Dies ist die Fortsetzung von Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 652, Teil 1 / This is the sequel of Yemen War Mosaic 652, part 1:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-652-yemen-war-mosaic-652
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 1 / In Italics: Look in part 1
Klassifizierung / Classification
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Kampf um Hodeidah / Most important: Hodeidah battle
cp1c Am wichtigsten: Waffenstillstand und Friedensangebot / Most important: ceasefire and peace offer
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 Separatisten und Hadi-Regierung im Südjemen / Separatists and Hadi government in Southern Yemen
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
cp9 USA
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
cp12b Sudan
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms Trade
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A P)
Houthis Abduct University Professor Over Social Media Posts
The Iran-aligned Houthi militia abducted on Monday a professor at Hodeidah University over posts on social media.
Wadea’ Al-Sharjabi, who lectures at the Media Department of Hodeidah University, was taken to an unknown destination, a local source said.
Earlier this week, Al-Sharjabi criticized, on his Facebook account, the militia for arresting three students at Hodeidah University, calling on Houthis to immediately release the students.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/24235
(A P)
160 tons of expired foodstuffs destroyed in Sanaa
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097194.htm
(A P)
Yemen man dies 2 days after leaving Houthi prison
A young Yemeni man who was kidnapped by Houthi rebels in the capital of Sanaa has died only two days after leaving prison, Al-Masdar Online news site reported.
Sources in Sanaa told the news site that Abdullah Abbad, from Al-Siyani district in Ibb Governorate, died on Friday in his home in Sanaa, only two days after being released from the Houthi prison.
The sources suggested that the young man’s sudden and mysterious death was caused by the torture and abuse he suffered while in prison.
Yemen Shabab news site reported that Abbad had worked as an artist and photographer. According to the news site, the Houthi militia kidnapped Abbad a month ago, on charges of distributing published material of the Saudi-led Arab coalition.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200519-yemen-man-dies-2-days-after-leaving-houthi-prison/
(A P)
Yemeni [Hadi] gov't says Houthis looted Yr35-billion worth oil revenues
The Yemeni internationally-recognized government on Monday accused the Houthi group of misappropriating oil revenues of more than 35 billion Yemeni rials deposited into the Hodeida-based Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) to pay civil servants' salaries.
This practice is in blatant violation of understandings on provisional measures, agreed to with the office of the UN special envoy for Yemen, to import oil derivatives to the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, the Yemeni foreign ministry said in a statement.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17270.html
(* A H P)
Coronovirus: Houthis’ new tool to loot merchants, citizens
[quotations in cp1a]
http://en.26sepnews.net/2020/05/18/coronovirus-houthis-new-tool-to-loot-merchants-citizens/
and
(* A P)
As #Covid_19 spreads in Sanaa, Houthis decided to increase Zakat by 500 percent. They also have punished some businessmen who donated money to the poor demanding it had to go through them. Houthis use all that money to support their war!
https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1262273704567943169
(* A P)
Senior Houthi leader admits secrecy on true numbers of corona victims in northern Yemen
A Senior leader in the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) implicitly admited, on Sunday, his group to be silent on the numbers of cases and deaths resulting from the novel Coronavirus in areas under its control in northern Yemen, calling from what he called free countries to pressure the coalition to enter medical supplies and examinations instead of searching for Number of victims.
Member of the Supreme Political Council in the group, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, said in two Twitter tweets, "The diets spread in the country need analyzes, and it is not correct at all to announce any cases before they are confirmed."
He added, "The spotlight should be on the siege, refusing to enter supplies and checks, and the Arab coalition refusing to accept its end."
The Houthi leader called those he called as free countries to pressure the coalition to lift the siege imposed on Yemen, and to introduce supplies and checks instead of searching for numbers.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17230.html
and also https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12938
My comment: This does not make sense at all. The real (and raising) figures would be the most effective means to pressure the whole world to pressure the coalition to lift the siege.
(A P)
Houthis secretly isolate senior leaders in fears of COVID-19
Houthi high-ranking leaders have been absent from any official and private events, source close to the group told Debriefer on Saturday, "under strict supreme instructions."
"First and second-rank leaders of the group have been admitted to private quarantine lest they catch COVID-19 infection," the source added on condition of anonymity.
"The group has already halted its cultural [religious] activities during Ramadan, and allowed for most of its administrative affiliates to work at home.
"For more than two months, the group has strictly imposed blackout on the compulsory quarantine of its leaders," he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17225.html
(* A P)
Locals in Sanaa and Ibb claim Houthis are killing people infected with Covid-19, especially those coming from #Aden. This activist, who exposed secret prisons in Yemen in recent years, said they received a complain from a family an engineer was killed by Houthis in Ibb.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1261620420949786625
referring to https://twitter.com/h_alsarare/status/1261607413762883584
and
(A P)
Houthis kill coronavirus patient upon arriving from south Yemen: Reports
Houthi militants killed a coronavirus patient in central Yemen's Ibb province last week upon his arrival from the southern city of Aden, local sources said anonymously.
"The militants abducted Fuad Sayf Asharaabi, a man from Taiz province, right upon his arrival from Aden and killed him," Sahafahnet website quoted the sources as saying.
The sources did not confirm whether the Houthis killed the man because he was infected with the dangerous virus or because of his opposition to them.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39706
(A P)
Schließung 39 Wasseranlagen und korrigiering den Status von 350 Anlagen in der Hauptstadt
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096955.htm
(* A H P)
Yemeni [Hadi ] gov't says Houthis looted anti-COVID-19 supplies
The Houthi group has misappropriated anti-COVID-19 supplies sent by the Yemeni UN-recognized government to health offices in Houthi-held governorates, the Yemeni information minister said Saturday.
"The government has sent medical supplies to all governorates, including those under Houthi control, to assist the Yemeni people in the face of COVID-19 that has dangerously spread in Houthi-held areas," Moammar al-Eryani added on Twitter.
Provided by the World Health Organization, these supplies were "looted by the group to distribute them .. for its own activities and sell them in the market.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17223.html
and also https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemeni-gov-t-claims-houthis-seized-who-medical-aid-/1842823
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39722
(A P)
A human rights source said that the Houthi group refuses to release journalists who have been detained for 5 years and will only release them in exchange for prisoners being held by the legitimate government.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1261470684720611328
(* B P)
Staff at Yemen’s largest private university demand salaries after Houthis block payments
Staff at the University of Science and Technology (UST) in Sana’a are demanding to receive their salaries for the month of April and their approved annual emoluments, as the Houthis continue to occupy the private university and keep its president arbitrarily detained.
“This is the first time that salaries have been suspended for more than two months and the annual emoluments have been suspended since the university was founded 25 years ago,” a professor and administrative official at the university told Almasdar Online. “The university has gone through several crises, but it has not cut salaries or benefits to the employees,” said the professor, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
In January, a Houthi official named Saleh Al-Sha’er took control of UST, which is Yemen’s largest private university. The Houthis arrested UST President Dr. Hamid Aqlan and dismissed many of the university’s staff.
Al-Sha’er is well-known as the “judicial guard,” and is accused of confiscating and looting funds and property belonging to opponents of the Houthis. Dr. Aqlan was initially released, but then the Houthis arbitrarily arrested him at his home on February 13, in an apparent attempt to pressure the administration of UST, which is based in and controlled from Jordan, to hand over electronic records to the Houthis.
The source said that the Houthis are continuing to take arbitrary measures against the university and its employees, and have prevented the payments of dues, incentives and wages to the staff.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/804
(* B P)
International outcry over Yemeni journalists facing death penalty
More than 150 human rights and press freedom groups have appealed to the United Nations to help overturn the death penalty to four journalists in Yemen.
The Specialised Criminal Court in the Houthi rebel-controlled capital Sanaa sentenced the four to death on April 11 on charges of spying after they spent nearly five years in prison.
Human rights lawyer Abdelmajeed Sabra, who defended the journalists, described the convictions as a "serious violation of the Yemeni constitution and law".
The four journalists - Abdel-Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Hareth Hamid, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri - were arrested on June 9, 2015, while using the internet at the Qasr Al-Ahlam hotel in Sanaa.
The media members were part of a group of 10 journalists arrested at the same time. Six others were convicted on similar charges, including "spreading false news and rumours" allegedly to aid the Saudi-Emirati-led military coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
After filing an appeal, six of the journalists were ordered to be released, but only one was freed in April so far.
Prosecutors alleged between January 2014 and December 2015 the journalists broadcast "false and malicious news" and propaganda and disturbed public security. They were also accused of "collaborating with the enemy".
"The charges against the journalists are fabricated. They were just doing their jobs as journalists," Khalid Ibrahim, executive director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera.
cp6 Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
(A K P)
Bin Buraik drums up support for STC’s ‘war effort’ against government forces
The head of the Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) self-administration committee, Ahmed Bin Buraik, called on traders, expatriates and people of means to support the “war effort to defend Aden and the South” against government forces.
In a speech, broadcast by STC media, he also called on Yemen’s Central Bank to remain neutral and to pay the salaries of fighters on time.
Bin Buraik is a former governor of Hadhramout governorate and, after his dismissal, joined the UAE-backed STC.
"There is a special account that we will announce to help our brave soldiers," he added.
https://al-masdaronline.net/local/807
(A K P)
Vice President of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, Hani bin Buraik issues today a new fatwa that it's permitted to spill the blood of all those who attack them in the south ,adding that their dead fighters will go to Hell, but "ours are martyrs".
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1262448127354662912
(A P)
Yemen’s national coronavirus committee spokeswoman attacked in Aden
The spokesperson for Yemen’s national coronavirus committee said she was ambushed and attacked Sunday evening in the interim capital Aden with her son, while returning from a committee meeting at the Health Ministry.
In a Facebook post, Dr. Ishraq Al-Siba’ee described being surprised to see a vehicle chasing and circling her car while on an evening tour to evaluate the governorate’s health situation.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/806
(A K P)
Southern soldier killed by Islah in Shabwa
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22076
(A K P)
Fresh clashes break out in Abyan
Fresh clashes have broken out involving the use of heavy weaponry in the north-east of Suqra in Abyan province in the early hours of Tuesday, between the southern armed forces and the pro-government Brotherhood's militias (Islah Party).
Local sources reported that the sound of intensive artillery bombardment can be heard in the city of Shuqra.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22080
(* A K P)
Fighting rages in Yemen’s Abyan province
Fighting raged on Sunday for the seventh consecutive day between government forces and separatists on the outskirts of the city of Zinjibar, the capital of the southern province of Abyan, residents and local military commanders said.
Government troops launched an offensive on May 11 aimed at expelling the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) from southern provinces including the port city
of Aden. “Fighting has been raging since early Sunday as our forces cut a road between Jaar and Zinjibar,” a local military commander, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News by telephone. He said that more than 20 soldiers on both sides had been killed and dozens injured since early last week.
On Saturday Yemeni government commanders admitted that separatist forces had captured Brig. Saif Al-Qufaish, the commander of Brigade 115 in Abyan, and a number of his associates after besieging their position in Abyan’s Sheikh Salem region.
“Our forces are in their positions and what happened on Saturday happens in every war,” Maj. Gen. Sanad Al-Rahwah, the commander of the government’s 1st Presidential Protection Brigade, told official media, commenting on the capture of Al-Qufaish. “If they captured a commander, we would respond by capturing or killing one or 10 of theirs.”
Over the last couple of days, residents in Zinjibar and Shouqra have reported hearing explosions from battlefields as government forces intensified the shelling of separatists on the outskirts of Zinjibar in an attempt to make headway.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1676221/middle-east
and also https://al-masdaronline.net/national/803
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6onOPeLcqw
and
(* A K P)
Clashes between separatists, pro-gov't forces kill 14 in Yemen
Fighting between supposed allies continues for sixth straight day on outskirts of Zinjibar, Abyan province.
More than a dozen people have reportedly been killed as fighting between pro-government forces and southern separatists in Yemen's Abyan province entered a sixth consecutive day.
"Fourteen fighters, including 10 pro-government soldiers, were killed on Saturday," a government military official told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
The toll was confirmed by a separatist military source, who also claimed the capture of "40 pro-government soldiers and the seizure of military equipment".
"They [pro-government soldiers] were unable to advance towards Zinjibar and they will only get there over our dead bodies," a separatist commander on the front line told AFP.
The forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) are resisting an offensive by pro-government troops on the outskirts of Zinjibar, some 60km (35 miles) from the main southern city of Aden.
Witnesses in the city said military reinforcements - including armoured vehicles loaded with weaponry - had reached STC forces, while similar reinforcements were delivered to pro-government forces from Shabwa province, in eastern Yemen.
The fighting is the first major confrontation since the separatists on April 26 declared self-rule in southern Yemen
and
(A K P)
Senior Southern Yemeni separatist commander killed in Zinjibar confrontations
(* A K P)
Emirati airstrikes target Hadi forces
Infighting rages across Abyan province
UAE warplanes have launched an airstrike targeting the Aleurqubcamp belonging to Saudi-backed forces in Abyan, as fierce fighting intensified between the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council militia and Hadi loyalists, southern media reported.
Media sources said that an Emirati warplane targeted the Area of Aleurqub, which is under the control of Hadi forces.
https://www.uprising.today/emirati-airstrikes-target-hadi-forces/
(A P)
Arab Coalition says Yemen's Southern Transitional Council prevents coastguard from doing job
The Arab Coalition said Sunday that the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen has prevented the Yemeni coastguard from performing its duties, Saudi Arabia's Al Ekhbariya TV reported.
A coalition official was quoted saying the Transitional Council has not been responsive regarding the continued work of the Yemeni coastguard.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1676206/middle-east
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-17249.html
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/805
My remark: Thus blaming piracy on the separatist STC: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-shipping-attack/pirates-attack-tanker-stolt-apal-off-yemen-ships-manager-says-idUSKBN22T0QC
And
(A P)
Hadi administration and STC blame one another for attack on British merchant ship
The coalition held the STC and the warring parties in the southern provinces fully responsible for the navigation security in the Gulf of Aden.
In response, the STC denied the reports, accusing the Saudi al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath channels of tampering with infornation.
“What has been reported by the two channels is not true,” Vice President of the Southern Transitional Council, Hani Ben Brik said, adding that the two channels are “in service of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation.”
Ben Brik explained that the bombing took place on the coast of Mukalla, which is under control of the Coast Guard loyal to the Hadi Government led by Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and Al-Maqdashi, making it their responsibility rather than the STC’s.
and
(A P)
Terrorist activities, weapons smuggling will flourish southern coastlines, warns minister
Minister of Information Muamer al-Iryani warned of the serious consequences of the declaration of the so-called ” self-administration of the south” by the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
He stated that the STC’s reckless move is creating an ideal environment for terrorist activities and weapons smuggling businesses in the Yemeni southern coasts, namely smuggling Iranian weapons to Houthi militia.
and this is the STC reply:
(A P)
STC says Yemeni gov't helps smuggle arms, Qaeda militants
Aden security department, loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), accused on Monday the Yemeni official government-run coastguard of facilitating smugglings of arms and Qaeda militants via Yemeni coasts.
The coastguard had accused the department of preventing them from performing their anti-smuggling duties, but the latter dubbed the charges as "inherited deception".
"Aden department, along with its coastguard force, is doing great work in securing international shipping routes, combating terrorism and preventing smuggling, according to available resources, in cooperation with Arab coalition," the department added in a statement. "This is what the Yemeni government-run coastguard failed to do."
Anti-terrorism and anti-smuggling are coordinated between the STC and the Saudi-led coalition, the statement claimed.
The government-run coast guard persistently asks for the only boat owned by STC-run coastguard, "on the pretext that it's needed to secure international shipping, a task commissioned to Arab coalition," it added.
"We won't hand our coasts to emirs of terrorist groups in the legitimate government," the Emirati-backed STC vice-chairman, Hani Bin Boraik, tweeted.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17269.html
(A P)
Government warns against persistent rebellion in Aden
The government warned on Saturday against consequences of persistent rebellion in Aden by the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Muamar Al-Eryani, Minister of Information, said that the STC’s coup led to disruption of government agencies and looting of public revenues.
As a result, “the government will not be able to pay salaries of the public employees and retirees and meet its obligations towards all citizens,” Al-Eryani said.
He held the STC fully responsible for such consequences and its serious impact on the national economy and living standards of citizens
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-39720
(A P)
Film: Under the auspices of the Commander in Chief of the Giants Brigades [UAE-backed militia], a campaign to sanitize and clean public baths in Sheikh Othman Directorate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbBtu3iYeck
(A P)
Brotherhood militia kidnapps two young men in #Shabwa
https://en.smanews.org/brotherhood-militia-kidnapps-two-young-men-in-shabwa
(A P)
Investigations begins with 24 officials in Aden
[Separatist] Investigations Department in Aden the capital, begins investigating with more than 24 [Hadi gov.] local officials, including directors of districts, directors in electricity and water corporations, directors in public works, sewage and cleaning fund, based on directives issued by the Self-Administration Committee of the Transitional Council.
A source said that the investigations department formed six committees that are scheduled to start opening the files of investigations and confront the officials with what was attributed to them in the directives of the Self-Administration Committee.
https://en.smanews.org/investigations-begins-with-24-officials-in-aden
(A P)
General Secretariat of Transitional held extraordinary meeting to discuss emergency developments in the south
(A H P)
Professor Al-Wali sends important and urgent call to doctors and health personnel in Aden
Abdel Nasser Al-Wali, member of the Presidency of the Transitional Council, head of the local leadership of the Transitional Council in the capital, Aden, Deputy Chairman of the Council’s Relief and Humanitarian Action Committee, sent on Thursday important and urgent call, to all doctors, and health and nursing cadres in Aden the capital, to join their colleagues in the battle to tackle epidemics, viruses, and fever diseases that began to invade the country.
(A P)
Yemeni Info. Minister accuses STC of looting country's general revenues
The Minister of Information in the Yemeni internationally recognized government, Moammar Al-Eryani, attacked on Saturday evening the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, blaming him for " the coup the interim capital, Aden, disruption of government agencies,"
Al-Eryani accused the transitional council of looting of public revenues in light of Coronvirus, epidemics.
"We hold STC fully respon sible for consequences and its serious impact on national economy and living conditions of citizens in light of Coronvirus, epidemics and deadly diseases outbreak in some governorates and deterioration of health systems services due to obstructing governmentt mandate.", he twitted.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17226.html
(A E P)
Oil shipment leaves government-held Shabwa port despite STC attempt to prevent exports
A shipment of crude oil was exported from the Al-Nashima port in Shabwa governorate on Wednesday, despite efforts by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) to prevent the deal, a source in an oil company in Shabwa told Almasdar Online.
During the two-day period, a total of around 600,000 barrels of crude oil were exported from port, the source said. The oil shipment was jointly produced by the Austrian company OMV, which operates in Al-Oqla fields in Shabwa, and the state-owned Safer Exploration & Production Operations Company (SEPOC) headquartered in Marib.
Local government authorities and the oil companies initially faced an impediment to exporting the oil, after STC officials in Aden prevented a tugboat from leaving the port in Aden to reach Shabwa. Al-Nashimah oil port does not have a permanent tugboat for towing large vessels and tankers to and from the port, and therefore the port management typically rents the tugboat based in Aden.
https://al-masdaronline.net/national/798
(A K P)
Shatara: The South is not a terrorist hotbed
The South was not and will not be a base for al Qaeda and/or a safe haven for the international terrorism under the cloak of the criminal organization of the Muslim Brotherhood that seized control of Yemen's legitimacy, the member of the STC Presidency, Vice-President of the National Assembly for Control and Inspection, Mr. Lufti Shatara confirmed on his official Twitter account.
Shatara made it clear that "the legitimacy has returned today to the rightful owners of the land who have the southern state project and the partners with the region and international community in establishing security, stability and combating terrorism." concluding his tweet by saying this is a man-to-man promise.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22064
My comment: Nice separatist propaganda.
(* A K P)
Jemen: Eskalation der Gewalt zwischen Truppen des Südlichen Übergangsrats und des Ex-Präsidenten Hadi
Die Zusammenstöße zwischen den Truppen des Südlichen Übergangsrats (STC) und des jemenitischen Ex-Präsidenten haben sich in den vergangenen Tagen verschärft.
Am vierten Tag der Zusammenstöße mit den Streitkräften des jemenitischen Ex-Präsidenten, Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi, in der Provinz Abin im Süden des Landes nahmen die STC-Kräfte einen Oberbefehlshaber dieser Streitkräfte und vier seiner Gefährten fest.
Laut der Nachrichtenagentur Sputnik sagte ein jemenitischer Militärverantwortlicher, die Streitkräfte des Südlichen Übergangsrates hätten Brigadegeneral Saif al-Qafish, Kommandeur des 115. Infanteriebataillons, und vier seiner Gefährten während der Zusammenstöße im östlichen Teil Sansibars, der Hauptstadt der Provinz Abin, gefangen genommen.
Dem Bericht zufolge übernahm die Truppen von Hadi auf Feldebene erneut die Kontrolle über die Kaserne der dem Südlichen Übergangsrat angeschlossenen Streitkräfte im Gebiet Al-Tariyah nordöstlich von Sansibar. Die Kaserne war gestern vom STC zurückerobert worden.
(A K P)
Renewed clashes in Abyan as Islah's militias retreat
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22063
(A K P)
High-ranking Hadi commander surrenders to separatist forces
A high-ranking military commander loyal to Hadi forces has been taken prisoner by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militia in Abyan province, southern Yemen, local sources reported on Saturday.
The sources confirmed that the commander of the 115th Infantry Brigade, Saif al-Qafish surrendered along with a number of his recruits following a suffocating siege imposed by the STC militia in Sheikh Salem area, east of the provincial capital of Zinjibar.
https://www.uprising.today/high-ranking-hadi-commander-surrenders-to-separatist-forces/
(* A K P)
Abyan: UAE-backed STC Close to Control Most Important Camp of Saudi-backed Islah Party
UAE-backed Southern Transitional (STC) Militia has taken control of strategic locations of the most important Saudi-backed Islah Party camps in the coastal city of Shakra, local sources in Abyan governorate confirmed.
Pro-STC activists circulated photos on social media, Saturday evening, to the STC militia near the Islah’s Qarn Al-Classi camp.
They explained that the field leader in the STC so-called "Storm Brigades", Muhammad Al-Khalifi, was wounded in violent clashes at the first sites of the Qarn Al-Classi camp.
Other sources indicated that the clashes that took place near the camp, which is 30 km from the administrative borders of Zanzibar city, the capital of the province, left dead and wounded, and heavy equipment losses on both sides.
The sources stated that a number of armored vehicles of the Islah militants withdrew in the face of the STC attacks with various types of weapons.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12948
(A K P)
Islah militants killed in ambush in al-Mahfed of Abyan
The pro-government Muslim Brotherhood's militias were subjected to heavy human and material losses in a well executed ambush set by the southern resistance in al-Mahfed district of Abyan governorate on Saturday.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22061
(A K P)
Yemeni senior officer captured by STC forces
The Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Saturday said its forces had captured commander of the Yemeni army's 115th infantry brigade in the southern governorate of Abyan.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17224.html
(* B H P)
Film: Please share this is the shocking reality in the city of #Aden swamps of contaminated flood water infested with worms, mosquitoes can be clearly seen
Waterborne diseases are killing the people
https://twitter.com/Bn_spaa/status/1261459608457089025
(A P)
62 days and Dr. Mustafa Ali Al-Hamzi (36 years) still detained by the security authorities in #Marib without any charges except the surname of his family. He was detained in mid March 2020 at Al-Falaj Checkpoint, on his way back to #Yemen via #KSA after he did his PhD in Pakistan
https://twitter.com/MusaalaOrg/status/1261390064812199937
referring to https://twitter.com/SadamAladwar/status/1261333657660293121
(*A K P)
Terror plot thwarted in Aden, dozens of terrorists arrested
65 terrorist elements of the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated with Yemen's legitimacy were arrested by the Security Belt Forces (SBF) in Aden on Friday night.
SBF officials said that all the terrorists were in civilian clothes when they came from Shuqra of Abyan province, using rented vehicles in a bid to infiltrate into Aden city.
Earlier the same day, the SBF apprehended 35 persons tried to sneak into the city by sea. According to the preliminary investigation, they were sent to carry out terrorist operations and create unrest and chaos in Aden.
SFC officials told the press that the investigations are still continuing to know more information about their plans and targets.
The Islah's militias, the Yemeni arm of Muslim Brotherhood organization within Yemen's legitimacy carried out a large military build-up with unprecedented reinforcements in Shouqra, including hundreds of fighters brought from the northern governorates of al-Jawf and Marib, along with tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment in a bid to invade the southern capital Aden.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22053
My comment: The separatists permanently are blaming their enemies as “terrorists”. Well, the separatist militia are “terrorists” of this kind as well.
(* A K P)
South Yemen fighting between STC and pro-government forces leaves 14 dead
Separatist forces of STC resist offensive by pro-government troops on outskirts of Zinjibar, about 60km from main southern city of Aden
Fourteen combatants died in Yemen on Saturday as fighting between pro-government troops and separatist forces entered a sixth day in the southern province of Abyan, according to sources on both sides.
Separatist forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) are resisting an offensive by pro-government troops on the outskirts of Zinjibar, about 60km (35 miles) from the main southern city of Aden.
"Fourteen fighters, including ten pro-government soldiers, were killed on Saturday," a government military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The toll was confirmed by a separatist military source, who also claimed the capture of "40 pro-government soldiers and the seizure of military equipment".
"They (pro-government soldiers) were unable to advance towards Zinjibar and they will only get there over our dead bodies," a separatist commander on the front line told AFP.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/south-yemen-fighting-between-stc-and-pro-government-forces-leaves-14-dead = https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-8326895/14-dead-sixth-day-fighting-south-Yemen.html
(* A K P)
Fighting continues in Abyan
Heavy fighting continues in the vicinity of Shuqra of Abyan province between between the southern armed forces and the pro-government Muslim Brotherhood's militias on Friday.
Military field sources said that the militias of Islah party suffered heavy human and material losses in armed clashes erupted in al-Tariya.
In another development, the prominent southern tribal sheikh, Abdul-Rab al-Naqib called on Thursday, for general mobilization of forces to confront the Muslim Brotherhood's militias and complete the liberation of all the occupied territories in Abyan and the South.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22049
and also https://www.uprising.today/infighting-continues-in-occupied-abyan-province/
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22063
(A K P)
Southern forces foil fresh Islah's attack in Abyan
The southern armed forces repulsed in the early hours of Saturday, an attack launched on their positions by the Islah's militias in al-Tariya, in the north of Zinjibar the capital of Abyan governorate.
Military field sources said that the militias of the Muslim Brotherhood carried out a desperate attack on the locations under the control of the southern forces in a bid to retake lost ground in al-Tariya area in the north of Zinjibar.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22056
(A K P)
Senior Southern Yemeni separatist officers killed in Zinjibar confrontations
Staff officer of Security Belt mercenaries amongst the dead
The sources pointed out that violent confrontations took place a short time ago between the STC militias and Hadi forces, during which the latter managed to control Al-Tariqa camp, which is one of the STC largest camps in Abyan.
A commander of the STC militia called Abood al-Yafei, along with 17 militiamen, were killed and 42 others captured, as well as several military vehicles destroyed during the confrontations.
(* A E P)
Yemen's Central Bank warns of suspending activity and currency collapse
The Central Bank of Yemen in the temporary capital of Aden, warned of the possibility of suspending its activities and the collapse of the local currency, after United Arab Emirates (UAE) militias looted billions of riyals of cash reserves.
The Central Bank of Yemen disclosed that the UAE-backed militias of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), took over 10.5 billion riyals from the bank at gunpoint.
The financial department of the bank indicated in a statement that the STC leader, Qasim Al-Thobani, stormed the bank last Wednesday accompanied by military crews with written instructions from the leadership of the council that included an order to spend 10.5 billion riyals as salaries for the Aden Security Department and the Southern Armed Forces.
The statement pointed out that the Central Bank’s financial department explained to Al-Thobani that it was not possible to dispense such an amount for a person who does not have any legal capacity, according to the law of the establishment.
The statement indicated that Al-Thobani rejected the bank’s explanation and threatened to use force against its staff, who were forced to surrender the designated amount.
The statement stressed that the recent development may cause the total suspension of the Central Bank’s activities, as the amount was taken from the general cash reserves and not from the establishment’s income, noting that if the Central Bank stops collecting revenues, it may undermine its activity and lead to the collapse of local currency.
The STC leadership had directed the officials of the revenue committees to deposit the revenues in the accounts of the National Bank of Yemen under the supervision of the council, away from the legitimate government and the Central Bank of Yemen.
and
(A E P)
Economic Committee in Sana’a Condemns Plundering of Resources from Aden Central Bank
The Higher Economic Committee in the capital, Sana’a, expressed its "regret at the United Nations state of inaction regarding promises of payment of salaries, especially while the Yemeni people are in the midst of suffering the siege for years and in a bitter confrontation with the corona epidemic."
"This occurs while the people's money is being looted from the Central Bank in Aden in broad daylight, with tens of billions, with protection from the occupier, who is also involved in razing the country’s wealth without an account and with international silence," it added.
It is indicated that documents and official communications, spread on social media, revealed that the so-called Southern Transitional Council has looted more than 10 billion Yemeni riyals, from the Central Bank in Aden.
The documents include a directive from Ahmed Saeed bin Brik, head of the so-called “Self-rule administration of the South” and acting President of the Transitional Council, to the Deputy Director of the Central Bank, Shakib Al-Hubaishi.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12933
(* A P)
Saudi Arabia asks Hadi regime officials to leave as costs bite amid economic downturn: Report
Saudi Arabia has reportedly asked members of the regime of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi residing in the capital Riyadh to leave and suspended financial support provided to them.
The decision comes as slumping oil prices and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have saddled the kingdom with its worst financial crisis in decades.
Citing an official with the self-proclaimed Riyadh-backed Hadi government, the Arabi21 news website reported on Friday that Saudi authorities had informed officials and employees in the Yemeni presidency and the prime minister’s office, in addition to a number of ministries, about their decision.
The source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that the decision targeted officials in the presidency and cabinet, including deputy ministers, in addition to others who had arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier and were hosted in hotels for a short period before being transferred to apartments at Riyadh’s expense.
The source, however, claimed that "not all Yemeni officials and employees are accommodated at the expense of the Saudi government” and that "most of the government staff live at their own expense".
A document issued on May 13 and circulated on social media indicated that Hadi officials and employees residing in Riyadh had been informed that the last Saudi payment would be provided at the end of May.
Whoever wants to stay or extend their residence in Riyadh after May 31 would pay their own expenses, the document read.
(A P)
Yemeni PM briefs UN leaders on disastrous health situation in his country and attacks STC and Houthis
The Prime Minister of the Yemeni internationally recognized government accused Maeen Abdulmalik, the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), of obfuscation and misinformation regarding the Corona epidemic, indicating that this contributes to people neglecting the epidemic and not taking practical measures to confront it
Abdulmalek said that the goal of the Houthis from shading is to preserve the sources of recruitment and the continued push of more people to the fro
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17207.html
(A P)
Socotra loses power after Yemeni officials flag unauthorized UAE ship
The electricity cuts highlight growing Emirati influence on the island despite Yemeni government pushback
Yemeni officials on the archipelago of Socotra have prevented an Emirati ship from docking at the main island’s port until inspections and other legal procedures are carried out, a source in the local authority told Almasdar Online.
The Emirati ship was stopped for lacking official permits from the Saudi-led coalition to enter Socotra, the source said.
That prompted Dexim Power company, run by Emirati businessman Khalfan Al-Mazroui, to cut electricity on the island on the pretext that its power generators required diesel fuel on board the ship, the source said.
While the ship is undergoing inspection, Saudi forces based on the island have agreed to supply Dexim with diesel, the source said.
https://al-masdaronline.net/local/794
(A P)
Al-Jadi attacking legitimacy: they sucked everything out of #Aden and only left disaster
The member of the Presidency of the Southern Transition Council, “Fadl Al-Jadi,” attacked the legitimate government on Monday, describing it as a group of thieves.
Al-Jadi wrote on Twitter: they sucked everything from Aden and left it only for disasters, no services provided nor salaries paid to them, no hospitals rehabilitated to its people, they never protected its lands, then after all this devastation their wails rise against the decision of self-administration.
My comment: he obviously is right – but the separatists now hardly will do any better.
(A P)
Institutions and facilities in the capital #Aden complete opening their accounts at the National Bank
A number of income institutions and facilities in the capital, Aden, have continued opening their accounts at the National Bank, according to the directives of the head of the [Separatist] Self-Administration for the South, Major General Ahmed Saeed bin Brik.
(A P)
Hani Ben Brik: Soon confessions will be revealed of terrorist cell specialized in assassinating imams and security cadres in Aden the capital
The Vice-President of the Southern Transitional Council, Hani Ben Brik, confirmed that soon confessions will be revealed of a cell affiliated to the Terrorist Islah Party, specialized in assassinating clerics and security personnel in the capital, Aden.
Ben Brik wrote on Twitter: Soon the confessions of the cell of Mohammad al-Maqtari, the bodyguard of Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, who protected in Mareb, unless he was smuggled into Turkey or Qatar, this cell that specialized in assassinating mosques’ imams of Salafia and formers Islah, and social associations, and our security cadres, all according to Brotherhood plans to make Aden fall into chaos that is impossible to be managed.
My comment: Wait and see. Separatists permanently are blaming Islah Party, now adding Turkey and Qatar. But most of these killed Imams had been supporters of Islah Party, killed by murder squadrons hired by the separatists’ UAE backers.
(A P)
Ben Brik directs to raise power generation capacity of purchased power in Aden the capital
My comment: This can happen just by order of a militia leader. Well, wait and see.
(A P)
[Separatist] Self-Administration authority refers officials in Aden and Lahj to legal accountability
The Self-Administration Committee asked the Public Prosecution to investigate with the names mentioned in the notification, because they failed to perform their duties in protecting the state’s lands and real estate.
(A P)
Bin Farid: Brotherhood militias in Shabwa commit human scandals
https://en.smanews.org/bin-farid-brotherhood-militias-in-shabwa-commit-human-scandals
(A P)
General Department of Foreign Affairs of [Separatist] Transitional Council sends important messages to Security Council, Mr. Griffiths, and the United Nations Relief Coordination
We explained the nature of the conditions in Aden the capital, and the south in general, and we informed them about the reasons for the emergency decision and self-administration, and how it has become necessary to take this step, as well as our perception of the next stage, and our commitment to the principle of transparency and governance to achieve good management.
There is no doubt that the policy of collective punishment practiced by successive Yemeni governments on our southern people comes as a major reason, especially with regard to the issue of the humanitarian, health, services, developmental, security, and political situation. Our focus is now to address these issues, protect the people in the south, and confront the Corona pandemic.
We stressed on the importance and necessity of implementing the Riyadh agreement,
cp7 UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
(* A K P)
Open Letter to the Secretary-General on Attacks Against Health Care in Yemen
As a group of nongovernmental organizations working to protect health care in situations of armed conflict, we are gravely concerned about attacks on health workers and facilities in Yemen. We are writing to strongly urge you to re-list the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for attacks on schools and hospitals – in addition to continuing to list other perpetrators in the conflict, including the Houthis / Ansar Allah – in the annexes of your forthcoming annual report on children and armed conflict.
Since 2015, the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition has damaged or destroyed health facilities in Yemen through airstrikes and shelling, leaving the local health care infrastructure near collapse. While the coalition was delisted from the annual report for attacks on schools and hospitals in 2017, it has continued to perpetrate such attacks.
Between 2015 and 2018, Mwatana for Human Rights documented 35 coalition aerial attacks on 32 individual health facilities. The 35 airstrikes reportedly killed at least 31 people and wounded 56, including health workers. Most airstrikes caused significant damage to the facilities in question, destroying vital medical units and causing widespread disruptions in access and service provision. In 2019, the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen documented several incidents in which coalition airstrikes damaged or destroyed medical facilities in Yemen. These include a March 26 incident in which a hospital and pharmacy in the Kitaf district of Sad’ah governorate were damaged, resulting in the killing of five children.
International humanitarian law (IHL) provides special protections for medical personnel and facilities, in order to ensure the functioning of health care throughout a conflict. Yet, attacks on health care, many appearing to amount to serious violations of IHL, have been routine throughout the course of the conflict in Yemen.
Accountability for these attacks is central to protecting health care in armed conflict and deterring future attacks. With its Resolution 1998 (2011), the UN Security Council requested that the Secretary-General list parties that engage in “recurrent attacks on schools and/or hospitals” in the annual report on children and armed conflict.
The listing mechanism is grounded in evidence collected and vigorously verified by the UN’s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM). When some parties are omitted from the list, however, this threatens to undermine the credibility of the mechanism as a whole. Therefore, we strongly urge you to apply the same standards to all parties that have committed attacks on health care facilities. Given continuing attacks against health care by the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition and the Houthis / Ansar Allah in Yemen, both parties should be unequivocally named and shamed, alongside all other parties in Yemen that deserve so, in the annexes of your annual report on children and armed conflict. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/open-letter-secretary-general-attacks-against-health-care-yemen = https://watchlist.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-05-joint-open-letter-on-attacks-on-health-care-in-yemen-final.pdf
(A P)
[Hadi gov.] PM holds discussions with UN’s Envoy, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, Representative of WHO
(A P)
By video call .. The Southern Transitional Council holds meeting with the UN envoy, Martin Griffiths
cp8 Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
(* B E P)
Bloomberg: A Radical Shift May Worsen Saudi Arabia’s Economic Crisis
Coupled with a strict curfew to contain the coronavirus, the Kingdom is set for its deepest financial turmoil in decades.
Tripling value-added tax (VAT) and cutting bureaucrats' allowances will damage consumption and hurt the private sector that is key to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's vision to diversify the economy away from oil.
And while raising VAT should help rein in a widening budget deficit, it will make the country less competitive than other Gulf states when it's trying to attract more foreign investment.
"These are radical measures that underscore the gravity of the challenges facing the Kingdom," said James Reeve, group chief economist at Samba Financial Group. "The measures send a message to the markets that the authorities are prepared to make tough choices to keep the deficit within bounds. The downside is that this is a further blow to the already stricken retail sector."
The shift, announced early on Monday, May 12th, by Finance Minister Mohammed al Jadaan, has forced analysts to cut their growth projections for the Arab world's biggest economy for a second time in just a few weeks.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12940
(A E P)
Saudi wealth fund boosts U.S. holdings with stakes in Citi, Boeing, Facebook
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has bought minority stakes in major American companies including Boeing (BA.N), Facebook (FB.O) and Citigroup (C.N), a regulatory filing showed, giving it a portfolio of nearly $10 billion in U.S.-listed stocks.
(* B P)
What Is the Fate of Right Activist Detainees in Saudi Arabia?
While human rights organizations are calling on the Saudi authorities to release all prisoners of conscience and human rights activists, Abdullah Al-Awdah, son of detained Saudi preacher Salman Al-Awdah, revealed details about the conditions of his father's detention and torture in the kingdom's prisons.
Prisoners of Conscience" Twitter account, in Saudi Arabia, has posted a video clip of the phone call of the arrested Saudi preacher, Sheikh Salman Al-Awdah, from inside the prison with his mother and one of his daughters, as his trial is still ongoing in the Kingdom. The video recording of the phone call shows the suffering of Al-Awdah as a result of his continued detention in solitary confinement and prison conditions during Ramadan.
After the publication of this phone call, Abdullah Al-Awdah, son of the arrested preacher Salman Al-Awdah, revealed exciting details of the conditions of his father's detention and torture in the Kingdom's prisons, in an episode entitled "The Sheikh" in the podcast "Great Saudi Arabia", which is supported by Amnesty International.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12969
(B P)
[from 2015] The domestic sources of Saudi foreign policy: Islamists and the state in the wake of the Arab Uprisings
Saudi Arabia’s fragmented Islamist field has displayed a diversity of responses to the coup in Egypt, the conflict in Syria, and the Saudi-led war in Yemen. While a group of younger Saudi Islamists and intellectuals have embraced elements of democracy, the war in Syria, the authoritarian political system, and domestic sectarian tendencies have rallied support for the ISIS model of violent political change.
cp9 USA
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp9a
(A P)
Pompeo bestreitet politisches Motiv hinter Entlassung von Spitzenbeamten
US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo hat bestritten, dass ein interner Ermittler seines Ministeriums als "Vergeltungsmaßnahme" wegen Untersuchungen gegen ihn gefeuert wurde. Er habe US-Präsident Donald Trump die Entlassung von Generalinspekteur Steve Linick empfohlen, weil dieser den Auftrag des Ministeriums "untergraben" habe, sagte Pompeo am Montag der "Washington Post" ohne jedoch Details zu nennen. Nach Angaben der oppositionellen Demokraten untersuchte Linick nicht nur Pompeos Amtsführung, sondern auch einen umstrittenen Rüstungsdeal mit Saudi-Arabien.
(A P)
Democrats: Fired watchdog was looking into Saudi arms sale
Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in a massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdog’s abrupt dismissal.
Democrats said Monday that ousted Inspector General Steve Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a $7 billion Saudi arms sale over congressional objections. Democrats previously suggested the dismissal might have been tied to Linick’s investigation of allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have improperly ordered staff to run personal errands for him.
https://apnews.com/f51c0e82de0f10a9b7eb0dc53f1533d7
and also
(A P)
Fired watchdog was investigating arms sales to Saudi Arabia
"It’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed," says House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/18/linick-administration-arms-sales-saudi-arabia-265024
(A P)
US Embassy to Yemen: Ambassador Christopher Henzel: The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on the Prince of Diyanat and his Taif Mining Services Company for their association with the activities of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for smuggling weapons, including smuggling shipments to Yemen, as well as evading sanctions.
https://twitter.com/USEmbassyYemen/status/1261402233872084993
Comment by Nabeel Khoury: This gets the WTF award of the year: Yemen is falling apart, Aden is dying & this is your concern now, imposing more sanctions, are you even from this planet?!!!
https://twitter.com/khoury_nabeel/status/1261630121846411264
cp9a USA-Iran Krise: Spannungen am Golf / US-Iran crisis: Tensions at the Gulf
(* A P)
Russia says US cannot trigger snapback of UN sanctions on Iran
Russia has slammed the United States’ wrong interpretation of the UN resolution that enshrined a 2015 nuclear deal, stressing that the document does not allow Washington to trigger the so-called snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran.
According to Press TV, in a series of tweets on Saturday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said paragraphs 10 and 11 of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231 permit the return of anti-Iran sanctions only through the procedures specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the US scrapped in May 2018.
The “US mistakenly believes that para 10&11 of UNSC res. 2231 allow US to invoke SnapBack to restore UN sanctions against Iran. US partners need to read the text more carefully. Both paras clearly indicate that it can be done only through the procedures specified in JCPOA,” he wrote.
Ulyanov also noted that the US should restore its status as a member of the JCPOA Joint Commission and ensure full compliance with the accord before invoking the snapback of UN sanctions against Iran.
(* A P)
5 Iran tankers sailing to Venezuela amid US pressure tactics
Five Iranian tankers likely carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela, part of a wider deal between the two U.S.-sanctioned nations amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.
The tankers’ voyage came after Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro already turned to Iran for help in flying in chemicals needed at an aging refinery amid a gasoline shortage, a symptom of the wider economic and political chaos gripping Latin America’s one-time largest oil producer.
For Iran, the tankers represent a way to bring money into its cash-starved Shiite theocracy and put its own pressure on the U.S., which under President Donald Trump has pursued maximalist campaigns against both nations.
But the strategy invites the chance of a renewed confrontation between the Islamic Republic and America both in the Persian Gulf
https://apnews.com/57184c74c507fed89af6a732ce4592c2
and
(* A P)
Exclusive: U.S. weighs measures in response to Iran fuel shipment to Venezuela - source
The United States is considering measures it could take in response to Iran’s shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration told Reuters on Thursday.
The United States has a “high degree of certainty” that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government is paying Iran tons of gold for the fuel, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It is not only unwelcome by the United States but it’s unwelcome by the region, and we’re looking at measures that can be taken,” the official said.
The oil sectors of Iran and Venezuela - members of OPEC that both are deeply at odds with the United States - are under tough U.S. sanctions. The official declined to specify the measures being weighed but said options would be presented to Trump, a fierce critic of the governments of both Iran and Venezuela.
At least one tanker carrying fuel loaded at an Iranian port has set sail for Venezuela
(* A P)
Iranian fuel en route to Venezuela despite US sanctions on two allies: Report
Reports of a shipment of Iranian fuel to Venezuela in the face of US sanctions against the two allies have infuriated the United States, with one official threatening to take “measures" against the “unwelcome” development.
A senior official in US President Donald Trump’s administration told Reuters on Thursday that the United States was considering measures against Iran in response to the fuel shipment. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said Washington has a “high degree of certainty” that the Venezuelan government is paying Iran in gold for the fuel.
“It is not only unwelcome by the United States but it’s unwelcome by the region, and we’re looking at measures that can be taken,” the official said.
My comment: This really is no deal to the US – the reaction shows the US claim to rule the world.
(* B P)
U.S. and Iran Need a Coronavirus Peace Plan
Why are both sides inching toward war during a pandemic?
While Americans are rightly focused on handling the coronavirus at home, the government must also remain vigilant to threats around the world. Yet the Donald Trump administration’s approach to Iran, in particular, increasingly lacks any clear policy or overarching strategy.
The administration is at times threatening and at times conciliatory, giving Iran little sense of what actions the president will take. This could inadvertently lead us to war, and neither the U.S. nor Iran can afford to engage in hostilities that distract us from the pandemic.
Tensions between the two countries had calmed for nearly two months as they dealt with the effects of the coronavirus. But Iran is becoming increasingly provocative toward the U.S. Trump has escalated his rhetoric toward Iran, and last week vetoed the Iran War Powers resolution, which required him to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces engaged in hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorized the use of force, or in cases of self-defense.
We know that Iran’s foreign policies often run counter to U.S. interests.
The administration also appears to be reinserting itself into the Iran nuclear deal in an attempt to extend the arms embargo on Iran, which the U.S. could have sought to do in negotiations directly with Iran and our European partners if we had stayed in the agreement.
So how does the U.S. increase stability?
First, America and Iran should agree to high-level meetings — something both nations have suggested — ideally between their defense and foreign ministers. I believe that both sides would negotiate in good faith and that they want to avoid war. Face-to-face meetings would reduce the chance of missteps that could accidentally lead to war, a situation possible today with Iranian boats recklessly engaging U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf.
Second, the U.S. should provide partial, temporary sanctions relief to Iran and facilitate efforts by international organizations to provide humanitarian funds and supplies so the country can respond more effectively to its coronavirus outbreak.
Finally, the U.S. should engage in a full diplomatic push to convince Iran to end proxy attacks.
Haphazard U.S. policymaking has led to a weakening of America’s most important alliances, an increase in Iranian nuclear activity, and the consolidation of Iranian anti-American sentiment. It has backed Iran into an economic and public health crisis.
The U.S. should spend the next six months making sure that man-made and natural catastrophes don’t worsen the situation. Both sides need to give diplomacy a chance before we stumble into an ill-advised and ill-fated war.
My comment: This is not the worst opinion in the US. But nevertheless, it’s totally US-centered: The US should try to change Iran’s behavior. There is no idea of that a change of US behavior has to change as well. The US still claims to interfere everywhere from Libya to Syria to Iraq to Afghanistan to Yemen, to arm Iran’s greatest enemies, to support the US’s own squadrons of proxies, from Israel to Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria.
cp10 Großbritannien / Great Britain
(A P)
Tory MP backed shameful Saudi Arabia war on Yemen but demands Newcastle United takeover is blocked
cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries
(* B K P)
UAE-linked Western mercenaries 'worked for Haftar' in Libya
Report citing UN sources says experts have discovered a 20-man team landed in the war-torn country in June 2019
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-linked-western-mercenaries-fought-haftar-libya-un-report
cp12b Sudan
(* B K P)
Sudan successfully withdraws most forces from Yemen
Sudanese transitional government keeps vow to withdraw mercenaries used by Saudi-led invaders
The Sudanese transitional government has succeeded in bringing back the majority of Sudanese soldiers that had been sent to war in Yemen, Sudan’s Minister of State Omar Qamar Al-Din said.
The minister added in an interview to Russian news agency Sputnik, that the government is treating the Yemen file as “one of the problems inherited from the former regime.”
Sudanese political parties have welcomed the move, although it has been described as having taken place very late
https://www.uprising.today/sudan-successfully-withdraws-most-forces-from-yemen/
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Siehe / Look at cp1
(A K P)
Norwegischer Pensionsfonds soll sich von Rheinmetall trennen
Eine Gruppe europäischer institutioneller Investoren, NGOs und Bündnisse fordern parallel zur Hauptversammlung von Rheinmetall den Norwegischen Pensionsfonds auf, seine Investitionen in die deutsche Rüstungsfirma zu überdenken und Druck auf deren Waffenexportpraxis auszuüben.
Eine Gruppe europäischer institutioneller Investoren, Nichtregierungsorganisationen und Bündnisse, angeführt von den Gründungsmitgliedern der SfC - Shareholders for Change, Bank für Kirche und Caritas (BKC) und Fondazione Finanza Etica, hat heute einen Brief an den norwegischen Pensionsfonds geschickt. Unterzeichnet hat auch die "Aktion Aufschrei - Stoppt den Waffenhandel!". Sie fordern den Staatsfonds auf, seine Investitionen in den deutschen Rüstungskonzern Rheinmetall, der unter anderem Bomben an Saudi-Arabien für den Krieg im Jemen liefert, zu überdenken und in einen kritischen Dialog mit dem Unternehmen zu seiner Waffenexportpraxis zu gehen.
https://www.lebenshaus-alb.de/magazin/012996.html
und
(A K P)
Rheinmetall-Hauptversammlung: Kritik an todbringenden Geschäften erschwert
Einen Tag vor der Hauptversammlung des größten deutschen Rüstungskonzerns machen urgewald und der Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionär*innen auf die Bemühungen des Konzerns aufmerksam wieder verstärkt Kriegsgebiete mit Munition zu beliefern.
wurde Mitte Mai der Exportstopp von Südafrika aus nach Saudi-Arabien und in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate aufgehoben, worauf Rheinmetall hingewirkt hatte. Dies macht Munitionslieferungen der südafrikanischen Rheinmetall-Tochter an die beiden Kriegsparteien im Jemenkrieg wieder möglich.
https://urgewald.org/medien/rheinmetall-hauptversammlung-kritik-todbringenden-geschaeften-erschwert
(* A P)
Human rights advocates urge Trudeau to reverse decision on resuming approval of permits for arms exports to Saudi Arabia
A coalition of human-rights groups has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemning the government’s decision to resume the approval of permits for military exports to Saudi Arabia.
Amnesty International, Project Ploughshares, Oxfam and others accuse the Canadian government of breaching its own obligations under both domestic law and the global Arms Trade Treaty.
They say the rationale the government used to justify its policy reversal on Saudi Arabia, a country with one of the worst human-rights records, is deeply flawed.
Last month, in the midst of the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ottawa announced it was lifting a moratorium on the approval of new arms exports to Riyadh, a measure the government had imposed in the fall of 2018 after the Saudi-orchestrated murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and amid an escalating war the desert kingdom has been waging in neighbouring Yemen.
cp13b Wirtschaft / Economy
(* B E P)
The Role of the Private Sector in Peacebuilding in Yemen
This Brief analyzes the state of the private sector in Yemen during the ongoing war and explores its potential to contribute to the country’s peace requirements. It presents challenges entrepreneurs face and the potential contribution of these in sectors that are central to the construction and sustainability of peace. It highlights the fact that their actions and capacity to offer jobs and revenue to the Yemeni population are constrained by the fragmentation of authority and the resultant lack of transparency. It also demonstrates that the focus on regional and international aid has left many entrepreneurs feeling abandoned and helpless.
Among its recommendations, this Brief stresses the importance of mending the fragmented Central Bank and unifying state legal structures. It also highlights ways to support the neutrality of the private sector to prevent its politicization, in particular through the development of the Chambers of Commerce and through connections with civil society. The Brief also encourages the international community to shift its focus from the humanitarian issue to economic development.
Looking into the economy, the role of the private sector is fundamental. While its members are not exempt from critique, as some have become significant proponents of violence and directly benefit from the conflict, the overall role of the private sector is crucial to securing peace and stability. It is through the private sector that the GDP of the country increases, that jobs are avail- able, and that money potentially circulates, thus distributing wealth across Yemeni society and letting its citizens envision a better future. Losses of income and economic pessimism over the past years have not only resulted in increasing psychological stress, particularly among the younger generation,2 but also in openness among young men for recruitment by warring factions.
https://carpo-bonn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/carpo_brief_19_18-05-20_EN.pdf
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
(A T)
FBI finds al Qaeda link after breaking encryption on Pensacola attacker's iPhone
The Saudi military trainee who killed three US sailors and wounded several others in a terror attack last year on a military base in Pensacola, Florida, was in touch with a suspected al Qaeda operative, according to multiple US officials briefed on the matter.
US investigators uncovered the al Qaeda connection after the FBI broke through the encryption protecting the Saudi attacker's iPhones, the officials said. Attorney General William Barr and the FBI are expected to announce the finding Monday in a news conference.
Mohammed Alshamrani, a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force who had been training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, was killed by law enforcement during the attack.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/18/politics/pensacola-shooting-al-qaeda/index.html
and original document in image: https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1262476256131547139
and
(A T)
“Years Of Planning And Preparation”: FBI Links Al-Qaeda To Saudi Shooting In Pensacola — And Targeted His Contact In Yemen
Suspicions confirmed? The FBI and Department of Justice announced today that the Saudi pilot who killed three and wounded eight in a mass shooting at the Pensacola naval aviation station in December had communicated with al-Qaeda prior to the attack. The AQ “operative” had “encouraged” the attack, the New York Times reported this morning ahead of a press conference with Attorney General William Barr. Those contacts went all the way up to the terror network’s leadership, apparently — and got past any security checks by the US and Saudi Arabia.
and
(B T)
Al Qaeda’s role in the Pensacola shooting and what it means
While in the US, Alshamrani was in regular contact with AQAP about his activities and planned attack via end-to-end encrypted apps, including the night before his attack. Alshamrani was definitively an AQAP operative, and his actions were AQAP-sanctioned.
Alshamrani tried to destroy his iPhones and the information they contained linking him to AQAP. Why? Increasingly, AQAP and other like-minded groups have incorporated attack methods that create ambiguity over who is behind the attack. This adaptation reflects how the US and others respond to terror attacks. American intelligence, military, and law enforcement efforts focus on holding the attack network accountable.
The revelations from Alshamrani’s iPhones will no doubt continue to inform ongoing US counterterrorism operations to hold those connected to the deadly attack responsible.
(A T)
US drone strike targets al-Qaeda figure in occupied Yemen
A US drone strike has on Saturday targeted a senior al-Qaeda leader who was fighting in the ranks of Saudi-led coalition forces in Abyan province, southern Yemen.
Local sources in the province told Yemen Press Agency that the US aircrafts targeted al-Qaeda leading member Saad al-Atiqi al-Awlaqi in al-Aqaba area, between Laudsr district in Abyan and Mokiras district in Bayda province, while he was participating in fighting against the Yemeni army and Popular Committees.
The US attacks further show the complicated situation in occupied Yemen, where al-Qaeda terrorists fight on the side of US-backed Saudi-led forces while at the same time being attacked by US airstrikes from time to time.
https://www.uprising.today/us-drone-strike-targets-al-qaeda-figure-in-occupied-yemen/
and also http://en.adenpress.news/news/22069
(A T)
Interesting to see that the weekly #ISIS bulletin reports on clashes in south #Yemen's #Abyan governorate between government & #STC forces this week. The article points out that the government lost #Aden to the STC last year & stresses coalition rifts between #Saudi & #UAE
https://twitter.com/Dr_E_Kendall/status/1261337253659508742
cp15 Propaganda
Three statements of southern separatists’ propaganda:
(A P)
Al-Awlaki: Who presented precious blood to reject the Houthis would not hand over his homeland to Brotherhood
(A P)
Laqwar: I expect the end of Brotherhood by the hands of the sons of the South
https://en.smanews.org/laqwar-i-expect-the-end-of-brotherhood-by-the-hands-of-the-sons-of-the-south
(A P)
Bin Farid addresses Bin Daghr: What is happening in Aden the capital is due to your presence as corruption partners
(B P)
[from Nov. 2019] Report: Iranian military bases in Oman Threaten Regional Security
Oman, in recent years, has managed to carve out an apparent role as a “moderate” Muslim state and has been pushing to be taken seriously as an intermediary between the West and Iran. It is sometimes referred to as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”.
But is the idyllic picture of Oman’s helpful role as the Gulf messenger of peace all it appears to be? Some would argue that by maintaining neutrality in the face of strategic Iranian aggression in pursuit of regional hegemony, Oman was indirectly empowering the Islamic Republic. Others have pointed to Oman’s long history of turning a blind eye towards smuggling and criminal organizations shuttling contraband and weapons to and from Yemen as having played a role in the corruption crisis that led to the rise of the Iran-backed Houthi separatists. Still others have pointed out that the Houthis have found a safe haven in Muscat, and that for all of Oman’s pretenses at neutrality, it is actually quietly siding with Iran and facilitating Iran’s agenda. Indeed, recent history points to a growing relationship between Muscat and Tehran that has become a source of concern for the Anti-Terrorism Quartet (KSA, UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain) and others.
The political cooperation between Oman and Iran has been active rapidly and increasingly since 2012.
What remains clear, however, is that Oman appeared to be a willing partner in circumventing US sanctions years before JCPOA was finalized while claiming neutrality in public.
The military cooperation between Oman and Iran has gone far beyond joint naval training exercises. Iranians have built various military bases in Oman, perhaps giving a bailout to the country that has been struggling economically after failing to diversify economy from oil and due to top level corruption, which left most of the population mired in poverty. One example is the Iranian air base located on Mount Harem, the highest mountain in Musandam. Iranian officers were seen several times at the location by the locals (most of the residents of Musandam are members of the Sunni al-Shihuh tribe).
Conclusion
Following this information, the US, and its Western and Middle Eastern allies, should dedicate intelligence to gather additional information about the Houthi presence in Yemen, the smuggling of weapons across the border which was never confirmed by the Sultanate but could be observed with the help of geospatial intelligence and human sources. It should also examine the mines found in the vicinity of Oman in order to gather additional information concerning the tanker attacks, and to investigate assorted smuggling and criminal activities. Most importantly, the anti-Iran coalition should investigate the allegations of Oman-Iran intelligence and financial cooperation as important links that further the regime’s agenda and allow it to get around sanctions and to succeed in its hegemonic ambitions – by Irina Tsukerman
My comment: ???? And the many US bases in the region are not???? What a folly. You only could oversee this if your view is totally US-centered. If you even would not recognize that the US is 8000 miles away from Oman, while Iran is only 50 miles away. I suggest there should be Chinese bases at Cuba, Mexico, Canada and Haiti. – The idea of arms smuggling via Oman to the Houthis is an old absurd propaganda plot.
And as sort of an answer read this (US-centered) article, simply telling the truth here:
The U.S. Military Cannot Fill The Middle East’s Political Vacuum
Over the past four decades, the United States has pursued a Middle East policy once characterized as “gunboat diplomacy.”
The current U.S. military footprint is immense. CENTCOM forces, both civilian and military, numbered over ninety-thousand in March 2020.
In some views, the United States has masterminded coups, conducted invasions, supported rebellions, deployed troops for too long and dangerously sold advanced weaponry. Today, as thousands of American troops depart their bases in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, they leave behind failed states, metastasized terror groups, rampant poverty, and an unprecedented number of refugees.
While U.S.-supported operations have resulted in destroyed homes and cities across the region, Russia has gained influence and leverage by routinely offering to rebuild critical infrastructure, buildings and pipelines.
(A P)
On the third anniversary of its mandate by people of the South … Al-Batati: Transitional Council enhances confidence after dealing wisely, cunningly, and patiently with the most dangerous situations
(A P)
More Saudi coalition „We are benefactors“ propaganda
https://www.mofaic.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news/2020/5/17/17-05-2020-uae-yemen
https://www.mofaic.gov.ae/en/mediahub/news/2020/5/17/17-05-2020-uae-support
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22060
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22052
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2087145
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
(* A K pH)
Saudi coalition air raids and shelling day by day
May 17: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667129200104105/
May 16: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667128523437506/
May 15: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667127356770956/
May 14: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667124440104581/
May 13: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667123400104685/
May 12: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667133083437050/
May 11: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667120593438299/
May 10: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667119280105097/
May 9: https://www.facebook.com/lcrdye/photos/a.551858951631141/1667116090105416/
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update For Monday, May 18th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12980
(A K pH)
Aggression flight 4 Luftangriffe auf Marib Dschouf an
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097189.htm
(A K pH)
4 Saudi-led air raids target Marib, Jawf
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097185.htm
(A K pH)
Aggressionskampfflugzeuge fliegen 19 Luftangriffen auf Saada an
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097148.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression warplanes hit Saada with 19 airstrikes
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097142.htm
(A K pH)
21 Luftangriffe auf 4 Provinzen
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097117.htm
(B K pH)
Over 1,000 Saudi airstrikes since April 9
Military spokesman Yahya Sare'e reveals extent of continuing Saudi crimes
https://www.uprising.today/over-1000-saudi-airstrikes-since-april-9/
(A K pH)
7 Aggressionsluftangriffe auf Madschsar distrikt in Marib
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097032.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression coalition aircraft wage 7 raids on Marib
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097065.htm
(A K pH)
Kampfflugzeuge der Aggression fliegen zehn Luftangriffe auf Hadschah
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097031.htm
(A K pH)
10 Airstrikes of US-Saudi-led coalition warplane hit Hajjah
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097063.htm
(A K pH)
20 Luftangriffe der Aggressionsluftwaffe
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097021.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update For Saturday, May 16th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12937
(A K pH)
Aggressionsluftwaffe fliegt acht Luftangriffe auf Marib und Al-Dschouf an
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097010.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression coalition aircraft wage 8 raids on Marib, Jawf
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096991.htm
(A K pH)
Kampfflugzeuge der Aggression fliegen 3 Luftangriffe auf Al-Sawadiyah, Al-Bayda
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096979.htm
(A K pH)
Aggression coalition aircraft wage 3 raids on Bayda
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3096997.htm
(A K pH)
25 Luftangriffe auf 3 Provinzen
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3096978.htm
(A K pH)
US-Saudi Aggression’s Daily Update For Friday, May 15th, 2020
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12927
(* A K pH)
Houthis: 1068 coalition airstrikes since it announced ceasefire in Yemen
The military spokesman added that the coalition raids during the week amounted to 258 air strikes, distributed in the governorates of Saada, Sana'a, Hajjah, Al-Bayda, Marib, Al-Jawf, and Al-Dhalea.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17197.html
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Siehe / Look at cp1b
(A K pH)
In Sa'adah, Saudi missiles and artillery shells targeted populated villages in Razih district, injuring a child and killing a number of livestock.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=12980
(A K pS)
[Hadi gov.] Army repels Houthi attacks in Nihm, secures number of positions
http://en.26sepnews.net/2020/05/19/army-repels-houthi-attacks-in-nihm-secures-number-of-positions/
(A K pS)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni army seizes strategic points from Houthis
20 members of Houthi militia killed, says army
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemeni-army-seizes-strategic-points-from-houthis/1845816
(A K pH)
Saudi-led coalition violates Yemen truce 66 times in 24 hours
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/158838/Saudi-led-coalition-violates-Yemen-truce-66-times-in-24-hours
(A K pS)
Houthi shelling hits a medical camp that is specialized to identify potential #COVID19 cases in the north of al-Baydha governorate.
https://twitter.com/BelqeesRights/status/1262309256805703680
(A K pH)
Getötete, verwundete Söldner durch Abwehrung breiten Vormarsch der Aggressionstruppen in Marib
https://www.saba.ye/de/news3097115.htm
(A K pH)
Army foils two infiltration attempts by aggression forces in Taiz
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3097082.htm
(A K pS)
Houthis accused of committing 105 ceasefire violations in past 24 hours
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1676291/middle-east
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22073
(A K pS)
KSrelief Masam Project Dismantles 2,782 Mines in Yemen during Second Week of May
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center's project for clearing mines in Yemen (Masam) demined 2,782 mines during the second week of May 2020, including 34 antipersonnel mines, 382 anti-tanks, 2,321 unexploded ordnance, and 45 explosive devices.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2087507
(A K pS)
Hadi government forces reportedly shot down an al Houthi drone flying over Ma’rib city in Ma’rib governorate in northern Yemen on May 17. Saudi-led coalition forces shot down an al Houthi drone flying over Sirwah district in Ma’rib governorate in mid-March.[3]
(A K pS)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Army Thwarts Multiple Houthi Attacks
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2288516/yemeni-army-thwarts-multiple-houthi-attacks
(A K pS)
Iran_backed Houthis bombed neighborhoods in #Taiz this morning (photos)
https://twitter.com/hussamA123/status/1261957521511759872
(A K pS)
Commander of Serwah Front: Army secured key sites used by Houthi to attack Army’s sites
(A K pS)
Houthi militias send new reinforcements to Nihm front
http://en.26sepnews.net/2020/05/16/houthi-militias-send-new-reinforcements-to-nihm-front/
(A K pS)
Commander of Serwah Front: Army secured key sites used by Houthi to attack Army’s sites
(A K pH)
Film: New sniping operations for a number of Sudanese mercenaries at Saudi military sites 15-05-2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRoJxfjInHo
(A K)
8 killed in clashes in Taiz province in Yemen
2 government soldiers killed in violence
Two government soldiers and six Houthi rebels were killed in clashes in southwestern Taiz province, the Yemeni military said Saturday.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/8-killed-in-clashes-in-taiz-province-in-yemen/1843683
and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200517-yemen-8-killed-in-clashes-in-taiz-province/
(A K pS)
Army thwarts Houthi attacks, secures number of positions western Taiz
(A K pS)
Houthis committed 75 ceasefire violations on Friday
http://en.adenpress.news/news/22055
(A K pH)
[Sanaa gov.] Yemeni forces advance in Bayda province
Video footage shows extent of Yemeni forces' advance
https://www.uprising.today/yemeni-forces-advance-in-bayda-province/
and film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i6dKr9XD6E
(A K pH)
Houthis: 1068 coalition airstrikes since it announced ceasefire in Yemen
"The total "hostile" operations of the coalition since April 9 have reached more than 86 offensive operations, infiltrations and more than 1068 air strikes.", the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree said in a statement.
Saree pointed out that what he called "the forces of aggression" continued its escalation on various fronts, during the past week it launched more than 10 offensive operations distributed on Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhalea, Taiz and Saada fronts.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-17197.html
cp18 Sonstiges / Other
(A P)
National Geographic Magazine Accused of Stealing Yemeni Cultural Heritage, Attributing It to Saudi Arabia
Online pages of the Arabic version of National Geographic magazine have received a strong backlash for posting users' pictures portraying cultural heritage, labeling several photos with Yemeni elements as Saudi.
Recently, NatGeo Arabic online pages have asked their audience to send some of the best photographs they have ever taken to be posted online. Yet, Yemeni users quickly noticed that many of the photos dubbed as Saudi represent strong cultural elements in their heritage, such as coffee beans farming which has for long been associated with Yemen.
(A)
Film: The tragic conditions in the city of Ma`bar in Dhamar, as a result of rain and floods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op1ixjjZRaE
(A)
Film: Sam Mall - Sanaa It is 2 o'clock in the morning Monday 18-5-2020
https://twitter.com/A7medJa7af/status/1262171764316086277
(C)
Film: Sanaa in 1987
https://twitter.com/Yemenbetween/status/1262397463320760320
(* C)
Photo: Aerial view of Sanaa in 1929
https://twitter.com/Yemenbetween/status/1262037133558251526
(* C)
Photos: Our costumes are our identity ... a special kind of culture
https://twitter.com/alialsonidar/status/1262125931721875457
https://twitter.com/mohamd_alamery/status/1262083357653061632
https://twitter.com/HanaalShowafi/status/1262356080136519682
My comment: And see again: “Abaya” is a non-Yemeni import from Saudi Wahabism. It’s a bad joke that now the Houthis promote it and struggle against colored dress.
(A H P)
Palm-Preisträger bekannt gegeben: Schreiben gegen das Vergessen
Bushra Al-Maktari und Gui Minhai bekommen den Johann-Philipp-Palm-Preis 2020 verliehen. Bushra Al-Maktari will den Opfern des Kriegs in Jemen eine Stimme geben. Sie hat sich für ihre Recherchen in große Gefahr begeben.
und
(A H P)
Bushra Al-Maktari
Aktivistin und Buchautorin aus dem Jemen
Über den Krieg im Jemen, der seit fünf Jahren das Land verwüstet, wird bei uns kaum noch berichtet. Es ist ein vergessener Krieg, den keiner mehr versteht. Die Folge ist, wie die UN festgestellt hat, eine humanitäre Katastrophe unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes. Die Hauptstadt Sanaa, UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe, ist ein Schlachtfeld.
Jetzt gibt es eine Stimme aus dem Jemen, die uns vom Leben und Sterben unter den Luftangriffen und dem Granaten-Beschuss erzählt. Die Journalistin und Schriftstellerin Bushra al-Maktari will daran erinnern, dass es ihr Land gibt und festhalten, was dort geschieht.
Sie dokumentiert einzelne, individuelle Schicksale. Sie nennt Namen, gibt den Menschen eine Stimme
Bushra al-Maktari ist unter Lebensgefahr zwei Jahre lang durch ihr Land gereist und hat Gespräche mit über 400 Überlebenden geführt. Sie hat sie gefragt nach dem Verlust ihrer Angehörigen, ihrer Eltern, ihrer Kinder. Und sie hat gefragt nach dem Alltag im Krieg. Über 40 Protokolle sind daraus entstanden, für das Buch: "Was hast du hinter dir gelassen?"
Zuerst erschien das Buch auf Arabisch. Die ehemalige Nahost-Korrespondentin der "Neuen Züricher Zeitung" Monika Bolliger wurde darauf aufmerksam. Sie traf sich mit Bushra al-Maktari, übersetzte zwei Kapitel des Buches – so fand es den Weg nach Deutschland. "Ich wollte Bushra al-Maktari unbedingt kennenlernen. Ich habe sie auf den ersten Blick als sehr zierliche und liebenswürdige Frau wahrgenommen, die aber auch – man hat schnell gemerkt – einen sehr starken Willen hat und sehr entschlossen ist. Wenn sie etwas will, dann kämpft sie dafür.", erzählte Monika Bolliger Titel, Thesen, Temperamente, dem Kulturmagazin der ARD.
(A)
Pirates attack tanker Stolt Apal off Yemen, ship's manager says
Stolt Tankers said its vessel the Stolt Apal was attacked by pirates 75 nautical miles off Yemen’s coast on Sunday.
Stolt Tankers said six armed pirates approached the vessel in two speedboats.
“After multiple warning shots were fired by the armed guard team aboard Stolt Apal, the skiffs opened fire on the ship. The armed guard team returned fire, disabling one skiff and ending the pursuit,” Stolt Tankers said.
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-17245.html
(* B H)
Yemenis stranded in India call to be repatriated as fear of infection rises
Far from home, no money for food or accommodation and in fear of contracting COVID-19 — this is the situation of thousands of Yemeni nationals stranded in India due to the pandemic.
“Who is going to support us financially here?” Galeel asked. “There are many others here like us, and their situation is even worse than ours,” he said.
Galeel was referring to the thousands of Yemeni nationals who had travelled to India for medical reasons but were now unable to pay for hotels and daily expenditure such as food and drink.
Citizens from Yemen – which has had its infrastructure weakened by the civil war – mainly travel to India for medical reasons. Figures from India’s Bureau of Immigration show that Yemen is a major source of the country’s medical tourists. In 2017, 11,903 Yemeni nationals travelled to India for medical treatment.
A Yemeni doctor sent to India by the government to oversee the medical treatment of 90 wounded people told Arab News – under the condition of anonymity – that the situation of Yemeni citizens in India was devastating.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government put the country under lockdown on March 25, several videos surfaced on social media showing police brutality inflicted on those who violated the curfew. Footage showed officers using what appeared to be as canes to beat offenders.
Fahd Al-Maqtari, a Yemeni expat who has been living in India for the past 18 years, said that for the past two months he and other Yemeni expats had been receiving dozens of messages from stranded Yemenis asking for help.
According to Al-Maqtari, there are more than 1,800 sick and wounded patients and more than 2,400 students stranded across India.
Recovering patients were particularly vulnerable, Al-Maqtari explained, as they were unable to seek medical assistance during the lockdown and were often turned away from hospitals that were only accepting COVID-19 patients.
Another man called on the government to return them back to Yemen. “If we are required to be quarantined, we are happy to comply and do so, even if it is in the middle of the Yemeni desert,” he said – by Rua’a Alameri
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1675951/middle-east
(A H)
Siham: The first Yemeni martial arts instructor
Young woman Siham Amer (23 years) oversees the training of girls in various martial arts sports such as: karate, taekwondo, and kick boxing: kickboxing and kung fu. And that through her work in the International Yemen Academy for Martial Arts, in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. She managed to train 55 Yemeni girls to play this game. Siham is the first Yemeni player to play martial arts in self-defense
(A H)
Amid tragedies, good news still comes out of Yemen. Yemeni author Bushra Al-Maktari has won Johann Philipp Palm Award for 2020 along with a Chinese author, shortly after Karman was selected a Facebook Oversight Board member. Great women in tough times.
https://twitter.com/FuadRajeh/status/1261810801725366279
and also https://republicanyemen.net/archives/24201
(A H)
Team APAM to Race to Yemen for Save the Children
https://www.apamuk.com/team-apam-to-race-to-yemen-for-save-the-children/
(* C P)
Zusammen getrennt
Vor 30 Jahren vereinigten sich Nord- und Südjemen zu einem Staat
Rund vier Monate vor der deutschen »Wiedervereinigung« vollzogen Nord- und Südjemen am 22. Mai 1990 ihren Zusammenschluss. Die Umstände hätten kaum unterschiedlicher sein können: Während sich die BRD die DDR offen und explizit durch deren Beitritt einverleibte, ohne dass die Bevölkerung ein Mitspracherecht hatte, demonstrierten die beiden Staaten im Südwesten der Arabischen Halbinsel Gleichberechtigung. Der langjährige Präsident des Nordens, Ali Abdullah Saleh, wurde Staatsoberhaupt des vereinten Jemen, und der Generalsekretär der sozialistischen Regierungspartei des Südens, Ali Salem Al-Baidh, erhielt das Amt des Regierungschefs. Der gemeinsame Staat übernahm die Nationalhymne der Demokratischen Volksrepublik (Süd-)Jemen und gab sich eine neu gestaltete Flagge, die allerdings mehr an die des Nordens als an die des Südens angelehnt war. Ein Jahr später, am 16. und 17. Mai 1991, wurde mit einem Referendum über die bis dahin nur provisorische Verfassung abgestimmt. Bei einer Beteiligung von 72,2 Prozent der Stimmberechtigten wurde die Verfassung mit 98,5 Prozent nahezu einstimmig angenommen.
Die beiden Staaten waren bis zum Zusammenschluss getrennte Wege gegangen.
https://www.jungewelt.de/artikel/378462.zusammen-getrennt.html
(A)
Severe damages in Wadi Habab, Sorouh, as a result of the flow of torrents in Marib
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xVYhuyv5LU
(* B H)
Die iranische Armee kämpft gegen Heuschrecken
Die größte Insektenplage seit 25 Jahren bedroht den Nahen Osten. Der Iran schickt seine Soldaten in den Kampf. Denn die Tiere fressen schneller als Mähdrescher.
Mit besonderer Sorge blicken die UN-Experten in den Jemen, das ärmste Land der arabischen Welt, das bereits jetzt unter Krieg, Krankheit und Hunger leidet
Diesmal könnten die Heuschrecken besonders im Jemen für viele Menschen zur Katastrophe werden
David Beasly, Chef der UN-Nothilfeorganisation WPO, zählt den Jemen zu jenen Ländern, die wegen Konflikten und der Corona-Pandemie noch stärker in Hunger und Armut abrutschen könnten. Wenn die Heuschrecken hinzukommen, wird es noch gefährlicher.
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-651-yemen-war-mosaic-651
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-651 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-651:
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/
Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:
http://yemendataproject.org/data/
Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:
Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:
Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Kommentare einblendenDiskutieren Sie mit.