Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 745 - Yemen War Mosaic 745

Yemen Press Reader 745: 11. Juni 2021: Vergessener Krieg – Omanische Vermittlung und reduzierte Luftangriffe stärken Hoffnung auf Friedensgespräche – Jemen: Überlebenskampf an vorderster Front..

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... Der Krieg treibt Rivalitäten um religiöse Bildung an – Wie die Emirate ihren strategischen Einfluss im Jemen festigen – Jemens Huthis und die Terroristen-Klassifizierung der USA – Verhandlungen über Gefangenenaustausch in Sackgasse – „Die Marginalisierten“: die Notlage der vergessenen schwarzen Minderheit im Jemen – Der zunehmende illegale Handel mit seltenen Manuskripten aus dem Jemen – Houthi-Raketen töten 29 Zivilisten in Marib – und mehr

June 11, 2021: Film: Forgotten War (in German) – Omani mediation and reduced air strikes increase hope in peace talks – Fighting for their lives on the front line in Yemen – Yemen’s war-torn rivalries for religious education – How the UAE is entrenching its strategic influence in Yemen – Yemen’s Houthis and the Terrorist Designation System – Prisoner Swap Negotiations in Yemen Locked in Stalemate – 'The marginalised': the plight of Yemen's forgotten black minority – The illegal and rising trade in Yemen’s rare manuscripts – Houthi missiles on Marib kill 29 civilians – and more

Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Kursiv: Siehe Teil 2 / In Italics: Look in part 2: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-745b-yemen-war-mosaic-745b

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 Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle

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

cp11 Deutschland / Germany

cp12 Andere Länder / Other countries

cp12a Katar-Krise / Qatar crisis

cp12b Sudan

cp13a Waffenhandel / Arms trade

cp13b Söldner / Mercenaries

cp13c Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage

cp13d Wirtschaft / Economy

cp14 Terrorismus / Terrorism

cp15 Propaganda

cp16 Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids

cp17 Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

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

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Film: Vergessener Krieg. So (über)lebt Jemens Bevölkerung I ZDFinfo Doku

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTYO1HyE_Eo

cp1 Am wichtigsten / Most important

(** A B P)

Yemen war: Omani mediation and reduced air strikes increase hope in peace talks

Both the Houthis and the government have welcomed the intervention of the neighbouring sultanate

With the Yemeni peace process crawling along, at best, Yemenis’ hopes have been raised again by a visiting delegation from neighbouring Oman, a sultanate renowned for its mediating efforts.

This latest diplomatic push appears to be making headway: on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement said it had ceased all air strikes around Sanaa and other cities "with the aim of preparing the political ground for a peace process".

The Omani delegation arrived in Sanaa on Saturday together with Houthi head negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam and other members of the movement who have been based in Muscat since 2016.

There they met with Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, political council chief Mahdi al-Mashat and other leaders, and talks are ongoing.

“They discussed the exchanged messages about the humanitarian issue and other related issues,” Abdulsalam tweeted, welcoming the Omani efforts.

Abdulsalam himself hasn’t touched down on Yemeni soil for five years. The Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis on behalf of the Yemeni government grounded all flights in and out of the Houthi-held capital in August 2016, leaving him stranded.

A Houthi source in Sanaa told Middle East Eye that the movement trusts Oman and is happy to see Muscat playing an active role in peace efforts.

“It isn’t strange for Oman to take such a role. Oman has been helping Yemenis since the beginning of the aggression [war] in Yemen and it welcomed Yemenis during the most difficult times,” he said.

“Any Omani efforts will be for the interest of Yemenis and not any other side.”

According to the Houthi source, the Houthis’ two main demands are top of the agenda in the talks: the opening of Sanaa airport and lifting of the coalition’s sea blockade.

“We are under siege and the first step should be lifting the siege on Yemenis and then AnsarAllah can discuss any further steps,” he said, using the official name for the Houthi movement.

“We trust Oman. The country knows Yemenis’ suffering very well because many have been forces to flee to Oman by road or bring goods through it instead of Yemeni ports and airports.”

Other details are slim, but the source said Oman and the Houthis were discussing the humanitarian situation as well.

“This round of mediation by the Omani delegation is different from all other efforts as it is done by a country which is near to Yemenis and their suffering,” the source added.

“Even if Oman fails to achieve major developments, it is enough that it tried in an independent way.”

Those feelings are reciprocated in Aden, the southern city where the Yemeni government is based.

An information ministry source told MEE the government is happy with the Omani mediation, and with any party that seeks a peaceful solution.

Jamal al-Suhaili, a teacher in southern Taiz province, is keen to see what an intervention by a friendly neighbouring country can achieve.

“Oman didn’t send missiles to Yemen and didn’t kill Yemenis, as some other Gulf countries did. Rather, it opened the borders to Yemenis who want to leave Yemen either for medical treatment or for work,” Suhaili told MEE.

“I have been waiting to hear the news of Omani mediation for six years, as this country doesn’t kill others but always helps.”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-war-houthis-government-oman-mediation-sparks-optimism

(** B H)

Fighting for their lives on the front line in Yemen

In Yemen, civilians continue to die despite the ceasefire. And 16 million people are left without humanitarian assistance. We report from the villages most exposed to the conflict and from the Doctors Without Borders hospital in al-Mokha, a gem in a destroyed country.

We are in the city of Al-Mokha, in the hospital of Doctors Without Borders. When you set foot in this hospital, you realize that you have found a jewel in a country entirely destroyed by war. Devastated streets, houses demolished by the fury of the bombs, dwellings half rebuilt, men walking in the main streets with Kalashnikovs hanging on their shoulders, not even a trace of women to be seen.

The hospital is operating for the benefit of the direct and indirect victims of the fierce armed conflict that has been tearing through the country for more than six years. It is the only hospital on Yemen’s west coast that provides emergency surgical care to the civilian population, victims of war-related violence. Patients come mainly from the areas close to the front lines of the Taiz governorate (Mawza, Dhubab, al-Wazi’iyah) and from the southern one of al-Hudaydah (Khawkah, Hays, at-Tuhayta, ad-Durayhimi, Bait al-Faqih), areas controlled by the Saudi-led coalition, where access to care is very unequal.

Indiscriminate fighting and active hostilities in densely populated areas continue to be a major cause of death for Yemeni civilians.

After the town of al-Mafraq, more than 40 km from al-Mokha, along a road marked with blue dots on Google Maps, there is suddenly a gap in the main road, marking the proximity to the front line. We are less than a mile away from the fighting.

On that stretch of road is where snipers are positioned. We continue on a dirt road detour that lengthens the route. The gap is marked by a mound of dirt on which a plastic pipe is planted. All the local drivers know that this sign means detour. From that point on, only the mountains stand between the battlefields, the roads and the houses. We pass through 12 checkpoints, going through the same queue for checks, and after two hours we arrive in the district of al-Wazi’iyah, in the governorate of Taiz.

Some health facilities have been supported by Save the Children, the Yemen Humanitarian Fund and Unicef for years. No more support has come in since August. In the villages of al-Khoba and al-Khuraif, the stories are the same. Salaries for staff have not arrived, medicines and laboratory reagents are running out. We ask what’s going to happen to them. We are told that in all likelihood, they will receive government support eventually, but in the meantime the flow of patients is decreasing towards zero. Civilian movements are minimized due to the proximity to the front line, military checkpoints and completely destroyed roads. The result is that treatments are delayed in a highly concerning manner, with rampant chronicity of otherwise curable diseases.

Healthcare personnel are offering some services for a fee, such as ultrasounds during pregnancy, laboratory tests and microscopic examinations. Some health districts have private pharmacies, whose candy-colored drugs are unmistakably “made in China.” The escalation of the conflict, the deterioration of the economic situation, food insecurity and poor nutritional conditions are signs of an imminent collapse.

The conflict has devastated the health services. According to the World Health Organization, more than half of the 5,000 health facilities in Yemen are not functioning or are partially functioning, in 22 governorates. – by Federica Iezzi

https://global.ilmanifesto.it/fighting-for-their-lives-on-the-front-line-in-yemen/

(** B P)

Yemen’s War-torn Rivalries for Religious Education

In the wake of Yemen’s civil war, Islamic institutions have become sites of foreign influence as well as military and political battlegrounds. Yet they will still play an important role in Yemen’s future.

INTRODUCTION

In 2014, Yemen’s worsening socioeconomic, political, sectarian, and center-periphery tensions erupted into civil war. As the war expanded, religious education became an important tool for mobilization, socialization, and indoctrination among the warring Yemeni factions and their foreign backers.

A Zaydi movement supported by Iran, called Ansar Allah but better known as the Houthi movement, seized Sanaa in 2014. The next year, a Saudi-and-Emirati-dominated military coalition intervened against them, seeking out religious partners on the ground in Yemen such as Salafist groups and, for Saudi Arabia, the Muslim Brotherhood. These sectarian dynamics have increased the importance of religious allegiances into key drivers of the Yemeni conflict.

Notably, instrumentalization of religion in Yemen far predates this war, stretching back at least as far as the country’s Cold War–era division into north and south. In the late 1960s, the north fell broadly into the capitalist camp while the south’s government was communist. North Yemen’s struggle against communism saw the creation of a string of religious institutes and the politicization of religion, which peaked after the country’s 1990 unification. Then came the country’s 1994 civil war between the Socialist Party in the south and the Sanaa government in the north. Sanaa’s government used religious propaganda against the Socialist Party, issuing ifta (singular, fatwa, or a legal opinion on a point of Islamic law), declaring that supporters of the socialist government in the south were no longer Muslims.1

But today, the growing use of religion in a political battle coincides with a broader sectarian escalation in the region. In this context, religious schools and institutes are playing an important role in political and military mobilization in Yemen, where sectarianism is a powerful driver of military recruitment.

OVERLAPPING SECTARIAN AND REGIONAL IDENTITIES

When it comes to the sectarian division in Yemen, it is important to understand that the division is predominately along regional-tribal lines. Yemenis largely fall into two sectarian groups: Shafi’i Sunnis, who make up roughly two-thirds of the population, and Zaydi Shias, who make up the rest. This division predated the arrival of Islam itself in Yemen.

Tribal and regional identities clearly overlap and have been at the core of struggles for political power in Yemen for decades. More recently, sectarian factors have become more pertinent, and religious education has played a growing role in political conflicts. This results both from interventions by foreign states in the region and from local actors’ growing and open use of religion as a mobilizing force. All this has given rise to new, unprecedented forms of religious education for military and political purposes.

CONCLUSION

The main difference between the traditional religious schools and the contemporary ones is function. The traditional schools aimed to teach their students religious science, so their function mainly was improving knowledge. This made their general approach toward other schools tolerant, based on mutual recognition and respect. Instead, the current religious schools aim toward political mobilization, so these schools are always concerned about creating loyalty. Therefore, discrediting other schools is crucial for the aim of mobilization, resulting in a conflict between them.

Religious schools, particularly those of the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood, have played a major role in Yemeni politics since the mid-1970s following the country’s division into the Western-backed north and the Soviet-backed south. But Saleh, with his famous pragmatism, began to sideline and rein in his Salafist and Brotherhood former allies once he no longer had a use for them following the defeat of the Yemeni Socialist Party in 1994.

This trend was amplified as he stepped up counterterrorism cooperation with Washington following the attacks on the USS Cole in 2000 and on the World Trade Center’s twin towers the following year. The government instead supported Sufis, who had no clear political activities. But Zaydis posed a political challenge as an opponent to the government, while the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood always had ambiguous relations with transnational jihadist networks such as al-Qaeda.

In the current conflict, these schools have started to bear their fruit and are still spreading. Salafist fighters are deployed on many front lines against Houthis, while Brotherhood fighters are also present on the battlefield. The Houthis’ study sessions are also playing an important role in mobilizing their supporters for battle. It remains to be seen how Sufi schools will be affected by the struggle for the south – by Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/07/yemen-s-war-torn-rivalries-for-religious-education-pub-84651

and the intro of this series: https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/07/islamic-institutions-in-arab-states-mapping-dynamics-of-control-co-option-and-contention-pub-84647

and film, webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpseOHhlWxo

(** B P)

How the UAE is entrenching its strategic influence in Yemen

Despite claiming to have disengaged from the war, the UAE is shifting its attention to Yemen's islands.

As the United States pursues its peace process for Yemen, Washington still ignores a consistently overlooked threat to stability in the country: the role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Despite repeatedly claiming that it has disengaged from Yemen’s war, the UAE has still retained a presence in Yemen through backing the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

It seeks to project regional power, control southern Yemen’s ports, and maintain influence over shipping in the neighbouring Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb strait.

A new suspicious military base was recently sighted in Yemen’s Mayun island, which the UAE could also be targeting for its geopolitical interests. Mayun, which is also known as Perim, belongs to the Aden governorate and is situated strategically within the Bab el Mandeb.

Although Abu Dhabi has not claimed responsibility for the base, Yemeni officials say this is the UAE’s latest effort to expand its influence in Yemen and control nearby shipping lines.

Following the initial reports, an Israeli investigative news site, Debkafile, with reported ties to Israel’s intelligence agency, claimed the UAE built an attack helicopter base on the island, as a “means of controlling oil tanker and commercial shipping through the Red Sea’s southern chokepoint and up to the Suez Canal.”

"It will also give the Emirates a jumping off pad for rapid deployment forces to reach Yemen, although they withdrew from the civil conflict there during 2019-2020," the report said.

“I think the UAE’s latest actions in Yemen speak to the nature of their presence there over the last several years,” Shireen al-Ademi, assistant professor at the Michigan State University, told The New Arab.

“We know the UAE has been involved there in ways that the Saudis have not been involved. For example, the assassination campaigns, the secret prisons, the takeover of Socotra,” she added.

“And so, this latest escalation highlights its desires to have more of a long-term vision of control than the Saudis.”

After all, the UAE is reorienting its strategy in the Horn of Africa, where it has faced challenges in recent years.

Security concerns following Ethiopia’s conflict in the Tigray province likely prompted Abu Dhabi to relocate its military facilities to a more stable location.

The UAE has therefore reportedly upped its activities on the island of Socotra too, ever since STC forces seized the island in June 2020.

Like other Middle Eastern countries, the UAE has adopted a more cautious approach following Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the US presidential elections last November.

However, despite upping its actions in Yemen and its islands, Abu Dhabi has managed to avoid US criticism. Ultimately, the key aim is to keep Washington on its side, and this has apparently worked.

While being a key backer of Saudi Arabia’s military operations against the Houthis, critics have pointed out its crucial enabling of the UAE’s attempts to solidify influence in Yemen’s south.

After all, American weapons, including US-supplied armoured vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns, including M-ATV, Caiman and MaxxPro models, have been documented in the hands of Emirati-backed militias.

“The fact that Biden continues to enable the UAE and see them as ‘partners of peace’ is not surprising, given that the US is also playing a very negative role in Yemen,” added Al Ademi.

“They are all partners in this coalition [against Yemen], so it wouldn’t make sense for one belligerent to hold another belligerent accountable.”

“But it also shows the hypocrisy of the US calling the UAE ‘partners of peace,’” she said – by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/how-uae-entrenching-its-strategic-influence-yemen

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Yemen’s Houthis and the Terrorist Designation System

Abstract

In its last hours in office, the administration of former US president Donald Trump designated Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), prompting uproar that the resulting sanctions would worsen Yemen’s dire humanitarian situation. Trump’s successor Joe Biden swiftly reversed the move amid fears of imminent famine, but the policy shift caused consternation elsewhere among those who argued it would embolden the rebel group. This article examines what an FTO listing (and other categories in the current US designation system) means in both practical and symbolic terms. It discusses the challenges that arise when listed groups control territory, both in terms of the impact on civilian populations and the way in which designations can reduce rather than increase the prospects for workable peace negotiations. The article goes on to discuss the particular dynamics of the Houthi case, which provides a compelling illustration of the intensely political and symbolic nature of the terrorist designation system.

Why did Biden reverse the listing?

In the Yemeni case, humanitarian agencies argued that an FTO designation would have created a hugely complex environment for agencies and private sector traders involved in getting food and other essential supplies into Houthi controlled areas.39 There were fears that traders and shipping companies might suspend operations in these areas for fear of falling foul of US sanctions.

The designation of a group that controls territory can also complicate conflict resolution efforts. The intensification of anti-US feeling among designated groups reduces the likelihood that factions within the broader movement will emerge that are open to talks.

In Yemen’s complex and multi-layered conflict, Biden needs flexibility if he is to have any hope of improving the situation on the ground. Mediators need to be able to respond with agility to emerging dynamics and explore creative solutions amid the ongoing disintegration of the Yemeni state. Had the FTO designation on one of the major players to the conflict remained, it would have greatly complicated negotiations by potentially criminalising engagement with Houthi representatives. Negotiators and members of civil society working on peace-building and conflict resolution would have faced a potentially prohibitively complex legal environment. Had the FTO designation remained, this would have been particularly damaging in the Yemeni context because of the immense challenges of securing a workable national peace deal, and the urgent need for the careful crafting of local stabilisation efforts.

The impact of Biden’s reversal on the threat posed by the Houthis

Despite the humanitarian and peace-process considerations set out above, many Yemenis and commentators strongly opposed Biden’s decision. They viewed it as granting the Houthis a major concession before peace talks had even started, and further weakened the already very limited leverage the international community has against the group. On the one hand, this argument may overstate the impact that the FTO designation would have had on the Houthis economically and militarily. As discussed above, groups that draw their funding largely from the geographical area in which they operate are far less impacted by sanctions than those whose funding comes from diaspora or private overseas supporters. The Houthis fit firmly into the former category, with the exception of the support they receive from Iran. The extent of Iranian support is very difficult to assess,47 but it falls outside the formal international financial system because of Iran’s own sanctions situation and therefore would have been largely unaffected by an FTO listing.

Current sanctions picture

Media coverage of the Houthi delisting often failed to mention that other sanctions remain in place.

What does all this mean for the nature of the terrorist threat posed by the Houthis? What then are the ultimate consequences of the listing and delisting for the Houthi threat going forward? In short, the designation policy shifts have generated media interest but have changed little in terms of the Houthis’ ability to conduct attacks or continue their war effort. The way in which the group operates limits the extent to which the FTO designation would have influenced Houthi behaviour had it remained in place. The US still holds some cards against key players through targeted individual sanctions, but these won’t in themselves change the course of the conflict or the Houthis’ ability to launch attacks against Saudi Arabia. Of greater relevance to the group’s military capabilities will be the extent to which the US supports or obstructs Saudi military operations.

One of the many damaging consequences of the Saudi military intervention is that it has increased rather than decreased the terrorist threat to Saudi Arabia, as well as the threat to maritime traffic in the strategically important seas around Yemen.

Conclusion

The Houthi case provides a compelling illustration of the intensely political and symbolic nature of terrorist designation system. The criteria for inclusion on terrorist lists are very broad, while those for removal or delisting are even more vague and arbitrary. If the lists had only symbolic importance this would be of limited consequence. However, the listings can have very real and serious consequences for civilian populations living in areas controlled by proscribed groups, or otherwise caught up in the resulting sanctions regimes. The Yemen situation was reversed quickly because of immense international pressure related to the desperate humanitarian situation. Other groups that attract less international attention have been left on the list for extended periods, with potentially negative consequences for civilian populations. Even when decisions are taken after a more credible process than the Houthi FTO listing, group terrorist designations are a very blunt policy tool that is of limited utility in today’s complex conflicts – by Lucy van der Kroft

https://icct.nl/publication/yemens-houthis-terrorist-designation-system/

Full document: https://icct.nl/app/uploads/2021/06/Houthi-Terrorist-Designation-Policy-Brief.pdf

(** B P)

UN-Backed Prisoner Swap Negotiations in Yemen Locked in Stalemate

Introduction

The latest round of United Nations-backed prisoner exchange negotiations, which took place in late January through mid-February in Amman between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and de facto authorities from the armed Houthi movement (Ansar Allah), collapsed after a month with no agreement reached. That the warring parties failed to reach a deal demonstrates that the prisoner file continues to be marred by technical and political issues. These problems must be overcome if the Yemeni parties and current UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, hope to make progress.

UN-led negotiations have, thus far, failed to secure the release of conflict-related prisoners and detainees on the “all for all” basis agreed to in the Stockholm Agreement in December 2018.[1] The agreement aimed to treat the prisoner file as a humanitarian issue that must be addressed in order to build trust and achieve peace. However, a swap was delayed until October 2020, amid distrust and jockeying over details between the warring parties, when a UN-backed deal facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) secured the release of more than 1,000 prisoners.[2]

Two types of negotiations and deals have been used to facilitate the exchange of prisoners and detainees in Yemen: UN-sponsored negotiations, co-chaired by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) and ICRC; and localized agreements, negotiated and overseen by local mediators. These latter interventions have proven far more successful in negotiating and securing the release of prisoners than the UN-sponsored efforts, having reportedly led the release of over 4,000 individuals since the start of the conflict.[3]

This paper seeks to examine the obstacles preventing the settlement of the prisoner exchange issue, explore how the parties to the conflict view the prisoner file and assess proposals that could assist in its resolution. It relies on interviews with six members of the two delegations – four from the internationally recognized Yemeni government and two from the Houthi movement – to the UN-backed negotiations in Jordan in January and February. Interviews were also conducted with other relevant stakeholders, including an official at the Houthi-run Ministry of Information, a security official from Tariq Saleh’s National Resistance forces on the Red Sea Coast and four pro-government military commanders based in Marib, Al-Dhalea and Aden. Official documents signed by the negotiating parties from the third and fourth meeting of the prisoner exchange negotiations (held, respectively, in February and September 2020) were also obtained by the Sana’a Center. This primary material was supplemented by information drawn from statements, news reports and interviews.

Conclusion

The complications surrounding the issue of prisoner exchange are not limited to the technical and political problems detailed in this report. While working to resolve these problems and facilitate the UN-sponsored process may serve to create an opportunity to build some mutual trust between the parties, it will not necessarily advance the comprehensive peace process. The way toward a cessation of hostilities is marred by contentious military, security and political considerations. Further, the complexities pertaining to the prisoners’ file have, so far, resulted in the politicization of the negotiations,[57] turning the process into media fodder.

The problems described in this report go some way toward explaining the failure to carry out the ‘all for all’ deal agreed to in principle over two years ago, despite frequent rounds of follow-up negotiations. Serious steps must be taken by the negotiating parties and the UN special envoy’s office to examine and resolve these sticking points. The warring parties must aim to depoliticize the prison exchange issue and resolve it on the basis of the humanitarian standards that they claim to support. Finally, the focus must be on working to help the victims of the conflict, rather than on attempting to condemn rivals and score political points – by Salah Ali Salah

https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/14314

and main points in thread: https://twitter.com/SanaaCenter/status/1401840575280824326

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'The marginalised': the plight of Yemen's forgotten black minority

Yemenis of African descent were treated as second-class citizens for centuries, but the conflict has made matters worse

Systematic discrimination against the minority has increased since the war started with the Houthi coup to overthrow the government of Yemen in 2014.

There are no official statistics on the number of Al Muhamasheen in Yemen.

Noaman Al Hothaifi, head of the organisation Marginalised People in Yemen, said they are 12 per cent of the population, while the UN reported there are as many as 3.5 million members of the minority.

Wherever they go in Yemen, Al Muhamasheen are mistreated and oppressed.

At schools, their children are bullied by pupils and teachers, who treat them as servants.

"Our sons don't go to school any more because they were mistreated and exposed to harassment," Gubran Ghalab, who lives in Qatabah in southern Yemen, told The National.

"My son used to go to the school near by, but he stopped because teachers made him clean the class every day, otherwise his teacher would beat him."

The suffering of Al Muhamasheen goes back centuries and includes systematic oppression and mistreatment by other social classes and by government authorities.

"The current war has greatly affected the whole community in Yemen, but the situation for the marginalised people was much worse," Mr Al Hothaifi told The National.

"The conflict forced the majority of our community to flee their permanent slums, especially in provinces where war erupted, such as Sanaa, Taez, Hodeidah, Al Jawf, Al Dhalea and Marib, to seek shelter in other provinces.

"The social discrimination that has been practised against our community for centuries has greatly complicated our dire situation during this war.

"Our people were not allowed to join the [internally displaced people's] camps occupied by people with tribal links, and such discrimination made it harder for our community to access humanitarian assistance."

With limited resources, displaced Al Muhamasheen set up their huts in remote, unsafe places. Some of those were close to the front lines.

Other settlements can be found near rubbish dumps. They lack the basic amenities.

Taher Mohammed, a community leader in the Al Muhamasheen camp in Sanah, said internally displaced people from other social classes received more help.

"Many of them moved to shelters in state institutions including public schools," Mr Mohammed said.

"But for us in the marginalised community, we had to find our own camps because our life doesn't matter to anybody in this country.

"Even in this self-established camp we aren't secure because the landowner repeatedly comes and threatens us either to pay him rent or to leave his land.

"We lack the basic needs of life such as clean water and suitable shelters. When it rains, the camp turns into a swamp.”

https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/the-marginalised-the-plight-of-yemen-s-forgotten-black-minority-1.1236787

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Stolen heritage: The illegal and rising trade in Yemen’s rare manuscripts

The devastating war in Yemen has been accompanied by the unscrupulous plunder and smuggling of the country's cultural heritage, with illicit trafficking in ancient Islamic and Jewish manuscripts on the rise.

The number of manuscripts stolen is unknown due to the fact that no inventory has been carried out since the looting. Ahmed Jassar, the Director of Antiquities at the General Organisation of Antiquities and Manuscripts (GOAM) in Taiz, explains that this is due to a lack of funds which has left the museum unable to pay the Inventories Committee.

Yemen has an enormously rich cultural heritage and is home to many thousands of manuscripts and ancient parchments – including fine scrolls made from deerskin – some of which date as far back as the early Islamic period. The country also houses many manuscripts from other cultures in other languages such as Persian, Turkish, Ethiopic and Hebrew.

However, Warda al-Jaradi, the financial director for the House of Manuscripts in Sanaa explains that very few of these are registered with the relevant national bodies and most remain in traditional centres of learning, or in ancient mosques like the Al-Asha’ir mosque in the ancient city of Zabid.

For others, they have been passed down as family possessions.

Al-Jaradi states that while the smuggling of Yemeni manuscripts is not new, it has increased markedly over the last six years since foreign forces have taken control of the country’s ports.

“We hear time and time again about Yemeni manuscripts being sold abroad, or being displayed in museums – mostly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. However, because photographing manuscripts in museums are generally forbidden, it is difficult to verify such information or to prove that they have been illegally smuggled out of Yemen,” she says.

GOAM had requested UNESCO intervention to prevent the sale of part of a Yemeni manuscript dating to the Rasulid Dynasty (1229-1454). The two pages from the “Quran al-Jowz” manuscript had been spotted up for sale at Christie’s Auction House in London on 25 June 2020 for between $9,135 and $13,050. UNESCO did not respond to the request.

Smuggling via Yemen’s land crossings

The smuggling of stolen manuscripts and other cultural artefacts predominantly takes place across Yemen’s land borders. Before 2017, during a period of Saudi-UAE control over ninety percent of the country’s border crossings, trafficking in such items had occurred via the seaport of Mocha.

However, since 2017, the Yemeni police force has thwarted many attempted operations of this kind, according to Amin Majidi, the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations of the Military Police in Taiz.

Frequent smuggling attempts also used to take place across Yemen’s eastern border with Oman, Jassar explained, however, these declined following an agreement between the Yemeni Ministry of Culture and their Omani counterpart aiming to combat the illegal trade.

Most ancient manuscripts smuggled out of Taiz in recent years are Islamic and Jewish, says Jassar. He mentions the disappearance of a Torah manuscript signed by the famous Yemeni Rabbi Shalom ben Yosef Shabazi after the museum was looted. It then turned up in a September 2016 sale at the Sotheby’s auction house in Britain and was sold for $52,500 according to Jassar, who explains that this manuscript was one of 115 authentic manuscripts carrying Shabazi’s signature.

Insufficient documentation

Jassar acknowledges that the lack of inventories is a huge problem: not one has been made in any of Yemen’s museums or manuscript houses since 2011 due to a lack of funds. This is the case despite it being relatively inexpensive, with no more than seven million Yemeni rials ($10,000) to pay for the preparation of a general inventory listing all the manuscripts and artefacts in Yemen.

Ineffective laws and rampant corruption

The Antiquities Prosecutor in Sanaa, judge Al-Kastaban, views the Yemeni law concerning the smuggling of cultural artefacts (Law 21 of 1994) as ineffective due to its lax implementation.

smugglers are rarely subject to punishment due to corruption

Al-Razhi accuses former government officials of having exploited their positions to help in trafficking priceless manuscripts out of the country, gifting them to foreign ambassadors, or selling them on to antique dealers. Some of these former officials are currently being charged with these crimes in absentia.

“Yemen has transformed into a trade corridor for African manuscripts, and this has opened a space for smugglers of Yemeni cultural heritage too,” adds Al-Razhi.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original (including full documentation from the original investigation) click here.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/features/stolen-heritage-illicit-trade-yemens-rare-manuscripts

cp1a Am wichtigsten: Coronavirus und Seuchen / Most important: Coronavirus and epidemics

(A H)

4 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 6,836 in total

The committee also reported the death of one coronavirus patient and the recovery of 14 others.
1,447 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33125

(* B H P)

A strategy for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Yemen

According to the latest WHO Yemen Situation Report for March, 2021, Yemen has received 360 000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative. Yemen is expecting to receive 14 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX, enough to vaccinate about 23% of the population.

According to OurWorldInData COVID-19 vaccinations dashboard, as of May 29, 2021, just over 104 000 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

All things considered, it is important to fashion out a safe model for vaccination rollout in Yemen, a country without a system for tracking virus spread in its susceptible community.

Worthy of note is the fact that just less than 3% of the Yemeni population is older than 65 years, which is relatively small proportion of the population compared with many other countries, and so the number of doses of vaccine supplied will be sufficient to fully vaccinate older people. A vaccination strategy based on logistical considerations should be structured for the other priority and risk groups in the Yemeni population to ensure adequate, equitable, and effective vaccination. As a medical product, vaccines should meet postmarketing surveillance requirements, which implies drug tracking and monitoring. Similar practice is applied after sale of pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, and medical products.

Therefore, besides the meritocratic prioritisation strategy and global equity initiative adopted by different countries, the serological tracking system should be simultaneously considered. Firstly, we suggest that everyone in the target age group or eligible for the vaccine should undergo SARS-CoV-2 testing before the vaccine is administered. Secondly, the serological tracing of people who are infected should be done, whether the vaccine recipient possesses antibodies should be reported, and also the concentration of antibodies should be measured. Data from several studies suggest that one dose of vaccine is enough for an individual who was previously infected, and taking this into account could prevent vaccine shortage and ensure wider vaccination coverage.

Finally, the quality of the serological testing is very important and ought to be thoroughly regulated.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01016-3/fulltext?rss=yes

(* B H)

Yemen’s ruined health system is struggling to respond to a deadly second wave of COVID-19

Inside al-Kuwait hospital in Sana’a, Yemen, a chain-link fence separates two worlds. Outside the fence, COVID-19 has barely been acknowledged by authorities, and many people don’t even believe it exists. But inside the fence, where wards are filled to capacity with people breathing from oxygen cylinders, the reality of the pandemic is impossible to avoid. And Yemen’s battered health system, decimated by years of conflict, is unable to keep pace with spiking case numbers.

The COVID-19 treatment centre run by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) at al-Kuwait hospital is one of very few places in Yemen where COVID-19 care is available for free. Its 64-bed ward and 15-bed intensive care unit have been full since the beginning of April, when the second wave of infections began. Sick people are often also waiting in the 8-bed emergency room for a space to open. In the past few months death rates among elderly patients and those with chronic diseases like diabetes have soared at the facility.

We live in a country that’s at war, there is no good health system. The situation in general is deteriorating,” said Khaled. “The medications that I got treated with would have cost around $8,500 [at a private clinic]. I would never have been able to pay that. I would have died.”

People are also being forced to make dangerous trips over long distances to reach care.

Every day a steady stream of families arrives at the emergency entrance in front of the fence outside al-Kuwait hospital. They come in taxis and old cars, the sick people exhausted, sometimes hooked up to an oxygen bottle and helped into a wheelchair before being admitted. But many more cannot afford the huge sums of money required to come from places as far away as al-Bayda and Hajjah governorates.

“There are many critical cases with symptoms of COVID-19 coming from far away,” said Mohammed al-Ghabri, MSF’s medical referent for the treatment center. “Both our male and female wards are full, and we are using 500 oxygen cylinders a day in addition to the oxygen plant. The needs are huge— it’s a real struggle to provide all this oxygen. But at least this year the disease is more familiar, we know how better to treat people.”

Still, it is hard for the medical teams to save people if they arrive to the hospital too late, and many do, either because they have come from far away or because they have delayed coming. Mistrust and fear of medical facilities is still widespread.

With little information about COVID-19 made available by the authorities in northern Yemen, people are left to decide for themselves how seriously to take the disease and what to do if they or one of their loved ones get sick. “Last year I didn’t really believe that there was COVID-19,” said Saif, whose father 65-year-old father, Saleh, was treated for the disease at al-Kuwait. “I wasn’t really aware of what COVID-19 was and so I did not take precautions,” said Khaled, who recovered at al-Kuwait. “Now I know I have to apply these measures and protect my family, because I have already experienced death. I don’t want any of them to get sick.”

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/yemens-ruined-health-system-struggling-respond-deadly-second-wave = https://www.msf-me.org/article/i-have-experienced-death-covid-19-hits-yemen-again-testing-broken-healthcare-system

(A H)

9 new cases of COVID-19 reported, 6,832 in total

The committee also reported the death of one coronavirus patient and the recovery of 37 others.
1,532 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33117

(A H)

11 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,823 in total

The committee also reported the recovery of 50 coronavirus patients. No death has been recorded.
1,115 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33109

(B H)

COVID-19 Movement Restrictions: Yemen Mobility Restriction Dashboard #25 (31 May 2021)

No IDP Households reported COVID-19 as the reason of displacement. So far, the total number of IDPs who have cited COVID-19 as the primary reason for displacement is 1,559 households (see RDT Dashboard for more information).

On 20 April 2021, Yemen launched the first round of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Aden and covered 13 Yemeni governorates. The campaign aims to reach 317,363 people in 133 districts across Yemen.

Saudi Arabia authorities at the land border point are now requesting Yemenis to provide a COVID-19 vaccination certificate to allow them to enter KSA.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/covid-19-movement-restrictions-yemen-mobility-restriction-dashboard-25-31-may-2021

(* A K)

25 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,812 in total

The committee also reported the death of 7 coronavirus patients and recorded the recovery of 17 patients.
1,202 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33104

(* A B H K)

Yemen: Civilians seeking Covid-19 vaccine killed by Houthi explosives

Three Yemeni civilians were killed and dozens injured in the southern province of Al Dhalea when Houthi rebels detonated bombs among those trying to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

A pro-government military source said the blasts occurred at a checkpoint controlled by the Houthis in the southern Damt district on Monday.

"The Houthi rebels held dozens of people who were heading from Damt district to the government-held area of Mureis in the northern province of Al Dhalea to take the Covid-19 vaccine," Capt Fuad Jubari, spokesman for Al Dhalea Military Region, told The National.

"Before noon, the Houthi soldiers in the checkpoint ordered the crowd to move to a building near the checkpoint.

"While people were heading towards the building, three explosive devices detonated, killing three and injured more than 20, among them eight women."

An official in the Yemeni Ministry of Public Health told The National that the Houthis still prevent the vaccine campaigns in territory under their control in northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.

"People residing in areas under the Houthi control, especially those who travel to Saudi Arabia for work, come to Aden to take the vaccine," said Dr Zainab Al Qaisi, woman's department manager at the Yemen Ministry of Public Health.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/yemen-civilians-seeking-covid-19-vaccine-killed-by-houthi-explosives-1.1236855

(A H)

7 new cases of coronavirus reported, 6,787 in total

The committee also reported the death of four coronavirus patients and recorded the recovery of 21 patients.
1,093 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus were carried out on the same day, the statement added.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33096

(* B H)

Household survey of treatment of malaria in Hajjah, Yemen

The practice of self-medication is widespread in the Republic of Yemen. The objectives of this study were to describe the treatment of malaria in households and to promote rational treatment. We surveyed 201 households with family members suffering from malaria or being treated with antimalarials. Numbers of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs were recorded and treatment rationality assessed. Common patterns of irrational treatment of malaria were observed. Polypharmacy was common, with an average of 3.8 total drugs and 1.3 antimalarials found per encounter. Misused and over use of injectables antimalarials was common. People practised self-medication because of belief, experience, lack of confidence in health services and cost of treatment. Most had no knowledge concerning possible risks of antimalarials.

https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/119312?locale-attribute=fr&

cp1b Kriegsereignisse: Schlacht um Marib / Theater of War: Marib battle

(** A K)

Explosionen erschüttern Marib im Jemen – Berichte über mehrere Tote

Houthi-Rebellen werden für Detonationen verantwortlich gemacht

Die jemenitischen Stadt Marib ist am Donnerstag von mehreren Explosionen erschüttert worden. Mindestens fünf Menschen seien ums Leben gekommen, sagten zwei Vertreter aus dem Gesundheitswesen. Mehr als 15 Menschen seien mit Verletzungen in ein Krankenhaus gekommen. Behördenvertreter warfen den Houthi-Rebellen vor, für die Detonationen verantwortlich zu sein.

Raketen seien in einem Wohnviertel und auf einem Markt eingeschlagen, sagte ein Armeesprecher dem saudi-arabischen Sender Al-Hadath. Man habe eine Drohne abgeschossen und eine weitere sei in der Luft explodiert.

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000127307574/explosionen-erschuettern-marib-im-jemen-berichte-ueber-mehrere-tote = https://orf.at/stories/3216849/

Fotos nach folgendem Artikel

(** A K)

At least 8 killed in Marib blasts, says Yemeni official

At least eight people were killed in explosions that shook the Yemeni city of Marib in what the information minister said were missile and drone strikes launched by Houthi forces trying to seize the gas-rich region.

Minister Muammar al-Iryani wrote in a Twitter post that the Houthis fired two ballistic missiles and two armed drones and had hit a mosque, a commercial centre and a women's correctional facility as well as ambulances rushing to the scene.

He put the initial death toll at eight, including women, and said 27 people had been wounded. Two medical sources told Reuters the hospital received five killed and more than 15 injured.

There was no confirmation from the Iran-aligned Houthi movement

An army spokesperson earlier told Al Hadath television that the missiles hit a residential area and a commercial market. He said the Houthis launched two drones but that one was downed and the other exploded in mid-air.

"These are the strongest explosions we have heard in Marib in four years" resident Abdulsalam Ghaleb told Reuters.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/big-blast-shakes-yemens-marib-city-centre-residents-say-2021-06-10/

and also https://tass.com/world/1301505

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-marib/at-least-8-killed-in-marib-blasts-says-yemeni-official-idUSKCN2DM23E

Photos: https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403099191111528452

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403128763651608578

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403138128043556864

[Hadi] Yemeni government: Militias targeting civilians in Marib represents a major disregard for efforts to stop the war in Yemen

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs said in a statement issued by it, received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), "The Yemeni government affirms that true peace does not come with desires and aspirations, but rather with responsible positions, and reaffirming its declared supportive and supportive position for the Saudi initiative and considers it an indivisible whole and that Cease-fire and stop targeting civilians, men, women, displaced people and children, the last of whom was the girl Lian, whose charred image hurt all living consciences in the whole world, and stop firing missiles and drones at civilian facilities, mosques and women’s prisons, as happened today in the city of Marib, which is exposed to the most heinous crimes Humanity against civilians, which unfortunately comes at a time when the whole world is making great efforts to end the war

https://www.sabanew.net/story/ar/76317

(** A K)

Jemen: 21 tote Zivilisten bei Raketenangriff auf Tankstelle

Bei einem Raketenangriff auf eine Tankstelle im Jemen sind mindestens 21 Zivilisten getötet worden. Die Huthi-Rebellen feuerten die ballistische Rakete am Samstagabend in der stark umkämpften Stadt Marib ab, wie Informationsminister Muammar al-Arjani sagte. Kurz darauf seien mehrere Krankenwagen, die zu Opfern des Angriffs fuhren, von einer mit Sprengstoff beladenen Drohne getroffen worden. Unter den Todesopfern sei auch ein Kind, sagte Al-Arjani der Staatsagentur Saba zufolge. Fünf weitere Menschen seien verletzt worden. Der Angriff sei als Kriegsverbrechen einzustufen.

https://taz.de/Huthis-im-Jemen/!5776685/ = https://www.volksblatt.li/nachrichten/International/Politik/sda/6332735/jemen-21-tote-zivilisten-bei-raketenangriff-auf-tankstelle = https://www.greenpeace-magazin.de/ticker/jemen-21-tote-zivilisten-bei-raketenangriff-auf-tankstelle

und auch https://snanews.de/20210606/raketenangriff-jemen-todesopfer-2393499.html

(* A K)

14 Zivilisten bei Huthi-Luftangriff getötet

Bei einem Luftangriff auf die umkämpfte jemenitische Stadt Marib sind nach Angaben von Staatsmedien 14 Zivilisten getötet worden. Die Huthi-Rebellen hätten eine Tankstelle attackiert und ein "riesiges Feuer" verursacht, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Saba. Zum Zeitpunkt des Angriffs hatte sich demnach eine lange Schlange vor der Tankstelle gebildet. Fünf Menschen seien verletzt worden. Die Huthis gaben keine Stellungnahme ab.

Nach Angaben von Anwohnern liegt die Tankstelle in der Nähe eines beliebten Marktes. In der Nähe befinde sich außerdem ein Stützpunkt der Regierungstruppen.

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2021-06/jemen-huthi-luftangriff-buergerkrieg-saudi-arabien-humanitaere-krise = https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/jemen-14-zivilisten-bei-angriff-auf-stadt-marib-getoetet-17375078.html

Bilder, Film, s. nach folgendem Artikel.

(** A K)

Yemen officials say Houthi rebel missile hits city, kills 17

A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday killed at least 17 people in a government-held city, including a 5-year-old girl, officials said, as a U.S. envoy to the country accused the rebels of failing to try to reach peace in the war-wrecked nation.

The missile hit a gas station in the Rawdha neighborhood in the central city of Marib, according to Ali al-Ghulisi, the provincial governor’s press secretary.

Information Minister Moammar al-Iryani said the attack killed at least 17 people and wounded at least five others. All casualties were civilians, he added.

He called on the U.N. and the U.S. to condemn the attack, saying it amounted to a war crime.

The government-run SABA news agency reported that the rebels also fired an explosive-laden drone shortly after the missile attack. It said the drone destroyed two ambulances that had rushed to the area to transfer wounded to hospitals.

https://apnews.com/article/yemen-middle-east-85b82e9f1c291af8bee0c0d53d9a02ef

Films: https://twitter.com/alymaneyhamza/status/1401619859276976137

https://twitter.com/SuaadS/status/1401289043456016388 = https://twitter.com/ycmhrv/status/1401267714954612738

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeZRqSa4Wd8 = https://twitter.com/MazinHalily/status/1401344543069442053

https://twitter.com/abdualaziz1789/status/1401508490850484225

https://twitter.com/araaam_90/status/1401607845410390024 = https://twitter.com/araaam_90/status/1401614916981858304

https://twitter.com/MJumeh/status/1401478104909062144 =

Photos: https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401962707994267648

https://twitter.com/PDIS455aZ18v8DQ/status/1401582227092291591

https://twitter.com/SuaadS/status/1401289043456016388

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401269301856899076 = https://twitter.com/alkhatabyemen/status/1401277936443998211

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401290137351475200

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401299768987504646

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401348883217895424

https://twitter.com/AAlharazi/status/1401319207762006019

https://twitter.com/abngaazy/status/1401325953716994059

https://twitter.com/AAlharazi/status/1401319207762006019

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1401591690801160192

and this boy was also killed:

https://twitter.com/RashadAlsharab/status/1401298494313406473

https://twitter.com/Naif_Alemad1/status/1401298978659090433

(** A K)

Explosion in Yemeni city of Marib kills at least 12, death toll may rise

A medical source told Reuters dozens of people, many of them badly burned, had been taken to Marib General Hospital and 12 of them had died of their injuries, including five children.

"The rest are receiving treatment and we expect the number of victims to rise," the source added.

Confirming the explosion, the Marib Governorate blamed the incident on a missile fired by the Houthi militia fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's civil war. It said on Facebook that 14 people had been killed.

https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-security-marib-int/explosion-in-yemeni-city-of-marib-kills-at-least-12-death-toll-may-rise-idUSKCN2DH0KD = https://uk.news.yahoo.com/explosion-yemeni-city-marib-kills-194405471.html = https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/explosion-northern-yemen-city-kills-least-12

(** A K pS)

At least 17 killed after Houthi attack hits crowded petrol station

A medical source based in the city told The National that 14 people were killed by the initial blast as they queued for fuel.

After striking the station, the rebels then targeted two ambulances with a booby-trapped drone, killing three additional people.

"The fuel station is located in a residential neighbourhood just a kilometre from a camp for internally displaced people in the northwest the city of Marib", Mohammed Hafeedh a resident based in the city told The National.

"Dozens of those who were queuing for fuel were killed and others badly injured, among them more than four children," Mr Hafeedh said, adding that a little girl aged five was seriously burnt in the blast.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/at-least-17-killed-after-houthi-attack-hits-crowded-petrol-station-1.1235644

and also https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/girl-among-14-civilians-killed-strike-yemens-marib

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/explosion-yemeni-city-marib-kills-least-12-people

(** A K pS)

Yemenis shocked after girl, 5, killed in Houthi strike on gas station

Shocking images showing the charred bodies of a father and daughter killed in a Houthi missile strike in Yemen’s central city of Marib have sparked outrage inside and outside the country amid calls to “name and shame” the militia for its brutal attacks on civilians.

The five-year-old girl was among at least 21 people killed when a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis struck a fuel station in densely populated district in Marib on Saturday, Saba news agency reported.

A medical source another child, 10-year-old Hassan Al-Hubaishi, was also killed in the attack, and several other people were wounded.

The attack occurred while dozens of cars were waiting at the station to be refueled, onlookers said.

The girl, identified as Lian Taher, was inside her father’s car outside the station when the missile hit.

Emergency workers who rushed to the scene were targeted by an explosive-laden drone fired by the Houthis, leaving many civilians bleeding to death.

After footage of the charred remains of the child and her father were widely shared on social media, Yemeni human rights activists, government officials and Western diplomats strongly condemned the Houthi attack and demanded the militia be punished for targeting civilians in Marib.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1871586/middle-east

and also https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3012566/yemen-anger-grows-after-houthi-missile-hits-marib

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-47097

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/death-toll-in-yemen-from-gas-station-attack-rises-to-21/2265787

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/06/death-toll-rises-alleged-houthi-missile-attack-marib-gas-station

(A K P)

Film: Crowds in Ma'rib mourn the child "Lian" to her final resting place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5WNVgxYt3g

Photos: https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403046736172654594

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403052389909811200

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1403073228218658817

(A K P)

Yemen [Hadi gov.] condemns Houthi attacks on Marib in letter to UN Security Council

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1873546/middle-east

(A K P)

U.S. and UK envoys urge Yemen peace after blast kills at least 17

U.S. and British diplomats urged Houthi forces to end an offensive in northern Yemen on Sunday after at least 17 people were killed in an explosion which the Saudi-backed government blamed on a Houthi missile strike.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-marib/u-s-and-uk-envoys-urge-yemen-peace-after-blast-kills-at-least-17-idUSKCN2DI0FC

and https://twitter.com/USEmbassyYemen/status/1401518017050198021

(A K P)

Photos: Dozens of children in #Yemen’s #Marib rally today in protest of Houthi crimes against children, holding pictures of their peers killed by Houthis, including #LayanBurnedAlive 2 days ago.

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1402305913684434948

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1402323960428179470

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1402725370995032069

https://twitter.com/Alsakaniali/status/1402349925107736579

https://twitter.com/ycmhrv/status/1402623578336530438

https://twitter.com/maldhabyani/status/1402701029775482881

(A K P)

UAE condemns Houthis targeting fuel station in Yemen's Marib with missile

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302941645

(A K P)

Marib local authority calls on the IC to stop Houthi militia’s terrorist crimes

The Local Authority of Marib governorate has called on the International Community (IC) to act firmly against the terrorist massacres committed by the terrorist Houthi militia against the civilians and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Marib

http://en.26sepnews.net/2021/06/06/marib-local-authority-calls-on-the-ic-to-stop-houthi-militias-terrorist-crimes/

(A K)

Yemen's Ansarallah Says Missile Attack in Marib Hit Hadi Troop Camp

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a leader of the powerful Houthi clan that is the backbone of the Ansar Allah movement and the Sanaa-based government that it supports, said the clan welcomes an independent investigation into civilian casualties.

Yemen's Ansar Allah political opposition movement insists that its ballistic missile attack in the Marib province hit a camp for troops loyal to the ousted Yemeni president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The Houthis denied claims by Hadi's Saudi-backed rival government in the port city of Aden that the missile landed near a petrol station in Marib City, killing 17 people, including civilians and troops.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202106061083086573-yemens-ansarallah-says-missile-attack-in-marib-hit-hadi-troop-camp/

and also https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Yemen-Rebels-Call-for-Investigation-into-Civilian-Deaths-20210606-0019.html

(A K pH)

We asked the brothers in the Yemeni Ministry of Defense, and they said that they bombed only the camp in the picture below, and they have proof We welcome and call for investigation by independent committees into the matter regarding what was said in Marib today or what happened regarding the killing of the children of the Republic of Yemen and civilians in all governorates who were targeted by America and its coalition (satellite image)

https://twitter.com/Moh_Alhouthi/status/1401614620809433090

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-25465.html

My comment: ?????????????????? Targeting and actually “bombing” (i. e. hitting) is different.

(A K pS)

Houthis finally claim responsibility for Marib massacre

The militia has initially claimed that it had nothing to do with the pogrom, which engendered massive condemnation.
Marib is at the center of fighting between the militia and the National Yemeni Army.
Houthi senior commander Mohamed Ali al-Houthi said his militia had targeted a military site near a petrol station on June 5.
The attack caused the station to be engulfed in fire, leaving 21 people dead, according to the official Yemeni news agency.
Nevertheless, al-Houthi called for opening an inquiry into the incident, pledging to give the families of the victims compensation.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33112

cp2 Allgemein / General

(* A K P)

Interactive Map of Yemen War

https://yemen.liveuamap.com/

(* B E P)

Jemen: Ökologische Zeitbombe auf hoher See

Seit Jahren liegt der marode Öltanker "FSO Safer" ohne Wartung vor Jemens Küste. Die machthabenden Huthis verweigern die Instandsetzung. Anwohner und Experten befürchten eine Umweltkatastrophe

Abdullah Hassan ist besorgt. "Ich bin jetzt 43 Jahre alt", sagt der jemenitische Fischer. "Seit 25 Jahren arbeite ich auf dem Meer. Es ist meine einzige Einnahmequelle."

Die Zukunft dieser Quelle ist bedroht, nicht nur für Hassan, sondern auch für alle anderen Jemeniten rund um die Küstenstadt Hudaida am Roten Meer. Denn vor der Küste liegt der seit Jahren nicht mehr instand gehaltene Supertanker "FSO Safer". An Bord hat er mehr als 1 Million Barrel Rohöl. Diese könnten jederzeit auslaufen oder explodieren. Damit wären nicht nur den jemenitischen Fischern die Lebensgrundlage entzogen. Millionen Menschen wären durch eine mögliche Umweltkatastrophe gesundheitlich wie ökonomisch bedroht.

Öl im Wert von 40 Millionen Dollar

Der Tanker selbst wurde durch den Krieg zur politischen Spielmasse.

Seitdem die Huthi-Rebellen Hudaida im Jahr 2015 unter ihre Kontrolle brachten, wird die Safer nicht mehr in Schuss gehalten. Die Besatzung sei von ehedem rund 100 auf derzeit weniger als fünf Personen geschrumpft, sagt der zur international anerkannten Regierung gehörende Minister für Wasser und Umwelt, Tawfiq al-Sharjabi, im DW-Interview. Diese Restmannschaft sei für Wartungsarbeiten nicht vorbereitet und verfüge auch nicht über die dafür nötige Ausrüstung. Das baufällige Schiff sei explosionsgefährdet.

Die Vereinten Nationen hatten angesichts der drohenden Umweltkatastrophe zu vermitteln versucht. Über Monate verhandelten sie, um die dringend nötigen Wartungsarbeiten zu ermöglichen. Zu diesem Zweck hatten sie Medienberichten zufolge vorgeschlagen, das in dem Tanker lagernde Öl zu verkaufen. Den Erlös - Schätzwert rund 40 Millionen Dollar - sollten Regierung und Rebellen sich teilen. Das aber lehnen die Huthis ab. Sie fordern den gesamten Erlös für sich.

Akute Gefahr für Mensch und Umwelt

Nun erklärten die UN nach über siebenmonatigen Verhandlungen, diese seien in eine Sackgasse geraten. Aufgrund "politischer und logistischer Hindernisse", könnten die bereits geplanten Inspektionsarbeiten nicht beginnen, teilte Anfang Juni die Generaldirektorin des UN-Umweltprogramms, Inger Andersen, mit. "Darum kennen wir weder den genauen Zustand des Schiffes noch die beste Lösung zum Umgang mit 1,1 Millionen Barrel Öl in einem alternden Tanker in einem ökologisch sensiblen Gebiet des Roten Meeres.".

Träte dieses Öl aus, hätte dies Auswirkungen auf die Nachbarländer am Roten Meer sowie auf eine der meist befahrenen Handelsrouten der Welt, warnte Anderson. Sollte auf dem Schiff ein Feuer ausbrechen oder es explodieren, wären rund 4,8 Millionen Menschen im Jemen und weitere 350.000 Anwohner im angrenzenden Saudi-Arabien innerhalb von anderthalb Tagen einer gefährlichen Umweltbelastung ausgesetzt

https://www.dw.com/de/jemen-%C3%B6kologische-zeitbombe-auf-hoher-see/a-57818618

(* B E K P)

Yemen’s FSO SAFER: it’s not if, it’s when, and the impact could be huge

The FSO SAFER is one of the world’s largest tankers and is anchored 60 kms north of the port of Hodeidah, a key lifeline for aid supplies to much of Yemen’s population. With 1.1 million barrels (over 140,000 tonnes) of oil on board, the 400,000-tonne tanker had no maintenance since 2014, because of the six-year-long conflict which has caused a humanitarian catastrophe and practically stopped the day-to-day functioning of the country.

While on the coasts of Sri Lanka volunteers are relentlessly working to limit the disastrous impacts of the worst marine accident in the country’s history, the SAFER lies abandoned in the Red Sea and is a ticking time bomb ready to go off.

Last year, the engine room flooded and emergency repairs were carried out; the fire extinguishing equipment no longer functions and most recently the inert gas system necessary to prevent explosions has broken down.

A rupture of the single-skin hull or an explosion could result in a spill up to 4 times greater than that caused by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989. This would cause an ecological disaster and seriously exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, preventing access to the main ports of Hodeidah and Saleef, vital for aid, food and fuel supplies.

With each day that passes, efforts to remove the oil safely become more difficult because of the failing equipment. As things stand, the tanker could leak – or even explode – at any time and spill the oil it is carrying. This could trigger an environmental catastrophe that has the potential to destroy the limited livelihoods of poor coastal communities depending on fisheries, devastate nearby coral reefs, clog desalination plants that provide drinking water to millions of people in the region, and exacerbate the consequences of the conflict.

Greenpeace is working with organisations both in Yemen and the region to identify and support a solution to remove the oil while preparing to respond in case of a major oil spill.

https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/48350/yemen-fso-safer-oil-spill-red-sea/

(* B H K P)

Film: The Unparalleled Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen | Digital Debates

This Digital Debates session will discuss Yemen’s civil war and the current humanitarian crisis with a focus the major challenges facing humanitarian organisations on the ground. The session will also explore how ongoing instability and the disastrous humanitarian situation in Yemen has contributed to the rise and expansion of groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Daesh. It will examine the current prospects for a political solution to the conflict and if reached, what would this entail for the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuTUWv4dHa4&t=1s

(* B P)

Attaining the Difficult Peace in Yemen

After displaying some optimism about reaching a cease-fire and peace deal in Yemen, the Biden Administration is facing the stark reality that these objectives are much more difficult to achieve than initially envisioned. In particular, the Houthi rebels have stubbornly refused to stop their missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and their offensive in Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province, while members of the Saudi-led coalition have refused to fully lift their blockades on Houthi-controlled ports and airports until a genuine cease-fire is reached.

Iran’s influence on Houthi policies and actions is the subject of much speculation, but it is difficult to ascertain. Although the recent Saudi-Iranian talks have probably dealt in part with the Yemen conflict, it is not known if Iran is encouraging Houthi intransigence and what its objective might be. The Houthis may be operating on their own agenda, hoping to control as much of the country and its resources as possible before agreeing to any cease-fire. With the United Arab Emirates continuing to enhance its interests in southern Yemen without participating in the fighting and with the Saudi-backed government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi losing popular support in the area it nominally controls, the Houthis may feel they have little to lose at this point despite some recent punitive measures by the Biden Administration.

Encountering Major Roadblocks

It seems that the Biden Administration was banking on the fact that its new policies, which were harsher on Saudi Arabia than on the Houthis, would make the latter more willing to reach a cease-fire with the Saudi-led coalition. That did not happen, however. Instead, the Houthis have used the past few months to launch even more missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and mount a major military offensive to take the Marib province

The ongoing war and the inability to reach a cease-fire has frustrated both American and UN officials.

Now More Blame on the Houthis Than the Saudis

The ongoing Houthi offensive in Marib has increasingly frustrated the United States.

Although Lenderking also called on the Saudi-led coalition to remove the restrictions on Houthi-controlled ports and airports, his ire was chiefly directed at the Houthis.

Is Iran the Key?

Murphy did express some hope that a dialogue with the Iranians that would accompany a restart of the Iran nuclear deal would be helpful on the path forward in Yemen, adding that “if you want to be working on peace in Yemen, you have to be talking to both the Saudis and the Iranians.”

But is Tehran the key in this conflict? Although the Iranians have given the Houthis some offensive weapons and have supported them politically, are they really calling the shots in Yemen? This is a difficult question to answer. It is possible that the Iranians may be encouraging the Houthis to continue their belligerency as a way of strengthening their own bargaining position with Washington over the nuclear talks, as well as with the Saudis in light of a possible rapprochement. On the other hand, the Houthis may have their own reasons that feed their intransigence.

Why the Houthi Intransigence?

Given that the incoming Biden Administration was eager for an end to the Yemen conflict and was highly critical of the Saudi-led military campaign, the question arises as to why the Houthis have continued their military attacks. Their actions have not only incurred US anger but have now helped to bring about an easing of tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

One reason may stem from territorial ambitions. The Houthis may feel that capturing more territory, especially the Marib province, will put them in a stronger negotiating position for an ultimate settlement. As Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world, whoever controls its limited oil resources would have an advantage at the negotiating table.

Another reason may be political. The Houthis may feel that it is unrealistic to put Yemen back together again. Therefore, they may ask, why be reasonable in reaching a cease-fire and a peace settlement when perhaps the main objective is simply to consolidate their position, especially as the Saudis are seeking a way to exit from the conflict?

Most of the southern part of Yemen is already operating, in essence, as a separate country, run by the Southern Transitional Council that is backed by the UAE.

Recommendations for US Policy

Given the grave humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the Biden Administration, despite its frustrations, should not give up on trying to end this conflict. It should underscore to the Houthis directly that US patience is wearing thin and that more Houthi officials, including civilians, will be sanctioned unless they stop their missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and their offensive in Marib – by Gregory Aftandilian, a Non-resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC.

http://arabcenterdc.org/policy_analyses/attaining-the-difficult-peace-in-yemen/

My comment: A typical US view, pretending that the US could be a serious peace broker in Yemen (it cannot, and up to now US politics did not show any neutrality which is a main condition for acting as a peace broker) and that the US is the center of the universe (look at a sentence like “the Biden Administration[…] should underscore to the Houthis directly that US patience is wearing thin”).

(A K P)

Saudis still bombing Yemen using American drones: Al-Houthi

In a reaction to recent report of the United States on latest developments in Yemen, Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee Chief Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said that Saudi Arabia is continuing to bomb Yemen using American drones.

He went on to say that the US's claim that it has stopped supporting Saudi Arabia is not true, Almasirah reported.

Americans say that they have issued an order banning military support to Saudi Arabia. This is while the Saudis continue to bomb Yemen with American drones, Al-Houthi added.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/174576/Saudis-still-bombing-Yemen-using-American-drones-Al-Houthi

(* B P)

Arresting Yemen’s Freefall

UN-led, U.S.-supported efforts to reach a nationwide ceasefire in Yemen have made little progress. In this excerpt from the Watch List 2021 – Spring Update, Crisis Group urges the EU and its member states to send more aid to Yemen, and push the UN to increase diplomatic outreach, especially to the Huthis, the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council.

That has happened: Yemen is in freefall.

The humanitarian crisis continues to worsen amid huge aid shortfalls and a Yemeni government-imposed fuel embargo on Huthi-held territory. The UN has warned repeatedly that famine is imminent. Only the infusion of billions of dollars in aid has staved off mass starvation to date. But donors have pledged just half of the money the UN says it needs for 2021 amid a coronavirus-induced funding crunch. Fighting over Marib city could make aid agencies’ work harder by triggering mass displacement and further limiting the supply of basic commodities. On top of everything, a year after COVID-19’s spread in Yemen first drew global attention, the country is suffering its deadliest outbreak yet.

The EU and its member states should:

Send more aid, escalating Yemen’s status as a priority recipient of the EU’s global response to COVID-19 through joint initiatives between Brussels and member states; increasing humanitarian funding under the new budget programming; and accelerating discussions about investment in medium-term projects – away from front lines – that foster local stability.

Advocate for forming a UN-led international contact group to help coordinate the world’s response to Yemen’s disaster, including through more concerted diplomacy in support of a ceasefire and the peace process. Such a group should include the EU, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Push the UN to shift its mediation efforts away from a two-party focus on the Huthis and the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi toward a more inclusive peace process that encompasses other political and armed factions as well as women’s and youth groups and other civil society actors.

Working within EU COVID-19 protocols, increase diplomatic outreach to the Huthis in Sanaa, the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council in Aden.

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/yemen/arresting-yemens-freefall

(* B K P)

YEMEN: WHO IS WINNING THE WAR ?

The United States government, which is seeking to end the war in Yemen, blames the Iran-supported Houthis for the failure of a ceasefire to take hold in Yemen. The U.S Department of State acknowledges that there are other “problematic actors” in Yemen but it places the major responsibility on one actor- – the Houthis or Ansar Allah, as they are formally known. It accuses the Shiite group of refusing to “engage meaningfully” in steps to resolve the nearly 7-year -old conflict.

But why should the Houthis stop fighting now? They believe the U.S. when it says they are not the only bad actor in Yemen. They also believe that ultimately a ceasefire will be negotiated. However, they want to emerge as the victors in Yemen to preserve a big chunk of the northern part of the country that is unlikely to emerge united. The Houthis want a total control of the north, now that they see other “bad actors” supporting separatists in the south.

There are several points Mr. Lenderking (together with UN Envoy Martin Griffith) should take into account as both men try to reach peace in Yemen. One point is that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216 does not call for withdrawal of foreign forces from Yemen. There is a need for a new move by the Security Council to provide a new framework which the U.S. and the UN can rely on in a more effective way.

A second point is that Yemen is currently divided into three main factions and regions each of which is supported by a foreign power and a segment of the population. The question is why should Yemen be a united country. In the future the Yemeni people can decide to unite as they once did when reaching a certain level of a political maturity.

The best way to reach political deals with the Houthis is to negotiate with their leadership in exile. That leadership lives in Oman, a country with a significant Shia population and good relationship with Iran. It is also a country that has been successful in handing religious factionalism within its own border and which had its own experience with civil wars. The first effective step is to get that leadership involved with distributing humanitarian aid under Omani and UN supervision.

https://www.newslooks.com/who-is-winning-the-war-in-yemen/

(* B K P)

Saudi-Iran duet: Will peace never come to Yemen?

The First International Symposium on Common History and Culture Yemen: Political Dynamics and Humanitarian Assistance" was organized under the auspices of Turkey's Parliament Speaker professor Dr. Mustafa Şentop in cooperation with Istanbul, Marmara and Kilis 7 Aralık universities.

Turkish and Yemeni scholars and bureaucrats discussed different dimensions of the Yemeni crisis.

The speakers raised concerns about the global indifference toward the Yemeni crisis and called on the world to struggle to end the enduring humanitarian problem.

Conflicting interests and perspectives between different domestic political actors are not the only reason for the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, the diverging interests between three regional powers, namely Suadi Arabia, Iran and United Arab Emirates (UAE), also play a role.

In other words, the Yemeni crisis is not just a domestic problem, it is also a regional proxy war between regional powers.

Neither intervening regional powers nor international organizations succeeded in ending the crisis. Regional powers prioritize their national interests, not the benefit of the Yemeni people.

Therefore, none of these regional powers play a constructive role in ending the conflict.

Riyadh, Tehran and Abu Dhabi do not want a final resolution of the crisis in a way that would provide an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, allowing for the independence of the Yemeni people.

They totally ignore the humanitarian dimension of the crisis and invest only in the military sector. They use all means and financial resources to recruit more mercenaries to fight for them.

Their proxies in the country even seize the humanitarian aid provided by other states or international organizations and prevent humanitarian aid from reaching the Yemeni people.

Saudi intervention

Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemeni crisis for several reasons. First of all, the kingdom is influenced directly by the chaos and turmoil in Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s neighbor with which it shares the longest borders.

Saudis intervened in the crisis to protect its national as well as transit and navigation security.

The second reason the Saudis intervened was to balance the Iranian influence in the country. Both countries have been competing for regional hegemony for decades.

In order to achieve its target, the Saudi forces did not and still do not hesitate to bomb civilian areas, killing thousands of innocent people and commit war crimes.

The third reason for the Saudi intervention is the personal calculation of former Saudi defense minister, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who tried to use the intervention in Yemen to catapult his personal career.

MBS planned not only to save his country from a "vital threat" but also to become the main actor in the Saudi state structure.

Houthi oppression

Saudi Arabia has failed to achieve key objectives in Yemen. It failed to take back the Yemeni capital Sanaa from the Iranian-backed Houthis.

On the contrary, the Saudis could not prevent the Houthis from bombing Saudi cities, including Riyadh. The Saudi intervention, in the meantime, ruined the political, economic and social life in Yemen.

The international coalition led by Saudi security forces killed thousands of innocent people, forced millions to leave their homes and deprived millions from securing food.

When we look at the main reasons for the Iranian intervention, we see that the Iranian regime has been trying to export its revolution to Yemen, since one-third of the Yemeni population are Shiite Zaydis.

In other words, Iran has the potential to find support from the inside. With the establishment of the Ansarullah organization in the early 1990s, Iran began to directly involve itself in Yemeni politics.

https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/columns/saudi-iran-duet-will-peace-never-come-to-yemen

(* B K P)

Crisis Group: Saudi Arabia’s foreign interventions failed

The International Crisis Group said that Saudi Arabia’s foreign interventions had failed miserably, and Riyadh has plunged into the quagmire of the Yemen war.

In an article, the interim president of the International Crisis Group, Richard Atwood, considered that the war against the Houthi rebels seems unwinnable for Saudi Arabia.

Atwood said Saudi officials feel persecuted and are desperate to find a face-saving way out of Yemen’s quagmire.

He added that the continuation of the Yemen war, along with the crimes of the Saudi regime, most notably the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, generates anger towards the kingdom in Washington, whose reputation has suffered because of its support for Riyadh in the conflict in Yemen.

He referred to the meetings recently between Saudi diplomats and their Iranian counterparts, mediated by Iraq.

He believed that the transformations taking place in Saudi policy, such as negotiating with Iran, reconciliation with Qatar, and rapprochement with Turkey, result from the nature of the American intervention.

“It is clear that Riyadh and, to some extent, its ally Abu Dhabi will not get the same level of respect from the administration of US President Joe Biden that they seemed to enjoy from his predecessor, Donald Trump,” he said.

“At the same time, Washington is looking forward to returning to the Iran nuclear deal and reducing hostile relations with Tehran,” he added.

Atwood considered that Saudi Arabia and its allies now view Trump’s “maximum pressure” on Iran as counterproductive, although at the time they applauded him.

“But the result was that Iran had more influence in the region. If the United States and Iran return to the nuclear deal, Riyadh fears that the additional revenue that Tehran will receive will increase this influence.

He believed that “on the contrary, if the nuclear talks collapse, Riyadh still expects a negative reaction, this time due to Iranian anger.”

Atwood stressed that the Yemen war is going from bad to worse despite the Iranian-Saudi meetings.

“Even if Tehran plays ball, it is not at all clear that it can rein in the Houthis, who have the upper hand militarily on the ground,” he said.

“The Saudis may be talking to Iran, but they are far from accepting Tehran’s relations with state and non-state actors across the Arab world that Iran considers an integral part of its forward defense strategy,” he continued.

https://saudileaks.org/en/foreign-interventions/

and also https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14000319000215/ICG-Sadis-Seek-%E2%80%98Face-Saving-Way-O%E2%80%99-f-Their-%E2%80%98Unwinnable-War%E2%80%99-n-Yemen

(* B K P)

Audio: Episode 3: Radhya Almutawakel

In this episode we explore the ongoing atrocities in Yemen with Radhya Almutawakel, co-founder and chairperson of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, a Yemeni civil society organization that has recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The episode begins with a discussion of the ongoing crisis in Yemen with Global Centre Research Analyst, Jahaan Pittalwala. We then explore the documentation of abuses in order to create a "human rights memory" in Yemen and how the work by Mwatana and other civil society organizations has changed the narrative on the situation. Ms. Almutawakel ends by sharing her hopes for Yemen, including achieving justice and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

https://soundcloud.com/user-378034514/episode-3-radhya-almutawakel

cp2a Saudische Blockade / Saudi blockade

(A K P)

Over 1 million barrels of Yemeni petroleum stolen by Saudi-led forces after seizing shipment

The Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) in Sana’a has on Wednesday revealed new cases of looting of Yemeni oil wealth, alongside the continuation of piracy on oil derivatives ships paid for.

The official spokesman for YPC, Essam Al-Mutawakel, said in a press statement that the ship Helen arrived on Tuesday at Radhom port in Shabwah province, carrying one million barrels of crude oil that is set to be sold for 72 million dollars by the occupation forces, in a new case of looting of the wealth of the Yemeni people.

Al-Mutawakel criticised the silence of the United Nations towards such acts

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/06/09/over-1-million-barrels-of-yemeni-petroleum-stolen-by-saudi-led-forces-after-seizing-shipment/

(B P)

UNVIM Operational Snapshot – May 2021

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unvim-operational-snapshot-may-2021

(B P)

UNVIM Situation Analysis – May 2021

Food and Fuel Discharged in May 2021

In May 2021, there was a decrease of 18% in food discharged compared to the 2020 average and 13% decrease compared to the monthly average since May 2016, or 253,144 t compared to 308,746 and 290,073 t, respectively.

A 92% (11,799 t) decrease in fuel discharged in May 2021 compared to the 2020 average (142,221 t) and a 92% (142,429 t) decrease compared to the monthly average since May 2016

In May 2021, no fuel tankers were permitted to enter Hodeidah port.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unvim-situation-analysis-may-2021

(A K P)

Jemen [Sanaa] Kritisiert Untätigkeit der UNO gegenüber Beschlagnahme von Öltankern durch Saudi-Arabien

Die jemenitische Ölgesellschaft -Yemen Petroleum Company, YPC, - hat die UNO für ihr Schweigen und ihre Untätigkeit gegenüber den Angriffen der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Kriegskoalition kritisiert.

https://parstoday.com/de/news/middle_east-i59046-jemen_kritisiert_unt%C3%A4tigkeit_der_uno_gegen%C3%BCber_beschlagnahme_von_%C3%96ltankern_durch_saudi_arabien

(A K P)

YPC: Detention of fuel ships doubled suffering of Yemeni people

The Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) said on Monday that the suffering of the Yemeni people has reached an unprecedented stage, as a result of the continued detention of oil derivatives ships by the US-Saudi aggression coalition.

https://www.saba.ye/en/news3142994.htm

and also https://english.almasirah.net/post/19841/New-Protest-Condemning-Fuel-Ships-Detention-by-US-Saudi-Forces

cp3 Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Siehe / Look at cp1

(* B H)

Dar Naji…A Story of Thirst

Dar Naji is a village in Al-Khokha District, located about 25 km in the far east of the district. It is aligned with Hays District, Hodeidah Governorate.

Since February 2018, the Giants Brigades (Joint Forces) and Ansar Allah group (Houthis) have successively controlled Hays district. On the way to Hays district, there is Dar Naji Village that has since become exposed to the dangers of the clashes taking place nearby.

Due to the intensification of the clashes, residents of the village as well as scattered population groups nearby it were displaced. However, some households preferred not leave their homes and remained in the village, rather, households from other areas were displaced to the village.

In May 2018, Ansar Allah group (Houthis) blew up the communal water tank that is located on the road towards Hays District. One of the tank’s pipelines is extended to Dar Naji village. This explosion cut off the lifeline of the village. As a result, thirst has become, in addition to shells and live bullets, a threat to its residents’ lives.

Yassin Qubai’ (30 years old) said, “Water has become a problem. Every day, I leave home after dawn on a donkey with two empty 20-liter gallons, risking myself between live bullets and explosive devices, to reach Ali Salman’s farm to fill the two gallons with water and return home at 9:30 am. After that, my father, who is an old man, takes the donkey and go to the farm again for more water, as 40 liters of water a day is not enough for us and for our sheep and cow.”

The residents of the village are forced to travel long distances, every day, to meet their needs of water.

Ahmed Dobla (25 years old) said, “We travel for 6 kilometers to get to the farm and fill two 20-liter gallons with water. After filling the two gallons with water, we take them home on the donkey. And so on every day. We have no means other than donkeys to carry the water on. As for the truck-in water supplies, we can’t afford even to buy a one-truck water.”

The communal tank, which has a capacity of 100 cubic meters of water, is located about eight kilometers from the site of the wells. Its pumping pipers pass in front of Dar Naji village from the north towards Hays. One of these pipes is extended to the village. However, after blowing up the communal tank, the water supply scheme has stopped, and the village became without water.

When UNICEF Emergency Response Project implemented Water, Hygiene, and Sanitation (WASH) intervention in the West Coast, Dar Naji was one of the villages supplied with water through water trucking. Besides, some philanthropists donated for pumping water to the village, which brought some life back to it.

Nevertheless, in late January 2021, water pumping to the village stopped. Its inhabitants became in dire straits and their misery multiplied. Currently, 125 households, i.e. 900 people, live in the village, including 25 IDP households. There are also scattered population groups of cattle herders who live sporadically near the village.

The residents of the village and its surroundings suffer from the lack of water. No wells are there. There are only four plastic water tanks (emergency water points), three of which have a capacity of 2000 liters each, while the fourth is 1500-liter.

Since February 2021 until now, only 4500 liters of water are pumped into these tanks per day, a donation from philanthropists (photos)

https://mwatana.org/en/dar-najia-story-of-thirst/

(B H)

Yemen’s Water Supply: The Difference between Life and Death for the Nation’s Vulnerable Population

UNICEF supplied and installed five water pumps for five wells in some of the country’s most under-resourced areas

More broadly, access to clean water has helped some of the most vulnerable Yemenis to stave off the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jamala explains: “The camp’s children and adults were stricken by bacteria, amoebas, and diarrhea from the unclean liquid we were forced to drink. Fortunately, once we gained access to potable water, the diseases disappeared, children returned to school, and we now have water that we can consume and use to clean. I think the simple reason we’ve been spared from the COVID-19 pandemic is that we have water we can use to wash our hands and clean our houses.”

Salim Hassan Hadi, Director-General of Ibb governorate’s Local Water and Sanitation Corporation, UNICEF implementing partner, describes a series of projects that UNICEF supported.

https://www.unicef.org/yemen/stories/yemens-water-supply-difference-between-life-and-death-nations-vulnerable-population

(B H)

DME: How Insider Mediators are Building Resilient Communities in Yemen Communities

Since 2013, we have trained 1,246 Insider Mediators across nine governorates and 36 districts to resolve problems before they escalate into violence. Today, with funding from the European Union, we are supporting Mediators to navigate conflicts between IDPs, returnees, and hosts in many communities in Yemen.

Our goal is to overcome mistrust and forge resilient communities. Search for Common Ground is working in a consortium led by ACTED, alongside CARE International, the Danish Refugee Council, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the International Rescue Committee.

Across Yemen, our Insider Mediators are working to prevent, manage, and resolve community conflicts—all in hopes of strengthening the social cohesion that ties a community together. In this project, local council authorities start by nominating candidates with a deep understanding of the relationship between IDPs, returnees, and hosts. Mediators start from a place of trust, as they belong to the communities that they serve.

Through training sessions, we teach Insider Mediators to conduct “conflict scans” to analyze local issues, uncovering the root drivers of violence. We then support Mediators to hold dialogue and draft action plans across divides.

https://www.dmeforpeace.org/resource/insider-mediators-yemen/

(* B H P)

Food aid ramps up in Yemen, but funding crisis persists

More food is making its way to Yemenis most in need after donors heeded United Nations warnings about impending famine, but aid groups said the world’s largest humanitarian operation still does not have enough cash to see out 2021.

The World Food Programme said it would this month resume monthly distributions to around 6 million people in areas with the highest rates of food insecurity.

WFP in April 2020 halved food aid to every other month in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthi movement after donors cut funding, partly over concerns about aid obstruction.

More funds started flowing since April after U.N. officials said Yemen could see the world’s worst famine in decades as violence escalated in the six-year-old war amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“WFP needs $1.9 billion in 2021. Donors have so far stepped up with approximately $937 million,” WFP spokesperson in Yemen Annabel Symington said.

Yemen has food supplies, but the deep economic crisis and restrictions on fuel and food imports have seen prices skyrocket out of the reach of many.

The WFP feeds more than 12 million Yemenis, around 80% in areas held by the Houthis, who ousted the internationally recognised government from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

Yemen’s $3.85 billion 2021 humanitarian response plan stands only 43% funded.

“That’s not adequate to get through the rest of this year,” David Gressly, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said.

“We went through a major effort to scale up, particularly on the food assistance and malnutrition side... It needs to be sustained or the gains we are seeing now will be totally lost.”

The ramp-up was enabled by injections from a new private foundation. The United Arab Emirates resumed aid to Yemen through the 2021 Famine Prevention Foundation. Saudi Arabia - which leads a coalition fighting the Houthis - placed part of its donation through it, aid sources said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-aid/food-aid-ramps-up-in-yemen-but-funding-crisis-persists-idUSKCN2DM1M3 = https://www.euronews.com/2021/06/10/us-yemen-security-aid

(B H)

Film: Meet Walid. When begging children provide the only resources for a family to survive, you know the situation is really bad.

https://twitter.com/jnbeuze/status/1402595620053999619

https://twitter.com/jnbeuze/status/1402563135349927941

(B H)

Film: War is the main cause of #Hunger in #Yemen. It has destroyed homes, livelihoods & families, and left nearly 13 million needing @WFP food assistance to survive. Salem explains what over 6 years of war has meant for him & his family

https://twitter.com/WFPYemen/status/1402577443169488903

(B H)

NRC, Film: When Zaid was a child, his parents taught him how to fish. Fishing has been his livelihood ever since. But the fuel shortage in #Yemen is making it harder and harder for fisherman like Zaid to earn a living. Find out how we helped Zaid keep on fishing to support his family

https://twitter.com/NRC_Norway/status/1402182772056367106

(B H)

Unicef warnt vor Zusammenbruch des Jemen

Im Jemen droht nach Einschätzung von UNICEF ein Kollaps. Die Wirtschaft des Bürgerkriegslandes liege bereits in Trümmern, grundlegende öffentliche Dienstleitungen, Schulen sowie die Sanitär- und Trinkwasserversorgung seien zusammengebrochen, teilte das UN-Kinderhilfswerk am Mittwoch in Köln mit.

https://www.vaticannews.va/de/welt/news/2021-06/unicef-warnt-vor-zusammenbruch-des-jemen.html

(B H)

HUMAN ACCESS and WFP extend a helping hand to (65,083) families in Lahj and Taiz governorates

Abdullah Moqbel, the project manager, said in a press statement that the emergency food aid project, implemented by HUMAN ACCESS with funding from the World Food Program (WFP) in the governorates of Lahj and Taiz , came as a rescue for a community living below the poverty line by meeting their urgent needs for food consumption so that the targeted families can buy the necessary food for daily life and giving them a ray of hope.

Moqbel indicated that the project included the distribution of food vouchers, the delivery of foodstuffs, and the disbursement of cash assistance according to specific criteria.

HUMAN ACCESS, in partnership with WFP, disbursed cash assistance to 42,958 families in the districts of Al Had, Al Madharibah, Al Maqatirah, Al Maflahi, Yafe’ Labous, Yahar, Tor Al Baha, Al Malah, Halmeen, and Habeel Jabr.

Moreover, (6995) poor families in Sala district of Taiz Governorate, benefited from the food distribution project consisting of flour, sugar, cooking oil, legumes and salt.

https://humanaccess.org/m/news/human-access-and-wfp-extend-a-helping-hand-to-65,083-families-in-lahj-and-taiz-governorates

(* B H P)

UNOCHA: Yemen Humanitarian Update - Issue 5 / May 2021

HIGHLIGHTS

High-level Swedish delegation visits Yemen
Global efforts to avert hunger gain momentum
Floods sweep across Yemen causing extensive damage
Fires and rain intensify difficulties amidst continued displacement in Ma’rib
Fuel crisis deepens
Improved humanitarian access at the Red Sea coast
Emergency funding boosts humanitarian response
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-update-issue-5-may-2021

(A H)

Desert locust upsurge: Progress report on the response in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen | January–April 2021

The fight against desert locust in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen has been raging for sixteen months – since January 2020. Governments, FAO and partners are responding to the worst upsurge in seventy years. An extraordinarily effective system has been put in place, from forecasting to responding, and from short-term coordinating to preparing for the medium and longer term.

Thanks to generous contributions from 29 partners, in addition to FAO’s own resources, close to USD 219 million have been mobilized towards FAO’s desert locust crisis appeal for the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen. This is 95 percent of the total funding requirement,

http://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/1410821/

(B H)

Film: Hey friends, Today, We visited baby Raed, thank to Allah, he is getting better. My happiness is indescribable. Thanks our donors for giving us such happiness. Helps via link to Save more lives http://Chuffed.org/project/food-at/food-and-medicine-for-yemen…

https://twitter.com/ghalebalsudmy/status/1402413948935213058

(B H)

Film: Naji Nasser, one of many children who have fallen victim to #Houthi-laid #landmines, dreams about being a doctor to help alleviate the suffering of Yemenis. He hopes that there will be an end to the war in #Yemen so that no more children suffer the same fate

https://twitter.com/RepYemenEnglish/status/1402337393546571777

(B H)

Yemen Conflict - ETC Situation Report #56 (Reporting Period: 01/05/2021 to 31/05/2021)

The ETC continues to provide critical Internet connectivity to 589 humanitarians across 12 sites in Yemen, and communications services – including security telecommunications – to a total of 2,345 responders supported by eight UNDSS-managed Security Operations Centres (SOCs) across the country

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-conflict-etc-situation-report-56-reporting-period-01052021-31052021

(B H)

Film: Radia - A success story from ECW and NRC in Yemen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMY4dF2Ekjo

(* B H P)

The European Union provides support for WFP's famine relief efforts in Yemen

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes EUR 37 million from the European Union (EU) to support the humanitarian response in Yemen and provide emergency food assistance in response to an alarming rise in food insecurity which has left millions on the brink of famine.

The EU funds will allow WFP to continue to address the urgent food needs of nearly 13 million people in the country through food distributions or cash assistance. Over half of all Yemenis are unable to afford basic food items as over six years of conflict has displaced millions, destroyed livelihoods and left the economy in tatters.

“Thousands of Yemenis are already experiencing famine-like conditions and many more are threatened by intensified fighting and the COVID-19 surge. How much more will Yemenis be forced to bear? The EU will not abandon them in their hour of need,“ said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič. “The new EU funding to WFP shows our sustained commitment to ensuring lifesaving food assistance and humanitarian aid reach those most in need. This is the time for everyone to step up and for warring parties to end the conflict that has inflicted years of suffering on the population.”

New contributions from the EU and other key donors have allowed WFP to resume monthly food distributions in Yemen’s worst hunger hotspots over the last few months, a year after funding shortfalls and operational challenges forced ration cuts in Yemen’s north.

With the EU’s support, WFP will expand the use of cash transfers to deliver food assistance. Cash transfers provide immediate relief for struggling families while also having a multiplier effects on the local economy, building economic resilience.

https://www.wfp.org/news/european-union-provides-support-wfps-famine-relief-efforts-yemen

My comment: Just stop fueling this war and stop arms exports to the warring parties in the Yemen War.

(* B H P)

World Bank Approves $50 Million to Continue Improving Critical Urban Services in Yemen

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved a $50 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, to support the Yemen Integrated Urban Services Emergency Project (YIUSEP). This additional financing is for restoring access to critical urban services and strengthening the resilience of selected cities in Yemen to external shocks.

Yemen’s cities have been very badly affected by six years of conflict, with the destruction of urban infrastructure widespread. In January 2020, damage in the 16 cities covered by the World Bank’s Yemen Dynamic Needs Assessment was estimated at between US$6.9 billion and US$8.5 billion. Among the 16, Sana’a has suffered the greatest damage, followed by Taiz. Aden and Hodeida have also been severely affected.

Major roads and bridges—and municipal roads in Sana’a, Aden, Ibb, Taiz, Hodeida, Sa’ada and Amran, among others—have been severely damaged. The damage to urban roads has rendered large segments inaccessible to people and vehicles, with negative impacts on trade, mobility, and access to local services like markets, health facilities, and schools. Through YIUSEP, 234 kilometers of urban roads in eight cities have been rehabilitated, and access to critical services has been restored for more than three million beneficiaries.

Recent floods have also caused extensive damage to urban road networks, as well as to a number of key road corridors considered economic lifelines.

“This project is more necessary than ever. In addition to the devastating impact of the conflict and compounding effects of COVID19, Yemen is vulnerable to floods and other climate-related shocks” said Tania Meyer, World Bank Country Manager for Yemen. “Through an integrated approach aimed at building resilience in urban areas, YIUSEP II will support basic services, key corridors and off-grid power to health and education facilities”.

Yemen had one of the lowest per capita levels of electricity consumption—and the lowest level of access to it in the Middle East and North Africa region—before the current conflict worsened in 2015. Its public supply from the national grid has since largely shut down. Light emissions visible from satellite imagery indicate that electricity consumption has decreased by about 75%. The population and economy are suffering greatly from the effects the scarcity of diesel fuel is having on reducing the supply of electricity.

Its impact on critical facilities has been devastating

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/06/07/world-bank-approves-50-million-to-continue-improving-critical-urban-services-in-yemen

(B H)

RDP, Yemen: Monthly Situation Report (April 2021)

NUTRITION

116,983 CU2 & PLW were provided with BSFP commodities through hundreds of food distribution points in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Hajjah governorates.

Through 12 health facilities, RDP continues to support 642 children U5 and 545 pregnant and lactating women with MAM treatment in Taizz governorate.

53,517 individuals were benefitied from awareness-raising campaigns on health and nutrition key messages in 12 districts of IBB, Taizz, and Hajjah governorates.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-monthly-situation-report-april-2021

cp4 Flüchtlinge / Refugees

(B H)

DTM flow Monitoring Registry Dashboard: Non-Yemeni migrant arrivals and Yemeni returnees in May 2021

From 01 to 31 May 2021, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 489 migrants arrived in Yemen. The migrant caseload was 88 per cent Ethiopian and 12 per cent Somali, with 100% of those tracked heading for Saudi Arabia. The migrants are predominantly male (77%), with 18 per cent women, four per cent boys and one per cent girls also among the travelers.

Through the May reporting period, 169 migrants arrived from Somalia and were recorded atTajamo Sharj Al-Falahein flow monitoring points in Hadramout governorate. Al Aarah flow monitoring point in Lahj governorate saw the highest number of migrant arrivals, with 320 migrants arriving from Djibouti.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/dtm-flow-monitoring-registry-dashboard-non-yemeni-migrant-arrivals-and-yemeni-returnees

(A H)

IOM Yemen | Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) - Reporting Period: 30 May To 05 June 2021

During the reporting period, between 30 May and 05 June 2021, IOM Yemen DTM tracked 108 households (648 individuals) displaced at least once. From 01 January to 05 June 2021, IOM Yemen DTM estimates that 5,905 households (HH) (35,430 Individuals) have experienced displacement at least once.
Some 19 HH were displaced in the previous reporting period, which covered 23 - 29 May 2021. However, they were only identied in the current period and so, this gure has been added to the cumulative displacement total recorded from the beginning of the year.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-rapid-displacement-tracking-rdt-reporting-period-30-may-05-june-2021

(A H)

QRCS, OCHA launch emergency health, nutritional response in Yemen

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched an emergency health and nutritional response in the places of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Taiz and Sa’ada Governorates of Yemen.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/qrcs-ocha-launch-emergency-health-nutritional-response-yemen-enar

(B H)

UNHCR Kharaz Refugee Camp, Yemen - Fact Sheet May 2021

Located in Lahj Governorate, south of Yemen, Kharaz camp opened in 2001 and remains the only refugee camp in Yemen [??; in Lahj province, I think]

As of May 2021, the camp is home to nearly 9,270 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia.

UNHCR and partners provide protection and assistance to refugees and host communities

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-kharaz-refugee-camp-yemen-fact-sheet-may-2021

(B H)

Yemen UNHCR Aden Sub-Office Fact Sheet - May 2021

1,475,689 Number of internally displaced persons in the south Humanitarion Needs Overview, February 2021

752,670 Number of returnees in the south DTM March 2019

88,868 Number of refugees and asylum seekers in the south UNHCR April 2021

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-aden-sub-office-fact-sheet-may-2021

cp5 Nordjemen und Huthis / Northern Yemen and Houthis

Siehe / Look at cp1

(A P)

Houthis put conditions to release Yemeni officials

The Houthi group is prepared to release high-ranking officials affiliated to the Yemeni UN-recognized government, member of the group's Supreme Political Council tweeted on Wednesday.
The group is ready to free the Yemeni former defense minister (Mahmoud al-Sobaihi) and General Nasser Hadi (brother of the Yemeni President), in addition to other two officials, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi added.
In return, the Saudi government should stop trying and release Hamas members detained in the Kingdom, he said, calling on the Islah Party to put pressures on the Saudi regime to conclude the deal.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25527.html

(A P)

Houthi group celebrates political victory against Saudi-UAE coalition in Yemen

A top leader in the Iran-allied Houthi group on Thursday celebrated what he called a political victory against the Saudi-UAE military coalition which has been involved in Yemen for six years.

Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi wrote on Twitter: "A word from scattered letters, victory".

The tweet has sparked reactions from Yemeni and Saudi social media activists amid reports about progress on regional and international efforts to end the crisis in Yemen, including Omani mediation.

Pro-Houthi activists said the acceptance to reopen Sanaa and Hudaydah ports represents a victory for the group which has succeeded in imposing its terms since the start of indirect negotiations a year ago.

Other activists said any agreement with the group based on leaked terms is just admission of defeat of the coalition backing the internationally recognised government.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25531.html

(B P)

Yemeni journalist attacks UN over exclusive technical assistance to Houthis

Yemeni journalist Fatehi al-Azraq has attacked the UN for offering technical assistance to the Houthi militia-controlled telecommunication network at a time when the militia controlling the capital Sana'a throttle connectivity in the government-held areas. In a tweet, al-Azraq said, "All Houthi held areas have no problems in mobile phone coverage, because the UN has been bringing in telecommunication boost equipment (to Houthi authorities) through Sana'a airport categorizing that as a humanitarian service. All the regions liberated from Houthis suffer poor coverage and are denied these equipment under the pretext of anti-Houthi measures."

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-47161

(A P)

[Pro-Hadi gov.] Yemen media institution demands release of nine journalists in Houthi custody

A Yemeni media institution has called on "all local and international organizations concerned with defending (human) rights … to take a serious action to" secure the release nine journalists including one of its staff members in the custody of the Houthi militants for six years.

Almasdar Media Corporation said in a statement on the sixth anniversary of the Houthi kidnapping of the reporters including Almasdar's Tawfik Al-Mansoori "we remind the world of this forgotten tragedy" demanding "protection and support" to them.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-47172

(A P)

Houthi militia launch massive manhunt in Al-Jawf

The Houth militia have launched a massive manhunt campaign against a large number of civilians in Al-Jawf, the state news agency Saba quoted local sources as saying.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33114

(A P)

Mohammed al-Houthi carefully optimistic on US decision to stop military support to Saudi-led invaders

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi has commented on the US announcement to stop its military support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

“Amongst the instructions followed in the arms sale of the US weapons is that they should only be used with their permission,” Mohammed al-Houthi tweeted.

“[Only] when the bombing by American and other weapons ceases, we will know that the direction of the United States has been implemented,” he explained.

https://hodhodyemennews.net/2021/06/09/mohammed-al-houthi-carefully-optimistic-on-us-decision-to-stop-military-support-to-saudi-led-invaders/

and the same, with a different headline:

(A P)

Biden unserious to stop US support to Saudi coalition: Houthis

Member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council on Wednesday cast doubts on the US willingness to stop its military support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed group in Yemen since March 2015.
https://debriefer.net/en/news-25508.html

(A P)

Houthi government praises Iran's efforts to bring peace to Yemen

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25497.html

(A P)

Houthis claim they arrested a Mossad spy in Yemen

Yemen's Houthis have threatened Israel in the past, including threats to attack Israeli vessels in the Red Sea and fire rockets and drones towards Israel.

The Houthis arrested a Mossad spy in Yemen and plan to release documents over the next few days about the spy's operations in the country, the terrorist group's spokesperson, Brig.-Gen. Yahya Saree, announced on Tuesday, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

The terrorist group will release a documentary titled "The Spy of Mossad in Yemen" which "reveals, in documents, part of the Israeli intervention in [Yemen], the plan to target Yemen militarily and other secrets revealed for the first time," said Saree.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/houthis-claim-they-arrested-a-mossad-spy-in-yemen-670488

and also https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210609-houthis-to-expose-mossads-activities-in-yemen-after-detaining-agent/

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25505.html

https://sputniknews.com/military/202106091083110119-houthis-claim-to-have-captured-mossad-spy-promise-documentary-exposing-israeli-activities-in-yemen/

(A P)

Film: Hajjah:The Houthis recruited dozens of children in the town of Ghorban, during the burial ceremony of the13year child"AbdulSalam Khaled AlGharbani"one of the victims of child recruitment

https://twitter.com/abduhothifi/status/1402059208116379651

(A P)

The flow of condemnations of the Houthi terror attack in Marib has prompted the militia's "interior ministry" and "intelligence" agency to slow the internet speed. /Multiple websites.

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-47138

(A K P)

Houthi militia detonate three IEDsin Dhale'a province and seize passengers in Damt district

https://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/en/p-47138

(A P)

Hamas presents Houthi group with shield of honour

Hamas on Monday decorated the Houthi group with a shield of honour for its support to the Palestinian cause.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25475.html

(A P)

Yemen Presents Challenge to US Hegemony, Strategies in Middle East

In a speech on the occasion of Sarkha anniversary, Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi mentioned again the conditions for accepting any negotiations with the countries of aggression, which are stopping the aggression, lifting the siege and ending the occupation.

Today, what governs the world are the ethics and principles of US globalization, which do not consider the right and do not support a just cause and do not recognize lofty values, principles and morals. Nothing works with such a life except rejecting and confronting it and arming with more high principles and ethics to confront the corruption that the US has circulated in the world.

Yemen's revolutionary leadership realized from an early age the goals and dimensions of the US colonial policy in its war on Yemen, and the functional role played by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to implement US policy in the region, as they, along with the Zionist enemy, Britain, and the rest of Western Europe to achieve their malicious aims in the Middle East.

This asserted that the US-European strategy in the Middle East was aborted by the Axis of Resistance,

https://english.almasirah.net/post/19839/Yemen-Presents-Challenge-to-US-Hegemony%2C-Strategies-in-Middle-East

(A P)

Film: Multiple events in Hajjah Governorate on the occasion of the anniversary of the [Houthi slogan] cry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sQHz8hqweQ

and

(A P)

Film: Multiple women's activities in Saada Governorate on the occasion of the anniversary of the cry 06-06-2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW5IUSOIflo

(* A P)

Houthi-run court starts trial of abducted Yemeni model

A Houthi-run court in Sanaa has started the trial of a Yemeni model who was abducted by the Iran-backed militia.

Entesar Al-Hammadi was seized by the Houthis on Feb. 20 along with two other women. Their capture and imprisonment has triggered local and international condemnation.

Legal activist Abdul Wahab Qatran said the court had refused to give her lawyer the case documents, including the charges against her.

The Houthis have not officially commented on the case or the charges, but rebel-affiliated media outlets reported that she was taken due to information about her involvement in a drug and prostitution ring.

Local and international right groups said the rebels forced Al-Hammadi into confessing and that the abduction was part of a Houthi crackdown on liberal voices that challenged the group's radical views.

Al-Hammadi had boasted about her dream of becoming an international model and posted images of her in traditional Yemeni dress.

Angered by intense media coverage of the abduction, the Houthis dismissed a prosecutor who ordered Al-Hammadi’s release after questioning her, threw the model into solitary confinement and verbally and physically abused her.

They also stepped up their intimidation and harassment of local activists, lawyers, and judges who demanded the women be freed.

Last week the Houthis fired Al-Kamal from his job at the Capital Secretariat, a compound hosting government offices, where he has been working for 20 years to force him to drop the case. Al-Kamal said on social media that his boss told him he was suspended, without giving an explanation. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1872226/middle-east

and also https://debriefer.net/en/news-25461.html

and

(* A P)

Yemen, the model Entisa al Hammadi poses without a veil: in prison for this photo

Model Entisar Al-Hammadi was kidnapped and imprisoned by Houthi militias , a predominantly Shiite Zydite armed group in Yemen . The reason? According to the "authorities", the girl would have published too much pushed photos on her Instagram profile. The events took place in early February 2021 , since then Al-Hammadi has not appeared in public. The Yemeni militias are now exerting strong pressure on the girl's lawyer, Khaled Al-Kamal , with the aim of bringing the lawyer to abandon the case and continue to keep the model in captivity on the basis of a dossier containing fabricated allegations against her.

As reported by the humanitarian organization Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), the lawyer was suspended from the activity with an arbitrary decision decided by the legal body and issued on May 26, 2021. According to local sources - reads on the GCHR website - the reason why Khaled Al-Kamal was suspended lies precisely in the fact that he decided to take the young model's defense.

Before the official suspension, Al-Kamal would have been threatened with death by an armed militiaman who, on 27 April 2021, had presented himself in front of his front door. Intimating him to leave the case. Which the lawyer did not courageously do by declaring that: "There is no tangible evidence showing a crime of the girl. She must be released immediately". Soon after, the suspension from legal activity came.

The decision to suspend Kamal came following a visit to his client. Accompanied by a delegation of well-known personalities, Kamal thus ascertained the conditions of Entisar imprisoned in the central prison of Sana , managed by the Houthis. In a June 3, 2021 statement , the humanitarian organization that accounted for prison inmates reported testimony from some inmates who spoke of how several women were being forced into sexual acts. Among the accusations made by the institutions of Sana against Al-Hammadi there are the use of drugs and the practice of prostitution.Both unfounded allegations, the lawyer said, which were made without any evidence. Entisar then went on a hunger strike, hoping to get media attention on the case.

https://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/esteri/27527190/yemen-modella-entisa-al-hammadi-posa-senza-velo-islam-arrestata-carcere.html

(A P)

Houthis fire electricity minister over dispute with deputy

The Houthi group on Saturday fired the minister of electricity and power three days after disputes with his deputy, who comes from the northern governorate of Sa'ada, the group's stronghold.
Chairman of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, appointed Ahmed al-Ali'i as electricity minister, in place of Atiq Abbar, who comes from the southern governorate of Shabwa.
On Tuesday, deputy minister of electricity, Abdul Ghani al-Madani, prevented his boss (Minister Abbar) from getting into his office and participating in a meeting with Houthi deputy premier, local media said.

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25438.html

(* B P)

Forced Wedlock in Houthi-run Territories Raises Humanitarian Concerns

Houthi coup militias in Yemen are forcing civilian families to hand over their children in compulsory marriages involving its commanders, activists told Asharq Al-Awsat, confirming that around 105 cases of forcible wedlock were documented over the last two years.

Yemeni girls living in insurgency-held areas in governorates of Ibb, Hajjah, Dhmar, Al Mahwit, Raymah, Hodeidah, and the capital, Sanaa, are pressured into marrying Houthi officers under the threat of losing their relatives.

Hundreds of families have been affected by the brutish Houthi wedlock policy, especially in Ibb and Hajjah, women rights activists reported.

Speaking under the conditions of anonymity for safety reasons, activists documented 31 accounts of forced marriages in Ibb, 26 in Hajjah, 14 in Raymah governorate, 12 in Hodeidah, 9 in Dhamar, 5 in Al Mahwit, and 3 in Sanaa’s countryside.

Objectors also alleged that hundreds of other cases have gone undocumented as parents were threatened at gunpoint to keep quiet against the inhumane practice.

Reported cases were based on testimonies collected from territories under the Iran-backed guerrillas’ grip.

https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3012116/forced-wedlock-houthi-run-territories-raises-humanitarian-concerns

My comment: By a Saudi news site; to be read with care.

(A P)

Photos from Houthi run youth summer camp in Hodeida. Visits to graveyards of Houthi fighters & training children to dig graves. Sums it all!

https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1401158789399822339

https://twitter.com/baseem_aljenani/status/1401154079792025600

and

(A P)

[Pro-Hadi gov.] Yemeni Teachers Syndicate warns of Houthi use of schools to recruit children

https://debriefer.net/en/news-25496.html

(A P)

IPU voices concerns over Houthis' death penalty against Yemeni MPs

IPU Member Parliaments have committed to taking action to address alleged human rights violations suffered by MPs in a number of countries, including Egypt, Libya, Myanmar, Philippines, Turkey, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

In Yemen, the IPU is alarmed at reports that 46 parliamentarians have been arbitrarily sentenced to death by a Houthi-controlled court in Sanaa, in what appears to be a “fatwa”. The MPs were elected in 2003 parliamentary elections for a six-year term and remain MPs in accordance with the Yemeni Constitution.

http://en.adenpress.news/news/33088

Fortsetzung / Sequel: cp6 – cp19

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-745b-yemen-war-mosaic-745b

Vorige / Previous:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-744-yemen-war-mosaic-744

Jemenkrieg-Mosaik 1-744 / Yemen War Mosaic 1-744:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

Der saudische Luftkrieg im Bild / Saudi aerial war images:

(18 +, Nichts für Sensible!) / (18 +; Graphic!)

http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

http://yemenwarcrimes.blogspot.de/

http://www.yemenwar.info/

Liste aller Luftangriffe / and list of all air raids:

http://yemendataproject.org/data/

Untersuchung ausgewählter Luftangriffe durch Bellingcat / Bellingcat investigations of selected air raids:

https://yemen.bellingcat.com/

Untersuchungen von Angriffen, hunderte von Filmen / Investigations of attacks, hundreds of films:

https://yemeniarchive.org/en

Dieser Beitrag gibt die Meinung des Autors wieder, nicht notwendigerweise die der Redaktion des Freitag.
Geschrieben von

Dietrich Klose

Vielfältig interessiert am aktuellen Geschehen, zur Zeit besonders: Ukraine, Russland, Jemen, Rolle der USA, Neoliberalismus, Ausbeutung der 3. Welt

Dietrich Klose

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