Al-Sharq al-Awsat was quoted Hodeidah's Deputy Governor Walid al-Qadeemi as saying.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19464
(* A K pS)
Clashes at Yemen’s Hodeidah Corniche that Leads to Port
Yemeni military sources asserted on Wednesday that clashes between Joint Yemeni forces backed by the Arab Coalition and rebels in the city of Hodeidah have moved to the Corniche street that leads to the strategic port.
Secretary of Hodeidah district Waleed Al Qadimi told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that the Yemeni Army and Resistance forces moved towards the district of Rabsa, near the airport, which the militias have taken as their base to secure the transport of tanks and mortar projectiles to attack the airport and take civilians as human shields.
Wednesday’s developments came after Joint forces liberated the airport and began minesweeping operations. The legitimate government wants the airport to start functioning again as part of its broader plan to revive the facility’s services.
On the other hand, Houthi militias tightened the grip on Hodeidah residents, forcing thousands of people to escape from the city after they turned roads into trenches as part of their preparations for street battles with legitimate forces.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1307261/clashes-yemen%E2%80%99s-hodeidah-corniche-leads-port
My comment: Saudi air strikes do not force the people to escape? Another propaganda story told that the Houthis force those who want to escape to go back to their houses and apartments? Don’t tell us such a shit.
(* A K)
UAE-Backed Forces Prepare Assault on Hodeidah's Port
On Thursday, reinforcements arrived for UAE-backed Yemeni forces as they prepare an assault to retake the seaport at Hodeidah, Yemen.
“We are deeply worried about the situation,” said Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. “Even before the fighting began, conditions in Hodeidah were some of the worst in the country . . . We have been off-loading food at the port and we are rushing in as many emergency stocks as possible while we can."
In parallel Twitter posts, the UAE's embassies reported that the seaports of Hodeidah and Saleef remain fully operational.
(A K P)
Arab Coalition prepared to liberate Hodeidah, says Gargash
The full, peaceful and unconditional withdrawal of the Houthi militia from the city and port of Hodeidah is the only route to avert worsening the situation in and around the city, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs has said.
In a statement, Gargash reaffirmed that the Arab Coalition is prepared to increase pressure on the Houthis to achieve this goal.
"With the Hodeida airport now securely in the hands of the Yemeni Government, the Coalition is ready to begin the next phase of its military and humanitarian operations to liberate Hodeida and to protect the already fragile civilian population and the overall humanitarian situation," he added.
Dr. Gargash went on to say that there is now an "increased urgency" to removing the Houthis from Hodeidah city and port. "According to the UN, international aid groups, the media, civilian reports from the city and our own information, the Houthis are purposefully and deliberately seeking to create a humanitarian crisis and to exacerbate the overall conflict," he continued.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302695536
My comment: Telling us a lot of propaganda here, blaming the Houthis for all what happens and what they are doing as consequences to the assault. All this falls back to the perpetrators like Gargash and his “Arab coalition” (a stupid wording as if the Yemenis they fight against would not be Arabs).
(* A K)
Saudi-led coalition faces tough battle for Yemen's Hodeidah port
A Saudi-led coalition riding high over its successful capture of Hodeidah airport from the Iran-aligned Houthis faces a daunting challenge to seize Yemen’s main seaport, the ultimate prize in the biggest offensive of the war.
Alliance leaders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged a swift operation to take over the air and sea ports, without entering the city center, to minimize civilian casualties and maintain the flow of essential goods.
The alliance of Sunni Arab states believes that by capturing the port of Hodeidah, the only sea port in Houthi hands, it can bring to its knees the Iran-aligned movement that controls the capital and most of Yemen’s populated areas.
If there is no breakthrough in U.N. efforts to reach a political deal, the coalition has two direct paths to the port: from the airport via residential areas where urban warfare would neutralize their air supremacy, or a sea landing that would open them to Houthi missiles and mines.
“So far, judging from the fight for the airport, it looks like the Houthis will put up quite a fight,” said Adam Baron of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“The coalition is likely to aim to avoid urban areas to the greatest extent possible, perhaps opting to cut off roads to trap Houthi fighters and prevent them from sending in supplies and reinforcements.”
The Houthis hold well-fortified position in the Red Sea city to protect the key supply line to the core northern territory they control, including the capital, Sanaa.
Beyond the airport in poor neighborhoods like al-Rabsa and Ghalil, Houthi snipers and landmines lie in wait. Armed mostly with AK-47 assault rifles, the Houthis have gained valuable experience in a series of guerrilla wars.
This gives them an advantage in street-to street combat
“The plan is to secure the airport and then advance on the non-coastal road from Bayt al-Faqih to take control of the highway leading to Sanaa and Hajja road as well,” a pro-coalition Yemeni military source told Reuters.
“This will allow us to control everything without even taking the port.”
However, before reaching the main road that leads to Sanaa, coalition forces would have to cross some 10 km (6 miles) of industrial and residential areas where they could face fire from both inside the city and surrounding Houthi-held towns.
(* A K)
Army reinforcements roll into Yemen's embattled Hodeida
Reinforcements rolled into Yemen's Hodeida Thursday as the army and its regional allies set their sights on the city's port held by rebels who have vowed to fight to the end.
Military sources said the army, backed by troops from the United Arab Emirates, had been sending backup troops to the area ahead of a major offensive to close in on the Red Sea port.
"Our preparations are in their final stages for the advance on the port," a military source told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Remark: UAE army and UAE-backed Yemeni army and militia.
(* A H K)
Film: Yemen war: People of Hudaida caught in the middle of the fighting
Residents struggle as they face dwindling supplies while troops backed by Saudi-led coalition stormed an airport in Hudaida - part of a crucial battle for Yemen's main port city.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/yemen-war-people-hudaida-caught-middle-fighting-180621060839714.html = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBMBeRsBfCo
(A K pS)
Army shoots down Iranian unmanned drone near Hodeidah airport
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19465
(** A H K)
Update on situation in Hodeidah, Yemen
Quote from NRC’s Hodeidah Office Coordinator, Saleem Al-Shamiri, in Sana’a:
“Many people fled their homes in Hodeidah already. Sana’a and other cities are receiving many displaced. Water supplies have been cut off in some areas. Even families who refused to leave their house behind, have now been forced to flee because the fighting is closing in. Some of my friends arrived yesterday and today early morning. They are concerned for their future and worried they have lost their homes and income. How will they manage to rebuild their lives again?”
“I have friends who can’t leave their homes because they don’t have the means to travel. They are scared for their safety. They might be left in the crossfire without any water, food or way to escape. I am hoping the warring parties will allow safe routes out of the city as the fighting gets closer. People must be given a chance to save their own lives.”
Latest updates:
As of Tuesday, fighting began to escalate again. Heavy fighting and airstrikes continue in southern districts of Hodeidah city, and there is a risk that some aid warehouse may become inaccessible, according to the UN.
Two villages close to Hodeida Airport have been severely affected, and an estimated 1,000 people fleeing into Hodeidah city, and more expected. They are arriving to districts prone to cholera, raising concerns about their ability to access safe water as well as other assistance.
A major concern is access both for civilians to flee fighting, and for humanitarians to reach Hodeidah with aid. The road from Sana’a is reportedly closed, leaving the only available route through Hajjah; this is currently open, but it is unclear how much longer it will remain so.
As of 19 June, the water supply has been disrupted in several areas and people are reportedly relying on water from mosque wells. The sheer numbers mean that per capita water consumption is likely to be lower than the minimum necessary; and the risk of contamination remains high. Access to adequate and safe water is now a major concern, particularly in light of the ongoing cholera emergency.
https://www.nrc.no/news/2018/june/update-on-situation-in-hodeidah-yemen2/
(** A H K)
In Hodeidah, the Norwegian Refugee Council Hangs On to Save Yemenis
Joel Charny is the executive director. He answered questions by email about the conditions in Hodeidah as of June 19.
Charny: Clashes continued just south of Hodeidah city during the Eid al-Fitr festival, one of the most important religious holidays for Muslims. Many people in Hodeidah left their homes on June 17 to go to mosque or visit friends and family, but many are frightened to move far from their homes.
Fighting is ongoing in several locations near the city’s southern outskirts, where Ansar Allah troops [Houthis] are holding a line close to Hodeidah airport. Front lines elsewhere have shifted inland in response to heavy coalition airstrikes. Fighting continues around the airport, and it’s not clear who actually controls the facility. There seems to be continued aerial bombardment, including of the residential neighborhoods around the airport. We predict there will be pushing back and forth for a while.
As a result of preparations to resist a military assault, some of the densely populated parts of Hodeidah are reported to be without water. People are relying on water from mosque wells, which is expected to run out quickly. This is of extreme concern in view of the congested conditions, increasing displacement, and the presence of cholera.
Though humanitarian agencies are pre-positioning bulk supplies across nine service points across Hodeidah, unpredictable front lines and a lack of safe access passages currently puts Yemeni people at risk when trying to move to access them. As fewer goods reach the port and movement inland is slowed or stopped altogether, there will be less food available in markets across the country.
The NRC and other humanitarian organizations have teams working in various locations to urgently procure supplies and drastically upscale their provision of emergency food, shelter, water and hygiene items across all areas that will be affected by the reduction in imports. Nearly 15 percent of all suspected cholera cases since the initial outbreak in April 2017 have occurred in Hodeidah governorate
104,292 individuals are displaced in Hodeidah; 70,000 individuals have been displaced from Hodeidah since 1 December, 2017. Many residents of Hodeidah with family elsewhere in the country and/or have the resources to leave have done so for the Eid break and are very unlikely to return while the situation remains fragile.
The global system to ensure peace and security, of which the UN is such a critical component, is barely functioning at the moment.
(B K P)
Film: US, UK, France complicit in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis: Analyst
Saudi Arabia is committing war crimes in Yemen’s Hudaydah port city and the United States, Britain and France are complicit in the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the impoverished Arab nation, an analyst says.
“This port is very important for getting in food and medicine, fuel and you have the worst humanitarian crisis in the planet and it may get worse maybe ten times more if you are going to have maybe eight million plus people starving to death and this is all something that the United States, Britain and France are complicit in,” Edward Corrigan, international human rights lawyer, told Press TV in an interview on Thursday.
“It is a terrible situation and it shouldn’t be allowed and the Security Council should be taking strong stance and impose punishing embargo against the Saudis and the UAE and get rid of the mercenaries that are waging the war,” he added.
Comment: A really good analysis of the legal situation on the Hodeida attack by a human rights lawyer.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156782312913641
(B K P)
Film: Saudi, UAE seeking psychological warfare in Yemen: Pundit
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are trying to use a recent battle in Hudaydah as a psychological warfare offensive against Yemeni popular fighters, says a London-based Syrian political commentator.
“What the Saudis and Emiratis are trying to do at the moment is to push a huge sort of psychological warfare offensive as well in order to try and push the Houthis and the popular factions from Hudaydah to flee, but this is not happening,” Ammar Waqaf told Press TV on Wednesday.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/20/565558/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-UAE
(A K P)
UAE Armed Forces carry out landmine awareness campaign
As part of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, members of the UAE Armed Forces have carried out a landmine awareness campaign for families in the liberated towns and villages of Hodeidah.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/uae-armed-forces-carry-out-landmine-awareness-campaign
(A K P)
Hodeidah official: Arrangements for popular uprising from within city
A local official in the province of Hodeidah has said that there are arrangements for starting a popular uprising in the province against the Houthi coupists.
The province's Deputy Governor Walid al-Qudeimi said there are arrangements to start a popular resistance from inside the city to expedite its liberation from the terrorist militia.
He said that Houthi terrorist have planted landmines in a number of residential neighborhoods, pointing to the explosion of one of them next to an electrical transformer in the neighborhood of Rabsa, in the district of Hawk, killing civilians.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19434
(A K P)
Yemen conflict hits key turning point
in a worst case scenario, the Houthis will decide to fight to the end, significantly increasing the likelihood that the port will be severely damaged and thousands of Hodeidah’s 500,000 plus residents driven from their homes. Under the latter scenario, both the Saudi coalition and the international community will need to be prepared to act quickly to stem the onset of an even worse humanitarian nightmare.
If the Saudi-coalition is able to eventually secure the city, however, a window may finally open for diplomatic negotiations to end the war, or at least significantly reduce the bloodshed. For even if the Saudi coalition captures Hodeidah, they are unlikely to be able to retake the country’s capital, Sanaa, anytime soon, or compel the Houthis to move their fighters back to northern Yemen. From the coalition’s perspective, this would be a good time to explore negotiations. Meanwhile, if the Houthis are ousted and finally cut off from Hodeidah’s resources, they may finally see the wisdom of negotiations aimed at cementing their long-term political and economic status.The Houthis only account for about 5 percent of Yemen’s population, so even they recognize that permanently governing the country was never really in the cards.
So, what could a new diplomatic initiative look like? – by Michael P. Dempsey, the national intelligence fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellowship sponsored by the U.S. government.
http://thehill.com/opinion/international/393328-yemen-conflict-hits-key-turning-point
My comment: This is so twisted that I thought whether it would better fir to cp15 Propaganda. Look at who the author is, then you will know.
(* A K P)
Ansarullah Leader: We welcomed UN supervision of Hodeidah port, but they are liars
Leader of the Yemeni Revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, on Wednesday said he has offered the UN envoy Martin Griffiths in his recent visit to Sanaa to place Hodeidah port under the United Nations supervision.
"We welcomed a supervisory, technical and logistical role of the United Nations on the port of Hodeidah, but they are liars, they just made baseless justifications", Sayyed al-Houthi said in a speech to the nation aired by al-Masira satellite TV.
The leader vowed to resist the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition, affirming that "Britain, France and other European countries involving in support to the coalition's assault will be confronted too."
"The foreign military assault on the western coast has not begun six days ago as the coalition's media claims, but it has started more than two years ago."
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499553.htm and http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-06/21/c_137268970.htm
(* A K pS)
Government forces secures “Mandhar” village in Hodeida…Houthis bombarding civilian houses by mortar
Joint Government forces imposed its full control over “Mandhar” village south Hodeida city west Yemen at the time Houthis militia is bombarding civilian houses.
Sources said to Almasdaronline that the joint forces secured “Mandhar” village one of the biggest Hodeida villages which is located south on the coastal line after sweeping operations.
The source said the Houthis bombard the civilian houses which resulted in causalities among civilians.
In the same context, government forces advanced toward the podium and Jamal circle and sieged some snipers at Crown Plaza Hotel.
Houthis continue to mobilize their artilleries toward the civilians residential areas at the center of Hodeida to bombard the airport from.
The reporter Bassim Al janabi said an air strike by Arabic coalition fighters targeted a utility excavating vehicle used to block roads at “Yemen mobile “ cross – section.
He added some civilians killed in the air strike and some of the stores burned by it in “Alraeei” building.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99688
and photo https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009482572060127232
(* A K)
BATTLE FOR YEMEN’S AL-HUDAYDAH ON JUNE 20, 2018 (MAPS, VIDEOS)
On June 20, clashes between the Saudi-led coalition forces and the Houthis continued in the area of the al-Hudaydah airport, south of the port city of al-Hudaydah. On June 19, the coalition and its proxies once again entered the airport, but failed to establish full control of it. The Houthis were able to secure a number of positions in the area.
At the same time, coalition-led fighters continued their attempt to outflank al-Hudaydah from the eastern direction, engaging the Houthis in the Matahin square area.
The square remains contested, but the highway linking al-Hudaydah and the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, was closed because of the clashes. The only save highway from the besieged city is heading in the northern direction.
The coalition’s forces are steadily heading to their main goal – to isolate the city of al-Hudaydah by land. The most complicated part of this plan would be to cut off the highway heading from al-Hudaydah in the northern direction. If this goal is achieved, the fate of al-Hudaydah will be pre-determined.
https://southfront.org/battle-for-yemens-al-hudaydah-on-june-20-2018-map-videos/
(A K)
Film, Arabic: Sky News, Mohammed al-Qadhi reporting from the frontline
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1009740060235739137
(A K pS)
Houthis sends reinforcements from Dhamar to Hodeida
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99708
(A K pH)
Yemeni Army in Full Control of Hudaydah Airport: Spokesman
The spokesman for the Yemeni army said the international airport of the western port city of al-Hudaydah, which has come under massive attacks by the Saudi-led coalition and its mercenaries, is under the full control of the Yemeni forces.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman rejected media reports claiming that the Saudi-led coalition and its mercenaries have entered the Hudaydah airport, saying, “The airport is under our full control.”
“The military forces and (Houthi) fighters have been stationed inside and around the airport,” he added.
The commander further emphasized that the enemy has seen intensive air strikes as the only way to reach the airport.
Remark: Here: Pro-Houthi part of the army. Thus, the story is repeating again. Both sides claim they held the airport.
And
(A K pH)
Military Official: Fall of Baghdad Airport Scenario Will Not Happen with Yemen
The Assistance of Spokesman for the Yemeni Army revealed the reason of the repeated allegations of the Saudi-led forces by taking control of Hudaydah Airport.
"The aggression against Yemen calls that they control Hudaydah, the port and the airport since their aggression on the West Coast, but these allegations are only a psychological war," Colonel Aziz Rashid told media, Al-Masirah reported.
He stressed that "the trick of psychological warfare will not fool the Yemeni people, in view of the large volume of lies exposed to them in this area", noting that "begging aggression by psychological warfare, proves the great losses suffered by the Saudi-American-French-UAE aggression and their mercenaries".
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970331000578
And
(A K pH)
Film: Video shows that Houthi still in full control of Hodeidah airport west Yemen
A video posted today by Mohammed Albukhaiti, member of houthis political office shows that Hodeidah airport still in houthis control. Saudi Coalition has claimed for many days they seized the airport but still the coalition has not proved that. Today video shows clearly airport is still in houthis full control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxa0emz_ueM and snipet: https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1009499637454114816 and photo https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1009701630848184320
Question: @BaFana3 what do you think about video that purports to show Houthis still in control of Hodeidah airport? time for KSA to announce they took the airport again?
https://twitter.com/NoMasChenko/status/1009623431925682176
It shows that control of an airport means the strategic ability to take selfie videos, rather than more mundane issues such as actual planes arriving & departing, real passengers traveling on international flights & airline ticket sales. This is what makes #Yemen unique.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1009733683778121731
(A K)
President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s al Hudaydah Governor Hassan Taher announced Emirati-backed Yemeni forces will move in two fronts to seize al Hudaydah port in a June 19 statement. Emirati-backed forces will advance towards the main road east of the city leading to Sana’a and along the coastal al Corniche road on the southwest edge of al Hudaydah city. He warned al Hudaydah citizens to avoid these areas. Taher stated that the Emirati-backed forces aim to enter the city in the safest way possible but acknowledged the dangers of military forces clashing within the city.[1]
(A K pS)
Photo: The Joint Forces have recaptured a number of tanks and other military equipment left by the #Houthi militia fighters after they fled their sites in the vicinity of #Hodeidah Airport.
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009448800052826112
(* A H K)
Saudi-led coalition seizes Yemen's Hodeidah airport, fears for population grow
Fears of a humanitarian crisis in Yemen’s main port city Hodeidah grew as fighting spilled into residential districts on Wednesday after Arab coalition forces seized the airport from the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Residents said coalition aircraft were bombing Houthi positions on roads leading to the airport as the group dug in against an onslaught by the Arab alliance to take the city, the Houthis’ main port and the lifeline for millions of Yemenis.
“We have been stuck in our houses for five days because we are afraid of going out due to the fighting. Our food supplies will run out within a week and there is no water,” Fatima, 56, said, adding that bottled water was very expensive.
The escalation in fighting has wounded civilians, forced many to flee their homes and hampered humanitarian agencies, which are concerned about a potential cholera outbreak in the densely inhabited city as battles cut off water supplies.
“People are saying water has been disrupted in parts of Hodeidah already. Some areas even prior to the war were not even connected to the main water supply,” said Saleem Al Shamiri, livelihood coordinator at the Norwegian Refugee Council.
“We’ve done some initiatives...to educate people about safe water use as temperatures are rising,” he told Reuters.
A Hodeidah resident told Reuters that a considerable number of residents were now leaving the city. “The streets are almost empty, deserted,” he said, adding that most were heading for Sanaa, Raymah and Wusab, in Houthi-controlled areas inland.
Kristine Beckerle, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Hodeidah residents were worried about the dangers of land mines placed on roads they might take to escape the war zone.
Houthi authorities set up loudspeakers on Hodeidah’s main streets playing martial chants and excerpts of al-Houthi’s speeches, another resident said. “The streets have been turned into a big audio stage to boost their fighters’ morale.”
and
(* A K P)
Yemen rebels vow to fight on after losing Hodeida airport
Yemen's Huthi rebels vowed to fight on after pro-government forces seized Hodeida airport from them on Wednesday, in a major step towards retaking the port city following a week-long battle.
Rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi called for reinforcements to repel the advance of the UAE-backed government forces, after ongoing fighting left nearly 350 people dead.
"We will face all of the incursions on the ground. Our determination will never be dented," he said via the rebels' Al-Masirah news outlet.
Fresh clashes later erupted between UAE-backed government forces and the Iran-allied rebels on a road linking the airport to Hodeida port on the Red Sea coast, a Yemeni army source said.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/yemen-rebels-vow-fight-after-losing-hodeida-airport-doc-1697al5
and this is by Emirati media, widely blaming the Houthis:
(* A H K)
Yemen: a fight for the city of Hodeidah looms
Ibrahim Al Theeb, a commander with the Yemen government-aligned Tihama Resistance, told The National that the Houthis have strengthened their defences within Hodeidah.
"They have dug trenches and hideouts among civilian residences and are trying to pull the Arab-led Coalition forces into the city," he said.
Yemen's pro-government forces, backed by the coalition, have yet to advance on the city itself.
"Instead the coalition has successfully executed deep penetration operations to close the supply routes and are besieging the rebels until they surrender," Mr Al Theeb said.
But the fear of a final military showdown – their leader has repeatedly said they will continue to fight – has seen thousands of families leave the city.
"The rebels tried to prevent us fleeing our houses, using us as human shields," resident Mohammed Al Maghasi, who recently managed to escape, told The National.
"For over a month, the Houthis have been moving their vehicles, artillery and rocket launchers locally to try and avoid being struck by the coalition jets.
"They have been digging trenches and building fortifications along the street of my house and they are deploying snipers on rooftops."
But the intimidation tactics he witnessed included the Houthis sending members of their all-female brigade – called the Descendants of Zainab, named after the Prophet’s daughter – into people's homes.
"They tried to stir us to fight, or at least stay in our homes," Mr Al Maghasi said. "But when we urged them to move their artillery away from the populated neighbourhoods they gave us the hard face and told us to keep silent, saying if we don't we are enemies and mercenaries cooperating with the coalition states."
Some Houthi fighters simply let their weapons reflect their disapproval.
"Whenever they see a family leaving they shoot randomly so that the family gives us, and returns indoors," Mr Al Maghasi said. "A mother with her children was trying to flee but the rebels fired. The mother was killed and a daughter wounded," he added.
Dr Mansour Al Qudasi, head of the media department at Hodeidah University, told The National the Houthis were besieging residents of the Al Yemen neighbourhood to the west of the city.
There in recent days, the rebels are also digging trenches. Their excavations damaged underground pipes, leading to water supplies being cut. Their defensive steps are designed to prevent people from leaving as well as block any advance from troops.
"They planted thousands of landmines in the openings leading into the neighbourhood. It stops people fleeing. They want human shields."
The rebels have also taken prisoners, Dr Al Qudasi said. "Many senior academic staff from the university have been forcibly disappeared."
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/yemen-a-fight-for-the-city-of-hodeidah-looms-1.742500 and also http://en.smanews.org/concerns-about-al-houthis-being-armored-with-civilians-in-al-hodeida
(* A K P)
Al-Houthi calls for amnesty general for gunmen who hand themselves to Yemeni army in western coast
Head of Supreme Revolutionary committee of Yemen Mohammed Ali al-Houthi called for an amnesty general for the Saudi-backed militias who surrender themselves to the army and the committees.
In a tweet, he called the Supreme political council and Salvation government to declare of amnesty for all the militias who hand themselves in the battle of the western coast and release all the detainees after taking the necessary measures on them.
Remark: Militia here: Anti-Houthi fighters.
(* A K pH)
Yemen Army repels coalition's infiltration attempts, kills 60 militiamen, destroys 21 military vehicles in western coast
The Yemeni army and and popular committees on Tuesday repelled Saudi-backed militiamen’s infiltration attempts in western coast front of Hodeidah province.
Over 60 militiamen were killed and dozens wounded during the clashes in the south and west of Hodeidah airport.
In additional, the army cut off the coalition forces’ supplies lines, the reporter added.
Meanwhile the Yemen army carried out military attacks against Saudi-backed militiamen’s gatherings in western coast of Hodeidah province during the past 24 hours, Ansar Allah media center said today Wednesday (photos)
Remark / My comment: „Yemeni army“ here: Part oft he army affiliated tot he Houthis. – These seem to be minor successes compared to the situation at the city – and according to the photos these successes were achieved somewhere in the countryside, not at Hodeidah city.
And
(A K P)
Riyadh, Abu Dhabi Conceal Tolls in Yemen War for Fear of Protests at Home
"Under such conditions, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi dismiss damage and tolls of their forces for the fear of popular protests and weakening of their military forces' morale,"
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970330000434
(* A K)
Saudi-led coalition seizes Yemen's Hodeidah airport
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has seized control of Hodeidah airport and continues to attack pockets of Houthi resistance nearby, a coalition spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We are now destroying Houthi fortifications near the airport,” spokesman Turki al-Malki said in an interview with Al Arabiya television from Brussels, accusing the Houthis of placing tanks inside residential areas.
Residents said clashes at the airport have abated but coalition warplanes were bombing positions held by the Iran-aligned Houthis as the group dug in to defend Hodeidah.
My comment: How often they already had claimed this?
(* A K pS)
Missiles target Yemeni government in control of Hodeidah airport
Internationally backed government forces are massing to cut key rebel supply lines, The National's correspondent on the front lines reports
Yemeni government forces backed by international support have recaptured the whole airport compound just outside the city of Hodeidah after fierce fighting with Houthi rebels who have targeted civilian populations in recently liberated areas.
"The airport was completely cleared, Thank God, and is under control," coalition commander for the Red Sea coast, Abdul Salaam al-Shehi, said in a video posted by the state-run WAM news agency.
The agency reported that many Houthi fighters had fled in the final phase of the battle, including field commanders. Mr Shehi said that at least 250 Houthi had been killed in fighting for the airport and a further 87 taken prisoner.
The force said the rebels were deliberately targeting civilians and residential areas in a way that it said was a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The coalition also invoked the need to protect civilians under international humanitarian law. The Coalition has called on the international community to pressure the Houthis to stop "violent and illegal acts against the Yemeni people."
A group of Somali and Ethiopian refugees who had fled the city for Mocha arrived hungry and exhausted.
The men told The National that they had been chased by a group of rebels who tried to recruit them. They said the Houthi had given them a start choice: accept food and khat – a plant with mild stimulant property widely chewed in Yemen – to fight or dig trenches or be shot dead for fleeing.
Pro-government commander, Brig Gen Raed Al-Habhi told Sky News that demining operations were ongoing at the airport.
The airport is disused but housed a major rebel base just inland from the coast road into the city from the south.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/missiles-target-yemeni-government-in-control-of-hodeidah-airport-1.742184 and also http://www.arabnews.com/node/1324581/middle-east
(* A K pH)
Photos: Pics shows aftermath of #Saudi #UAE strikes on 20th of June on a truck in #Hodeidah #Hodeida city west #Yemen killed and injured 10 civilians An entire building blocks with shops in the ground floor caught fire. .. the truck was carrying car tires
https://twitter.com/HussainBukhaiti/status/1009568794174545920
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1009363380874956800
(* A K pH)
10 Yemeni civilians at least were killed/injured when Saudi-Emirati jets indiscriminately bombed a number of houses in a street in the heart of the coastal city of Hodeida.
Fierce battles are still going around the city.
https://twitter.com/narrabyee/status/1009360561623195648
(* A H K pS)
Yemen army offers safe routes for Hodeidah civilians
The Yemeni army said on Sunday it was ready to open safe corridors for civilians who want to leave Hodeidah.
Houthi militants willing to put down their weapons would also be given safe passage, the army said.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1323046/middle-east
My comment: This means they admit that their assault on Hodeidah will force the population to flee. This reveals that their claims the assault would do little harm to civilians was a lie (a fact everybody knew). – „safe corridors“: to go where to? – „Safe“?? Remember Syria.
cp2 Allgemein / General
(A K P)
Interactive map of Yemen
(* B K P)
The Vivid Dangers of Our Indifference to Yemen Conflict
The world community continues to ignore the ongoing US-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen and that’s the most morally wrong thing the world could do.
Basically, if the United Nations doesn’t act to end the pointless conflict, then no other world body can act, and the more international bodies actively do nothing, the worse the humanitarian situation is going to be in the poorest country in the Arab world.
A healthy world isn't one that basks in ignorance and indifference, that glorifies those who avoid taking a stand against regime-change wars and occupation, and fosters the gaping black-hole of absence of international law. Many UN member states are shamelessly making the choice to ignore the war and do nothing. This business-as-usual mentality as a whole is one where many believe that accommodating themselves to rife injustice is a way to look after themselves. But in fact, adjusting to injustice is unhealthy for both the UN and the member states.
Sadly, those who have power are taking the lead in doing nothing – even taking a direct role in the conflict. And those who have no power struggle to unite to end the war. Member states have met repeatedly to discuss ways to end the conflict, but failed to do anything. A big part of that is that those who have economic and political power are governing for themselves and their allies, rather than for humanity.
Here, ending the war is someone else's responsibility, and while the UN Security Council members are inactive, so are the rest of the UN agencies, such as the Human Rights Council. The daunting abyss between what is wrong with the Council and what its officials think they are able to do about it, is a result of the economic and political pressures by certain member states not allowing even measly scraps of power to trickle down to a resolution that could possibly stop the conflict and hold to account those who started this whole mess in the first place. Encumbered with powerful American-Saudi-Israeli lobbies, the Human Rights Council puts up with injustice because it believes that something better isn't possible and that it is powerless.
At the same time, the prevailing mentality at the Security Council is that the Middle East is there for the US and its allies to invade, to be occupied, and to be used (take its energy). The culture of indifference negates the idea that the world is in fact Council’s business and it should have a mutual relationship with both its permanent members and with those people who help ensure international peace and security. Instead, there is a sense of entitlement, especially to veto any resolution that dares to confront them.
The disturbing truth is this: The US and its European partners are accountable for much of the mayhem. They may wish to omit that part of the debate altogether, but facts will not simply disappear when ignored. Western leaders should honestly confront the question: what are the reasons for their support of a conflict that has only destroyed the lives of millions of people?
The entire West has a responsibility to stop this mayhem – in collaboration with the UN. It’s partly due to their shameless actions – and inactions - that people are suffering. The US, Britain and France tell the UN they are far away and not responsible, but they are all taking part in the fighting. They are all part of the problem.
Until this fact is recognized by Western governments, until the UN does something about it, this man-made humanitarian crisis, this forgotten conflict will continue, raising regional tensions and contributing to the tragic loss of lives of many more people, whose only hope is merely to survive.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970331000882 = https://www.ilfarosulmondo.it/vivid-dangers-our-indifference-yemen-conflict/
My comment: From an Iranian news site; simply true, anyway.
(B K P)
Erbarmungslose Kriegswalze Saudi-Arabien
Die - schiitischen - Huthi-Milizen, die vor mehr als zwei Jahren Staatschef Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi zum Rückzug gezwungen und fast das gesamte Territorium im Nordwesten, die ehemalige Jemenitische Arabische Republik, unter ihre Kontrolle gebracht hatten, sind nun selbst in der Defensive.
Im wesentlichen drei Gründe sind ausschlaggebend für ihre derzeit bedrohliche militärische Situation. Erstens: Mit dem Versuch, auf das gesamte jemenitische Territorium, also auch die sunnitisch dominierten südlichen Landesteile um Aden vorzudringen, haben sie sich überhoben. Dort ist ihnen die Bevölkerung auch nicht gewogen.
Zweitens: Die Ermordung des ebenso einflussreichen wie umtriebigen Ex-Staatschefs Ali Abdullah Saleh im Dezember durch Huthis, weil er angeblich mit Saudi-Arabien einen Frieden ohne die Huthi-Chefs aushandeln wollte, hat den Rückhalt der Huthi unter den nordjemenitischen Clans erheblich geschwächt.
https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1091865.erbarmungslose-kriegswalze-saudi-arabien.html
(B K P)
Film: Stop the WAR in Yemen - 19.06.18 Gastvortrag bei der UN
Auf Einladung der NGO „Insan - Für Menschenrechte und Frieden“ hielt die Friedensinitiative Stop the WAR in Yemen am 19.06.2018 bei den Vereinten Nationen einen Gastvortrag über die aktuelle Lage im Jemen, die tagtäglichen Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit der saudischen Kriegskoalition, über das Mitwirken deutscher Politik und Medien
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aE7wd24qjc
(* B K P)
For Yemen’s southern resistance, the next battle is for independence
Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council wants political recognition – and their own state, its foreign relations council chief Abdulsalam Mused says
It’s always easier for the Arab media to say the “Yemeni army” is defeating the “Houthis” in Hodeidah and elsewhere in the country, but this is not the case.
This claim presents the situation in Yemen as if it’s a conflict between two fronts only, Iran-backed rebels and the Yemeni armed forces, but this is not the case.
The battle for the western port of Hodeidah could be an important milestone in Yemen’s three-year civil war. But if the different players in the Yemeni conflict will continue to ignore the main forces liberating Hodeidah today, the current conflict will be followed by a new, and possibly more destructive, one.
The Southern Resistance with its different groups publicly supports the fight against al-Qaeda and the Houthis, but also the independence of the south.
Although we are on the frontlines today in Hodeidah, the Arabic media is hesitant to recognize our efforts by not mentioning the word “south.” They say the “Yemeni forces,” meaning us. We were always clear that we are not Yemeni forces, we are South Yemenis who seek independence.
Without our loyalty to the Arab cause in Yemen, the Arab coalition wouldn’t have trustworthy friends in the region. Today, we control most of the south, and our security forces secure and systemize the life for people in South Yemen. Consequently, no real solution will be achieved in Yemen without recognizing our right to decide our destiny.
We have the influence on the ground, we are well-armed, and we’re not willing to submit to a “one Yemen” solution. Without seriously engaging for us in negotiations nothing can be achieved in Yemen. Otherwise, the world should wage another war against the south to recapture it from us and force it to unite with the north – By Abdulsalam Mused, Southern Transitional Council
https://thedefensepost.com/2018/06/21/south-yemen-independence-opinion/
Remark: A southern separatist’s viewpoint. And two more:
(* B K P)
Al-Hodeida and What is After
Direct international interference to steer the war wheel was done under the notion of protecting the region although it is done for establishing international interests and influences. This war is being used to serve the inputs and outputs of the western strategy in fighting terrorism.
The war is under a religious title, not a nationalistic one, although its goals are not religious. Most of this war’s tools are religious and rely heavily on clear religious vocabulary. This is clear in Al-Houthi speech against the Salafist speech as both parties are involved in this war through their loyal members and their orators.
Muslim Brotherhood is fighting two wars, not one. They fight Al-Houthis under cover of the legitimacy. And from inside the legitimacy, they fight all other powers hoping that they can dominate the country in the future and to force a de facto over all other powers with minimal loses in its organizational body and militias.
During this war, terrorism and anti-terrorism war are being recycled for establishing future international interests. This will serve international powers to achieve the zero-cost equation while fighting peoples will suffer the most severe cost as they will destroy and kill each other just to establish foreign interests in their homelands.
Anti-terrorism war strategy will fight terrorism with Sunni powers and of course their will relieve pressure over Sunni incubators. If these Sunni powers fail to deter terrorist powers, Shiite powers will follow-up as in the case of Syria and Iraq. This will increase the cost over Sunni power unless they fight terrorist wings, both Sunni and Shiite, or else, the other alternative is still available.
Goals of this war can never allow any party to win. Both parties are being used as war fuel until they become too weak to force their agendas or even threat post-war international interests map.
Al-Hodeida battel is an indicator for what will come next when this map is being drawn. This map is not like what we think. Power will be defined according to position near or far from international interests.
http://en.smanews.org/al-hodeida-and-what-is-after
My remark: A special view by a southern separatist.
And another:
(B P)
The Southern Cause and the “Internationalization Complex”!
All northern powers, with all their different trends, agree upon not to internationalize the southern cause and to marginalize it as a minor issue, although it is the only core issue or even the mother of all Yemeni issues. It is the beginning of the conflict and the base of its solution.
They kept insisting on their own interests and led the country to successive problems. Not only that, but also, they keep blocking any efforts for solution or even allowing the south to attend as a major party of negotiations.
They kept it in the dark since 2011 through plays of change revolution and national dialogue through which they hoped to pass solution projects that limit the reality of the southern cause.
These plays forced the regional and international societies to deal with it positively under the notion of giving these powers the opportunity to change its policies towards the south. But every chance granted by the international society is only faced with more tyranny against the south.
http://en.smanews.org/the-southern-cause-and-the-internationalization-complex
(* B H K P)
Film: CrossTalk: Destruction of Yemen
After three years of conflict, it has been estimated that out of population of 27.4 million, 22.2 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, 4.5 million children and women are suffering malnutrition, while 2.9 million people are internally displaced. This is a humanitarian catastrophe by any measure. Why are the U.S. and the UK so committed to the Saudi-UAE war on Yemen? CrossTalking with Mohammad Marandi, Charles Shoebridge, and Catherine Shakdam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joxSrUpTAzc
(* B K P)
Hodeida’s suffering
The Houthis maintain that Brigadier General Tarek Saleh, nephew of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was the prime instigator of the battle of Hodeida. According to Mohamed Abdel-Salam of the Saba news agency, Tarek, who escaped death the day his uncle was assassinated, fled to Mareb where he met with Saudi officials and proposed that “the liberation of Sanaa had to pass through Hodeida.”
Tarek Saleh’s name has not appeared in any news or research reports since the outset of “Operation Golden Victory”.
Abdel-Salam also claims that Tarek is manoeuvring to take control of the network of interwoven interests that had previously been loyal to his uncle, the late president. The network consists, according to many sources, of the majority of the Yemeni army, the civil service, a large number of tribal leaders, the religious establishment and a significant portion of the business community. This network extends beyond the Zeidi Shia, who make up the majority of the population of north Yemen, to include Sunnis opposed to the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies.
Ali Abdullah Saleh was able to build up and control such an extensive network of vested interests during his 33 years in power during which he had acquired a reputation as a brilliant manipulator with a talent for “dancing on the heads of snakes”, as he, himself, boasted.
Analysts believe that Houthi ranks may fracture under sustained military pressures between a camp that favours a truce and negotiations as a means to preserve the Houthi political and military movement and organisation and a hardliner camp that calls for “resistance against the forces of aggression and foreign occupation”, as the Houthi media refers to the Saudi-led coalition.
Coalition sources rule out the likelihood of a schism. They argue that the Houthi movement, as a whole, has inclined towards the hardline stance since the president of the Houthi government, Saleh Al-Samad, was assassinated in an airstrike against Hodeida and succeeded by Mahdi Al-Mashat.
The UN Security Council is expected to convene in the forthcoming days to discuss t
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/24773.aspx
Remark: The article on Hodeidah is already several days old and outdated; these general thoughts stay interesting.
(* B K P)
Saudi-Led Coalition: Weapons Captured in Yemen Show Iran Is Arming Houthi Rebels
Officials in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen on Tuesday displayed captured weapons that they say show Iran is arming the Shiite insurgents.
According to a Congressional Research Service report from April, "although Houthi militia forces are likely not solely dependent on Iran for armaments, financing, and manpower, after three years of war, most observers agree that Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have aided Houthi forces with training and arms shipments."
The report notes, however, that the extent of Iran's support is questionable.
"Overall, while Iranian aid to the Houthis does not match the scale of its commitments to proxies in other parts of the Middle East, such as in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, it would seem to be a relatively low-cost way of keeping Saudi Arabia mired in the Yemen conflict," the report said. "At the same time, Iran had few institutionalized links to the Houthis before the civil conflict broke out in 2015, and questions remain about the degree to which Iran and its allies can control or influence Houthi behavior."
Remark: More at: cp15 Propaganda.
(* B H K P)
Mines emplacement in Yemen is a shameful crime that debunks Houthi tampering
In the beginning, Mohammed Askar said: “The installation of mines is a crime against humanity. Consequently, anyone who has ordered or installed and participated in the process of mines installation will one day be in the hands of justice sooner or later. He added that the Houthi militias exert arduous efforts to blow up the current position in Yemen by launching expansionist wars, firing rockets and installing mines, making clear that the massive emplacement of mines has future dimensions that we call the future bombing. This bombing made by Houthis is based on two methods. The first method is that the recruitment of Yemeni children represents 70 – 80 % of the Houthi militias whether on the fronts of fighting, support, supplying or installing mines. Those children are trained on this dangerous profession, pointing out that the recruitment of children and the emplacement of mines leads to the bombing of the future. This child will not be a tool of construction in the future of Yemen, mentioning that this child that carried a weapon and installed mines will practice unusual behaviors when he grows up.
Mohammed Askar mentioned the second method that is mines. He said that removed more than (500) thousand mines. More mines emplacement coincides with the growing defeats of Houthis on the hands of Saudi Arabia- led Arab Alliance, adding that these mines will jeopardize hundreds of thousands of Yemeni residents to different accidents that may lead to amputation of limbs. Those victims will become a burden in the Yemeni society, stressing that the Houthi militias are mining the Yemeni future in this way. He mentioned that areas that were liberated three years ago were full of mines. We called upon the UN to bring maps of mines to us to facilitate our work, but the UN did not provide us with these maps, adding that the credit program has some maps. When we asked them from where they brought these maps and the credibility of these maps, we received no answer.
Mohammed Askar pointed out that there were some things that could have been documented by us and they must be accurate regarding this documentation because it does not represent the true number. They legally managed to document about 814 disabilities that were directly caused by Houthi militias. More than 374 Yemenis are currently suffering from limbs amputation and most of those Yemenis live in Taiz governorate that faced Houthis’ blockade for three years. He regrets that these criminal militias pay USD 150 to children to emplace mines that killed innocent Yemenis.
http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/125d8469d68f4c77aa7a411e541071ab
My comment: By Saudi media. Reporting from a symposium at Riyadh. Of course, this subject is used for anti-Houthi propaganda. But, this realyy is a Houthi crime and will pose a great problem in the future. As, what hast o be added, the remnantrs of Saudi cluster bombs will, those injured and crippled by Saudi air raids will.
(* A H K P)
‘Relief Plan’ Issued By Saudi Arabia is a Gimmick
The International Rescue Committee dismissed Saudi coalition “relief” plan for Yemen as a public relations gimmick
The Saudi coalition’s intervention has been the main cause of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The coalition governments pay lip service to providing relief to the civilian population only as a means to deflect attention from the collective punishment and atrocities that it has inflicted on them for more than three years. They are attempting to do so again by pretending that their assault on Hodeidah benefits the people of Yemen when it is sure to cause more death, suffering, displacement, and starvation. If the coalition were even slightly concerned with alleviating the suffering of Yemen’s civilian population, they would halt their current offensive, lift their blockade, and cease their indiscriminate bombing campaign.
The IRC statement makes an important point that the coalition has completely failed to provide relief to the people living in so-called “liberated” parts of Yemen, and so there is no reason to expect anything more in Hodeidah
The Saudi coalition is waging a war on Yemen, and it harms Yemen’s civilians all across the country. Attacking Hodeidah won’t bring Yemen’s population relief, nor will seizing the port. The overwhelming consensus among aid groups and international institutions is that an attack on the port will be calamitous for Yemeni civilians. After only a few days, there are already tens of thousands more displaced people fleeing the area, and there are likely to be hundreds of thousands more as the battle spreads. Only a cessation of hostilities, an end to the blockade, and the start of negotiations can provide the relief that the people of Yemen so desperately need, and further escalation by the coalition shows that they have no intention of offering them any of these things – by Daniel Larison
(* B K P)
Film: Vanessa Beeley Interview - White Helmets, The Next Syrian False Flag, Yemen & Humanitarian Deception
https://d.tube/#!/v/tlavagabond/jukq9h33
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
Siehe / Look at cp1
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp1a, cp1b
(* B H)
Film: Coming together for Yemen: The impact of humanitarian aid
Here is an inside look at what the humanitarian community is providing - medical care, food assistance, fuel supplies to public water networks, shelter and non-food items.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umOM9Wj-lv0
(* B H)
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Mark Lowcock, Remarks at ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment Side Event on Yemen
Firstly, three-quarters of the population in Yemen needs humanitarian assistance. That is the indicator of the fact that makes the Yemen crisis the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Secondly, the United Nations with its partners, including the Red Cross and the NGOs and many Yemeni organizations, commensurate with the scale of the need, is running one of the world's biggest most complex relief operations. There are tens of thousands of people across Yemen, in hundreds of organizations, who are carrying out thousands of activities, doing countless different things every day in every single one of the 333 districts of the country as part of this operation. We have 150 national partners. So, this is a very big operation.
We have also had a massive operation to deal with what most people think is the biggest epidemic of cholera outbreak the world has seen. Last year we had fewer than 30 diarrhea treatment centres for cholera. We opened hundreds during the course of last year, but that network of treatment centres is still growing. As of now, there are 234 of them. One of the things that this has meant, is that we have reduced the response time for people who are suspected to have cholera from more than a week on average in 2016, to less than a day, currently.
But cholera is not the only part of the medical services that the response effort is supporting. You saw people who are being kept alive through the dialysis centres that we are supporting under the relief programme. There is a massive diphtheria vaccination programme going on. Obviously, there are thousands and thousands of people suffering trauma injuries. So, in total, this year, nearly 2.5 million people have benefitted from medical services financed through the response.
Most people in Yemen today don't have access to safe drinking water or healthcare. So, public water systems are another big priority for the relief effort. That's germane not only to deal with the cholera response, but also to dealing with lots of other problems that you get if you don't have adequate safe water and sanitation. So, there are more than 3 million people being supported with safe water and sanitation.
As I saw when I was last in Yemen, part of the tragedy is huge numbers of children, pregnant and lactating women really struggling for life, just a step away from losing their lives through starvation because of acute malnutrition. And humanitarian agencies have this year treated a quarter of a million people to fend that off, both with bulk feeding programmes but also with the therapeutic feeding programmes, which provide the Pumpy'nut that you will be familiar with, but also by supporting hospitals for the most severe cases.
Millions of Yemenis have been forced to flee from their homes, some of them several times - from one place to another place, to a third place, to a fourth place, seeking refuge away from the conflict. We have provided 300,000 people with emergency shelter and other essential items, as they fled for refuge.
The education system has essentially collapsed. Teachers, generally, have not been paid for more than a year. I don't think any of us wants to have to imagine the set of challenges that we will be dealing with if a whole generation of Yemeni children goes without an education.
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1b (Hodeidah)
(* B H)
Yemen: The deadly migration route that the world is ignoring
Last year, nearly 100,000 migrants entered Yemen, a country gripped by conflict and the world's worst humanitarian crisis. That's 2,000 migrants entering a warzone per week; nearly 300 a day.
The majority start out from Ethiopia, and some from Somalia, and usually head to the Gulf in search of work, with Saudi Arabia being the top destination. People embarking on this route are typically under 25, but many are children.
Abuse, torture and kidnapping
It is almost impossible to travel this route (Ethiopia-Djibouti-Yemen-the Gulf) without enlisting a smuggler at some point and if a migrant tries to go it alone at all, they are putting themselves at greater risk because it's "bad for business" for the vast smuggling networks. Many migrants, including young people, suffer appalling treatment from cruel smugglers and other criminals, including physical and sexual abuse, torture, kidnapping for ransom (from families who can't afford to pay), arbitrary detention for long periods of time, forced labor, trafficking and even death.
In Yemen, migrants also often get caught up in the conflict, sustaining injuries or even dying from shelling, and some are taken to detention centers.
How many are trafficked?
These are worrying similarities to the horrendous abuse that migrants face on the Central Mediterranean Route from West Africa through Libya to Europe. But migrants in Yemen only attract a fraction of the world's attention and demands for protection and support. Not to mention the lack of funding from the international community. For example, did you know that that thousands of migrants were stranded in or near the frontlines of the recent military offensiveon Yemen's busy port city of Hodeidah?
But we also do not know the true size of the problem, because of the security situation in the country and the danger it would pose to our staff to expose them to these violent smuggling networks. We do not know how many migrants are in Yemen, how many stay there to work or make it to the Gulf. We do not know how many are held captive by smugglers or are in official detention centers. We do not know how many are being trafficked.
A survivor's story
One person who our team on the ground helped, was a 14-year-old boy named Mohammed. He wanted to travel from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia to find work and hopefully save some money. He left his home with some friends without telling his relatives. They walked several hundred miles, while hungry and thirsty.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/20/opinions/yemen-migration-iom/index.html
(* A H P)
Korea: Flood of Refugees from Yemen Stir Debate
A growing number of refugees from Yemen have landed on Jeju Island, fleeing a civil war in their country that has been ongoing since 2014.
The number of Yemini refugees has surged to more than 500 so far this year, a drastic increase from the mere seven in 2016.
Their entries were facilitated by the 30-day visa waiver offered by Jeju, but because of the recent escalation, authorities have excluded Yemen from its list of countries whose people are allowed entry visa-free from this month.
Under the law, asylum seekers are granted rights to stay in the country after applying for refugee status which can take several years to be finalized.
They are also entitled to receive basic government subsidies for living and medical treatment.
Jeju Province, the Immigration Office and other authorities announced on Tuesday they would take a humanitarian approach in dealing with the matter.
But the surge of refugees is stirring controversy among local residents with opponents voicing concerns about security matters and the safety of children.
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=137177&id=Dm
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
The #Houthis have stormed the house of journalist Qasim al-Bu'aisy in the port city of #Hodeidah after terrorising his wife and kids. Journalists Syndicate denounced these practices and blamed the group for the life of the journalist.
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009846771676303360
(B H)
Meanwhile in the capital Sanaa #Yemen where many crimes often go unpunished and unreported: human trafficking is rife. In the last two months, more than 10 children were kidnapped, some of whom were returned for ransoms.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1009560259743174656
(A K P)
Ansarollah-Chef al-Huthi: Schlacht um Hudaida wird Aggressoren zum Sumpf
Der Chef der jemenitischen Ansarollah-Bewegung Abdel-Malik al-Huthi hat erklärt, die Schlacht um Hudaida im Westen des Jemens wird sich für die Aggressoren zu einem großen Sumpf verwandeln.
Wie der Nachrichtensender al-Masirah berichtete, hatte Ansarollah-Chef al-Huthi am Mittwoch betont, die Bürger des Landes werden sich niemals den Aggressoren unterwerfen. Gleichzeitig sprach er den USA, Großbritannien und Frankreich eine direkte Rolle bei der Schlacht um al-Hudaida zu.
"Jemen ist mit der Überwachung der in Hudaida eingehenden Einfuhren durch die UNO einverstanden", sagte al-Huthi weiter und ergänzte: "Es besteht keine Gefahr für die Schifffahrt im Roten Meer und die falschen Behauptungen der Angreifer zielen allein darauf ab, den USA und dem israelischen Regime die Kontrolle über diese Region zu überlassen".
(A K P)
Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi Talks about Developments in West Coast
The leader of the revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, said that the aggression forces in the West Coast are besieged, in disturbing situation and targeted all time, pointing out that the large part and basic area of Tihama remains under the control of the free Yemeni and Tihamian people.
Sayyed Abdulmalik said in a televised speech on the latest local developments on Wednesday, "invaders will realize that Tihama will be their biggest quagmire since the beginning of their aggression". "The invaders' control of part of our land force us to fight more and the fighting becomes imperative.”
Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi continued "we are not the ones who come to the field equations and feel despair and surrender if a breach in the field happens.”
The leader of the revolution said that the coming days will be more difficult and more painful to the forces of aggression with the help of God, stressing that we will be along with Tihama sons from all governorates.
http://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=1240&cat_id=1
Comment: The speech of the #Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi today demonstrates they are really in a big fix in #Hodieda, despite the rhetoric of challenge he used. Of course, this could not hide sense of defeat and loss.
https://twitter.com/mohammedalqadhi/status/1009512941182504960
(A K P)
Saudis committing war crimes in Yemen: Ansarullah
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/20/565591/yemen-ansarullah-saudi-arabia-houthi
(A P)
President stresses on doubling efforts to face aggression escalation
President of the Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat on Wednesday stressed the importance of doubling efforts during the current stage to face the challenges and the aggression escalation in different fronts.
This came during the president's meeting with Speaker of the Parliament, Yahya al-Raei, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Abdulsalam Hashwal, and Prime Minister Dr. Abdulaziz bin Hbatour.
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499545.htm
(* A P)
Houthis attack a “Salafi” center south Sanaa and the opened fire upon the students
Houthis militia stormed a Center Yesterday (Tuesday) morning at “Maabar” south Sanaa and opened fire upon the students in.
The reporter of almasdaronline said an armed Houthis attacked Tuesday morning “Alhadeeth center” which follow Sheikh Mohammed Al emamat Maabar – Dhamar and opened fire upon the student and injured one of them.
Sources said that this attack comes after the rejection of the center administration to send its students to the front especially on the west coast.
The director of the center Sheikh Mohammed Al imam has signed an agreement with leader of the Houthis Abdul Malik Al Houthi three years ago preventing any member of the militia from harassing any member of the center in exchange of not participating in any wars by the center students, the attack on the center means that Houthis transgress the agreement signed by Yousuf Al Fishi Abdul Malik representative.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99677
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A T)
Likely AQAP militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting Shabwani Elite Forces in al Said district, Shabwah governorate, eastern Yemen. The blast killed and wounded three soldiers, according to local sources.[4]
(A P)
Yemen’s Aden refinery is seeking 92,000 tonnes of oil products in a tender to address a deficit in electricity generation, the state news agency SABA said on Thursday.
The refinery is seeking 62,000 tonnes of diesel and 30,000 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil mazut for power plants in Aden as fuel supplies run low because of Yemen’s three-year-old civil war.
(A P)
Hadi orders review of officials performance
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19436
(A P)
Journalists Syndicate condemns arrest of journalist Raddad al-Salami
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19466
and
(* A P)
Pro-UAE forces detain journalist in Yemen
Reason for Radad es-Selami’s detention and his whereabouts remain unknown, Yemeni journalist organization says
A journalist and his sibling have been held by pro-U.A.E. forces in Yemen's southern city of Lahij, according to the National Organization of Yemeni Journalists (SADA) Wednesday.
In a statement, SADA said journalist Radad es-Selami and his brother were taken into custody by a pro-UAE force called "Security Belt" a week ago, then brought to the 5th Brigade camp.
The reason for his detention remains unknown.
The statement called for an end to the systematic pressure tactics against the media.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/pro-uae-forces-detain-journalist-in-yemen/1180410
(* B)
Eerie scenes in war-torn Aden, Yemen – in pictures
The mostly empty streets of Aden, Yemen’s southern port city and seat of government, are eerily quiet after three years of civil war. Violence, famine and disease have ravished the country, which was already the Arab world’s poorest before the conflict began. Aden has taken the brunt of the conflict which has pitted a Saudi-led coalition that support the government against Houthi rebels
(A H)
Eid at Aden (photos)
https://twitter.com/_amrgamal/status/1008079346068787200
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(* A K P)
UN Envoy ‘confident’ deal can be reached to avert further violence around key Yemeni port city
The United Nations envoy for Yemen expressed confidence on Thursday that a solution can be found to prevent further violence in and around the port city of Hodeida.
Fighting between Houthi rebels who control the city, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, has put hundreds of thousands of civilian lives there at risk.
Martin Griffiths, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, was in the capital, Sana’a at the weekend, for talks to try and resolve the crisis.
“My priority now is to avoid a military confrontation in (Hodeida) and to swiftly return to political negotiations,” he said, according to a statement issued in Amman to correspondents.
The envoy said he was encouraged by the “constructive engagement of the Ansar Allah leadership”, referring to the official name of the Houthis.
He also looked forward to upcoming meetings with the country’s President and Government of Yemen, based in the south of country.
“I am confident that we can reach an agreement to avert any escalation of violence,” the statement continued.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/06/1012772 and also https://osesgy.unmissions.org/statement-special-envoy-secretary-general-yemen
My comment: I do not think this is realistic. The UAE wants to achieve a military “solution”.
(* A K P)
Yemen's Houthis indicate willingness to hand over port to U.N.: sources
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have indicated they would be willing to hand over management of Hodeidah port to the United Nations, a potential breakthrough in a conflict that has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, sources familiar with the efforts said.
A U.S. official said the United States was urging the Saudis and Emiratis to accept the deal. A diplomatic source at the United Nations said the coalition had informed Griffiths it would study the proposal.
The source said the Houthis indicated they would accept overall U.N. rule for port management and inspections.
A Western diplomat said the United Nations would oversee income from the port and make sure it gets to Yemen’s central bank. The understanding is for Yemeni state employees to remain working alongside the United Nations.
“The Saudis have given some positive signals on this as well to the U.N. envoy over the last 24 hours. The Emiratis also gave positive murmurs but the deal still has a little way to go,” the Western diplomat said.
The sources cautioned that the plan still needed agreement from all sides to the conflict, and would not, at least in its initial stages, result in an immediate ceasefire.
My comment: No, the Houthis are not “Iran-aligned”. More serious, would be a permanent emphasize to “US aligned Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates”.
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia: Unrelenting Crackdown on Activists
2 New Arrests of Women’s Rights Advocates; Others Banned from Travel
Saudi authorities have arrested two more women’s rights activists in recent days in what appears to be an unrelenting crackdown on the women’s rights movement, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi activists have reported that the authorities have placed travel bans on numerous others since May 15.
On June 6, Saudi authorities arrested the writer and activist Nouf Abdelaziz, who had publicly expressed solidarity with three women’s rights activists arrested in May, along with at least 14 other activists and supporters. On June 10, the authorities arrested Mayaa al-Zahrani, an activist and friend of Abdelaziz, after she reportedly posted a letter Abdelaziz asked her to make public in case of her arrest.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/20/saudi-arabia-unrelenting-crackdown-activists
cp9 USA
(* B P)
Scapegoating Iran
Seventeen years of war in the Middle East and what do we have to show for it?
Someone has to be blamed for debacles that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead, including at least 200,000 civilians, and millions driven from their homes. Someone has to be blamed for the proliferation of radical jihadist groups throughout the Middle East, the continued worldwide terrorist attacks, the wholesale destruction of cities and towns under relentless airstrikes and the abject failure of U.S. and U.S.-backed forces to stanch the insurgencies. You can be sure it won’t be the generals, the politicians such as George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the rabid neocons such as Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton who sold us the wars, the Central Intelligence Agency, the arms contractors who profit from perpetual war or the celebrity pundits on the airwaves and in newspapers who serve as cheerleaders for the mayhem.
“The failed policies, or lack of policies, of the United States, which violate international law, have left the Middle East in total chaos,” the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Gholamali Khoshroo, told me when we met in New York City. “The United States, to cover up these aggressive, reckless and costly policies, blames Iran. Iran is blamed for their failures in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon.”
The architects of these wars are in trouble. They have watched helplessly as the instability and political vacuum they caused, especially in Iraq, left Iran as the dominant power in the region. Washington, in essence, elevated its nemesis. It has no idea how to reverse its mistake, beyond attacking Iran. Those both in the U.S. and abroad who began or promoted these wars see a conflict with Iran as a solution to their foreign and increasingly domestic dilemmas – by Chris Hedges
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/scapegoating-iran/ = https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/scapegoating-iran
(* B P)
Iran ist nicht Nordkorea: Trumps Verbündete wollen Krieg statt Frieden
Im Gegensatz zu Nordkorea sind Amerikas Verbündete in der Region nicht an einer diplomatischen Lösung der Iran-Frage interessiert. Saudi-Arabien, Israel und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate wollen in jedem Fall Regime Change im Iran. Ob er glückt oder nicht, ist nebensächlich: Destabilisierung ist das Ziel.
Jetzt, da US-Präsident Donald Trump von seinem erfolgreichen Fototermin mit Nordkoreas Kim Jong-un aus Singapur zurückgekehrt ist, wird sich sein Fokus bald wieder drehen: zurück auf den Iran. Israel und Saudi-Arabien hofften ungeduldig, der Singapur-Gipfel würde helfen, die Korea-Frage zu neutralisieren, so dass Trump seine gesamte Energie wieder in Richtung Teheran wenden könnte.
Doch niemand scheint so genau zu wissen, was Trumps Iran-Politik denn eigentlich ist. Will er einen anderen Deal? Ebnet er den Weg für Krieg? Ist Regime Change das eigentliche Ziel? Wenn Saudi-Arabien und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) entscheiden dürften, wäre es keines der oben Genannten – sondern etwas viel Schlimmeres.
Trump selbst ist beim Iran in einer vollkommenen Sackgasse. Nach dem erfolgreichen Handschlag mit dem nordkoreanischen Diktator sprudelte sein Selbstvertrauen über und er erzählte Reportern, er mache sich nun bereit, um seinen nächsten diplomatischen Erfolg einzufahren.
„Ich hoffe, dass zu gegebener Zeit, nachdem die Sanktionen Wirkung zeigen – und es ist wirklich brutal, was wir dem Iran übergestülpt haben – ich hoffe, dass sie dann zurückkommen und einen echten Deal aushandeln werden. Denn ich würde das liebend gerne machen, aber momentan ist es einfach zu früh, um das zu tun“, sagte Trump.
Aber der Iran ist nicht Nordkorea, und die Tiefe von Amerikas bisweilen fabrizierter Feindseligkeit gegenüber Teheran ist nicht zu vergleichen mit dem eher Cartoon-artigen Image, das gegenüber ihren Gegnern in Pjöngjang vorherrscht.
and English version:
(* B P)
Iran is not North Korea: Trump's regional allies prefer civil war to peace
Unlike with Pyongyang, America’s allies in the region are not interested in a diplomatic solution to the Iran issue
As US President Donald Trump returns from a successful photo-op in Singapore with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, his focus will soon return to Iran. Israel and Saudi Arabia have eagerly hoped that the Singapore summit would help neutralise the Korean issue so that Trump could turn all his energy towards Tehran.
Yet no one seems to know what Trump's Iran policy actually is. Is he looking for another deal? Is he paving the way for war? Is regime change the real goal? If Saudi Arabia and the UAE decide, it will be none of the above – it'll be much worse.
Trump himself has characteristically been all over the map on Iran. His confidence high after successfully shaking the North Korean dictator's hand, Trump told reporters that he was now getting ready to move on to score his next diplomatic success.
But Iran is not North Korea and the depth of America's at times fabricated animosity towards Tehran is incomparable to the more cartoonish image it has of its adversaries in Pyongyang.
(A P)
White House adviser Kushner, Saudi crown prince meet on Middle East
U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, met on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud about Israel and the Palestinian territories, as Kushner readies the administration’s Middle East peace plan.
(* B P)
Seymour Hersh: Media Today Must Cover Yemen & Trump Policy, Not Get Distracted by Tweets
SEYMOURHERSH: I’m ecstatic that, finally, the major media is no longer trying to cope with tweets, and digging into real news. What’s happened in Mexico, you know, it’s been going on for two months. It only took ProPublica to get a tape and to get the Democrats going. That it was a political issue was not seen. I don’t know what’s wrong with, what’s going on with the press. It took them a long time to get it.
You mentioned Yemen. You’re one of the few people, this program, that continually reports about Yemen. And it’s not just we’re aiding. We’re supplying intelligence. We’re refueling planes. We’re working very closely with the United Arab Emirates and, of course, the Saudis, who are doing most of the horrific stuff that’s going on.
Right now what you have is such a division in the media that there’s no middle ground. There’s no—when I worked, I was a freelance reporter, and I understood, even then, a story was a story. And it wasn’t looked at as are you either pro- or anti-Trump or, you know, whatever. Right now you have a situation, because of the craziness of cable news, which takes any information they get and blasts it out there with no thought—we’re all driven.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/6/20/seymour_hersh_media_today_must_cover = https://truthout.org/video/seymour-hersh-media-today-must-cover-yemen-and-trump-policy-not-get-distracted-by-tweets/
(* A H P)
Trennung von Flüchtlingsfamilien beendet
21.06.2018 - US-Präsident Trump beugt sich dem politischen Druck und beendet die Trennung von Flüchtlingsfamilien an der Grenze zu Mexiko. Die Lage der Migranten wird sich dadurch jedoch nicht verbessern - im Gegenteil.
(* A H P)
Torn from immigrant parents, 8-month-old baby lands in Michigan
One child is 8 months old; the other is 11 months old. Both children have become part of a bigger group of 50 immigrant children who have landed in foster care in western Michigan under the Trump administration's zero-tolerance border policy.
The average age of these children is 8, a number that has alarmed foster care employees who are struggling to comfort the growing group of kids who are turning up in Michigan at nighttime, when it's pitch-dark outside. They're younger than ever, they say. And they are petrified.
"These kids are arriving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Not only are they being separated from their family, they are being transported to a place that they don't know in the middle of the night," said Hannah Mills, program supervisor for the transitional foster care program at Bethany Christian Services, which is currently assisting the displaced children. "We have found on many occasions that no one has explained to these children where they are going."
more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/nyregion/children-separated-border-new-york.html
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-court/
https://medium.com/@tswriting/trump-and-the-mexican-children-whats-happening-and-why-de02e79f1887
but it already had happened under Obama:
https://twitter.com/N8iveTucsonan/status/1009525193184858112
(* B K P)
Separating children from their families is nothing new, US has been doing it for decades
Outrage over the Trump administration's “zero tolerance” immigration policy appears to have little to do with genuine concerns over human-rights abuses committed by the US government on a routine basis.
The Trump administration’s Stephen Miller-inspired immigration policy of coercively tearing children from their parents is rightly receiving a hefty load of criticism, even from some of the more traditional Republicans.
Wow. Do you mean the United States government is actually committing human-rights abuses? Imagine my surprise, that the country which I believe to be a beacon of human rights, democracy and freedom has suddenly begun committing a human-rights abuse for what I am supposed to believe is the very first time.
This is the part that makes little sense when you consider the actions of the US ever since it was founded, right up until the present day, in terms of its ever-expanding list of human-rights abuses. Are these people genuinely upset and furious by the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents, or are they using this egregious policy as an excuse to advance their own agenda?
The United States has had a longstanding foreign policy of separating thousands of children from their parents on a daily basis. Arguably, this decades-long policy that has continued through both Democrat and Republican administrations is even worse than the current “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, given that the US has been separating thousands of children from their families using explosive devices, not detention centers.
On the campaign trail, then-candidate Trump vowed that he would “take out” the families of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) fighters and no one seemed to bat an eyelid at the time. While no one was looking, he began doing just that – and more. Soon after ascending to office, he relaxed the so-called Obama-era restrictions on airstrikes in multiple warzones, meaning that commanders on the field could call in airstrikes with almost all but zero oversight.
In Yemen, the US-backed Saudi-led coalition destroyed a family’s home, leaving a four-year-old Yemeni girl as the sole survivor. She wasn’t taken from her parents and put in a center – her parents were violently taken away from her for eternity. The United States, together with the United Kingdom, are 100-percent responsible for the bloodshed in Yemen.
This is not a violent policy that pertains only to the Trump administration. Altogether, the United States has killed some four million Muslims since it began its overt wars in the Middle East in the early 1990s. That’s over four million Muslims who will never see their loved ones again. I hate to break it to you, but unseating Donald Trump and replacing him with someone else is not going to save the United States government from committing human-rights abuses – by Darius Shahtahmaseb
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/430213-yemen-us-children-trump/ = https://www.rt.com/op-ed/430213-yemen-us-children-trump/
(* A P)
USA treten aus UN-Menschenrechtsrat aus
Es hatte sich schon länger abgezeichnet – jetzt ist es offiziell: Die USA haben ihre Mitgliedschaft im Menschenrechtsrat der Vereinten Nationen gekündigt. Sie sind unzufrieden mit der Arbeit des Gremiums.
Die US-Botschafterin bei der UNO, Nikki Haley, begründete die Entscheidung damit, dass das Gremium eine “Jauchegrube der politischen Voreingenommenheit” sei. Die US-Regierung hatte dem Menschenrechtsrat in der Vergangenheit vor allem immer wieder eine Israel-feindliche Haltung vorgeworfen.
Kritik der USA seit über einem Jahr
Der Austritt der USA aus dem 47 Staaten umfassenden Rat ist ein schwerer Schlag gegen das UN-System zum Schutz der Menschenrechte und gegen die UN insgesamt. Die Mitgliedschaft der Vereinigten Staaten wäre turnusgemäß im kommenden Jahr zu Ende gegangen, jetzt lässt die Regierung von Präsident Trump diese Mitgliedschaft aber mit einem Knalleffekt enden.
Ganz überraschend kommt der Rückzug der Amerikaner nicht. Botschafterin Haley hatte bereits vor einem Jahr ein Ende der “unerbittlichen, pathologischen Kampagne” des UN-Menschenrechtsrates gegen Israel verlangt. Sie kritisierte damals, dass der Rat die Israelis regelmäßig verurteile, während autoritäre Regime häufig ungeschoren davon kämen. Zudem bestand Haley auf einem Mechanismus, der die Wahl autoritär regierter Länder wie Venezuela, Kuba, China, Burundi und Saudi Arabien in den Rat verhindere. Die US-Forderungen sind aber bis heute von den Gremium nicht erfüllt worden.
Trump und die Vereinten Nationen – keine Liebesgeschichte
Seit seinem Amtsantritt 2017 verfolgt Trump eine harsche Politik gegen die gesamten Vereinten Nationen. Die US-Regierung kürzte seitdem ihre Beiträge, kündigte einen Ausstieg aus dem UN-Klimaabkommen an und beschloss den Ausstieg aus der Bildungs- und Kultureinrichtung UNESCO.
http://www.dw.com/de/usa-treten-aus-un-menschenrechtsrat-aus/a-44299981
Anmerkung Jens Berger: Zynisch könnte man sagen, dass diese Entscheidung nur konsequent ist. Denn was hat ein Land, das die Menschenrechte systematisch verletzt, im Menschenrechtsrat zu suchen? Als Nächstes erwarten wir dann noch den Austritt der Militärdiktatur Ägypten und der letzten absolutistischen Monarchie Saudi Arabien. Denn die haben im Menschenrechtsrat auch nichts zu suchen.
https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=44529#h03
(* A P)
As Expected, the US Quits the UN Human Rights Council
In a long-expected decision, the United States announced it was withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the world body’s primary organ for promoting and protecting the rights of people worldwide. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, delivered comments on June 19 in the late afternoon from Washington, D.C., not taking any questions from reporters.
“The Human Rights Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy — with many of the world’s worst human rights abuses going ignored and most serious offenders sit on the council sit in pious and self-righteous judgement of others with infinitely better records,” Pompeo said, his remarks posted on his Twitter page.
Haley followed with longer remarks, citing among other things the work her team has apparently done to fix the Council’s flaws. “For too long, the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human-rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias. Regrettably, it is now clear that our call for reform was not heeded.”
It is sadly ironic that on the day the US announced it was leaving the Human Rights Council, people across the world were recoiling in horror and grief at the spectacle of an American government taking several thousand children away from their mothers and fathers, who are desperate asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America
http://www.passblue.com/2018/06/19/as-expected-the-us-quits-the-un-human-rights-council/
and a longer article, background: https://lobelog.com/the-us-quits-on-human-rights/
Remark: More English reporting YPR 425, cp9.
Comment: Well, I guess the Trump administration aren't that keen on human right except the rights of the elite 1% and as long as the Human Rights Council - flawed as it is - sometimes goes against the current US genocidal policy (not often enough, but sometimes) they are better not taking part.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10156782329133641
(* B K P)
Trump’s Military Drops a Bomb Every 12 Minutes and No One Is Talking About It
We are a rogue nation with a rogue military and a completely unaccountable ruling elite.
We live in a state of perpetual war, and we never feel it. While you get your gelato at the hip place where they put those cute little mint leaves on the side, someone is being bombed in your name. While you argue with the 17-year-old at the movie theater who gave you a small popcorn when you paid for a large, someone is being obliterated in your name. While we sleep and eat and make love and shield our eyes on a sunny day, someone’s home, family, life and body are being blown into a thousand pieces in our names.
Once every 12 minutes.
The United States military drops an explosive with a strength you can hardly comprehend once every 12 minutes. And that’s odd, because we’re technically at war with—let me think—zero countries. So that should mean zero bombs are being dropped, right?
Hell no! You’ve made the common mistake of confusing our world with some sort of rational, cogent world in which our military-industrial complex is under control, the music industry is based on merit and talent, Legos have gently rounded edges (so when you step on them barefoot, it doesn’t feel like an armor-piercing bullet just shot straight up your sphincter), and humans are dealing with climate change like adults rather than burying our heads in the sand while trying to convince ourselves that the sand around our heads isn’t getting really, really hot.
You’re thinking of a rational world. We do not live there.
Instead, we live in a world where the Pentagon is completely and utterly out of control. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the $21 trillion (that’s not a typo) that has gone unaccounted for at the Pentagon. But I didn’t get into the number of bombs that ridiculous amount of money buys us. President George W. Bush’s military dropped 70,000 bombs on five countries. But of that outrageous number, only 57 of those bombs really upset the international community.
Because there were 57 strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen—countries the U.S. was not at war with and places that didn’t have ongoing internal conflicts. And the world was kind of horrified.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trumps-military-drops-a-bomb-every-12-minutes-and-no-one-is-talking-about-it/ = https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-military-drops-bomb-every-12-minutes/244417/
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A K P)
UK support for the war in Yemen must stop
It is time for an end to British collusion in what is already the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe, write 13 parliamentarians, trade unionists and others
It is time for an end to British collusion in what is already the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Britain must stop all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the other combatant countries and end its support for the war.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/21/uk-support-for-the-war-in-yemen-must-stop
(* A K P)
Former Cabinet Minister condemns UK's role in Yemen conflict
The United Kingdom is partly to blame for an horrific conflict in Yemen, according to a Birmingham MP.
Andrew Mitchell, a Conservative MP and former Cabinet Minister, condemned the Government’s ongoing support for Saudi Arabia’s actions in the Yemen conflict
He highlighted the UK’s role in a battle currently raging at the port of Hodeidah, on the country’s west coast, saying: “The British government finds itself not on the side of innocent families who fear the fire that falls from above, but on the side of the perpetrator”.
Mr Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield, is a former Secretary of State for International Development.
Writing in The Guardian, Mr Mitchell said that the UK had urged Saudi Arabia not to attack the port, but our warnings had been ignored. However, he added: “The problem for Britain is that we are complicit in this attack.
“It is part of the coalition that supports Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen.”
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/former-cabinet-minister-condemns-uks-14810886
(* A K P)
Yemen: UK Government should halt coalition arms sales as Hodeidah battle rages - open letter to Liam Fox
Threats to civilians posed by Hodeidah offensive mean Government’s case for continued arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition are less valid than ever
Threat of further Saudi coalition airstrikes hangs over Yemeni civilians like ‘Sword of Damocles’
New report on humanitarian situation in Yemen to be published on Friday
Having previously issued numerous calls on the UK to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the wider coalition because of the clear risk that they could lead to breaches of humanitarian law, the open letter points out that the Government’s apparent acceptance last year of the “finely balanced” nature of the case for continuing to arm Saudi Arabia must mean the case has now become unsupportable.
Though stressing that they do not accept that the legal case for continued arms sales is finely-balanced, the organisations’ letter questions the Government’s own stance, saying: “If the situation was judged by the Government as being finely balanced before the current military offensive in Hodeidah, then we have now surely passed the tipping point where the only legitimate course of action is to immediately stop arms transfers.”
cp11 Deutschland / Germany
(* B E K P)
Waffen für die Welt (II)
21.06.2018
Die deutschen Rüstungsexporte haben im vergangenen Jahr ihren dritthöchsten Wert seit der Publikation des ersten einschlägigen Berichts im Jahr 1999 erreicht. Dies geht aus dem gestern veröffentlichten Rüstungsexportbericht der Bundesregierung für 2017 hervor. Demnach hat der Bundessicherheitsrat im vergangenen Jahr die Ausfuhr von Kriegsgerät im Wert von mehr als 6,2 Milliarden Euro genehmigt. Rund ein Sechstel davon - Rüstungsgüter im Wert von mehr als einer Milliarde Euro - wurde in Entwicklungsländer verkauft. Regional zeichnen sich drei geostrategisch definierbare Zielgebiete als Schwerpunkte der Rüstungsexporte deutlich ab. So wurden deutsche Waffen - wie schon seit Jahren - an mehrere Staaten der Arabischen Halbinsel geliefert, die gegen Iran opponieren. Daneben statteten deutsche Firmen einige Staaten Nordafrikas mit Kriegsschiffen und mit zur Flüchtlingsabwehr nutzbaren Landfahrzeugen aus. Zudem gingen Rüstungsgüter im Wert von rund 900 Millionen Euro an asiatische und pazifische Rivalen der Volksrepublik China.
https://www.german-foreign-policy.com/news/detail/7646/
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* A H P)
Hodeidah offensive prompts France to downgrade Yemen conference
France is downgrading an international humanitarian conference on Yemen after Saudi-led coalition forces stormed the main port Hodeidah, diplomatic and aid sources said on Thursday.
The gathering of countries and international organizations, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia, had been due to take place at ministerial level in Paris on June 27 with the objective of addressing the “urgent humanitarian situation” in Yemen.
The conference was announced in May by President Emmanuel Macron with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman alongside him, and Macron had been due to deliver a speech and had wanted concrete results from the meeting.
A French diplomatic source said the meeting would now be at “international expert level” to prepare a future conference.
“The offensive on Hodeidah made this conference even more untenable, especially if you don’t have all the players on board,” said a second French diplomat.
(* A H P)
France urged to cancel joint Saudi conference on Yemen
France is under pressure to abandon next Wednesday’s humanitarian conference on Yemen, co-organized with Saudi Arabia, as NGOs argue it is “inconceivable” to hold it in light of the Saudi-led offensive against the port of Hodeida.
There have also been criticisms about a lack of clarity over the event. One week ahead of the meeting in the French capital, major partners, including officials from the United Nations and European Union member states, were still in the dark about what it would entail and who would attend. Civil society groups, meanwhile, are weighing whether to show up to a consultation with the French government next week, having been excluded from the main event.
“It’s difficult to understand that France would co-organize an event with one of the parties to the conflict, which is right now attacking civilians and at the same time trying to present itself as a key humanitarian actor,” said Fanny Petitbon, advocacy manager for CARE France. “The Saudis and UAE are heavily funding the U.N. humanitarian response plan. But it’s a completely schizophrenic position. For us, France would lose all its credibility if it maintained the conference.”
https://www.devex.com/news/france-urged-to-cancel-joint-saudi-conference-on-yemen-92951
(* A K P)
The new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is to review the stationing of Malaysian troops by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government in Saudi Arabia purportedly on standby to evacuate Malaysians in war-torn Yemen.
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu said the presence of the troops in Saudi Arabia caused Malaysia to be indirectly dragged into the conflict in the Middle East.
Malaysia had never been involved in any attack on Yemen, an Islamic state, he said in a statement today.
"Malaysia has always adopted a neutral policy and does not favour any political ideology of the world´s major powers.
http://www.bernama.com/en/general/news.php?id=1473119 = http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/06/20/msia-to-review-stationing-of-troops-in-saudi-arabia-mat-sabu/
(A P)
‘Bloody Yemen raid betrays evil nature of world bullies’
Ayatollah Khamenei said Wednesday that the “bloody” and “criminal” attacks against Hudaydah by a number of countries possessing advanced weapons and with an aim to strip the Yemeni people of their control over a vital seaport “is another example of the evil nature of world bullies.”
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/06/20/565523/Iran-Leader-Ayatollah-Khamenei-Parliament-Majli
(B K P)
Are Australian military exports being used in the Yemen civil war?
Amnesty International says the Australian government must come clean on whether it is indirectly contributing to the bloodshed in Yemen.
"The Australian government in the last year and a half has been providing military exports to the Saudi Arabian regime ... There is no transparency with what these exports contain," Amnesty International's Diana Sayed told SBS News.
"The Saudi Arabian regime a leading a coalition that is deliberately attacking civilians ... [So] essentially we remain complicit in this ongoing crisis in Yemen," she said.
"The Australian government needs to be held to account for these military exports to the Saudis."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/are-australian-military-exports-being-used-in-the-yemen-civil-war
cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis
(* B P)
Is the GCC dead?
The crown prince is the architect of the Qatar blockade and likely the key driver behind the letter. Political quarrels between the Saudis and Qataris go back decades. Riyadh has long resented Doha’s determination to have an independent foreign policy and its tendency to stick its finger in the Saudi eye. Ambassadors were withdrawn but the spats were kept contained. The quarrels did not affect the GCC from doing its business and holding high-level meetings.
Tensions are inherent in the council given the power disparity between the members. The Saudis are the elephant. They always envisioned the GCC to be more like the Warsaw Pact than NATO: an alliance run by one capital rather than a collection of equals. The smaller gulf states knew this and resisted moves for greater unity in military affairs or a single currency because they feared Saudi dominance would be inevitable. Cooperation and consultation but not integration.
Prince Mohammed has broken the old way of doing things and thus the GCC. Instead there are now a variety of camps in the monarchies. There is the Saudi camp. The UAE is firmly on board with punishing its political and economical rival Qatar. Abu Dhabi is a strong critic of Al Jazeera, which is based in Doha. Bahrain is an even more ze
So the GCC is today broken as never before. The Trump administration has failed to speak with a clear single voice. More importantly, it has been ignored. Two secretaries of state have tried to heal the split as has the secretary of defense, to no avail. It is an extraordinary display of American weakness and impotence.
It also means that the united Islamic front against Iran that Trump hailed last year in Riyadh is broken at its front line in the Persian Gulf – by Bruce Riedel
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia moves ahead with Salwa canal plan
Waterway alongside Saudi-Qatari border to be completed within 15 months
Saudi Arabia’s deadline for accepting tenders to dig a 60-kilometre canal that will turn Qatar into an island will be June 25.
Five international companies with expertise in digging canals have so far submitted their tenders for the Salwa canal inside the territories of Saudi Arabia and alongside the Saudi-Qatari borders.
https://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-moves-ahead-with-salwa-canal-plan-1.2238965
My comment: Odd.
Comment: I don't understand how Saudi Arabia consistently finds new depths of daft to plumb. This move is bereft of any value.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1009373863808061441
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(* A T)
Al-Qaeda in Yemen says group will strike hard when time is right
Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) has released a lengthy interview with its leading figure Khalid Batarfi, commenting on various aspects of the conflict in Yemen and the jihadist group's current position and future plans.
Batarfi said the conditions of AQAP militants in Yemen were "improving and developing" and that their numbers were increasing, promising big "operations" when the time is right. He did, however, acknowledge ongoing challenges, naming military and propaganda campaigns against the group and scarce resources.
Judging from his comments, US drone strikes guided by spies on the ground still appear to be the bane of AQAP, although Batarfi said the group was gradually recovering from such targeting and has managed to uncover network of spies. He said AQAP would forgive spies who repented before being caught by the jihadist group.
Interestingly, Batarfi said the group had duped a Saudi spy (and by extension the Saudi intelligence) by pretending to be planning a big attack in Dubai, in order to uncover the spy's network. Batarfi said details of the year-long operation, which he hailed as a major success, would be revealed in an upcoming video production from the group.
Batarfi heavily dwelled on criticising the UAE and its role in the Yemen conflict. He said the UAE had an agenda to promote a watered-down version of Islam in Yemen and to spread immorality among its people to please the US.
When asked about "dwindling" operations of al-Qaeda and its "absence in some areas", Batarfi used a common AQAP argument: the jihadists refrained from carrying out many attacks in order to avoid harming Muslims. Also, he said that certain jihadist attacks under certain circumstances would play into the hands of its enemies.
Batarfi said his group strongly objected to demands by separatists for the secession of southern Yemen, saying Muslims in the country needed to "unite under the banner of Islam and [under] a wise Islamic Caliphate".
https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c1dpdb8k
cp15 Propaganda
(A P)
UN praises UAE, Saudi role in Yemen
The United Nations released on Wednesday statistics on the significant progress made in addressing humanitarian need in Yemen thanks to the contributions of the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in cooperation with over 150 implementing partners.
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), and the Yemeni Women’s Union presented 2018 data showing rapid expansion of humanitarian coverage across Yemen in many sectors, including nutrition, health, and education, among others. The UAE has contributed $465 million of the requested $2.1 billion that the UN is using to implement its Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP).
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/e762bed0-9e11-4b41-b8ab-88763871e294.aspx
My comment: More of the “We are benefactors” propaganda, relying on a presentention of data. The headline created for this certainly could receive the palm for propaganda nonsense of the year.
(A P)
BOTSCHAFT DER VEREINIGTEN ARABISCHEN EMIRATE – BERLIN
Die Befreiung von Hodeida
E. Ali Abdulla Al Ahmed, Botschafter der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate in Deutschland, äußert sich zu den jüngsten Entwicklungen in der Hafenstadt Hodeida im Jemen. Die arabische Koalition steht an der Seite der international anerkannten jemenitischen Regierung, um die Wiederherstellung der Sicherheit und der Stabilität des strategisch wichtigen Hafens zu gewährleisten.
Der Einsatz zur Befreiung von Hodeida hat drei erklärte Ziele; die Zivilbevölkerung vor den Gewalttaten der Huthi-Milizen zu schützen, den Fluss der humanitären Hilfen über den Hafen von Hodeida zu sichern, und die Huthis an den Verhandlungstisch zu bringen.
Die Arabische Koalition hat sämtliche Vorkehrungen getroffen, damit der Einsatz mit einem für die Zivilbevölkerung minimalen Risiko durchgeführt werden kann und bereits einen umfassenden Plan für die Bereitstellung sofortiger humanitärer Hilfe ausgearbeitet. Lebensmittel und weitere essentielle Vorräte sind auf Schiffen im Roten Meer verteilt, die bereits darauf warten, nach der Befreiung schnell in den Hafen von Hodeida einlaufen zu können.
"Wir haben einen sorgfältig ausgearbeiteten Plan, Hilfsgüter für die Jemeniten auf Schiffen, Flugzeugen und Lastwagen nach Hodeida einzuführen, um die notwendige Versorgung für die nächsten zwei Wochen aufrechtzuerhalten."
https://www.presseportal.de/pm/131112/3977236
Offenbar weltweit haben neben dem Außenminister auch alle Botschafter der Emirate dieselbe Propagandageschichte verbreitet. Berichte aus Dänemark, Singapur und Indien wurden schon verlinkt.
(A P)
Saudi-led Coalition Steps Pressure on Houthis to End 4-year Yemeni Conflict
“The coalition is working at all levels to pressure the militias [Houthis] to accept the political solution,” Col. Turki al-Maliki said in statements cited by the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya television channel.
Without elaborating, the spokesman said major developments will take place in the port city of Al-Hudaydah after capturing the city’s airport on Tuesday.
He went to accuse Houthi rebels of taking civilians in Al-Hudaydah as human shields.
“Houthis are preventing citizens from leaving the city and are using them as human shields,” he said.
My comment: Which political solution? The Saudis and their allies only accept a political solution which gives them the superiority from the very beginning. Taking civilians as human shields? At least keep in mind that the Houthis hold the city and the UAE-backed troops assault the city. They should just stop it, then there would be no fighting in the city.
(A P)
Hodeidah Port Remains Open; Recaptured for Continued Aid Relief Distribution
Ambassador Mohammed Al-Jaber, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Yemen, who is also the executive director of the Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations' Center, stressed yesterday during a meeting with the United Arab Emirates' ambassador to the Kingdom, as well as, other representatives, that the Hodaidah Port remains open and it will be a life artery for Yemenis in facilitating relief supplies; as opposed to a passage for weapons of death and destruction and means to enrich the Iranian-backed Houthi militias. He also added that the Coalition and the international community continue to seek a political solution based on: the GCC initiatives and its implementation mechanisms; the outputs of the National Yemeni Dialogue; and, UN Security Council Resolution 2216. The Houthis, on the other hand, continue to reject these.
Amb. Al-Jaber has confirmed that the Kingdom and the Coalition Countries continue to support the legitimate Yemeni government and Yemeni army. He praised the heroism and efforts of the Yemeni army in recapturing Yemeni territory from the Iranian-backed Houthi militias. Amb. Al-Jaber asserted that the liberation of Hodeidah Port and city represent a liberation of humanitarian and aid operations from the grip of the Houthi militias, which use the port for their own benefit and smuggling arms from Iran; sustaining the war and leading to continued starvation and poverty of the Yemeni people.
(A P)
Iran should stop destabilising Yemen
Weaponry retrieved by UAE forces is overwhelming proof of Tehran’s role in arming Al Houthis
Iran’s role in fomenting strife in Yemen has never been in doubt. Now there is a mountain of evidence, if it was ever needed, that points to Tehran’s destabilising support to Al Houthi militia who has inflicted untold misery on the Yemenis. Unmanned Armed Vehicles (drones), landmines, marine mines, anti-tank guided missiles, sniper rifles and improvised explosive devices are among the vast cache of weapons being used by Al Houthis in the conflict. These advanced weapons were retrieved by the UAE Armed Forces participating in the Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Al Hadi.
All the weapons displayed in Abu Dhabi by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation bore the Iranian signature. Some of the drones are very similar to the Iranian Ababil and Jamaroosh UAVs. Manufactured in Iranian factories, these arms and ammunition — some of them sported Farsi writings — were used to kill and maim innocent civilians, including children.
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/editorials/iran-should-stop-destabilising-yemen-1.2239802
Remark: Earlier reporting of this Nikki Haley-style show look at YPR 425, cp15.
My comment: The old stories again, often commented already. And all the victims of this war seem to be ascribed to the Houthis, as if they also were responsible for the Saudi coalition’s air raids: odd.
(A P)
I'm sick of seeing 'promoted' tweets about #UAE giving aid to #Yemen when right now they are causing yet more death and destruction and exacerbating the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Why do you allow this @Twitter? (image)
https://twitter.com/julie_maxon/status/1009178149442211840
(A P)
More Saudi / UAE / Gulf „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-19463
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302695527
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/rco-send-humanitarian-aid-consignments-yemen
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1324996/saudi-arabia
https://twitter.com/YCHOperations/status/1009292953771225091
and there is a whole Twitter acoount for this purpose:
https://twitter.com/YCHOperations
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
Siehe / Look at cp1b (Hodeidah)
(* A K)
Saudi coalition air raids day by day
(A K pH)
Two Saudi-led airstrikes hit Hajjah
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499597.htm
(* A K pH)
US-Saudi Jets Kill , Wound Ten Civilians in Yemen’s Saada : Photos
At least ten people lost their lives and wounded on Wednesday [June 20] in new crime committed by the US-KSA warplanes in Saada province .
Local source stated that the aggression’s jets bombed a house in Ghafira area of Adahir district . Four civilians were killed while injured six others .
http://www.newnewss.net/us-saudi-jets-kill-wound-ten-civilians-in-yemens-saada-photos/
https://www.facebook.com/SaudiArabia.war.crimes.against.Yemen/posts/1830481690581150
and this is what Saudi propaganda tells:
(A K pS)
Yemen army destroys Houthi weapons store in Saada
raids by the Saudi-led Arab coalition jets targeting groups of militias in different areas of Saada.
The raids affected the positions of militias and their gatherings in the area of Muhab in Al- Safrah, in addition to about a dozen other raids which targeted the militias in the Menba.
Coalition jets also destroyed two Houthi vehicles in Al-Jawf.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1276111/middle-east
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b2
(* A K pS)
115 civilians killed by Houthis landmines this year
The Yemeni coalition of Human rights monitoring today (Thursday) that 115 civilians killed and 92 other injured due to the landmines planted by Houthis since the early 2017.
The National news agency “Saba” said according to the center that 25 children were among the killed and 13 children were among the injured while Houthis continue to plant hundreds of landmines at the west coast.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99719
(* A K)
Houthi Forces Claim They Destroyed UAE Recon Plane
Houthi forces operating near the Yemen-Saudia Arabia border adjacent to the Red Sea downed a United Arab Emirates recon aircraft on Thursday, al-Masdar News reported.
A media arm for the Houthi forces said that its rocket battalion shot down a UAE aircraft off the coast of Saudi Arabia's Jizan Region, according to al-Masdar News.
Anti-aircraft missiles struck the plane and killed the crew on the aircraft, AMN noted, citing Houthi forces.
The UAE Air Force has two types of reconnaissance aircraft in its inventory, the Canadian-made Bombardier Dash 8 and the CASA/IPTN CN-235, which is jointly produced Construcciones Aeronauticas of Spain and Indonesian Aerospace. It is not clear which type of aircraft the Houthis reportedly destroyed.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201806221065646938-houthi-forces-claim-destroyed-uae-plane/ and by Saba news http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499608.htm
and
(* A K)
According to Yemen Press Agency, the #Yemen-i Air Defenses were able to hit the UAE plane on the West Coast and then managed to fly before it falling in the sea off the Coast of Jizan.
The manned reconnaissance planes are one of the most dangerous USA aircraft, given the nature of the missions they carry out.
Military sources speculate that the UAE plane, which was shot down by the Yemeni Air Defenses on the West Coast today, is a "Gulfstream 550", a manned Plane carrying out dangerous intelligence missions
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/1787493931303629
(A K pH)
Saudi spying drone shot down in Saada
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news499598.htm
(* A K)
Yemeni Army Kills 37 Houthi Rebels, Detain 30 in Clashes in Al-Bayda
The Yemeni army on Thursday said it had killed 37 Houthi rebels -- and captured another 30 -- in fierce clashes in Yemen’s central Al-Bayda province.
In a statement, the army said several positions had been captured from the rebels in clashes that occurred over the last 24 hours.
According to the same statement, six Yemeni military personnel -- including an army lieutenant-colonel -- were also killed in the clashes.
https://www.albawaba.com/news/yemeni-army-kills-37-houthi-rebels-detain-30-clashes-al-bayda-1148568
films:
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009874280287539202
https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1009872439516549120
(A K pS)
Yemen army destroys Houthi weapons store in Saada
The Yemeni army launched a series of artillery attacks on the positions of the Iranian Houthi militia in the province of Saada in northern Yemen, Saudi state TV Al-Ekhbariya reported on Friday.
A Yemeni military source said that the bombing targeted the positions of the Houthi militia in Kataf of Saada and resulted in the destruction of a weapons store.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1276111/middle-east
(A K pS)
Major military operation launched this morning, the government forces advances at Al Baidha
governmental forces achieved a remarkable advancing at Albaidha governorate, the center of Yemen after a major attack launched Tuesday morning.
The reporter of almasdaronline according to military sources the government forces managed to liberate “Naqeel Alqanthaa” and “Alsweedah”, “Aleryalat” at Noaman directorate in addition to “Alfuqraa”,”Qarn Alban” at Sheaab Fadhaat Almalajem directorate.
According to the source the forces of the brigade 26 reached “Aljrebiat” at Noaman and Al Awadh.
http://almasdaronline.com/article/99689
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(* A H K)
Photojournalism: Véronique de Viguerie wins ICRC’s 2018 Humanitarian Visa d’Or for Yemen report
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) awarded the Humanitarian Visa d'Or yesterday to French photojournalist Véronique De Viguerie for her report on the impact of the conflict in Yemen on its people. This year's theme was urban war and the consequences for people forced to hide or flee, fearing for their safety and enduring shortages of food, water, health care and shelter.
Entitled "Yemen: The war they're hiding from us", Véronique de Viguerie's photo-reportage focuses in particular on Yemeni women, paying tribute to their struggle for survival in urban areas. These women have stepped up to fill many of the places left by men, becoming the heads of their household and caretakers for the community.
"It's gratifying to have my work recognized by a jury of respected professionals. But more than that, I hope this award will draw attention to the hidden conflict in Yemen and the terrible humanitarian situation there," said Véronique de Viguerie. "It was quite an ordeal reaching the north of the country, but once my reporting partner, Manon Querouil, and I got there, we forgot all the obstacles in the face of people's suffering. I just wanted to tell the story of their daily struggle to survive."
"This award has shed stark new light on one of today's worst humanitarian crises. Véronique de Viguerie's series of ten stirring photos is a reminder that civilians must always be safeguarded, relief efforts must never be obstructed and, more generally, international humanitarian law must be followed at all times and in all circumstances," said Frédéric Joli, the ICRC's spokesperson in France.
(A P)
IRAN SENDS WARSHIPS TO GULF OF ADEN AS CLASHES FOR YEMEN’S AL-HUDAYDAH CONTINUE
On June 21, the Iranian Navy allegedly dispatched two warships to the Gulf of Aden, where a fierce battle is ongoing between the Ansar Allah movement (also known as the Houthis) and the Saudi-led coalition for the port city of al-Hudaydah.
According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian naval group composed of the Kharg Helicopter Carrier and Sabalan Destroyer. The Iranian side publicy describes its move with a need to secure naval routes and protect merchant vessels and oil tankers against pirates.
The deployment of Iranian warships in the area will likely further complicate relations between Riyadh and Teheran. However, two warships will not be enough to lift a naval blockade from al-Hudaydah.
My comment: This is just replacing Iranian warships which had been on antio-piracy mission before – as warships of other countries are. These warships will have nothing to do with the Yemen war at all.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-425-yemen-war-mosaic-425
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-425 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-425:
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/
und alle Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Kommentare einblendenDiskutieren Sie mit.