... Saudis bieten Waffenstillstand an – Covid-19 nimmt im Jemen zu– und mehr
March 23, 2021: emen war: Generation of children grows up knowing only conflict – Houthis attacking displaced people’s camps – CIA pressured Yemen to release al-Qaeda leader from prison – Saudis offer ceasefire – Covid-19 is mounting in Yemen – and more
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-729b-yemen-war-mosaic-729b
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: Saudis bieten Waffenstillstand an / Most important: Saudis offer ceasefire
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
cp8a Jamal Khashoggi
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
cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade
cp13b Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
cp13c Wirtschaft / Economy
cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism
cp15 Propaganda
cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
cp17a Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle
cp18 Kampf um Hodeidah / Hodeidah battle
cp19 Sonstiges / Other
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
pH = Pro-Houthi
pS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Für wen das Thema ganz neu ist / Who is new to the subject
Ältere einführende Artikel u. Überblicke für alle, die mit den Ereignissen im Jemen noch nicht vertraut sind, hier:
Yemen War: Older introductory articles, overviews, for those who are still unfamiliar with the Yemen war here:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-einfuehrende-artikel-u-ueberblicke
(* B H)
The Yemen Crisis
This is what you need to know about the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Even before the war in Yemen broke out in 2015, it was already one of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the Arab world. Today, years of protracted violence has had devastating consequences for Yemen’s civilians, and the country finds itself in a relentless protection and humanitarian crisis.
A staggering 24 million people require humanitarian assistance - that is about 85 per cent of Yemen’s population of 29 million. More than 4 million people remain displaced after being forced to flee their homes, and many Yemenis remain incredibly food insecure due to the stagnating economy, bureaucratic impediments, and ongoing conflict. Famine is possible in many areas of the country.
Furthermore, millions of people in Yemen lack access to water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure.
Without a lasting peace in sight, Yemen continues to be torn apart by conflict, economic decline, the collapse of public services, disease outbreaks, loss of livelihoods and food insecurity. (photos9
https://drc.ngo/it-matters/feature-stories/2021/3/the-yemen-crisis/
cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important
(** B H K)
Yemen war: Generation of children grows up knowing only conflict
Many children born since 2015 have had fighting as the constant backdrop of their lives - and psychologists are worried about the long-term impact
The sounds of shelling in the city of Taiz leaves countless Yemenis - children, women and men alike - on edge, but little will stop Hassan from playing in the yard of his home.
At six years old, Hassan was born shortly after the beginning of the Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen against Houthi rebels. Since March 2015, fighting has been a constant in his hometown Taiz, and a persistent backdrop to this young boy’s life.
"Shelling doesn't terrify me. They are far away on the front and not here," he told Middle East Eye.
His father, Ahmed al-Rabouei, said he sees a difference between Hassan and his older siblings.
"I have five children, three of them are older than Hassan, but the sounds of shelling and air strikes terrify them. When they hear bombing, they go to me or their mother," he said.
"Hassan is different. He continues to play even when he hears the sound of bombing. Instead, he goes out to see where it [a bomb] has fallen."
Hassan, who will enter school in a few months, said his dream is to be a fighter when he grows up, like many of his friends.
"My favourite play is fighting with toy guns. I defeat all my friends in the neighbourhood," Hassan said.
Samir Saeed Othman, a teacher in the Taiz governorate, believes that this very young generation will be different from its predecessors, with the war shaping their attitudes and personalities.
"Children on the front lines live under the threat of shelling, air strikes, fighting or landmines, and they live in terror. I always hear them talk about the kinds of weapons and the threat of landmines," he said.
"We can't always see the impact of the war on their faces, but it is clear from their words and culture, and that's definitely dangerous for children."
Othman said he knows some children who have lost their friends in front of their eyes, especially because of landmines.
"Children on the front lines play with the explosive remnants, and sometimes they kill their friends with those remnants. They aren't aware of the danger of such devices, and in many cases, children on former front lines step on landmines and it kills them and others."
The schoolteacher said many children need psychological support, but for many families in Yemen, such services are financially out of reach.
Rabouei, a cashier at a Taiz mini-market, said he is happy that his son Hassan is "brave," expressing more worry for his older children, who have experienced troubled sleep and nightmares because of fighting.
"Hassan was born a month after the war broke out in Yemen, and he found himself in this situation, so he has adapted to it, but his elder siblings used to live in a peaceful environment. I used to take them to parks, zoos and have picnics, so now they fear bombings.
"There are thousands of children who live near the front lines, and not all are suffering from psychological trauma, only some, and most parents can't take their children to a psychologist," he said.
Rabouei's perception is far from isolated. Many Yemeni parents praise their children's "bravery" in the face of relentless conflict, but Taiz-based psychologist Nuha al-Baidhani warns that such behaviour among children is a symptom of the effects of war.
"Children's reaction to the sound of bombing is different from one child to another... while some are afraid of bombings, when shells fall, you can see the terror in the eyes of children," she told MEE.
"Others are aggressive. This is an impact of the war. I worked with different organisations and noticed that children are aggressive, and they reflect the culture of violence in their daily life and toys," she said.
"We tried to give them toys that create a peaceful environment, but they prefer violence, and this is just a reflection of the community culture."
In 2020, international NGO Save the Children said that years of conflict in Yemen have had a devastating impact on the mental health of an entire generation of children, pushing some to the brink of depression, according to a survey.
Baidhani pointed to a lack of understanding of trauma among adults, who themselves are suffering from the consequences of the conflict.
"Some adults who live on front lines suffer from psychological trauma, but the mistake is for parents to understand children's reactions as making them either 'brave' or not brave children," she said.
She warns that unless children's trauma and aggression is addressed, it might impact them well into adulthood.
"This generation was deprived of everything - no good education, no treatment, not even good toys," Baidhani said.
For people like Othman, the so-called "war generation" isn't "brave," as others might say, but rather "a generation that has lost its senses because of the war".
"When a child comes from a safe area to Taiz and hears bombing, he feels scared," the teacher said. "That means he is a normal child. Those who don't feel [fear] were affected by the war."
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-war-generation-children-conflict-impact
Comment: Mistake. The article covers only 2015-2021, but any child born in the past decade has been subject to the hardships of revolution, insecurity, lack of water, electricity, terror bombs and an endless flow of distressing moments
https://www.facebook.com/LivingInYemenOnTheEdge/posts/3884771118242556
(** A H K)
Yemen: Houthis Attacking Displaced People’s Camps
Unlawful Shelling in Marib Spurs Displacement, Humanitarian Crisis
Houthi forces have indiscriminately fired artillery and missiles into heavily populated areas in Yemen’s Marib governorate since February 2021, causing mass displacement and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. The Houthi armed group should halt unlawful attacks and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians trapped by the fighting.
Houthi forces have fired scores of projectiles into Marib, which is held by Yemeni government forces. The Yemeni government’s Foreign Ministry said on February 27 that the Houthis had fired 10 ballistic missiles, which cannot discriminate between civilians and military targets, toward Marib city since the beginning of the month. The Saudi-led coalition has also increased strikes in Marib governorate; the Yemen Data Project found, based on open-source information, that half of all coalition airstrikes in February struck Marib, making it the most heavily bombed governorate that month. All parties to the conflict should refrain from using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas to minimize civilian harm.
“Houthi forces have committed serious abuses and shown a shocking disregard for the well-being and safety of civilians throughout the conflict,” said Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Houthis’ indiscriminate artillery and rocket attacks toward populated areas in Marib have put displaced persons and local communities at severe risk.”
Local media and the Yemeni government reported that on March 1 a Houthi missile struck the residential al-Rawdah neighborhood in Marib city, killing a civilian driving his car and injuring nine others. The cousin of the man killed said, “He was killed by the missile’s fragments. Others with him in the car and on the street sustained serious injuries.”
Local media reported that on March 16 a Houthi missile struck a fuel station inside a market in eastern Marib city, killing two civilians and injuring seven others. Human Rights Watch reviewed video footage and interviewed a witness to the attack’s aftermath. “When I arrived at the site, the victims had just been taken to the hospital,” the witness said.
“It was tragic seeing blood and flesh of bodies spread on the ground and the damaged cars. The station’s owner said that one of his workers was hit by the missile’s fragments and killed immediately. The station is far away from the closest security checkpoint. The explosion was huge, and we felt it across all Marib city.”
Aid workers said that Houthi artillery and heavy direct-fire weapons forces hit several camps for displaced people during February, including al-Zour camp, Lafj al-Melh camp, Thanat al-Sawabin, and Thanat al-Haial camps, in northern and western Marib governorate. The attacks on the camps, which held hundreds of families, provoked a new wave of flight toward Marib city.
One aid worker said that most newly displaced civilians reach Marib carrying their tents and blankets on their backs. “Fleeing civilians shared terrifying stories about the heavy shelling they escaped from, very often on foot, to reach other camps in Marib,” he said.
A journalist said, but Human Rights Watch could not confirm, that civilians reported that Houthi forces raided some camps in the Sirwah district of Marib and attempted to use displaced people as “human shields” against Yemeni government attacks.
The Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons Camps reported that since the beginning of 2021, at least 14,000 civilians fled northern districts of Marib governorate for Marib city and the governorate’s southern districts.
This crisis of newly displaced, with families arriving daily, has increased humanitarian needs, putting pressure on host communities, public services, and stretching the capacity of aid agencies to respond.
Aid workers said that access to areas of Marib affected by the fighting remains a problem. Some civilians trapped in the town of Sirwah, west of Marib, were unable to flee because of the fighting, and were in need of immediate assistance.
Aid workers said that newly displaced civilians desperately need all basic services and have lost nearly everything they owned. At the same time, aid workers said that the available humanitarian assistance in Marib was inadequate to meet the growing population’s needs.
“There is a massive humanitarian crisis in Marib and current international aid efforts are not enough to meet the challenge,” Nasser said. “Yemen’s donors should do all they can to ramp up humanitarian support in Marib and press all sides to abide by the laws of war.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/23/yemen-houthis-attacking-displaced-peoples-camps
(** B P T)
LEAKED: CIA Pressured Yemen to Release al-Qaeda Leader from Prison
More evidence of CIA support for al-Qaeda exposed.
Explosive new recordings released by the Houthi government of Yemen pile more earth atop mountains of existing evidence of the U.S. government’s support for the very same terrorists it has claimed to be waging war against for nearly two decades.
The Moral Guidance Department, a branch of the Yemeni Armed Forces of the revolutionary Houthi government of Yemen published last week a number of secret documents and phone calls from the former regime of longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Two phone calls between former president Saleh and the former director of the CIA George Tenet were released. A Yemeni government official has confirmed to me that the calls took place in 2001.
In the calls, the former CIA director can be heard pressuring Saleh to release a detained individual involved in the bombing attacks on USS Cole in October of 2000, which left 17 dead and 37 injured.
In the call, Tenet is asked by Saleh’s translator about the name of the individual in question.
“I don’t want to give his name over the phone,” Tenet tells him.
Saleh notes that the FBI team tasked with the USS Cole investigation had already arrived in Sana’a, and asks Tenet if the FBI personnel could meet with him to discuss the matter. Tenet refuses, saying “this is my person, this is my problem, this is my issue... The man must be released.”
“I’ve talked to everybody in my government; I told them that I was going to make this call,” Tenet says.
As Saleh’s translator is delivering Tenet’s message to the president, the CIA director cuts him off and says that the man in question “must be released within 48 hours.”
“After 50 days, this must stop,” he says.
Major General Abdul Qadir al-Shami, the deputy-head of the Yemeni Security and Intelligence Service, confirmed to Houthi media that the person in question was dual American-Yemeni citizen imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, a top leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), who was killed in Yemen in 2011 by a CIA drone strike.
Houthi media says al-Shami “pointed out that the Americans used to train their individuals in Yemen and send them abroad to carry out operations for them, and then affix the accusation to Yemen as an excuse to come under the cover of fighting those individuals.”
Another document from the State Department dated 1998 highly suggests US interests in establishing a military presence in Yemen around the sea of Aden.
Saudi-born Ali al-Ahmed of the Gulf Institute, a leading expert on Saudi politics and terrorism, told me that he is not at all surprised by the phone call between George Tenet and Yemen’s former president.
“I’ve been saying this for a long time,” al-Ahmed told me. “People that think that these organizations; al-Qaeda, ISIS, are organic, non-state-backed organizations are either lying or are completely stupid. The fact that ISIS had all these American weapons, they didn’t come from thin air. This was part of a plan. The same thing with al-Qaeda; the fact that this organization which has been attacked all over the world continues to survive 20 years on, and spread, it’s not by accident. It’s done by security and intelligence organizations in Washington, D.C. and in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and by Ali Abdullah Saleh.”
“This recording,” he said, “fits the bill; that Anwar al-Awlaki and others, they were sometimes knowingly or unknown being used as a tool.”
Hijinks with the Hijackers
Anwar al-Awlaki has been perhaps the most enigmatic figure in the so-called War on Terror; even after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, al-Awlaki enjoyed free travel between Western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom and Yemen. He was killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen in 2011, a likely-illegal targeted killing of an American citizen with little to no precedent.
Al-Awlaki’s name has appeared in connection with a plethora of terrorist attacks against Western targets and, in addition to the now apparent ties to US intelligence, had held relationships with suspected Saudi intelligence officers.
Anwar al-Awlaki would, according to a fellow student at Colorado State, spend his off time in the summer training with the US-funded and equipped Mujahideen in Afghanistan, the precursor of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS. The Afghan militants were funnelled $20 billion by the CIA in Operation Cyclone, with Osama Bin Laden being a main benefactor, in order to fight off the Soviets defending the then-socialist government.
By 1996, al-Awlaki was recruiting Muslims in the United States to take up arms in foreign lands as he encouraged a young Saudi student to “to travel to Chechnya to join the jihad against the Russians.” He did, and was killed in fighting in 1999.
Though the record holds many discrepancies, al-Awlaki’s place of birth is said to be in New Mexico.
Freedom of Information Act requests have furnished the public with under-reported documents showing when the FBI investigated al-Awlaki’s Visa transactions, an entry for “Atta, Mohammed -- American West Airlines, 08/13/2001, Washington, DC to Las Vegas to Miami” turned u
The flight referenced was one of Atta’s so-called “surveillance flights.” Logs for flights of two more hijackers — one of the al-Shehri brothers and Satam al-Squami, also appear in the disclosed Visa investigation documents. The FBI has denied having evidence of al-Awlaki purchasing plane tickets for the hijackers.
By this time, al-Awlaki was becoming a somewhat prominent figure, with up to 3,000 people regularly showing up for his Friday services, and with CD box set lectures becoming popular. He went back briefly to San Diego in August 2001 and reportedly told a neighbor “I don’t think you’ll be seeing me… Later on you’ll find out why.”
One frequent attendee at al-Awlaki’s lectures was Gordon Snow, then-FBI Director of Counterintelligence for the Middle East.
Though it was then not known that al-Awlaki was the “spiritual leader” of some of the hijackers, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Washington Post among others, went to him as their default Muslim voice.
The Candide of Jihad
When al-Awlaki started preaching in London, his rhetoric took a decidedly more extremist turn with frequent denunciations of non-Muslims and calls for martyrdom. He would relocate to Yemen where he would lecture at a university in Sana’a run by Sheik Abd-al-Majid al-Zindini, who was later designated a terrorist by the U.S. and fought with Osama bin Laden, with U.S. support during Operation Cyclone in Afghanistan.
In 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested again in Yemen for participating in a al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché and a Shia teenager. FBI agents would interview him in prison about the 9/11 attacks. After a while, some U.S. officials were “disturbed at the imprisonment without charge of a United States citizen” and “signaled that they no longer insisted on Mr Awlaki’s incarceration, and he was released,” according to the New York Times.
Following his release in Yemen, al-Awlaki started his own website and his far-reaching online rhetoric became even more extremist and supportive of attacks against the United States. He also started being featured in videos published by al-Qaeda itself and has been dubbed the “bin Laden of the internet.”
His name would begin to increasingly surface in connection to high-profile terrorist attacks on Western targets
In 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on the U.S. kill list, he then made his way onto the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and then the United Nation Security Council’s list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda.
The following year, the CIA finally liquidated its own former asset with a drone strike.
Best Frenemies Forever
While the U.S. has repeatedly pounded AQAP in Yemen with bombs, they are not entirely enemies. The Saudi coalition, which the U.S. is a part of, is at war with the revolutionary Houthi government, and therefore shares a purpose in the country with al-Qaeda: expelling the Houthis from power.
“The coalition cut secret deals with al-Qaeda fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash,” the Associated Press reported in 2018. “Hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself.”
“Key participants in the pacts said the U.S. was aware of the arrangements and held off on any drone strikes,” according to AP. In fact, the coalition actively recruits them because they are considered formidable on the battlefield, the outlet says before continuing to detail al-Qaeda figures playing key roles in major militias backed by the United Arab Emirates, another coalition partner.
And since the U.S. has sent billions of dollars in weapons to the coalition to fight the Houthis, it should come as little shock that al-Qaeda militias are parading around Yemeni city streets in U.S.-made MRAP armored vehicles.
Saudi expert Ali Al-Ahmed told me that the U.S. can justify its presence in Yemen by supporting al-Qaeda and then saying that AQAP is a great threat to America.
He said the “idea that Muslims are our enemies, we need to bring them down, take their wealth and keep them fighting each other” was started by Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, the architect of Operation Cyclone, but was mainly supported in the beginning by Qatar.
He added: “they even had to overthrow the government of Pakistan to get this policy through. They made Pakistan into this arm to carry out this thing with Brzezinski.”
“Al-Qaeda and ISIS would not survive without state support, including the U.S., and they do it because it serves their interests. Not the interests of the U.S., but of those in power and the companies that make money off this,” he said.
Al-Ahmed describes al-Qaeda as a useful tool for U.S. intelligence and other actors to achieve their geopolitical goals. He tells me a story of a Jordanian carpenter who was pressured and bribed to join al-Qaeda in their effort in Syria against the government of Bashar Assad, with American, British, and Jordanian intelligence officers offering him whatever he wanted to go.
He didn’t want to go, and so they threatened him. Eventually, al-Ahmed describes, he went, came back and was quickly “taken out” upon his return.
“Al-Qaeda is like a whore, and everybody is sleeping with that whore,” al-Ahmed said – by Alex Rubinstein. He is an independent reporter on Substack. You can subscribe to get free articles from him delivered to your inbox here, and if you want to support his journalism, which is never put behind a paywall, you can give a one-time donation to him through PayPal here or sustain his reporting through Patreon here.
https://realalexrubi.substack.com/p/leaked-cia-pressured-yemen-to-release = https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/22/cia-yemen-al-qaeda-anwar-al-awlaki/ = https://southfront.org/did-the-cia-pressure-yemen-to-release-al-qaeda-propagandist-anwar-al-awlaki/
cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics
(* A H)
98 new cases of coronavirus reported, 3,516 in total
The committee also reported the death of 20 coronavirus patients, in addition to the recovery of 12 patients.
According to the daily counts over the past hours, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 3,516, including 771 deaths and 1,546 recoveries.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32530
(A H)
3rd COVID-19 isolation centre to open in Aden
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32528
(* A H)
140 new cases of coronavirus reported, 3,418 in total
The supreme national emergency committee for coronavirus reported on Sunday, 140 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the governorates of Hadramout (76), Aden (34), al-Mahra (14), Taiz (12), Lahj (2) and Marib (2).
The committee also reported the death of 14 coronavirus patients; Hadramout (7), Taiz (3), al-Mahra (2), Aden (1) and Shabwa (1), in addition to the recovery of 4 patients in Hadramout.
According to the daily counts over the past hours, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 3,418, including 751 deaths and 1,534 recoveries.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32525
and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-23960.html
(* A H)
[Hadi gov.] Yemeni Minister: Hospitals run out of oxygen and ICU devices
Hospitals in war-devastated Yemen have run out of oxygen supplies, Health Minister Dr. Qasem Buhaibeh said amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the country.
The official added on his Twitter account that intensive care units for COVID-19 patients at the quarantine hospitals have reached their maximum capacity.
He urged Yemenis to abide by precautions against the spread of COVID-19.
Precautionary measures
“Our dear citizens, we urge you to follow precautionary measures, avoid crowding, wear face masks, and keep away from suspected corona patients,” he tweeted. “We’ve run out of oxygen cylinders and ICU devices.”
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32524
(A H P)
Minister in Sanaa administration in Yemen dies of COVID-19, officials say
The transportation minister of the Houthi-controlled administration in Yemen, Zakaria al-Shami, died on Sunday of complications of coronavirus infection, two Yemeni officials said.
Shami was treated in hospital in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, along with Prime Minister Abdulaziz bin Habtour from the same administration and other officials who have also been infected, they said.
Houthi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Abdulaziz Alkumaim, the Houthi Planning Minister, said in social media posts Shami had died, but did not provide further details.
and
(A H P)
Houthi transport minister dies in ambiguous conditions
The Houthi minister for transportation, Zachariah al-Shami, died on Sunday in ambiguous conditions.
One of the Houthi leading generals, Mr. Shami was placed fourth in the Saudi-led coalition's wanted list, with US$ 20 million allocated for any information leading to his arrest.
The minister died early on Sunday following a health problem, source closely linked to the Houthi group told Debriefer, without further details.
No official statement has immediately been issued by the Houthis on the death of their minister.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23943.html
and
(A H P)
Minister dies as coronavirus attacks senior Houthi leaders
Meanwhile, the virus has attacked a number of senior leaders in the group, including prime minister Abdulaziz bin Habtour, according to the sources.
The group announced Al-Shami's death after it was reported by news websites and social media platforms.
Today, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said the president of the supreme political council Mahdi Al-Mashat telephoned bin Habtour asking after his health.
The Houthi group has been covering up a breakout of coronavirus for two weeks, coinciding with a surge in cases and deaths in regions controlled by the Internationally recognised government.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23959.html
(* A H)
Second COVID-19 wave hits Yemen
A surge in coronavirus infections has been reported in Yemen since early March, worsening the already devastating crisis in the country.
“Oxygen supplies and ICU ventilators in the isolation centers in Aden have run out and the centers have reached their maximum capacity,” Health Minister Qasim Bouheibeh warned on Twitter on Friday.
Medical sources in the six-year besieged city of Taiz said the number of new cases and deaths has unprecedentedly increased in the past few days.
“We have received about 20 cases in the last 24 hours, 3 of them died,” deputy director of Al Jumhori Hospital said on Saturday.
The Aden-based emergency committee for Covid-19 reported on Friday 91 new cases in six provinces under the control of the Yemeni government: 34 in Aden, 31 in Hadramawt, 11 in Taez, 10 in Al Mahrah province, three in Shabwa, and two in Lahej. Six patients died in Hadramawt, and two each in Taez and Al Mahrah provinces.
The number of cases officially recorded on Friday only includes areas under the control of the internationally recognized government, mostly south Yemen.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia, which controls large swaths of northern Yemen, acknowledged witnessing an increased number in coronavirus cases in areas under their control, without giving figures.
https://republicanyemen.net/archives/27580
(* A H)
61 new cases of coronavirus reported, 3,278 in total
The committee also reported the death of 4 coronavirus patients; Hadramout (3) and al-Mahra (1), in addition to the recovery of one patient in Hadramout.
According to the daily counts over the past hours, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 3,278, including 737 deaths and 1,530 recoveries.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32517
(A H)
A huge spread of cases infected with #coronavirus in the capital Sana'a.
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1373326137959591940
(* B H)
Yemen intensive care units full with COVID-19 patients
Occupancy in intensive care units in quarantine centres has reached maximum capacity in Yemen because of a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days, Yemen's health minister said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.
Authorities are dealing with a shortage of intensive care equipment and oxygen tubes required to treat COVID-19 patients, Qasim Buhaibeh said on Twitter.
Buhaibeh urged Yemenis to comply with COVID-19 measures, wear masks and stay away from crowded places.
In a statement on Thursday, Buhaibeh encouraged his counterparts in Arab countries to support Yemen in its struggle against the virus and other epidemic diseases.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210320-yemen-intensive-care-units-full-with-covid-19-patients/
(* A H)
91 new cases of coronavirus reported, 3,217 in total
The committee also reported in its statement the death of 10 coronavirus patients; Hadramout (6), Taiz (2) and al-Mahra (2), in addition to the recovery of 9 patients in Hadramout (4) and Aden (2) and Shabwa (3).
According to the daily counts over the past hours, the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 3,217, including 733 deaths and 1,529 recoveries.
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32507
(A H)
A huge thanks to all the doctors in #Yemen for being on the frontline in this fight against #COVID19. Your hard work, dedication and courage are truly appreciated! My cousin Dr Azzubair, was infected with #COVID19 today in Sana'a (photo)
https://twitter.com/AhmadAlgohbary/status/1372948081185001474
(* B H)
Emergency Health and Nutrition Project continues the fight against cholera in Yemen
In 2020, a total of 230 540 suspected cholera cases and 84 associated deaths were reported nationwide. Areas that lack access to clean water and proper sanitation conditions are the worst hit.
WHO and health partners have been supporting health authorities to respond to this ongoing cholera outbreak. The response has included case management, surveillance and laboratory diagnostic capacity, hotspot mapping and oral cholera vaccine (OCV) campaign planning and implementation, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support, and risk communication.
As part of this effort, in December 2020 and February 2021, WHO, in cooperation with UNICEF and the World Bank through the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project, supported the Ministry of Public Health and Population in conducting an oral cholera vaccination campaign in Hajr district in Hadramaut governorate and Al Dhalea and Al Azareq districts in Al Dhalea governorate.
As many people in these rural districts face difficulties in reaching health care centres, the campaign has assigned fixed and mobile teams to cover over 32 000 households and over 188 000 people in the 2 governorates.
"Because of the continuing conflict and COVID-19 consequences, access of the Yemeni people to basic health services remains a major concern. We have to proactively reach out to the population in need, including those in camps for the internally displaced," said Dr Adham Ismail, WHO Representative in Yemen.
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Prescribing rationality and availability of antimalarial drugs in Hajjah, Yemen
This study in 3 districts of Hajjah governorate, Yemen, used WHO core indicators to investigate irrational prescribing of antimalarial drugs in public and private health facilities. Laboratory diagnosis rates were low in public facilities [21.2% of encounters]. Informal prescriptions were issued in > 70% of encounters [public and private]. Important patient and drug information was missing from many prescriptions. Both public and private facilities had high rates of prescribing multiple drugs [mean 3.0 and 4.0 respectively per encounter, maximum 11], brand-name drugs [32.9% and 64.2%] and injections [17.2% and 33.5%]. The total number of antimalarial drugs registered in the country was found to be 98, with 52 different formulations and strengths of chloroquine. Efforts should be made to promote rational prescribing of antimalarials
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/119313?locale-attribute=de&mode=full&locale=ru
cp1b Am wichtigsten: Saudis bieten Waffenstillstand an / Most important: Saudis offer ceasefire
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Saudi-Arabien legt Friedensplan für Jemen vor
Der Weg in den Frieden soll laut dem Vorschlag aus Riad mit einer sofortigen Waffenruhe beginnen. Diese könnte in Kraft treten, sobald die jemenitischen Huthi-Rebellen ihr zustimmten, sagte der saudische Außenminister Prinz Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Überwacht werden solle sie von den Vereinten Nationen. Der Flughafen in der Hauptstadt Sanaa solle wieder geöffnet und die Lieferung von Treibstoff und Nahrungsmitteln auch über den Hafen von Hudaida ermöglicht werden.
Zudem sollen direkte Gespräche zwischen der von Saudi-Arabien unterstützten offiziellen jemenitischen Regierung und den vom Iran geförderten Huthi-Rebellen aufgenommen werden. Ziel der Initiative seien Gespräche über eine umfassende politische Lösung für den Konflikt, erklärte Faisal bin Farhan. "Ich rufe Jemens Regierung und die Huthis auf, die Initiative zu akzeptieren." Die Huthis hätten die Chance, das Blutvergießen im Jemen zu beenden und die humanitäre Lage, unter der die Jemeniten litten, zu verbessern, sagte der Außenminister.
Huthis weisen Vorschlag zurück
Die Huthi wiesen den Vorschlag in einer ersten Reaktion zurück. Saudi-Arabien müsse zunächst seine Aggression stoppen sowie die Blockade beenden und Ideen vorbringen, die bereits früher diskutiert worden seien, sagte Rebellen-Sprecher Mohammed Abdul Salam dem Huthi-treuen Sender Masira. Jede Initiative, die die humanitäre Frage unbeachtet lasse, sei nicht ernst gemeint. Die Huthis seien aber zu weiteren Gesprächen mit den Regierungen in Riad, Washington und Maskat im Oman bereit, um ein Friedensabkommen zu erzielen.
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Saudische Friedensinitiative für Jemen: Riad schlägt Huthis Waffenruhe vor
Saudi-Arabien hat eine sofortige Waffenruhe als Teil einer neuen Friedensinitiative für das Bürgerkriegsland Jemen vorgeschlagen. Die Huthi-Rebellen haben jedoch die neue Initiative kleingeredet.
Die Waffenruhe könnte in Kraft treten, sobald die jemenitischen Huthi-Rebellen ihr zustimmten, sagte der saudische Außenminister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud am Montag in Riad. Überwacht werden solle sie von den Vereinten Nationen. Auch der Flughafen in der Hauptstadt Sanaa solle wieder geöffnet werden. Ziel der Initiative sei eine umfassende politische Lösung für den Konflikt.
Laut Huthi-Rebellen enthält das Angebot jedoch nichts Neues.
Mohammed Abdel Salam, Chefunterhändler der Huthi, sagte allerdings, sie würden weiterhin mit Riad, Maskat und Washington sprechen und versuchen, ein Friedensabkommen zu erzielen.
„Die Eröffnung der Flughäfen und Seehäfen ist ein humanitäres Recht und sollte nicht als Druckmittel eingesetzt werden“, sagte Abdulsalam der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters.
https://snanews.de/20210322/saudische-friedensinitiative-jemen-riad-huthis-waffenruhe-1396147.html
Mein Kommentar: Die Reaktion der Huthis verwundert. Der Plan enthält durchaus etwas Neues; eine Aufsicht der vereinten nationen und eine Wiedereröffnung des Flughafens von Snaa hatten die Saudis bisher nicht vorgeschlagen. Wenn das Ende der Blockade Teil eines Waffenstillstands ist, kann man das wirklich nicht als Einsetzen als „Deruckmittel“ bezeichnen.
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Jemen-Konflikt: Saudiarabien schlägt Waffenruhe vor
Ziel der Initiative seien Gespräche über eine umfassende politische Lösung für den Konflikt, erklärte Faisal bin Farhan weiter. «Ich rufe Jemens Regierung und die Huthis auf, die Initiative zu akzeptieren.» Die Huthis reagierten ablehnend. Saudiarabien müsse seine Aggression stoppen sowie die Blockade beenden und Ideen vorbringen, die bereits früher diskutiert worden seien, sagte Rebellen-Sprecher Mohammed Abdul Salam dem Huthi-treuen Sender Masira. Jede Initiative, die die humanitäre Frage unbeachtet lasse, sei nicht ernst gemeint.
https://www.nzz.ch/international/jemen-die-hintergruende-des-buergerkriegs-ld.1556197 = https://www.rtl.de/cms/hoffnung-fuer-den-jemen-saudi-arabien-bietet-waffenruhe-an-4727723.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-arabien-jemen-idDEKBN2BE265
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Saudi Arabia offers cease-fire plan to Yemen rebels
Saudi Arabia announced a plan Monday to offer Yemen’s Houthi rebels a cease-fire in the country’s yearslong war and allow a major airport to reopen in its capital, the kingdom’s latest attempt to halt fighting that has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in the Arab world’s poorest nation.
Whether such a plan will take hold remains another question. A unilaterally declared Saudi cease-fire collapsed last year. Fighting rages around the crucial city of Marib and the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes as recently as Sunday targeting Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. A United Nations mission said another suspected airstrike hit a food-production company in the port city of Hodeida.
“It is up to the Houthis now,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told journalists in a televised news conference in Riyadh. “The Houthis must decide whether to put their interests first or Iran’s interests first.”
A senior Houthi official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity under regulations, said the rebels had been aware of the proposal and in direct communication with the Saudis, as well as Omani interlocutors. However, he said the Saudis needed to do more to see a cease-fire implemented.
Saudi Arabia said the plan would be presented both to the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government later Monday. Both would need to accept the plan for it to move forward, with any timeline likely to be set by U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths.
Saudi Arabia made two concessions to the Houthis in the plan, while not offering everything the rebels previously wanted. The first involves reopening Sanaa International Airport, a vital link for Yemen to the outside world that hasn’t seen regular commercial flights since 2015. Officials did not immediately identify what commercial routes they wanted to see resume.
The second would see taxes, customs and other fees generated by Yemen’s Hodeida port while importing oil put into a joint account of Yemen’s Central Bank. That money would be accessible to the Houthis and Yemen’s recognized government to pay civil servants and fund other programs, officials said.
Whether the Houthis accept the Saudi proposal remains in question. On Friday, Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi proposed a nationwide cease-fire contingent upon Saudi Arabia reopening Sanaa’s airport to commercial flights and lifting restrictions on cargo shipments to Hodeida. The port there handles the majority of the country’s vital imports. Both are long-standing demands of the Houthis
“There is nothing new about the Saudi initiative,” another senior Houthi official told the AP on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. “First, the airport and the port must both be opened.”
Yemen’s internationally recognized government praised the Saudi initiative as an effort to “ease the suffering of the Yemeni people.” But in a statement, its Foreign Affairs Ministry also warned that the Houthis had “met all previous initiatives with obstinacy” and had “worked to deepen the humanitarian crisis.”
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had spoken to the Saudi foreign minister about the war in Yemen.
Blinken supports efforts “to end the conflict in Yemen, starting with the need for all parties to commit to a cease-fire and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid,” the statement said.
and
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Saudi Arabia proposes ceasefire in Yemen, Houthis sceptical
Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative on Monday to end the war in Yemen, including a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links, but its Houthi enemies said the offer did not appear to go far enough to lift a blockade.
The initiative, announced by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, would include reopening Sanaa airport, and allow fuel and food imports through Hodeidah port, both of which are controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Political negotiations between the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis would be restarted, he told a news conference, It would take effect when the Yemeni sides accepted.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government issued a statement welcoming the offer.
But the Houthis said the initiative provided “nothing new”, as it still fell short of their demand for a complete lifting of the blockade on Sanaa airport and Hodeidah port.
“We expected that Saudi Arabia would announce an end to the blockade of ports and airports and an initiative to allow in 14 ships that are held by the coalition,” Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters.
A “humanitarian right” should not be used as a pressure tool, he said.
The group would continue to talk with the Saudis, the United States and mediator Oman for a peace agreement, he said.
The United Nations welcomes the Saudi “intention to undertake a number of measures to help end the conflict in Yemen”, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday, stressing that “it’s still early days”.
Haq said the proposal is aligned with the U.N. initiative and that special envoy Martin Griffiths would now follow up with the warring parties.
Prince Faisal said Riyadh would work with the international community to press the Houthis “to accept and come to the negotiating table” and that the Saudi-led coalition would continue to face Houthi assaults “with the necessary response”.
The Houthis demand the lifting of the blockade, which they blame for what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The Saudi-led coalition and aid agencies have accused the group of obstructing aid efforts.
Riyadh’s announcement did not specify which air routes would be permitted to Sanaa, or whether the imports through Hodeidah port would be subject to additional pre-authorisations.
and also https://thearabweekly.com/saudi-initiative-stop-yemen-war-puts-onus-peace-houthis
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The Kingdom announces an initiative to end the Yemeni crisis and reach a comprehensive political resolution
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced an initiative to end the Yemeni crisis and reach a comprehensive political resolution.
The initiative comes in continuation of the Kingdom’s concern for the security and stability of Yemen and the region, and its serious and practical steps to support peace in Yemen and put an end to the crisis.
The initiative aims to end the human suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, and affirms the Kingdom’s support for efforts to reach a comprehensive political resolution between the Yemeni parties in line with discussions in Biel, Geneva, Kuwait and Stockholm.
The initiative includes the following proposals: A comprehensive ceasefire across the country under the supervision of the United Nations. Depositing taxes and custom revenues for ships carrying oil derivatives to the port of Hodeidah in the joint account of the Central Bank of Yemen in Hodeidah, in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement on Hodeidah. The reopening of Sanaa International Airport to a number of direct regional and international destinations. The start of consultations between the Yemeni parties to reach a political resolution to the Yemeni crisis under the auspices of the United Nations based on the references of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism, and the outcomes of the Yemeni national dialogue.
This initiative comes within the framework of the continuous support for the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Mr. Martin Griffiths, the US envoy to Yemen, Mr. Timothy Lenderking, along with the positive role of the Sultanate of Oman, and the push to reach a political resolution to the crisis under the auspices of the United Nations.
The Kingdom calls on the Yemeni government and the Houthis to accept the initiative, which gives the Houthis the opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen, address the humanitarian and economic conditions that the brotherly Yemeni people are suffering from, and gives them the opportunity to become partners in achieving peace.
The initiative gives the Houthis an opportunity to uphold the interests of the brotherly Yemeni people first, and the Yemeni people's right to their sovereignty and the independence of their homeland over the Iranian regime’s expansionary ambitions in Yemen and the region. The Kingdom calls on the Houthis to declare their acceptance of the initiative, which is to be implemented under the supervision and monitoring of the United Nations.
The Kingdom also affirms its full right to defend its land, citizens and residents from the systematic attacks carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia against civilian areas and vital installations that not only target the Kingdom's national interests, but also target the core of the global economy and its supplies, as well as global energy security.
The Kingdom also affirms its total rejection of Iranian interference in the region and Yemen. The Iranian regime’s support for the Houthi militias through smuggling, developing , supplying missiles and weapons, provision of military experts, and violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, remains the main reason for the prolonging of the Yemeni crisis.
The Kingdom and Coalition countries affirm their continued support for the Yemeni people and their legitimate government.
The Kingdom also affirms that it will remain committed to its humanitarian role in alleviating the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, by supporting all efforts for peace, security and stability in Yemen and moving towards a new stage for the development and improvement of the Yemeni people's livelihood.
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2205530 = https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/03/23/Full-text-of-Saudi-Arabia-s-new-peace-initiative-to-end-Yemen-war
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Peace initiative reflects Saudi Arabia’s interest in Yemen’s stability and security: Prince Khalid
Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a new peace initiative on Monday demonstrates the Kingdom’s keen interest in the stability and security of Yemen, said Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman.
In a series of tweets following the announcement of the Saudi initiative, Prince Khalid said: The Kingdom seeks to establish peace in Yemen. The recent announcement is in line with previous proposals, from the Gulf initiative to all consultation efforts to end the crisis and reach a comprehensive political settlement.”
“The initiative demonstrates the Kingdom’s interest in the stability of Yemen and its commitment to unifying all Yemeni factions in upholding their national priorities,” Prince Khalid added.
Calling on the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to accept the offer for the best interests of Yemen, the Saudi deputy defense minister said: “The initiative aims to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and give the Houthis the opportunity to uphold the interests of Yemen and its honorable people first over Iranian expansionist goals.”
“We hope that they will quickly accept it and start peace consultations between all Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political settlement,” Prince Khalid added.
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Saudi Arabia proposes ceasefire plan to Yemen’s Houthi rebels
Analysts, meanwhile, say Saudi Arabia, which has been internationally criticised for air raids killing civilians and embargoes exacerbating hunger, is keen to rehabilitate its image with the US under new President Joe Biden.
Ibrahim Fraihat, associate professor of conflict resolution at the Doha Institute, told Al Jazeera a significant difference compared with previous peace initiatives was that this time there is “a strong political will by the Biden administration that has been openly saying that this war must end”.
“There is a serious US intervention,” he added, noting that the Saudi initiative could be seen “as a way to comply with the US efforts … and throw the ball again in the court of the Houthis.”
Fraihat noted, however, that six years of war have resulted in a severe mistrust between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
“No one trusts anyone,” he said. “So just an initiative without action or changes on the ground, I don’t think anyone would be willing to immediately … respond very positively without seeing additional assurances,” Fraihat added.
“Opening the Sanaa airport, though it’s an important step, I don’t think it’s enough in order to repair the damaged trust between the two parties. We need to see more of this, and also we need to see serious delivery of humanitarian assistance, whether to Sanaa airport or other places in order to build confidence.”
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Yemen: Saudi Arabia Proposes A Peace Deal, But Houthis Say It's Not Enough
In a briefing, U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said he welcomed the Saudi proposals, and that U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths has been working toward these goals. Asked about the Houthis' rejection of the Saudi offer, Haq said Griffiths would be in touch with all parties to discuss moving forward with Saudi Arabia's proposal.
Peter Salisbury, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, says the Saudi proposal is essentially anew take on an idea that was put forth a year ago.
"The devil is still in the details. The Saudis, the government and the Huthis all say they support the initiative in concept terms but have quibbled incessantly over timing, sequencing and the details of each aspect," Salisbury wrote in a thread on Twitter.
Salisbury says he believes the Saudi proposal is likely aimed at pressuring the Houthis. For now, he predicts more talks, more air strikes, and more fighting on the ground: "We're in a period where the parties are using all tools at their disposal to improve their bargaining position."
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Peter Salisbury: This isn’t a new initiative, it’s a new spin on a year old one. The announcement more than anything signals clear Saudi support for a version of a initiative that has been under discussion for more than a year, 1st under UN, more recently with US playing an assertive role.
What’s been under discussion: nationwide ceasefire overseen by the UN accompanied by measures to reopen Sana’a airport, lift restrictions to trade into Hodeida ports, followed by national political talks. Until the turn of the year it was being packaged as the joint declaration.
The devil is still in the details. The Saudis, the government and the Huthis all say they support the initiative in concept terms but have quibbled incessantly over timing, sequencing and the details of each aspect.
The Huthis e.g. want Sana’a airport and Hodeida airport completely opened to unregulated traffic. GoY want to gain more oversight over both as part of any deal. And Saudis and GoY at first wanted ceasefire first, economic / humanitarian measures later.
In this context, language matters. The Saudi statement calls for ‘a comprehensive ceasefire’ and ‘reopening Sana’a international airport to a number of direct regional and international destinations’. The language on Hodeida however is more challenging.
‘Depositing taxes and custom revenues for ships carrying oil derivatives to the port of Hodeidah in the joint account of the Central Bank of Yemen in Hodeidah, in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement on Hodeidah.’
Revenue collection and distribution at Hodeida has been one of many sticking points since the Stockholm Agreement in 2018 and the focus of an escalating war of words that has resulted in the government preventing any fuel shipments entering Hodeida since early Feb.
So on a first read, the Saudi proposal appears to double down on the idea that it is the Huthis who have to make concessions here. That won’t sit well with negotiators in Sana’a/Muscat.
And indeed the Huthi response has been clear: they say this is an old offer, and that they’ve been clear in their position. Completely lift barriers to movement on Hodeida and Sana’a airport. They accuse the Saudis of using the humanitarian crisis as leverage.
What’s next? More talk and probably more crossborder airstikes, missile/drone attacks and fighting on the ground. We’re in a period where the parties are using all tools at their disposal to improve their bargaining position.
The good news: this means they are negotiating. The bad news: a lot could go wrong. An errant air or missile strike could blow the whole process up.
In sum: the Saudi proposal isn’t new per se, and is likely aimed at pressuring the Huthis. It makes clear what’s being discussed but probably doesn’t tell us what the details of a successful agreement might look like...
https://twitter.com/peterjsalisbury/status/1374057370867892226
(* A P)
Film: Yemen ceasefire brief context
Just as today's U.S.-Saudi webinar was concluding, Annelle Sheline & Ali AlAhmed reacted to reports of a Saudi ceasefire offer in Yemen...their consensus: "too little too late."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIk03WhfdxE
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Annelle Sheline: The announcement of the Saudi ceasefire in Yemen is unlikely to change anything happening on the ground in Yemen The Saudis' decision to announce a ceasefire now reflects their weak position and their concern that the Houthis are about to take Marib
The Houthis have gained significant territory in their push to take Marib, a city that had previously been spared much of the violence & therefore had been a haven for internally displaced Yemenis fleeing violence & Houthi persecution elsewhere
If (when) the Houthis take Marib, the Saudi-backed & internationally recognized government will have lost their last major stronghold in Yemen The Houthis will have also gained access to Marib's oil & gas facilities, as well as weapons stored there
The Saudi ceasefire is reminiscent of their unilateral ceasefire announced in April 2020, which was immediately violated by both sides
Unless the Saudis offer an incentive, like lifting the blockade, the Houthis have no reason not to continue pursuing their goals thru military action The Houthis have achieved all of their gains through violence They have no reason to stop now & pursue negotiations
The Saudis likely wish to portray themselves as interested in pursuing peace & also to portray the Houthis as the primary aggressors This may appease the Biden administration's frustration with the Saudis' unwillingness to withdraw from Yemen
The Houthis are not afraid to be perceived as the aggressors, as they portray themselves as defending Yemen from imperialist/Zionist/Western aggression Condemnations from the US & the Saudis for Houthi belligerence will simply reinforce this image, which they wish to maintain
If @POTUS, @SecBlinken & @StateDept_NEA are serious about helping to end the war in Yemen, they must recognize that the Houthis have the upper hand While this is unfortunate, it is the reality. Pretending otherwise merely lengthens the conflict, as Yemenis continue to die
https://twitter.com/AnnelleSheline/status/1374029647642456072
https://twitter.com/AnnelleSheline/status/1374124981462790148
(A P)
Coombs: Like its 2020 ceasefire, KSA is framing itself as the peace-seeker w/o giving in to Houthi demands. Knowing full well Houthis will continue fighting for Marib (and firing rockets into KSA), Saudi is betting this move will portray Houthis as the aggressors
https://twitter.com/Macoombs/status/1374076832635527169
(A P)
as in all proposed ceasefire drafts by UN, Houthis, or this one, there will be no guarantee for a ceasefire if the agreement is not inclusive of all armed groups, so it cannot be called nationwide or comprehensive because its limited to specific parties.
to make the ceasefire part operational, there is also a need to work on detailed plan identifying prohibited acts, mechanisms of implementation, monitoring, and verification...etc.
This means that KSA might end up to be the only actor ceasing the hostilities especially during Ramadan and Eid period like last year.
the point on depositing revenues is what was agreed in Stockholm agreement. The Houthis was the party breaching the agreement when they withdraw 50 Billion YR from the Hodiada joint account and used it to fund their new fronts towards Mareb.
https://twitter.com/RashaJarhum/status/1374089330025713666
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Film: Saudi Peace Initiative to End the War in Yemen
Saudi Foreign Minister has just released a peace initiative to end the war in Yemen which includes a nationwide ceasefire and the reopening of Sanaa airport. My interview with Aljazeera English on the chance of this initiative to really end the war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQmWxRg3Jpc
(* A P)
#Saudi initiative to end its war on #Yemen came 6 years late. Now that reality sunk in, #MBS may end up paying the ultimate price. #Saudi military leadership is extremely upset & may do something it had feared to do for decades
If #MBS truly believed that his #Yemeni foes #Ansarrulah were #Iranian proxy, he should have called #Tehran. He knows they make their own decisions but #iran has influence
A new #Saudi regional policy should be adopted that aims to have zero or minimal clashes with all neighbors. Better regional relations is advantageous to #Saudi influence.
#Saudi govt must realized that its real interest are in the region 1st & not in #London or #Washington. It will now be left alone holding a bleeding body that is #Yemen. Saudi will end up paying billions in reoperations to #Yemenis
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1374052271294677003
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Intel: Saudi Arabia announces peace initiative to end Yemen war
Why it matters: The proposal marks the most expansive offer from the Saudis to the Houthis to date and comes just three days after top Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi offered a similar proposal.
Houthi renewed his side’s longstanding demand on Friday that Riyadh lift its ban on cargo traffic to Hodeidah and reopen access to Sanaa International Airport. In exchange, he offered a full cease-fire across Yemen.
Riyadh’s proposal to reopen Sanaa International Airport, closed since 2015, and to allow sharing of tax and customs revenues from the port of Hodeidah between the Houthis and the Hadi government both signal that the kingdom is willing to tolerate the rebels in a potential bid to ply them away from wartime reliance on Iran.
While Saudi officials have engaged with the Houthis directly before, there have never been direct talks between the Houthis and the Yemeni government of Hadi, who was unseated by the Zaydi Shia rebels in 2014.
What’s next: Farhan said the plan will be presented to Hadi’s government and to the Houthis later on Monday. Both sides will need to accept the proposal before it moves forward.
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Houthis: Saudi new initiative places Yemeni under int'l custody
The peace initiative declared by Saudi Arabia on Monday to end Yemen's war is based on wrong suppositions that the war is civil and the Kingdom is not a party to the conflict, member of the Houthi politburo said.
The new initiative places Yemen under international custody by insisting on return to political process based on the invalid Gulf Initiative, Mohamed al-Bokhaiti added on Facebook.
To accept this initiative means to legitimize the continuation of foreign military intervention in Yemen, he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23969.html
My comment: “The new initiative places Yemen under international custody by insisting on return to political process based on the invalid Gulf Initiative”: This would be true. This “Gulf Initiative had been foreign intervention from its very beginning.
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Abdulsalam: Lifting Siege Does not Need Saudi Initiatives, Just Do It
Yemeni National Delegation spokesman, Mohammad Abdulsalam, stressed that the Saudi ceasefire initiative did not include a new notion, calling on KSA to halt immediately its aggression and blockade on Yemen.
In a call with Almasirah TV, Abdulsalam said, “Saudi Arabia must declare an end to the aggression and lift the blockade completely, but putting forward ideas that have been discussed for over a year is nothing new.” He explained that entering the detained fuel tankers, which are detained for more than a year, does not require any initiative or preconditions, asking: "Why does Saudi Arabia not allow 14 fuel ships to enter Hodeidah port and exchange humanitarian help for military gain?"
Abdulsalam affirmed that bartering the humanitarian issue in favor of a military or political deal is a moral crime. He added "If the aggression and siege had stopped, this moment, we would have stopped. But bartering the humanitarian situation for military and political gains is unacceptable."
He pointed out, "We are not required to accept lifting the siege and stopping the aggression because our position is defensive and it will continue be," adding: "The war on Yemen was imposed on it, and we are not a party in the siege of the Yemenis to negotiate it."
“It is deplorable for America to chant the slogan of human rights and express concern over the worsening humanitarian conditions in Yemen as a result of the Saudi-led aggression and siege, and then make that (humanitarian issues) subject to military and political bargaining,” he wrote on his Twitter page recently.
(A P)
Rep. Ro Khanna: With their ceasefire proposal, the Saudis are trying to show they want peace after six years of making war on Yemen. But if they are interested in peace, they will lift the blockade that is starving Yemen and doing nothing to prevent the Houthis from gaining weapons.
The Houthis are demanding the blockade lift first, while the Saudis want a ceasefire first. In the meantime they just keep shooting. Saudi Arabia must lift the blockade. In exchange, the Houthis must end all military action, specifically against Marib, Taiz, & Saudi Arabia.
https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1374123000728027145
(A P)
Yemeni Government Welcomes Saudi Initiative to End Yemeni Crisis
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2205701
and also https://www.arabnews.com/node/1830241/middle-east
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STC welcomes Saudi initiative to end Yemeni crisis
http://en.adenpress.news/news/32538
(A P)
United Nations Welcomes Saudi Arabia's Initiative to End Yemeni Crisis
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2205682
(A P)
U.S. welcomes Saudi, Yemen government commitment to new ceasefire plan -State Department
(A P)
US State Dep.: We welcome Saudi Arabia & the Rep of Yemen Gov't's commitment to a ceasefire & political process in Yemen. We hope the parties negotiate the remaining details of a ceasefire to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people & transition to a Yemeni-led political process.
https://twitter.com/StateDept_NEA/status/1374107366803845126
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Britain welcomes Saudi peace initiative for Yemen
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Abdullah bin Zayed affirms UAE's full support for Saudi initiative to reach a political solution in Yemen
His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, expressed the UAE's support for the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiative announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today to reach a comprehensive political solution in Yemen.
His Highness affirmed that the UAE fully supports this initiative, which is a valuable opportunity to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen and pave the way for a lasting political solution.
http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302920585
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Bahrain expresses support for KSA's initiative to end war in Yemen
https://www.bna.bh/en/news?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2bDjMoffdYR9lewSUJxK73dRY%3d
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Oman welcomes Saudi Arabia’s initiative to end Yemen crisis
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Egypt welcomes Saudi ceasefire initiative to end crisis in Yemen
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/407560/-.aspx
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Yemen: Statement by the Spokesperson on the announcement by Saudi Arabia
The European Union (EU) welcomes the announcement by Saudi Arabia concerning ways to “end the Yemeni crisis and reach a comprehensive political solution”. We see the announcement as a positive step in the process towards peace.
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Arab League Secretary General Welcomes Saudi Initiative to End Yemeni Crisis
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2205697
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GCC Secretary General Welcomes Saudi Arabia's Initiative to End the Crisis in Yemen
https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=2205600
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Key allies throw their weight behind Saudi Arabia’s Yemen peace initiative
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Saudi Arabia’s Yemen peace initiative welcomed around the world in call to end war
cp2 Allgemein / General
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Interactive Map of Yemen War
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Yemen War Map Updates
March 21: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-21-2021-map-update/
March 20: https://southfront.org/military-situation-in-yemen-on-march-20-2021-map-update/
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Famine looms in Yemen as world looks on at war, rights defender warns
Ireland urged to use role in UN to push for peace, accountability and ‘end to misery’
Speaking ahead of the sixth anniversary of the middle eastern conflict, Radhya al-Mutawakel warned a lack of accountability and sense of impunity has enabled warring factions to continue killing thousands in a country which has been totally cut off from the rest of the world.
“This is a man-made disaster, people are being starved and have no source of income,” Ms al-Mutawakel told The Irish Times via Zoom from her office in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. “People think the airstrikes are getting less but none of it is stopping, people are still dying. People are stuck, they cannot get their lives back. We cannot believe this is happening to us in the 21st century.”
“We know peace in Yemen is very possible. If the international community decided to put real pressure on all parties in the conflict, change could happen.”
As a member of the UN Security Council, Ms al-Mutawakel says Ireland has an important role to play in pressurising those involved in the conflict to lay down their arms and reconsider peaceful solutions.
“I’ve learned that small countries with clean hands like Ireland can do a lot. Accountability should be pushed for alongside peace. Every Yemeni wants peace – real and sustainable peace.”
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UN responsible for any outflow from Safer FSO: Houthis
The United Nations is responsible for any potential outflow from the floating storage and offloading (FSO) Safer off Ras Isa port in the Red Sea, member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council tweeted on Sunday.
"I'd like to know how long the UN experts' bodies are," Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added, as "they ask for 6-knot-radius to be secured around Safer as an additional impossible condition to impede the deal application."
The conditions continually set by the UN beyond agreement are "crime, failure, obstruction and indifference to environmental pollution. If the FSO Safer leaks, we hold them accountable for this spill," he said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23940.html
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Military Expert: Targeting Armco in Riyadh, Slap to those Selling Delusion to Saudi Arabia
A Yemeni military expert confirmed that the continuous striking of Saudi economic facilities by the Yemeni Armed Forces is a message to the Saudi-led aggression to lift the siege on the Yemeni people.
Major General Khaled Ghorab said that "Aramco is the backbone of the Saudi economy, and we are determined that there will be no supply to the Saudi economy as long as Saudi Arabia continues its war on Yemen."
He explained that targeting Aramco's oil refinery in "Riyadh" was like a slap to Saudi Arabia and to those who sold delusion to Saudi Arabia, from the United States to Britain, Europe and the Zionist occupation.
He pointed out that the Yemeni armed forces have the right to respond to Saudi Arabia in the context of defending its people who are suffering as a result of the blockade imposed on them by the Saudi-led forces , which deliberately block oil ships and preventing their entry to Yemen.
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UNICEF: Eight children killed and 33 injured in attacks in Yemen this month
“A growing wave of violence across Yemen continues to take a devastating toll on children, with eight children confirmed killed and 33 more injured in a series of attacks since the beginning of the month. These verified incidents occurred as conflict intensifies along active frontlines in Taizz and Al Hudaydah governorates.
“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. Too often children and their families pay the highest price as conflict rages around them.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/eight-children-killed-and-33-injured-attacks-yemen-month
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Human Rights Workshop: Kristine Beckerle ’15 Recounts Justice Efforts for Yemen
At the February 26, 2021, Human Rights Workshop, titled “Yemen, Justice and the Biden Administration,” Kristine Beckerle ’15 discussed her work advocating for accountability and justice for Yemen. For the past two years, as Legal Director, Accountability and Redress, for the independent Yemeni rights organization Mwatana for Human Rights, Beckerle has worked to advocate against human rights violations, arms sales that fuel the conflict, and other behavior that endangers Yemeni civilians. She expressed hope for peace in Yemen, but said justice is needed, and acknowledged that achieving this is not an easy task.
“It’s not that hard for the Biden administration to...suspend relevant weapons sales,” Beckerle said. “It’s a lot harder for them to choose to lower their discretion when it comes to engaging basically in war with partners across the globe...accountability is acknowledgment that people don’t get to do things to Yemeni civilians and just walk away without it mattering.”
Beckerle provided context on the conflict in Yemen, highlighting that it is “not one war,” but instead, “a series of overlapping conflicts that are very messily intertwined.”
Beckerle argued, the “way in which the Houthis are thinking about rights and their obligations has an effect” on the lives of many Yemeni civilians. In addition to the fighting between Houthi fighters and Yemen’s government is the involvement of the Saudi/United Arab Emirates-led coalition, which Beckerle described as imposing both an “aerial and naval blockade,” and which the United States has aided since March 2015.
“The decision to enter the Yemen War and how the U.S. entered into the Yemen War was taken during the Obama administration,” Beckerle noted. “Trump policy in Yemen was a continuation of Obama policy in Yemen, not an aberration.” In the simultaneous conflicts, she said, there has been “extensive civilian harm...and there’s been no credible accountability.”
As a case study in human rights advocacy, Beckerle discussed the focus on arms sales in the Yemen conflict and the pressure on complicit actors such as the U.S. government “as a way of thinking about leveraging points of access and the role of secondary targets.” In order to incentivize the “primary perpetrators” of the conflict — the Saudi, Emirati, and Yemeni governments — to stop harming civilians, civil society engaged in a “heavy amount of documentation” linking U.S. and EU arms to civilian harm in Yemen, she said. Because Saudi Arabia and the UAE cared about their relationship to the western powers, Beckerle explained, and the western powers cared about being implicated in civilian harm in Yemen, shaming complicit countries was a strategic way for civil society to influence direct perpetrators of violence.
As part of accountability efforts for Yemen, Beckerle detailed the dynamic between international and local action, and how that dynamic has influenced efforts for justice.
The mechanism through which accountability would be achieved, however, is a different question to Beckerle. In Yemen, “the court system [in Yemen],” she said, “is decimated, controlled by two, if not three, governing authorities...and the warring parties are not interested in accountability.” As a result, advocates have resorted to pushing questions of justice and accountability at the international level.
The Yemeni government initiated its own investigation of violations; however, Beckerle suggested its efforts have provided little benefit to Yemeni civilians and were largely a strategy to avoid and delegitimize international scrutiny.
Another effort by perpetrators to lessen international involvement includes, she said, an ad hoc system of condolence payments to victims of air strikes; in reading through private meeting minutes between the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition,
Beckerle offered concluding remarks on challenges and lessons learned in advocating for justice in Yemen. “For the first time since 2015,” she said, “the U.N. Security Council used the word ‘accountability’ in a resolution.” Beckerle believes this shift is a step in the right direction. On the arms sales, she recognizes that states’ withdrawal from these sales is a testament to not only the power of civil society, but also the power of international coalitions and solidarity. The goal, she emphasized, remains to end civilian harm and human rights violations (with film)
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Film: In one of my trips to and from Taiz, I filmed this video, which documents the suffering of the main roads closed in Taiz due to the war!
https://twitter.com/Olaalaghbary/status/1372993618806509569
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Film: Yemeni women, who were at the forefront of the 2011 protest movement have no formal role in UN-led national talks to end the civil war. There can be no sustainable peace without women and civil society at the table, says @peterjsalisbury
https://twitter.com/CrisisGroup/status/1372984971036663809
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Documentary War on Arms Reveals US Disarming Yemen
Al Masirah TV showed, Friday ,a documentary The War on Arms, which reveals the US role in disarming markets and camps of the armed forces in Yemen.
The documentary revealed recordings of the intelligence role of the US Embassy in Yemen, before the September 21 revolution.
The US State Department has sent its special envoy to Yemen, Lincoln Bloomfield, more than once with the aim of eliminating the threat of Man-portable air-defense systems.
The documentary showed a US State Department document dated September 25, 2004 about directives to former President Ali Saleh to urgently sign an agreement to destroy air defense systems.
The US State Department document indicated destroying 1,435 air defense systems in exchange for compensation of 7.17 million US dollar.
The documentary revealed a secret document on the National Security Agency of a meeting of Ammar Saleh with the US ambassador, Thomas Jacques, and the director of the CIA, in Yemen.
It also showed the National Security Agency offered more than once to expand the destroying of portable air defense systems with other weapons.
On March 8, 2008, the US embassy directed the National Security Agency to neutralize surface-to-air missiles between March 16 and 19, prior to a planned visit by Bloomfield to Sanaa, as indicated in the document issued by the embassy.
The US embassy document confirmed that the purpose of Bloomfield's visit is to hold official meetings to discuss cooperation on removing the threat posed by shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.
A document from the National Security Agency dated May 31, 2012 confirms the continuation of the plot to destroy MANPADS, under the pretext that they were leaked to the market after 1994 war.
A document issued by the National Security Agency on April 20, 2014 revealed the details of the destruction of Strela missiles at the Al-Sabha Special Forces camp.
The War on Arms documentaries also presented the exclusive testimony of a former national security officer who witnessed many stages of targeting Yemen's weapons capabilities during the period 2000-2014.
The head of the Military Operations Authority at the Ministry of Defense, Major General Mohammad Al-Miqdad, said, "When the weapons were withdrawn, they alleged that the reason for this was to seize them so that they would not reach the hands of terrorists, especially Al-Qaeda. "
Maj. Gen. Al-Miqdad added: "I was a commander of the 122nd Infantry Brigade in Sa'adah when they demanded all commanders to assemble SAM missiles and send them to the Ministry of Defense because.
He stressed that the Armed Forces had possessed short, medium and long-range missiles that were destroyed by the US, as the country's decision was for the former US ambassador. He indicated that Saudi Arabia tried to withdraw the eastern-made weapons, in exchange for giving Yemen western-made weapons.
For his part, Colonel Salih Qannabur, former commander of the campaign in the Ghamadan Brigade, said: "We were shocked by the US embassy’s access to an important part of the country's military secrets, exposing the armed forces."
Colonel Qanboor emphasized that the destruction of the anti-aircraft air defense missiles proves that the plan to target Yemen is old and does not relate to our current stage.
For his part, a former national security source said, "US concerns were about targeting its drones that carry out strikes in Yemen, as well as spy drones."
The source indicated that in 2014, American experts began to disable the codrat and Pechora missiles batteries, and they turned into mere structures.
The source emphasized that there were various Pechora missiles scattered in different places on the coast, and the codrat missiles in heights and sensitive places, such as oil installations.
https://english.almasirah.net/post/18401/Documentary-War-on-Arms-Reveals-%C2%A0US-Disarming-Yemen
and
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Houthis say to unveil more malicious American acts in Yemen
The Ansar Allah group, also known as the Houthis, on Saturday said it will reveal more malicious American acts in Yemen in coming days.
The war on weapons film is unveiling the size of the US interference in Yemen and how the Yemeni regime was under the US guardianship, the group's military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea said.
On Friday, the Houthi mouthpiece Almasirah TV aired a documentary on the US role in disarming Yemen from markets to the weapons depots and camps of the armed forces.
The documentary was called the war on weapons.
The TV said there were recordings exposing the nature of the spy role of the US embassy in Sanaa before the 21 September revolution.
The US Department of State dispatched its special envoy Lincoln Bloomfield to remove the threat of portable air defence systems, it said, showing a document by the Department of State dated 25 September 2004 including an order by late president Ali Abdullah Saleh to destroy 1.435 air defence systems in return for $717 million in US compensation.
The documentary also showed a classified document issued by the national security apparatus in 2005, approved by the chief of the apparatus Ammar Saleh, the US ambassador to Yemen Thomas Krajeski and the CIA officer in Yemen. The document said the national security apparatus suggested expanding the program of destroying the Yemeni air defence systems to cover other weapons, according to the TV.
In addition, the US embassy ordered on 8 March 2008 the apparatus to neutralize surface-to-air missiles between March 16 and 19, prior to Bloomfield's visit to Sanaa, it said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23939.html
cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade
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Yemeni patients protest against Saudi blockade of medical flights from Sana’a International Airport
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[Sanaa gov.] Governor of Hodeidah condemns continued Saudi piracy against fuel vessels
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[Sanaa] Parliament Directs Government to File Lawsuits Against Saudi-Emirati Regimens for Detaining Fuel Ships
Yemeni Parliament approved the report of the Development, Oil and Mineral Resources Committee on the reasons for the continued fuel crisis in the capital Sana’a and other provinces.
The Parliament approval, in its session held Saturday and chaired by Parliament Speaker Yahya Ali Al-Ra’i, came after the commitment of the government side, represented by the Minister of Oil and Minerals, to act on the recommendations in this regard.
The recommendations included filing lawsuits before specialized international courts against the regimes of the countries of aggression and to hold these countries responsible for the consequent catastrophic effects and suffering of the Yemeni people and losses on various levels.
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[Sanaa] Electricity Ministry Sends Urgent Appeal to Release Detained Fuel Ships
cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Siehe / Look at cp1
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Film: Jemen | Ich heiße Samar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKKgO4A545A
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Oxfam: Neue Kämpfe und zweite Corona-Welle verschärfen humanitäre Katastrophe im Jemen
Vor dem sechsten Jahrestag der Jemen-Krise am 26.03. steht das Land am Rande einer weiteren Katastrophe: Die zweite Corona-Welle trifft das Land hart, die Todeszahlen steigen seit Anfang März stark an, zuletzt um das 22-fache. Neue Kämpfe, die hunderttausende Menschen zur Flucht in überfüllte Notunterkünfte zwingen könnten, verschärfen die angespannte Lage zusätzlich. Oxfam fordert von der internationalen Gemeinschaft neue Anstrengungen für den Friedensprozess im Jemen.
In den ersten beiden Märzwochen waren die registrierten Todesfälle durch Covid-19 im Jemen 22-mal höher als in den ersten zwei Februarwochen. Offizielle Zahlen sprechen von 3418 Fällen und 751 Todesfällen durch Covid-19, was einer Sterblichkeitsrate von 22 Prozent entspricht – einer der höchsten der Welt. Im Jemen gibt es allerdings keine flächendeckenden Tests, Menschen werden nur getestet, wenn sie mit schweren Symptomen in ein Gesundheitszentrum oder Krankenhaus eingeliefert werden. Die tatsächliche Zahl der an Covid-19 Verstorbenen dürfte daher weit höher liegen.
Obwohl der Bedarf gestiegen ist, arbeitet das jemenitische Gesundheitssystem nur mit schätzungsweise der Hälfte seiner Vorkriegskapazität und viele Mitarbeiter*innen im Gesundheitswesen wurden seit Monaten nicht bezahlt. Im ganzen Land gibt es nur 700 Betten in Intensivstationen und 500 Beatmungsgeräte – für eine Bevölkerung von 30 Millionen Menschen. Bisher wurde im Jemen noch niemand gegen Covid-19 geimpft, wobei das Land noch in diesem Monat mit der ersten Lieferung von Impfstoffen rechnet.
Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfams Landesdirektor im Jemen: „Millionen Menschen im Jemen stehen bereits am Rande des Abgrunds und klammern sich mit letzter Kraft ans Überleben. Nach sechs langen Kriegsjahren haben die Menschen keine Kraft mehr. Das Letzte, was sie brauchen, ist eine weitere Corona-Welle und eine Intensivierung der Feindseligkeiten."
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Weaponisation of aid contributes to death of Yemenis
People in Yemen are not just dying, they are being left to die.
We have seen the health system shattering first-hand. Already, in 2018, we saw destroyed facilities, shortages of medicines and equipment, severe malnutrition in children, outbreaks of cholera and vaccine-preventable diseases. We visited Al-Sadaka public hospital in Aden and spoke to physicians like Dr Al-Aryshi, who headed the children’s department. She showed us the outdated incubator unit. Because of the shortage, there were two newborn babies instead of one in each incubator. We saw children hospitalised with severe acute malnutrition. Three years later, acute malnutrition threatens more than half of children under five in Yemen. We are witnessing an impending famine, coupled with economic collapse, the ongoing loss of livelihoods, and the diversion and weaponisation of humanitarian aid.
COVID-19 has also added new stress to the already fragile healthcare system.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen has been made worse by the lack of safe and unrestricted access for aid and health workers to reach populations in need wherever they might be. At the same time, funds for the life-saving humanitarian response are dwindling year by year. Earlier this month, the United Nations hosted a donor conference for Yemen. While the event raised $1.7bn in pledges, that was not even half of what is needed to avert famine and respond to the crisis.
As we see in Marib, humanitarian assistance is not the solution for Yemen. The solution is political. We implore all parties to immediately end hostilities, allow unhindered access for humanitarian organisations throughout Yemen, and respect international humanitarian and human rights law. It is critical that all countries put the full weight of their diplomatic efforts into ending the conflict, including through an immediate pause on supplying weapons to all parties to the conflict. Once the war ends, public health issues can be more effectively addressed.
The clock is ticking in Yemen. Yemenis are not just dying, they are left to die.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/3/23/weaponisation-of-aid-contributes-to-death-of-yemenis
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Yemen conflict six years: Close to 700,000 people forecast to flee their homes this year
As the world’s worst humanitarian crisis enters its seventh year, another 672,000 people could be displaced by the end of 2021 if current levels of violence continue, according to United Nations predictions. 834 civilian houses have already been hit by armed violence so far this year.
“Yemenis have endured six years of empty promises from world leaders, many of whom continue to fan the flames of this war. Decisive action is needed now to cease the relentless countdown towards an entirely preventable famine,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). “Yemenis need three things to reverse this nightmare: a famine-prevention ceasefire, a doubling of aid and the resumption of peace talks.”
Six years of war has had devastating impact on Yemen’s people, economy and development, setting back the country’s human development by 21 years and robbing a generation of their future. If the conflict continues, Yemenis already facing humanitarian crisis of extreme proportions can only expect their situation to deteriorate further.
As the country enters a seventh year of conflict, NRC is warning that Yemen is sliding back into full-scale war with flare ups in Marib, Hodeidah, Taiz and Hajjah leading to displacements, mass civilian casualties and continued attacks on homes, farms, hospitals and schools.
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Aid agencies: Rise in fighting threatens to push Yemen into new levels of violence as war enters seventh year
As the conflict enters its seventh year on 26 March, new offensives have ignited in Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah and Marib, attacks on civilians are on the rise, and the country is at imminent risk of famine. 21 aid agencies in Yemen are calling for an immediate nationwide ceasefire and for warring parties to return to the negotiating table.
In February alone, 44 civilian women, children and men have been killed and at least 67 injured across the country. Marib, Taiz, Hajjah and Hodeidah have seen particularly intense flare ups, threatening civilians and displaced populations who are already living in incredibly difficult conditions. Access to these populations continues to be a challenge, with aid agencies struggling to reach many of those impacted by the conflict. The new wave of hostilities in Marib have already led to more than 11,000 civilians fleeing since the first week of February, 70% of which are women and children. Should hostilities move further towards the city and surrounding areas, another 385,000 people could be displaced.
Although aid agencies are scaling up their response in all areas they can reach, they are overstretched and underfunded. An assault on the city of Marib would result in fighting in densely populated urban residential neighborhoods, leading to high civilian casualties, with people unable to flee and their access to aid cut off. Aid agencies made similar warnings two years ago when an offensive on Hodeidah threatened the port city, and are calling once again on warring parties to put down their weapons and protect civilians throughout the country.
Across Yemen, the number of conflict frontlines have now increased to almost 50, social unrest and political instability continues across southern Yemen, and fighting in Hodeidah is again threatening the vital port through which 70% of Yemen’s food, medicine and supplies is transported.
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Deutschlandpremiere des oscarnominierten Dokumentarfilms Hunger Ward / Nach sechs Jahren Krieg im Jemen sind 66 Prozent der Bevölkerung auf humanitäre Hilfe angewiesen
Aktion gegen den Hunger gGmbH
https://news.feed-reader.net/ots/4870855/deutschlandpremiere-des/
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Yemen: All Girls Foundation WASH Project
On a human level, water cannot be viewed in isolation from sanitation. Together, they are vital factors in reducing the global disease, as well as their role in improving health, education and economic productivity of the population. It is estimated that 16 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian aid to enable access to safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, and basic hygiene, or to maintain access to it where 11.6 million Yemenis are in desperate need. The collapse of urban water and sanitation systems, deteriorating water and sanitation conditions in rural areas, and the lack of means to maintain personal hygiene and buy potable water contributed to one of the worst cholera outbreaks in the country in 2017.
Therefore, All Girls Foundation for Development has always sought to implement a number of projects in WASH sector in the areas most in need, as it implemented about nine projects in WASH sector in the governorates of Al Hudaydah, Amran, Sana'a, Hajjah in twelve districts as a partner with a number of international donors: YHF, OXFAM, and RELIEF. AGF implemented different activities focusing in the following:
Building seven concrete tower water tanks, four of which have a capacity of 60 cubic meters, and the other three with a capacity of 100 cubic meters.
Supplying and installing 14 solar-powered water systems for 14 water projects with the necessary pipelines for these systems to cover all the beneficiaries of the displaced and the host community.
Executing 13 pumping experiments for 13 wells; This is to test the water level and its quality through specialized offices, with the construction of 4 pumping and control rooms for 4 WASH projects.
Implementing 5 polyethylene pumping lines, with a total height of 49,600.5 meters.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-all-girls-foundation-wash-project-enar
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Tausende Kinder Opfer von Gefechten im Jemen
Die Organisation Save the Children warnt vor der Lage im kriegsgebeutelten Land. Laut einer Studie ist jedes vierte zivile Opfer der Kämpfe im Land ein Kind
Die Organisation Save the Children hat angesichts einer drohenden Hungersnot und neuer Gewalt im Bürgerkriegsland Jemen vor den dramatischen Folgen für Kinder gewarnt. Laut einer Studie der Organisation ist jedes vierte zivile Opfer der Kämpfe im Land ein Kind.
In den vergangenen drei Jahren seien mehr als 10.000 Menschen aus der Zivilbevölkerung durch die Kampfhandlungen verletzt oder getötet worden, teilte die Organisation am Montag bei einer Konferenz mit. Darunter seien auch 2.341 Kinder.
Eines der jungen Opfer sei ein achtjähriger Junge aus der Stadt Tais im Südwesten des Landes. Nach den Worten der Mitarbeiterin Anna Pantelia wünscht sich das nach einem Granatenangriff schwer verletzte Kind unbedingt eine weitere Explosion. "Damit er mit seinem Bruder im Paradies spielen kann", sagte sie. Dieser war bei dem Angriff vor wenigen Wochen getötet worden.
Die Lage im Land habe sich noch einmal verschärft, betonte Save the Children. Dem Land drohe ganz akut eine Hungersnot
https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000125270135/tausende-kinder-opfer-von-gefechten-im-jemen?ref=rss
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Save the Children: Yemen: A quarter of all civilian casualties are children
Over the past three years almost one in four civilian casualties in Yemen were children (22.85 percent), new analysis by Save the Children reveals. Between 2018 and 2020, there were 2,341 confirmed child casualties, though the actual number is likely to be much higher. In addition, the conflict is getting deadlier for children. In 2018, one in five civilian casualties were children, but in 2019 and 2020, that jumped to one in four.
It’s a stark reminder that children and families are paying the heaviest price for this brutal war through no fault of their own.
As Yemen marks six years of conflict, its people are suffering the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, where 2 in 3 people need help to survive, and where children are dying from entirely preventable causes in their thousands.
A man-made famine is also looming, made worse by recently announced aid cuts, long-standing restrictions on humanitarian access, economic collapse, attacks on civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals, and active fighting in heavily populated areas.
The conflict has also led to serious threats to children’s safety and well-being. Last year alone, Save the Children identified and assisted 316 child survivors of at least one of the six grave violations against children in conflict.
Just when Yemeni children need the world’s help, overall funding levels currently stand at less than half of what is needed, Save the Children warned. This year, funding for the organisation’s treatment of children impacted by the conflict has reduced by more than 40 percent compared to last year.
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/yemen-quarter-all-civilian-casualties-are-children
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How UNICEF Is Fighting Malnutrition in Yemen
This year alone, nearly 2.3 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.
At Hajjah City's Abs Hospital in northwest Yemen, Dr. Waddah Al-Farah treats severely malnourished children under the age of 5. In the video below, he shows how he and his team care for some of the littlest victims of Yemen's protracted crisis.
Malnutrition damages a child’s physical and cognitive development, especially during the first two years of a child’s life. It is largely irreversible, perpetuating illness, poverty and inequality. Last year, 9-month-old Nour — pictured below with her mother, Souad — was treated for severe acute malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported health center in Sana'a, Yemen. The treatment saved her life.
https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/how-unicef-fighting-malnutrition-yemen/38368
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W3HXTCuaAM
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Water and Work: YECRP’s Approach to Addressing Climate-Induced Water Shortages
In a country regularly characterised by its arid to hyper-arid climate, Yemen’s vulnerable, war-affected communities face the additional challenge of climate-induced water shortages.
Water insecurity is a major concern in Yemen. There is considerable variation in rainfall across the country as the coastal ridges block the passage of rain-producing weather systems. This casts a rain shadow resulting in the country’s interior arid climate. This also contributes to erosion, which causes environmental degradation and the loss of fertile topsoil – a consequence that has direct impact on the main source of income for rural Yemenis, who account for some 70 per cent of the country’s 30 million people.
In addition, six years of war have caused damage to many water structures – some beyond repair. This causes rural and poor households across Yemen no option but to adapt to a life with increasing water scarcity due to climate change and aquifer depletion. Many women and children walk six hours or more a day to collect water, while others resort to drinking from unclean sources or – if they can afford it – pay high fees to have water delivered.
UNDP’s Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project (YECRP) has been working to implement long-term solutions, with funding and support from the World Bank’s International Development Association and in partnership with Yemen’s Social Fund for Development (SFD) and Public Works Project (PWP).
So far, the water harvesting systems have contributed to the collection of 1.06 million cubic meters of water with the 814 water reservoirs and 29,014 household water harvesting cisterns that have been built. These now provide access to water for more than 1.1 million vulnerable, war-affected Yemenis.
Projects include rooftop harvesting and installation of water storage containers, which change the lives of those able to access them. Decentralised water harvesting systems have proven to be more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective in capturing and making harvested water available when compared with centralised water supply systems. Additionally, YECRP used this opportunity to bring employment to the areas it was supporting through cash-for-work.
(B H)
“EXPOSING THE INVISIBLE: YEMEN’S DEEPENING WATER CRISIS”
On the occasion of World Water Day, the Yemen Policy Center hopes to draw critical attention to Yemen’s water crisis and the millions of the country’s inhabitants who lack access to clean water. Yemen has long suffered from chronic water scarcity, exacerbated by a rising population, increasing urbanization, and poor water management. Today, Yemen’s water crisis is widely recognized as an existential threat to the state and its 29+ million inhabitants. Over the years, Yemen’s water shortage has imperiled economic growth and food security across the country. A deadly combination of climate change and civil war has made the situation increasingly dire. At the moment, nearly 18 million Yemenis lack access to clean water, sanitation, or hygiene. Yemen is the source of the worst cholera outbreak in modern history; millions are afflicted with the disease, and millions more will continue to suffer in the event the country’s water crisis remains unaddressed.
Although it is unclear to what extent Yemen’s water scarcity has driven the current conflict, it is recognized as an important contributing factor to local conflict and instability. The strong link between water scarcity and increasing instability requires immediate attention from local, regional and international actors who are invested in peacebuilding in Yemen. Ultimately, while both technical and political solutions are needed to address the water crisis, the topic does not receive the attention it requires.
https://www.yemenpolicy.org/exposing-the-invisible-yemens-deepening-water-crisis/
(B H)
Yemen Emergency Dashboard, February 2021
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-emergency-dashboard-february-2021
(B H)
Film: Zur Lage im Jemen
Jemen Interview mit der Referentin Birgit Schubert von Caritas international
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evrWlh9yro&t=1s
(* B H)
Ausbildungsprogramm für Jugendliche
Das Gesundheitssystem im Jemen funktioniert kaum. Knapp 20 Millionen Menschen haben keinen Zugang zu einer angemessenen Gesundheitsversorgung. Gleichzeitig sind unzählige Jugendliche arbeitslos aufgrund mangelnder Bildung.
Das Projekt der Caritas versucht, beide Probleme zu einer Lösung zusammenzuführen: Ein Ausbildungsprogramm für 220 Jugendliche bis 2020 und weitere 150 junge Erwachsene ab 2021 ermöglicht Krankenhäusern und medizinischen Einrichtungen, ihren Personalbedarf besser zu decken und damit, Humanitäre Hilfe zu leisten. Die Jugendlichen wiederum bekommen eine fundierte Ausbildung und eine realistische Chance auf eine berufliche Zukunft in dem ansonsten so chancenarmen Land. Da die Einkommensmöglichkeiten für Frauen im Jemen besonders schwierig sind, wird auf eine ausgewogene Verteilung der Geschlechter bei diesem Programm stets geachtet.
https://www.caritas-international.de/hilfeweltweit/naherosten/jemen/nothilfe-jemen
(B H)
Japan grants $4 million to promote access to quality education in Yemen
(B H)
QRCS (Qatar Red Crescent Society) protects 18,000 schoolchildren in Yemen against cold weather
(* B H)
A Genealogy of Humanitarian Visual Culture: Yemeni Bodies in Pain, and Digital Humanitarianism
Yemeni bodies in digital humanitarianism
Many photographers and videographers as well as targeted audiences and humanitarian practitioners may perceive digital humanitarianism as an action to improve inhumane conditions. However, a thorough critical analysis of the plethora of suffering of Yemeni bodies in humanitarian visuals demonstrates a profound dehumanization on three main levels. First, on many occasions, photographed and filmed aid recipients are not asked for consent beforehand.
Second, the fact that vulnerability needs evidence in the form of exhibited bodies in pain is dehumanizing despite any noble purpose. We are looking at bodies reduced to serve as statistical evidence with no account for dignity or socio-political subjectivities.[8] As pointed out earlier, the Western body in pain does not need graphic visuals as evidence. A public briefing or a statement is usually sufficient and answers to the ethics of dignifying victims. ‘Third world’ bodies, however, are in need of an accumulation of evidence of pain, even if the process robs them of the meaningful existence that humanitarianism claims to strive for.[9]
The third level of dehumanization should be read in light of the neoliberal economy of international organizations that are historically present as actors in free market politics.[10] Perhaps the essence of humanitarianism is to compassionately alleviate pain. Yet, with the professionalization of compassion, pain becomes capital. Like any other form of free market competition, every humanitarian organization is compelled to accumulate enough pain capital in order to win the bid over other organizations. Compassionate values in this case become an instrument rather than the means, and in this social media era, visual portrayal of suffering stands as a qualification for competitors. Images of suffering bodies, as a result, become a commodity advertised to qualify for donations. On social media, the quality of consumerist products are showcased to motivate viewers to click on the ‘buy’ option. In digital humanitarianism, suffering bodies are showcased to prove themselves worthy of aid, as political scientist Heather L. Johnson puts it, “click to donate”.[11] The analogy of ‘click to buy’ and ‘click to donate’ reaches a further dehumanizing level with the reception of visuals. Consumerist products can be ignored by social media users, when repeatedly advertised. Graphic images of suffering bodies can provoke and startle viewers when seen the first few times. With time and with the overabundance of such visuals that appear around the clock on every social media platform, the eye becomes acquainted with images that do not strike anymore. In the end, whether it is a starved body or an outdated cell phone on sale, fingers scroll down looking for new content.
Digital humanitarianism, especially at times of prolonged wars, evidently has the power to become a dominant source of knowledge. This power obscures other accounts that do not have the financial or political assets to disseminate alternative narratives.[13] The brief genealogy of humanitarian visual culture that I have provided in this article aims to disrupt what has been normalized, and unpack violence that does not necessarily take the form of gunfire. In fact, images can be as violent as gunfire when they fail to acknowledge the limitations of the frame and the aggressive politics of framing. The alternative to this visual violence would be a reflexive dialogue between the camera and the eye behind the lens. This is needed to capture images where compassion is only allowed with the permission of the subject before the camera and in light of their agency and historical dissent.
https://almadaniyamag.com/2021/03/16/genealogy-humanitarian-visual-culture/
cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Siehe / Look at cp1, cp5, cp17a
(A H K)
Dozens of displaced families experiencing now multiple displacement due to the Houthi indiscriminate shelling today on their IDPs camps northwest #Marib. Who Cares? Pics by Ali Owaidha.
https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1374082826052714499
(B H)
Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 18 March 2021
On 17 March, the UN and partners released the 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. Humanitarian partners are seeking USD 3.85 billion to assist 16 million people affected by conflict, displacement, natural hazards, economic decline, weakened infrastructure and basic services across the country. The UN and partners will lead urgent interventions to prevent outbreaks of disease, prevent famine and malnutrition, lower mortality and morbidity, restore livelihoods, and deliver protection services to civilian populations.
During the reporting period, UNHCR and partner NMO distributed transitional shelter kits to 297 displaced families (around 1,782 individuals) in Al-Khawkha district, Hudaydah governorate. UNHCR and partners are prioritizing displaced families whose shelters remain inadequate and who continue to reside in precarious conditions in hosting sites.
During the reporting period, UNHCR identified eight cases involving child labour in Sana’a. Intensified fighting and the declining economic situation are forcing an increasing number of families to rely on harmful coping mechanisms, including child labour. To avoid reliance on these measures, UNHCR continues to provide psychosocial support and counselling to affected families
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-18-march-2021
(* A B H)
IOM Yemen | Voluntary Humanitarian Return | Flash Update No.1 (17 March 2021)
On 16 March, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) supported the voluntary return of 140 Ethiopian migrants from Aden, Yemen. This was the first flight from Yemen to Ethiopia under IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last VHR flights to Addis Ababa took place in early March 2020, days before the global pandemic was officially declared causing the programme to Ethiopia to be put on hold.
Despite a reduction in the number of migrants arriving in Yemen — from 138,000 in 2019 to just over 37,500 in 2020 — the dangers they face have drastically increased over the past year. Unable to continue across Yemen to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), many stranded migrants lack shelter, water and food. Migrants also have been at increased risk of experiencing xenophobia, exploitation and detention over the last year.
In total, IOM has registered over 6,000 stranded migrants who wish to avail of the Organization’s return support. In December, the Government of Ethiopia sent a delegation to Aden to verify an initial group of 1,100 returnees. The flight was the first in the initial group, with the remaining expected to take place in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, thousands of other migrants remain stranded elsewhere in Yemen, including Ma’rib, where IOM hopes to extend its return efforts soon.
(B H)
IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 14 - 20 Mar 2021
From 01 January 2021 to 20 March 2021, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 3,416 households (HH) (20,496 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.
Since the beginning of 2021, DTM also identified 69 previously displaced households who left the displaced location and moved to either their place of origin or some other displaced location.
Between 14 March 2021 and 20 March 2021, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 221 households (1,326 individuals) displaced at least once. The highest number of displacements were seen in:
(A H T)
Film: # ISIS receive the delegate # Al-Hadath in # Al-Houl camp with "You are an infidel ... and we will kill you" ... and leave her with stones
https://twitter.com/AlHadath/status/1372999642712006662
cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis
(A K P)
Film: Sanaa:The media of the Ansar Allah #Houthis group announced, on Monday,March 22,2021the killing of two children (??; 24 and 13 years old) of vulnerable groups (almuhamashin)
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1374098885115789312
(A K P)
Al-Houthi: Yemeni Army Will Soon Liberate Marib, Other Regions
Member of Supreme Political Council said that the Army and Popular Committees will soon liberate the strategic central province of Marib as well as other regions from the grip of Saudi-led aggression forces and their mercenaries.
“God willing, Marib and other regions will be liberated soon. We are withstanding a campaign of aggression and war, which Saudi Arabia, [the United States of] America, Britain, France, the United Arab Emirates and others have imposed on us…,” Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi said on Monday.
He added that Saudi and Emirati paramilitary forces, militants loyal to Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Sudanese mercenaries, and mercenaries from the US-based private military firm, Academi – formerly known as Blackwater – in addition to other foreign troops have been fighting against Yemeni forces.
“We are in a suitable position to defend our land and counter occupation,” Al-Houthi pointed out.
(* B P)
Coalition's most wanted list of Houthi leaders: Saudi intelligence failure or Houthi superiority?
Saudi Arabia announced in November 2017 a blacklist of 40 most wanted Houthi leaders after the US lists of wanted Al-Qaeda and Daesh leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Houthis have been wanted in connection with planning, supporting and implementing acts of terror, according to the announcement. A total of $440 million have been offered in rewards for information leading to their arrest or locations.
The coalition could kill only the former president of the Houthi supreme political council Saleh Al-Samad, who second on the list.
The coalition's failure to target them despite the large rewards offered remains an indication of the superiority of the Houthi intelligence, observers said.
Recently, the Houthi group accused hands of the coalition of killing sports minister Hasan Zaid, who was 14 on the list. Zaid was assassinated in Sanaa in October. But observers doubt he was killed by the coalition amid covert conflict between the wings of the group. Medical sources told Debriefer Al-Shami, the former chief of staff of Houthi forces and transport minister in the Houthi government died of coronavirus on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia had put $20 million on his head.
Nevertheless, most of the wanted Houthi leaders are moving freely and living normally in regions controlled by their group in north and west Yemen.
Sometimes they attend events, including military parades.
The failure to hunt them down raises questions, especially amid misdirected Saudi-led airstrikes killing and injuring civilians.
Military expert Najib Al-Jaberi said it is not about Saudi Arabia's failure and Houthi superiority but rather the seriousness of Saudi Arabia and its partners to take them out.
Announcing the list was just a hasty reaction after the Houthis targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile and that reaction calmed down shortly afterwards, perhaps as a result of US and European advices and pressure, he said.
Riyadh did not need to announce a blacklist or rewards for Houthi leaders who usually attend public events and military parades, he added.
The list included Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, the leader of the group. $30 million have been put on his head.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23975.html
(A P)
As many as four Yemeni children were kidnapped over the past three days in the central governorate of Ibb while residents foiled a fifth kidnapping operation, local media reported.
On Thursday, media reports said three children all aged 15 disappeared from a neighbourhood in the Al-Mishna District, in Ibb governorate.
The families of Mahmoud Al-Tawaiti, Ayman Bilal Qamhan, and Hassan Muhammad Al-Najjar said they go to the same school and disappeared at the same time.
Later on Saturday, the family of a 13-year-old boy, Jubran Muhammad Hazza Al-Waeli, said he had gone missing after leaving the house two days earlier.
On Saturday night, local residents said an armed gang had kidnapped a fifth child named Abd Al-Latif Al-Hamiri from the city of Ibb, however, his family immediately launched a rescue campaign on social media which led to his rescue.
The disappearances coincide with the increase in kidnapping and forced recruitment by the Houthi group which seeks to attract new fighters to its ranks.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210322-4-yemen-children-kidnapped-in-ibb-in-three-days/
(A K P)
Film: Dozens of child soldiers (known as the Hussein Brigades) mourn their colleague Child "Abdulrahman Hassan Hashem" 14 years old. The Houthi media announced the killing on Thursday, March 18, 2021, while participating in the attack on Marib
https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1373670471074451458
(A P)
Houthi militia threaten to execute four journalists in detention
The Houthi militia have threatened to execute four journalists in the militia’s captivity for six years, an NGO has said.
The Association of the Mothers of Hostages in the militia’s custody said in a statement on Saturday that Abdulkhaleq Imran, Akram al-Walidi, Tawfik al-Mansouri and Alhareth Hamid who were sentenced to death in 11 April 2020 face the threat of the “enforcement of the execution” unless the government exchanges certain Houthi prisoners in its custody with those journalists.
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45847
(A K P)
Houthi militants are compulsorily recruiting new fighters for YR 70,000 as a price for every fighter/Multiple websites.
Houthi militants have recruited 100 marginalized (of African origin) Yemenis in Ibb province to deploy them to the warfronts against the government./Aden Alghad
https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-45846
(A K)
Army Spokesman: Yemeni Forces Will Continue to Fight until Saudi Aggression Stops
Houthis inflicting 'grave abuses' on Yemeni women: report
Yemeni women have been subject to killings, physical injuries, arbitrary detention, and other violations of human rights amid current conflict between Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, a new report released by human rights group SAM has said.
The Geneva-based rights group recorded more than 4,000 violations by the end of 2020, many of which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include killings, physical injuries and arbitrary detention, forced disappearance, torture, denial of movement, plus "more than 900,000 displaced women in the Marib camps".
The report entitled "Women in Yemen: Prolonged Suffering and Horrific Violations" outlined that the Houthi rebels are responsible for a staggering 70% of rights violations recorded, with the legal government responsible for 18%, the Southern Transitional Council for 5%, and other sources for 7%.
"This war has left deep scars in the lives of Yemeni women, at the public or private levels, especially women who were subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture in Houthi militia prisons in Sana'a, Amran and Hodeida," said Tawfiq Al Hamidi, President of SAM for Rights and Liberties.
"[SAM] is seeking to turn the violations suffered by women in Yemen into a global issue that gets international sympathy and to correct the course of the legal struggle against women in the light of the disastrous consequences of the cursed war."
The report collected testimonies of victims, relatives of victims and eyewitnesses who suffered during the years of war, especially those in Houthi prisons, police stations, and military checkpoints.
The Houthis are also accused of having formed a security apparatus for women, "which is responsible for breaking into houses, arresting and recruiting women, and collecting information on the ground on adversaries".
The women in detention had been allegedly subjected to "severe torture" and "cruel treatment", which led many of them to attempt suicide.
SAM called on the Houthis to "release all women imprisoned on political grounds, stop placing more women in prison and improve the conditions of women imprisoned while their release procedures are completed."
(A P)
Houthis declare halting attacks against Emirates
The Houthi group has decided to halt attacks targeting the United Arab Emirates, member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council tweeted on Saturday, after the key partner of Saudi Arabia in the Arab coalition declared withdrawal from Yemen.
The group will also stop shelling Saudi lands if the Kingdom decides to withdraw from the war-torn country, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added.
While it repeatedly claimed to have missiles and drones that can reach Emirati lands and beyond, the Iranian-backed group has never targeted the Gulf state.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23927.html
(* B P)
Film: Luca Nevola on Islamic Ideology
Excerpt of longer video on the "Battle of Mareb" which was part of a video conference on March 11, 2021, held to discuss Local Dynamics in Yemen. Luca Nevola is Research Associate for the VERSUS Project at Sussex University.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7056nDU2UW4
(A P)
Yemeni journalist discovering he has hearing loss from Houthis beating his head and ear in one of their prisons
https://twitter.com/Macoombs/status/1372955569917620233
referring to https://twitter.com/yosef_ajlan/status/1372248775738134532
(* A H P)
Huthis übernehmen Verantwortung für Brand in Flüchtlingslager
Wie die Huthis mitteilten, warfen Wachleute mehrere Kanister mit Tränengas in einen Hangar, um Proteste zu beenden und lösten damit das Feuer aus. Elf Sicherheitsleute seien wegen des Vorfalls am 7. März festgenommen worden. Mindestens 45 Menschen kamen bei dem Brand ums Leben, in einigen Berichten ist von mehr als 80 Todesopfern die Rede.
In dem Lager befanden sich mehrere hundert Migranten aus Äthiopien.
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-huthis-uebernehmen-verantwortung-fuer-brand-in.2932.de.html
(* A H P)
Schwere Vorwürfe an die Huthi-Miliz: «Menschen wurden lebendig geröstet»
Bei einem Brand in einer Haftanstalt sind in Jemen über 40 afrikanische Migranten ums Leben gekommen. Gemäss Augenzeugen lösten Kämpfer der Huthi-Miliz das Feuer aus, als sie einen Sprengsatz in die Menge warfen, um Proteste der Insassen zu beenden.
Wie Recherchen von Human Rights Watch (HRW) nun aber zeigen, wurde der Brand in der Haftanstalt der Pass- und Einwanderungsbehörde von den in Sanaa herrschenden Huthi-Rebellen zumindest fahrlässig in Kauf genommen, wenn nicht mutwillig verursacht.
Fünf äthiopische Migranten schilderten der internationalen Menschenrechtsorganisation, wie es zu der Katastrophe kam. Demnach protestierten die Insassen gegen die unmenschlichen Bedingungen in dem überfüllten Gefängnis. Unter anderem habe es an Essen und sauberem Trinkwasser gefehlt. Wer eine Matratze zum Schlafen wollte, musste dafür bezahlen. Nur wer umgerechnet 280 Dollar bezahlt habe, habe freikommen können, erzählten die Migranten.
Aus Protest traten die Häftlinge deshalb in einen Hungerstreik. Nachdem sie zunächst das Frühstück und später auch das Mittagessen verweigert hatten, kam es zu einem Handgemenge. Das Wachpersonal identifizierte die Organisatoren der Protestaktion und schlug sie mit Holzstöcken und Gewehren. Die Migranten bewarfen die Aufseher mit Tellern und verletzten einen von ihnen. Danach sperrten die Wächter rund 350 der insgesamt 900 Insassen in eine kleine Halle.
Wenige Minuten später kehrte das Gefängnispersonal in Begleitung von uniformierten Kämpfern der Huthi-Miliz zurück.
«Sie hatten militärische Waffen und Ausrüstung dabei», schreibt HRW. «Sprecht euer letztes Gebet», sollen die Aufpasser den gefangenen Migranten gesagt haben.
Einer der Huthi-Kämpfer sei auf das nicht komplett abgeschlossene Dach der Halle geklettert, sagten die Augenzeugen von HRW. Dieser habe zwei «Projektile» in die Menge im Hangar geworfen. Das erste habe vor allem viel Rauch produziert, das zweite aber sei wie eine Bombe explodiert und habe Matratzen in Brand gesetzt. Erst nach 10 bis 15 Minuten hätten Leute von aussen geholfen, die Häftlinge zu befreien.
Auf einem Video im Internet ist zu sehen, wie ein Bagger ein grosses Loch in eine Mauer reisst, während im Hintergrund schwarzer Rauch aufsteigt. Menschen flüchten panisch vor dem Feuer. Im Vordergrund krümmen sich Migranten am Boden, womöglich gezeichnet von einer Rauchvergiftung. In einem anderen Video sind verkohlte Leichen zu sehen. «Die Menschen wurden lebendig geröstet. Ich musste über ihre Körper steigen, um zu entkommen», erzählte einer der Häftlinge.
Die Huthi spielten die Sache zunächst herunter und machten die Uno «vollständig verantwortlich» für den Zwischenfall.
(A H P)
Yemen issues statement refuting claims by International Organisation for Migration regarding migrant shelter fire
The Ministry of Interior in the Salvation Government in Sanaa issued Saturday a statement on the circumstances of the migrant shelter fire in the capital Sana’a, and the results of the investigation.
The statement indicated that international organisations had published misleading statements lacking credibility, to incriminate the Sana’a government and create a file of a humanitarian nature to represent a pressure tool to be added to the political and economic file to force Yemen into the US-Zionist project.”
According to the statement, the ward in which the accident occurred was not a place of detention, contrary to what some human rights organisations have claimed, rather it was a shelter center for providing food.
“The IOM [International Organisation for Migration] representatives are present in the center, while the ministry’s services only supervise it,” the ministry said.
The main reason that increased the loss is the lack of technical specifications or features, in addition to the absence of safety measures, the statement explained, noting that the competent authorities in Sana’a had informed the IOM of the risk in several official letters and meetings.
This belies the claim of the IOM Director-General that his organisation does not establish, manage or supervise what he called “detention centers” in Yemen.
In its statement, the Interior Ministry denied the allegation of the IOM Director-General claiming that the organisation has provided aid of any kind, either during or after the accident.
“The organisation’s role was limited to a statement expressing their deep sadness, in an attempt to evade their flagrant shortcomings, which was one of the causes of the tragedy,” the ministry added
My comment: ??? This does not fit to the other reports.
and
(* A H P)
Yemen: Calls for probe into deadly fire at migrant detention centre
European diplomatic missions in Yemen and the US have called for investigations into a fatal fire at a migrants' detention centre in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a that has claimed the lives of at least 43 people, news agencies reported on Friday.
In a statement, EU diplomatic missions in Yemen expressed deep sorrow over the incident and the losses among the migrants in Sana'a.
The statement called for the Houthi militia to allow the immediate access of humanitarian organisations, including the IOM, to all the cites and hospitals where the wounded and survivors are staying.
"The EU Heads of Mission call for an immediate external, independent investigation into the incident, and for accountability and redress to the victims and their families," the joint statement announced.
It added: "The deadly outcome is linked to the appalling conditions in which migrants are being held in the centre, for which the de facto authorities in Sana'a are responsible."
Meanwhile, the US State Department called on Friday for an immediate investigation into the incident and for the Houthis to disclose the truth.
"We are deeply saddened by reports of deaths and injuries due to a fire at a migrant detention facility in Sana'a, which a Human Rights Watch report says resulted from the Houthis' suppression of protest at the location," a spokesperson from the State Department expressed.
The spokesperson added: "It is critical that the Houthis allow assistance to reach those in need without impediment, and that there be an investigation into the causes of the fire and accountability for those responsible."
and
(* A H P)
Yemen: Migrants burned to death in Sana'a detention center, international probe should be opened
A fire that erupted in a detention center in the capital, Sana'a, was reportedly caused by the Houthis, has killed several migrants and injured many others, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a statement, expressing grave concern.
Although, it is not known yet what type of devices the Houthis fired, the group bears full responsibility for the incident as those devices caused the fire.
The Houthis imposed tight security cordon on the place, preventing families of the injured from visiting their children, and even families from identifying the corpses.
The Houthis must provide the necessary medical care for the injured, end the arbitrary detention of thousands of migrants, and close all detention centers that do not meet the basic requirements for a decent life under the relevant international standards.
All the available evidence indicates a horrific crime took place where innocent immigrants were killed. This requires the opening of an impartial and independent international investigation into the incident to uncover the details of the crime and hold the perpetrators accountable in accordance with the requirements of justice.
The United Nations should send a special team to inspect all immigration detention facilities in Yemen, verify the conditions and the legal status of the detainees, and monitor all procedures that migrants are subjected to.
and
(* A H P)
Yemen rebels admit tear gas behind fire at migrant detention
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday broke their silence on the cause of a fire that tore through a detention center for migrants earlier this month, killing at least 45 people, mostly Ethiopian migrants.
The rebels acknowledged that guards fired three tear gas canisters into a crowded hangar in the capital, Sanaa, trying to end a protest by the migrants.
A statement by the rebel-run Interior Minister said at least 11 men from the security forces were detained over the incident, along with a number of senior officials who would be tried before court.
The migrant community in Sanaa has called for an international probe into the tragedy, a demand backed by international rights groups.
Some 900 migrants, most of them from Ethiopia, had been detained at the facility — including more than 350 inside the hangar. The site was run by the Passports and Naturalization Authority.
At least 45 people were killed in the March 7, the rebels said, including one who died of his wounds on Friday. More than 200 others were wounded.
https://apnews.com/article/yemen-sanaa-c70fea12b31816e264146048d87dfcde
and
(* A H P)
11 soldiers imprisoned in connection with deadly fire at Yemen migrant detention centre, ministry
The Ministry of Interior in the Houthi government on Saturday said it has imprisoned 11 soldiers in connection with a fire which killed scores and injured hundreds of African migrants two weeks ago.
The soldiers, seven anti-riot policemen and four from the passport service, will be referred to the judiciary and punished by law if convicted, it said in a statement.
The EU and international and local human rights organisations have called on the Houthis to stop holding migrants in unfit centres and to hold those who fired projectiles into the detention centre into account.
The conclusions of the investigations into the incident have been announced transparently, it said, pointing out that the leaderships of the African migrants participated in the investigations and signed all minutes.
We are ready to share details with individuals or human rights organisations interested in the truth, it said.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-23933.html
Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-729b-yemen-war-mosaic-729b
Vorige / Previous:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-728-yemen-war-mosaic-728
Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-728 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-728:
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:
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