Allgemein
14.9.2015 – The American Conservative
The (Mostly) Ignored War on Yemen
The war on Yemen has recently been receiving a bit more coverage than in previous months.
The coverage is damning for Saudi Arabia and its allies, which is as it should be, but the war continues to go mostly unnoticed.
Yemen is being called the “forgotten war.” That is somewhat inaccurate, since that implies that there was a time when it used to be widely known and has only later been forgotten. It is the ignored war, the war about which Western publics know little and care less, the war that some Western governments enable with military support without ever telling their citizens why they are doing it. It is not surprising that the Saudis and their allies pretend that they aren’t killing hundreds of Yemeni civilians with their indiscriminate attacks, but what is more remarkable is that they rarely have to repeat those lies because there is so little scrutiny or criticism of their actions in Western capitals. Were it not for the important work of human rights organizations, aid workers, and journalists documenting the Saudi-led coalition’s crimes in Yemen, there would be almost no one calling the Saudis and their allies to account for what they have been and still are doing to Yemeni civilians.
The latest report is that Hadi’s government has withdrawn from U.N.-sponsored talks and has approved a new offensive. Once again, the war on Yemen is set to escalate with the endorsement of its so-called government at the expense of its people – by Daniel Larison
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-mostly-ignored-war-on-yemen/
13.9.2015 – The Guardian
The Guardian view on Yemen: remember the forgotten war. Editorial
Diplomatic balancing acts should not prevent western nations telling the truth about war crimes and atrocities being committed in the Middle East’s less high-profile conflicts
The heart of the current chaos and misery is the larger reality that Saudi Arabia and Iran have both made Yemen a testing ground for their regional strategic rivalry, against a backdrop in which the United States, the major supplier of arms to the Saudis, is simultaneously attempting a significant thaw in relations with Iran. All the Gulf states except Oman have joined the Sunni military coalition in recent months, yet the US has largely turned a blind eye to the war crimes being committed. Its priority is to allay Sunni fears that the old alliances could be compromised after the nuclear deal was reached with Iran.
Yet America’s balancing act may fail. The security vacuum created in Yemen, and the radicalisation that the conflict has accentuated, have opened up more space for al-Qaida-affiliated groups. Recent US drone strikes underline that what is happening in Yemen is military escalation, not stabilisation. A negotiated settlement is long overdue, but it will only happen if strong international pressure, including from the US, is exerted on the Saudis. If even more instability is to be prevented on the Arabian peninsula, there must be a preparedness to name, shame and restrain those who are conducting atrocities against civilians in Yemen. Current western complacency and silence will only bring more chaos and strife.
13.9.2015 – Huffington Post
Errant Civilian Airstrikes Turn Yemenis Against The U.S.
Half the people killed in Yemen's conflict have been civilians, Amnesty International reports.
The Obama administration's assistance in a Saudi-led military coalition is turning Yemeni people against the U.S. as more of the Saudi airstrikes aimed at the Houthis, Yemen's rebel militia group, fall errantly on civilians, The New York Times reported.
here are some sentiments in the region that the Obama administration is "selling this weaponry so that we can provide some jobs for your kids in the United States and provide some economy improvement," Jalal Fairooz, a former member of parliament in Bahrain, told Press TV.
Meanwhile, Yemeni people continue to suffer water shortages and malaria outbreaks in addition to the threat of falling victim to a Saudi airstrike. The United Nations warns that 1.6 million Yemeni children are experiencing acute malnutrition, while other aid groups say thousands more may die if they're not provided more fuel, food and medicine soon – by Lydia O’Connor
12.9.2015 – Radio New Zealand National (Radiobericht)
Matthieu Aikins: Yemen and the Middle East
Schell Fellow at the Nation Institute who reports from the Middle East and South Asia for a number of magazines and whose investigative work exposing war crimes in Afghanistan won him the George Polk Award and the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism.
12.9.2015 – New York Times
Airstrikes Take Toll on Civilians in Yemen War
Of the many perils Yemen’s civilians have faced during the last six months of war, with starvation looming and their cities crumbling under heavy weapons, none have been as deadly as the coalition airstrikes. What began as a Saudi-led aerial campaign against the Houthis, the rebel militia movement that forced Yemen’s government from power, has become so broad and vicious that critics accuse the coalition of collectively punishing people living in areas under Houthi control.
Errant coalition strikes have ripped through markets, apartment buildings and refugee camps. Other bombs have fallen so far from any military target — like the one that destroyed Mr. Razoom’s factory — that human rights groups say such airstrikes amount to war crimes. More than a thousand civilians are believed to have died in the strikes, the toll rising steadily with little international notice or outrage.
In parts of northern Yemen, which is populated largely by Shiite Muslims, residents told reporters making a rare visit to the area that the bombing campaign by the Sunni coalition often feels like a sectarian purge. Airstrikes nearest the border with Saudi Arabia have been so intense that people have taken shelter in mountain caves or been forced farther south, often on foot, where they set up flimsy camps on the side of the road.
Neighborhoods in the northern city of Saada have been so heavily bombed that locals joke grimly that the coalition has run out of buildings to hit. The shrinking pool of targets has not stopped the planes that circle daily over Sana, the capital, from bombing the same security buildings over and over again, with a bewildering and terrible frequency.
The Saudi-led coalition has rarely if ever acknowledged killing civilians by mistake, even after the deadliest strikes, like the bombing of a residential compound for workers in Mokha in July that killed at least 63 people. Instead, the coalition blames the Houthis, accusing them of fighting from populated areas.
There is little mystery about the repeated attacks on the northern Saada Province, the birthplace of the Houthi movement. Months ago, the Saudi coalition declared that the entire province was a military zone, drawing an outcry from human rights groups that did little to deter the warplanes.
In border areas that the Houthis have used for attacks into Saudi Arabia, the coalition forces have struck deep into Yemeni territory, bombing hospitals, roads and towns even when no Houthi fighters are present, said Dr. Natalie Roberts, who worked with Doctors Without Borders in one of the few clinics in the province – by Kareem Fahim
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/world/middleeast/airstrikes-hit-civilians-yemen-war.html
11.9.2015 – BBC (Film)
Yemen’s forgotten war (PART TWO) - Newsnight
Here's part two of Gabriel Gatehouse's special reporting from Yemen. CONTAINS SOME DISTRESSING IMAGES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chY8HsKDBUo&feature=youtu.be
Zu Teil 1 siehe http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34211979 und Film auch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqlrcVRzzhU (Part 1)
11.9.2015 - BBC
James O'Brien grills Daniel Kawczynski MP on Saudi arms sales - Newsnight
Should there be an international investigation into possible war crimes in Yemen? James O'Brien asked Daniel Kawczynski, member of the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi5z4M5dm4o
Kommentar: Kawczynski, ein pro-saudischer Hardliner der konservativen Partei, der nun meint, die BBC wegen Gatehouse’ Bericht angreifen zu müssen
10.9.2015 – Frankfurter Rundschau
Bombardement rund um die Uhr
Sturm auf die jemenitische Hauptstadt Sanaa: Die Militärkoalition aus mehreren Golfstaaten legt das Armenhaus der Arabischen Welt in Schutt und Asche. Die UN reagiert entsetzt.
Unsere Rache wird nicht lange auf sich warten lassen“, polterte Abu Dhabis Kronprinz Mohammed bin Zayed. „Wir werden so lange weiterbomben, bis der Jemen von diesem Abschaum gesäubert ist“. Mit Abschaum meint der Emir die schiitischen Huthis, die am vergangenen Freitag bei einem Angriff auf ein Armeelager der Golfstaaten 45 emiratische, zehn saudische und fünf bahrainische Soldaten töteten – der bisher schwerste Verlust der Golf-Alliierten.
Seit dem Massaker in den eigenen Reihen kochen die superreichen Kriegsherren von „Decisive Storm“, die zusammen der größte Waffeneinkäufer der Welt sind: Für die nächsten Wochen nun blasen sie zum Sturm auf die Hauptstadt Sanaa.
„Das Ausmaß des menschlichen Leidens ist unbeschreiblich“, erklärte der UN-Chef für humanitäre Hilfe, Stephen O’Brien. In Krankenhäusern lägen die Verletzten auf Bodenpappen, alle Blutkonserven seien aufgebraucht, selbst sterile Gummihandschuhe für Untersuchungen gebe es nicht mehr. Denn sämtliche Häfen des Jemen werden von Kriegsschiffen blockiert, der wichtigste in Hodeidah ist zerstört, ein Angriff, den O’Brien empört als „Verstoß gegen das internationale Menschenrecht“ verurteilte.
„Nach fünf Monaten Krieg sieht Jemen bereits aus wie Syrien nach fünf Jahren Krieg“, klagte kürzlich Peter Maurer, Chef des „Internationalen Roten Kreuzes“ nach einem Besuch vor Ort. Denn die Infrastruktur des Landes war schon vorher stark ramponiert. Mittlerweile geht gar nichts mehr – von Martin Gehlen
http://www.fr-online.de/politik/un-und-jemen--bombardement-rund-um-die-uhr,1472596,31777794.html
Kommentar: Wer sich auch nur etwas über den Jemen informiert hat, für den bringt der Artikel nichts Neues. Für den üblichen deutschen Zeitungsleser wahrscheinlich schon. Wachen Einzelne bei den „Mainstreammedien“ nach 5 ½ Monaten saudisch-amerikanischem Luftterror im Jemen endlich auf, nachdem sie vorher durch Verschweigen das In-Schutt-und Asche-Bomben eines Landes, dafür dass ein Präsident geschasst wurde, für einen ganz normalen Vorgang erklärt haben?
Humanitäre Lage
14.9.2015 – UNCHR
Yemen: One war forced a family to flee Somali, and now another has forced them to return – by Stephanie Ferry and Alexandra Strand Holm
Kulturgüter
9.9.2015 – The Economist
The roster of antiquities damaged in the war in Yemen runs long. Missiles fired from the coalition's planes have obliterated a museum (where the fruits of an American-Yemeni archaeological dig were stored), historic caked-mud high-rise dwellings, 12th century citadels and minarets and other places whose importance to humanity's heritage has been recognised by the UN. The Great Dam of Marib, a feat of engineering that was undertaken 2,800 years ago, has been struck four times, most recently on August 18th. Antiquities experts fear for the oldest surviving fragment of the Koran, in a six-month war which has killed over 4,000 and injured 20,000.
But apparently out of deference to their Saudi and Gulf friends, Western powers have yet to make much comment on the destruction in Yemen, whether humanitarian or cultural. They have expressed justified horror over cultural losses in Syria, such as Islamic State's demolition of the Bel temple in Palmyra. They willingly subscribe to the general principle of protecting religious and cultural objects from war.
Yet Western officialdom has been tongue-tied about Yemen; Britain's Foreign Office, for instance, did not respond when asked about the cultural damage there. In the ancient city of Sana'a, a UNESCO World Heritage site, there is a bitter feeling that the West is applying lenient standards to a coalition whose members are strategic allies and defence customers. Mohannad al-Sayani, director of Yemen's General Organisation of Antiquities and Museums, laments that his country is suffering cultural vandalism whose ideological purpose resembles the campaign against Syrian and Iraqi antiquities. In all cases, people are bent on wiping out what they consider to be "idolatry"—in other words, any object that in their view signals deviation from the strict path laid down by the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors. In addition to the strikes from the air, he says, ruthless local branches of Islamic State and al-Qaeda are making ground attacks on Yemen's cultural sites.
Lamya Khalidi, a France-based archaeologist who worked for many years in Yemen, says the Saudi-led coalition must surely know what it is bombing; its munitions are high-precision, and it has received a list of sensitive heritage sites, drawn up in the vain hope that would be spared. It is at least somewhat heartening that UNESCO, the UN's cultural arm, has spoken out on the subject; in June it held a conference in Paris and condemned the multiple acts of cultural destruction that have taken place in Yemen, including the bombing of two places it has designated as World Heritage sites. UNESCO is also concerned by the wrecking of the Dhamar museum, which housed over 12,000 artefacts, and by air attacks on the archaeological excavation sites at Baraqish and Sirwah, both impressive pre-Islamic walled cities. Behind the scenes, the United States too is financing an anticipated Red List of antiquities at risk, to be produced by the Paris-based International Council of Museums. But America does this discreetly for fear of embarrassing its Saudi and Gulf allies – b N.P. and Erasmus
Friedensgespräche
13.9.2015 – Kleine Zeitung
Doch keine Waffenruhe im Jemen
Die jemenitische Exilregierung zieht sich aus den für kommende Woche geplanten Friedensverhandlungen mit den Houthi-Rebellen zurück. Eigentlich wäre eine Waffenruhe im vom Bürgerkrieg gebeutelten Land vorgesehen gewesen.
Die für kommende Woche geplante neueste Runde der Friedensverhandlungen für denJemen steht wieder infrage: Er werde nicht an den Gesprächen unter UNO-Schirmherrschaft teilnehmen, solange die Houthi-Rebellen nicht einem Rückzug aus von ihnen eroberten Gebieten zustimmten, erklärte der nach Saudi-Arabien geflüchtete Präsident Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in der Nacht auf Sonntag. Als Grundlage verwies sein Büro auf eine UNO-Resolution, die die Rebellen zum Teilrückzug verpflichtet.
13.9.2015 – CNN
As U.N. Yemen talks loom, President pulls out and Saudi troops push in
Hadi has refused to start political talks with the Houthis for months, repeatedly demanding the rebels' acceptance of the resolution's terms.
The April U.N. Security Council resolution slapped the Shiite group with sanctions -- a part of the measure that's been a key sticking point with Houthi leaders ever since.
But otherwise, according to senior Houthi-alled politicians and U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Houthis have accepted a majority of the resolution.
The upcoming U.N.-sponsored talks will focus on making a strategy for implementing it, senior Houthi officials told CNN.
"Accepting the U.N. resolution is not the concern; the problem is the implementation. The Houthis have accepted to withdraw their forces and hand in the arms they seized, but want to ensure they take place in a manner that doesn't keep Yemen lawless," said Hasan Zaid, President of the Houthi-allied Haq party.
"Withdrawing forces with no replacement for security will allow al Qaeda to take control, as they did in southern provinces." – by Hakim Almasmari
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/13/middleeast/yemen-president-u-n-talks/
13.9.2015 - Deutschlandfunk
Exilregierung zieht sich von Friedensgesprächen zurück
Man wolle erst dann mit den Aufständischen sprechen, wenn diese aus den wichtigsten Städten abzögen, meldet die amtliche Nachrichtenagentur Saba. Außerdem müsse die Regierung anerkannt werden. Unter Vermittlung der Vereinten Nationen sollten ursprünglich Verhandlungen der Konfliktparteien über eine Waffenruhe stattfinden.
Kommentar: Das war schon vorher klar. Man will den totalen Sieg und sonst nichts. Das Land kann dabei gerne draufgehen. Die westlichen Medien, die die Bombardierungen damit gerechtfertigt haben, dass damit die Huthis an den Verhandlungstisch gebombt werden sollten, müssen an partieller Amnäsie leiden. Die Seite, die niemals verhandeln will, ist eben die Exil“regierung“. Die Huthis haben immer wieder Verhandlungsbereitschaft betont. Ob ernst gemeint oder nicht, ist ja nie ausgetestet worden.
13.9.2015 – Der Standard
Friedensverhandlungen für Jemen auf der Kippe
Die für kommende Woche geplante neueste Runde der Friedensverhandlungen für den Jemen steht wieder infrage: Er werde nicht an den Gesprächen unter UN-Schirmherrschaft teilnehmen, solange die Huthi-Rebellen nicht einem Rückzug aus von ihnen eroberten Gebieten zustimmten, erklärte der nach Saudi-Arabien geflüchtete Präsident Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in der Nacht auf Sonntag.
Als Grundlage verwies sein Büro auf eine UN-Resolution, die die Rebellen zum Teilrückzug verpflichtet. Eigentlich sollten bei den Verhandlungen zwischen Rebellenvertretern und Exilregierung in den kommenden Tagen im Oman eine Waffenruhe und ein Rahmen für einen friedlichen Übergang ausgehandelt werden. Am Freitag hatte Hadi eine Teilnahme noch zugesagt. Nach Angaben des UN-Sondergesandten Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed hatten auch die Huthi-Rebellen ihr Kommen angekündigt.
http://derstandard.at/2000022155086/Neue-Friedensverhandlungen-fuer-Jemen-auf-der-Kippe siehe auch http://www.dw.com/de/doch-keine-friedensgespr%C3%A4che-f%C3%BCr-den-jemen/a-18711592
13.9.2015 – Aljazeera
Yemen's exiled leader calls off peace talks with rebels
Hadi refuses to negotiate with Houthis unless rebels accept UN resolution obliging them to give up seized territories
Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has backed out of the planned UN-brokered talks with Houthi rebels, his office has said.
In a statement released on Sunday, Hadi said that there would be no talks with the Houthis until they accept a UN resolution that obliged them to withdraw from areas they seized and surrender weapons taken from state institutions.
The peace negotiations were scheduled for later this week as more than five months of war have ravaged the impoverished country.
Kommentar: Deutlich erweist sich jetzt die von den USA im UN-Sicherheitsrat durchgedrückte UN-Resolution 2216 als absoluter Hemmschuh für jede Friedensverhandlungen. Diese Resolution in ihrer völligen Einseitigkeit richtet sich allein gegen die Huthis und toleriert die saudischen Luftangriffe. Ihre Erfüllung – was der Selbstaufgabe der Huthis entspräche – zur Vorbedingung für jede Verhandlungen zu machen, macht damit Verhandlungen unmöglich.
13.9.2015 – Relief Web from AFP
Yemen government shuns talks, begins major military push
Yemen's exiled government backed out of UN-brokered peace talks as loyalist forces supported by a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive against Shiite Huthi rebels on Sunday.
A military official said the offensive aimed to push the Iran-backed insurgents out of the oil-rich Marib province east of Sanaa and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized a year ago.
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government, which has fled to Saudi Arabia, had said on Friday it would join UN-mediated talks this week in Oman.
But in a short statement overnight, Hadi's office said the government would not attend talks unless the rebels first accept a UN resolution demanding their withdrawal from territory they have captured.
The government decided "not to take part in any meeting until the militia recognises Resolution 2216 and agrees to implement it without conditions," the statement said.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-government-rejects-talks-launches-major-offensive
Kommentar: der erste satz ist entlarvend: Offensive statt Gespräche.
11.9.2015 - Al Araby
Yemen's exiled government 'will attend' peace talks
Yemen's exiled government has confirmed it will attend UN-mediated peace talks next week aimed at reaching a ceasefire with the Houthi rebels who control large parts of the country.
In a statement on Thursday the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi said that a rebel pullback from areas seized since last year - as outlined by a UN resolution - remained a precondition to negotiations.
http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2015/9/11/yemens-exiled-government-will-attend-peace-talks
Kommentar: Tatsächlich wollte und will man nicht verhandeln, wie schon einen Tag später klar wurde
11.9.2015 – Euronews
UN: Neue Gespräche für eine Waffenruhe im Jemen
Die Konfliktparteien im jemenitischen Bürgerkrieg haben sich nach Angaben der Vereinten Nationen (UN) auf neue Friedensgespräche verständigt. Die Unterredungen sollten in der kommenden Woche in der Region beginnen, teilte der UN-Sondergesandte für den Jemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, am Donnerstag in New York mit. Eines der Hauptziele der Verhandlungen sei es, eine Waffenruhe zu erreichen. Ort und Zeitpunkt sollen demnach in den kommenden Tagen bekanntgegeben werden. Der UN-Sondergesandte rief die Teilnehmer auf, sich konstruktiv an den Gesprächen zu beteiligen.
http://de.euronews.com/2015/09/11/un-neue-gespraeche-fuer-eine-waffenruhe-im-jemen/
Kriegsereignisse
14.9.2015 – World Socialist Website
Saudi-led coalition pours troops into Yemen
he Saudi-led coalition which has invaded Yemen over the past two months is now poised to make a direct assault on the country’s capital city, Sanaa, according to press reports Sunday. An estimated 12,000 troops launched an offensive in Marib province, directly east of the capital.
Yemeni army brigadier general Murad Turaiq, commander of the pro-Hadi forces in Marib province allied with the Saudi-led invaders, declared, “This battle is not a battle for Marib, rather it is the battle for Sanaa.”
Turaiq did not attempt to disguise the leading role of the foreign forces, telling the press that troops from Saudi Arabia and the UAE were spearheading the offensive against the Houthi-held positions.
Press reports said the attackers were equipped with US-supplied Apache helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, underscoring the key role of the Obama administration in underwriting and authorizing the latest Middle East bloodbath.
There were accounts of troop reinforcements passing through the Wadia border crossing from Saudi Arabia into Yemen in preparation for the latest offensive.
In addition to the main battle east of Sanaa, there was renewed fighting around Taiz over the weekend, as Houthi rebels sought to improve their position in the divided city, where pro-Hadi forces held government buildings in the city center.
Acting under orders from its Saudi patrons, the Hadi government-in-exile announced Sunday that it would not attend UN-mediated peace talks with the Houthis, which had been schedule to begin this week. An official spokesman said the Houthis must first comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2216, adopted in April, which requires their effective capitulation—recognition of Hadi as president and withdrawal from Sanaa, Taiz and other major cities – by Patrick Martin
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/09/14/yeme-s14.html
14.9.2015 – Press TV Iran
Yemeni forces seize military base in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan
Yemeni forces have taken control of a Saudi military base in the southwestern border province of Jizan as part of retaliatory offensives against Saudi Arabia’s ongoing invasion of their country.
Fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement, backed by allied army units, seized the Faridhah military base and destroyed three Saudi armored vehicles in their retaliatory attacks against Saudi positions in Jizan, local media reported on Monday.
According to reports, Yemeni troops also launched an attack against Saudi-led foreign forces in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib, killing scores of them, including a Qatari and an Emirati officer. At least 21 armored vehicles were destroyed during the raid.
Forces loyal to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi backed by Saudi-led airstrikes launched a ground operation against Ansarullah movement in Ma'rib on Sunday.
Also on Monday, Yemeni troopers carried out rocket attacks on several Saudi bases in Jizan, killing and injuring a number of Saudi soldiers.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/14/429106/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Jizan-Riyadh-Ansarullah- siehe auch http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34245411
Kommentar: iranische Quelle: “Yemeni forces”: Armeeeinheiten, die auf Seiten der Huthis kämpfen.
14.9.2015: Emirates 247
UAE Armed Forces make advances on ground in Yemen; one martyred
Five Saudi Border Guards die defending Najran sector
The UAE Armed Forces have launched a successful ground offensive on the Houthi rebel militias and made advance on the ground in Marib as part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen. The General Command of the UAE Armed Forces announced that an Emirati servicemen was martyred during the operation. The General Command expressed its heartfelt sympathy and offered solace to the family of the martyr, praying to Almighty Allah to grant his soul rest in Paradise.
Kommentar: „Gefallen-für-Führer-und-Vaterland-ruht-er-auf-dem-Felde-der-Ehre“-Rhetorik auf islamisch.
13.9.2015 – Kare11 (Video)
Yemen army recruits 4,800 southern fighters: officer
The Yemeni army has recruited 4,800 southern fighters following a presidential decision to integrate loyalist militiamen who helped push Iran-backed rebels out of second city Aden, a military official has said.
http://www.kare11.com/video/4449501958001/1/Yemen-army-recruits-4800-southern-fighters-officer
Kommentar: “Yemen army” hier jemenitische anti-Huthi-Kämpfer.
13.9.2015 – Daily Star from AFP
Yemen loyalists launch offensive in province east of capital: army
Forces loyal to Yemen's exiled president, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, launched a major ground offensive against Iran-backed rebels east of the capital Sanaa on Sunday, a military official said.
"This is the largest and fiercest offensive since operations began in Marib province," the official told AFP.
Fighters loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi have attacked the rebels in two areas - Jufeinah and Faw - that lie on the route leading to rebel-held Sanaa, he said.
Most of the oil-rich province of Marib is controlled by fighters and armed tribes allied with Hadi, but the Shiite Houthi rebels and renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh hold parts of the province.
12.9.2015 – The Economist
A downward spiral: The Saudi-led coalition escalates its campaign
More troops have poured in since the attack. Saudi Arabia dispatched more elite forces to join the 3,000-strong coalition force already on the ground, while Qatar, hitherto only participating in air operations, has sent 1,000 soldiers.
The coalition has since unleashed an unprecedented flurry of air strikes in both the northern governorate of Saada, the stronghold of the Houthi rebels, and the country’s capital, Sana’a. Residents say as many civilian as military targets are being hit, including houses, restaurants and main streets. “The coalition has gone wacko since the attack,” says Hassan Boucenine, who heads the Yemen office of Médicins sans Frontières, a charity.
The action certainly has the whiff of revenge. Onlookers have already been questioning what the coalition’s campaign, now in its sixth month, hopes to achieve.
Quashing the Shia Houthis is nigh on impossible. Gulf officials and media talk bombastically of preparations to take back Sana’a from them and reinstall Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi as president (the Houthis drove him out of the country in March). But Yemen has long been treacherous territory for foreign invaders, and Gulf armies are relatively inexperienced.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21664213-saudi-led-coalition-escalates-its-campaign-downward-spiral dazu auch http://news.yahoo.com/least-20-dead-yemen-rebel-rockets-hit-marib-105151631.html
12.9.2015 – Business Standard
25 civilians killed in rocket shelling in Yemen
At least 25 civilians were killed in rockets shelling in Yemen's Marib province late Friday as ground battles intensified between the Shiite Houthi group and pro-government troops, the media reported.
Medical sources told Xinhua news agency that 25 civilians were killed and more than 16 wounded in the shelling in the market in Marib city, the provincial capital.
Witnesses said Houthi fighters fired Katyusha rockets upon the arrival of Yemeni troops trained in Saudi Arabia on Friday to Marib city.
The troops, which returned to Yemen on Wednesday, came as part of military preparation led by the Saudi-led coalition to take Marib from the Houthis and to advance to the capital Sanaa to restore power of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
12.9.2015 – Press TV Iran
Yemen army seizes 4 Saudi military bases
Fighters of the Houthi Ansarullah movement, backed by allied forces of the army, took control of the strategically important bases in the Saudi province, the southwestern region of Asir, Yemen's al-Masirah TV reported on Saturday.
The Yemeni forces set fire to lookout towers and three munitions depots at the Saudi bases. The Ansarullah fighters also destroyed at least 19 military vehicles of Saudi forces in the region.
Several Saudi soldiers are reported to have been killed in the latest operation by the Yemeni forces.
Separately, Ansarullah fighters inflicted heavy losses on Saudi forces after they targeted military installations in the regions of al-Hejlah and Jabal al-Doud in Jizan Province of southern Saudi Arabia.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/09/12/428898/Saudi-Yemen-Dhahran-
Kommentar: “Yemen army”: Iranische Quelle, hier also die auf Seiten der Huthi kämpfenden Teile der jemenitischen Armee. Jede Seite beansprucht für ihre Kämpfer den Status „jementische Armee“, da er der dahinter stehenden Regierung die beanspruchte Legitimität verleiht.
12.9.2015 – ABC News (from AP)
Yemen's Rebels Intensify Attacks in Southern City of Taiz
Yemen's Shiite rebels intensified attacks against pro-government forces on Saturday in the southern city of Taiz, as they pushed to seize a strategic mountain and landmark positions in the city ahead of scheduled peace talks, security officials said.
The fighting in Yemen's third-largest city left 14 people dead and 27 wounded, with the toll including both fighters and civilians, said the officials, who remain neutral in a conflict that has splintered security forces – by Ahmed Al-Haj
12.9.2015 – Yemen Post
18 civilians killed as violence escalates in Yemen
At least 18 civilians were killed in Yemen's province of Marib where battles between the pro-government forces and the Houthi militants have lately escalated.
Local sources said on Friday 15 civilians including women were killed after Houthi militants fired rockets on the government compound, the central market and houses randomly and hysterically.
Tens if others were injured some seriously, the sources said.
And the Saba news agency reported that the 3 others were killed in an airstrike by the Saudi-led alliance.
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=8195&MainCat=3
12.9.2015 – Reuters
At least 16 Yemeni civilians killed in Saudi-led air strikes: medics
At least 16 Yemeni civilians including ten people from a single family were killed in nationwide air strikes by a Saudi-led military coalition on Saturday, medics in three provinces said.
Gulf Arab countries have stepped up their air attacks targeting the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement allied to Iran after the group killed at least 60 Arab troops deployed to Yemen in a missile attack on their base last Friday.
The raids pummeled the Houthi-controled capital Sanaa and the southern city of Taiz, which is being fought over in heavy street battles between Houthi fighters and Gulf-backed Yemeni forces.
Two civilians were killed in the capital and ten people from one family died in Taiz. Eyewitnesses said the strikes appeared to target the houses of political leaders allied to the Houthis.
Four more people were killed near Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia in the far northern province of Saada.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/12/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0RC07920150912 = http://www.trust.org/item/20150912165608-czk73/?source=shtw
12.9.2015 – Press TV Iran
New Saudi airstrikes kill at least 13 people in Yemen
At least 13 Yemeni people have been killed and scores of others wounded in Saudi Arabia’s latest airstrikes as Riyadh's unabated aggression against the war-torn country continues.
The Yemeni al-Masirah news channel reported on Friday that at least 10 people were killed and many others sustained injuries when Saudi warplanes targeted a village in Yemen’s southwestern province of Ta’izz. The Saudi army also killed three civilians in the central province of Ma’rib and also pounded the Baqim district in the northwestern province of Sa’ada with rockets and shells.
Late on Thursday, Saudi fighter jets dropped bombs on military positions and civilian neighborhoods in and around the Yemeni capital Sana’a.
Reports said that in one of the airstrikes on the capital, the Saudi fighters targeted the Yemeni military camp of al-Hafa. The force of the explosion caused by the airstrike discharged rockets and other weapons from the military camp toward a nearby neighborhood.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/09/12/428776/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Taizz-Marib-Sanaa-Qatar-Egypt-UN
11.9.2015 – BBC
Bodies of missing Indians found in Yemen
The bodies of six Indian nationals reported missing after their boats were hit by airstrikes off Yemen on Tuesday have been found, Indian officials say.
The two boats had been carrying 21 Indian crew members when they were hit - 14 were rescued, and one remains missing.
The funerals will be held on Friday in the city of Hodeida, Yemen's second biggest port after Aden and a key source of supplies for the country's capital, Sanaa.
The Indian foreign ministry did not say who it thought had carried out the airstrikes.
However, Yemeni coast guard officials said a Saudi-led coalition attacked more than five boats off the Yemeni coast on Tuesday.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34217410 dazu http://news.yahoo.com/bodies-six-missing-indian-seamen-found-yemen-strike-001244472.html
Kommentar: Das Herumeiern um die Frage, wer die Luftschläge zu verantworten hat, ist jämmerlich. Die Huthis und ihre Verbündeten haben keine Luftwaffe.
11.9.2015 – Reuters
Gulf-trained Yemen unit joins battle in central province - official
Gulf-trained unit of Yemeni forces loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has joined the battle in the central energy-producing Marib province for the first time, a senior provincial official said on Friday.
The official, who declined to be identified, said the unit had joined the front line in the al-Jafeena area of Marib.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/09/11/uk-yemen-security-idUKKCN0RB1C620150911
11.9.2015 – Blick
Raketen zerstören Gebäude des Staatsfernsehens im Jemen
Bei einem Luftangriff ist in der jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa das Gebäude des Staatsfernsehens komplett zerstört worden. Wie Augenzeugen berichteten, wurde das Studio von Saba TV am frühen Freitagmorgen von einem Kampfjet der arabischen Militärallianz bombardiert. Auch das Studio eines weiteren Fernsehsenders sei getroffen und beschädigt worden.
11.9.2015 – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Film)
Schwere Explosionen in Sanaa
Nach neuen Luftangriffen der arabischen Militärkoalition hat es schwere Explosionen in der von schiitischen Aufständischen kontrollierten jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa gegeben. Dabei wurden offenbar Raketen und andere Waffen aus einem Lager der Rebellen in die Luft geschleudert.
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/jemen-schwere-explosionen-in-sanaa-13797541.html
11.9.2015 – RP Online
Offensive zur Eroberung der Hauptstadt: Arabische Koalition schickt Verstärkung in den Jemen
Die arabische Militärallianz hat für den Kampf gegen die schiitische Huthi-Miliz im Jemen weitere Einheiten mobilisiert. Mindestens 40 Armeefahrzeuge überquerten am Freitag die Grenze zwischen Saudi-Arabien und dem Jemen.
Mit der Verstärkung der Truppen solle die Rückeroberung der Hauptstadt Sanna vorbereitet werden, erklärte ein jemenitischer Militärvertreter.
Kampfflugzeuge der arabischen Koalition bombardierten unterdessen ein Militärfahrzeug der Rebellen in der östlichen Provinz Marib. Sieben Kämpfer seien bei dem Angriff am Freitag getötet worden, verlautete aus Armeekreisen. Auch in der benachbarten Schabwa-Provinz wurden Stellungen der Huthis aus der Luft attackiert.
http://www.rp-online.de/politik/ausland/jemen-arabische-koalition-schickt-verstaerkung-aid-1.5385786
11.9.2015 – Gulf News
More troops enter Yemen ahead of UN talks
10,000 Yemeni fighters are now ready to serve in a ‘national army being prepared to liberate Sana’a and other provinces’
On the Yemeni Saudi border: The Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed insurgents sent more military vehicles and troops across the border into Yemen on Friday in preparation for an offensive to retake the capital, military officials said.
The arrival of reinforcements came as coalition warplanes killed seven rebels in an air raid on Friday in eastern Yemen, where Apache helicopters have also joined the fight against the Al Houthi militia.
The strike targeted a military vehicle used by the militia in the eastern province of Marib, while other air raids struck rebel positions in neighbouring Shabwa province, military sources said. At least 40 coalition military vehicles crossed over into oil-rich Marib.
The vehicles were carrying Yemeni troops trained in Saudi Arabia as well as coalition troops whose nationality military officials in the area declined to specify.
It came hours after UN special envoy for Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, said that the exiled government and Al Houthi militia had agreed to take part in peace talks that “will convene in the region next week”.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/more-troops-enter-yemen-ahead-of-un-talks-1.1582347
Kommentar: Quelle vom Golf, daher Propagandasprech von “Sanaa befreien”. Die UN-Gespräche sind seitens der Hadi-„Regierung“ abgesagt, man will militärische Konfrontation.
11.9.2015 – Kurier
Rebellenangriff auf Markt im Jemen: Mindestens 20 ToteDutzende Menschen wurden durch Raketenbeschuss verletzt.
Bei einem Rebellenangriff auf einen belebten Markt sind im Jemen nach Angaben von Ärzten mindestens 20 Menschen getötet worden. Dutzende weitere Menschen wurden demnach verletzt, als Rebellen am Freitag den Markt in der östlichen Stadt Marib mit Raketen beschossen.
Wenige Stunden zuvor waren bei Angriffen der von Saudi-Arabien geführten Militärallianz in der Region um Marib sieben Rebellen getötet worden.
http://kurier.at/politik/ausland/rebellenangriff-auf-markt-im-jemen-mindestens-20-tote/152.154.661 sie ehauch http://www.n-tv.de/politik/UN-kuendigen-neue-Friedensgespraeche-an-article15914571.html
11.9.2015 – The National UAE
At least 20 dead as Houthi rockets hit market in Yemen’s Marib
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired Katyusha rockets at a busy market in the eastern city of Marib on Friday, killing at least 20 people.
“Twenty civilians were killed and dozens were wounded,” a medical official said. Witnesses said the provincial capital’s market was the target.
11.9.2015 – Mintpress News
The Saudi military has been talking up an escalation of the war against Yemen all week, announcing thousands of additional foreign troops to enter the country, but today seemed once again to be focused on their ongoing campaign of airstrikes against the capital city of Sanaa.
As usual, the airstrikes only hit “near” military targets, and at least eight civilians were confirmed kill in the attacks, including six beekeepers who were hit in an air salvo against a honey farm. Officials described the beekeepers as being killed “by mistake.”
Elsewhere, one of the major private hospitals in Sanaa was battered by constant explosions, and a number of the patients fled the building, fearing it was going to collapse from the strikes pounding the area, which was near military sites.
The civilian toll at this point is still very preliminary, with a number of ambulances struggling to make their way through the rubble and get to the casualties of the strikes. In addition to attacks near military bases, a number of residential areas were also hit, in apparent attempts to bomb the homes of political leaders seen as friendly to the Shi’ite Houthi movement – by Jason Ditz
10.9.2015 – BBC
Yemen crisis: ‘Bodies melted onto machines’ by strike
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has just returned from Yemen, where he had rare access to the scale of the humanitarian crisis.
Here he tours a bottle factory that has just been bombed and is still smoking - causing numerous casualties. The Saudi Arabian government claims it was being used as a weapons factory and a training camp for African mercenaries, but the BBC saw no evidence to support that.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34212125
Kommentar: Gatehouse macht guten Journalismus. Das Defizit der westlichen Mainstreammedien wird daran deutlich, dass kaum berichtet wurde. Der Angriff auf die Flaschenfabrik, der hier geschildert wird, liegt schon länger zurück.
Politik Großbritanniens
11.9.2015 – Spectator Blogs
Watch: Tory MP accuses BBC of bias over ‘amateurish’ Newsnight Yemen special
With charter renewal looming, the BBC is under increasing scrutiny from the government to justify its licence fee. So it’s fair to say Thursday night’sNewsnight Yemen special did little to endear the corporation to some members of the Tory camp.
The programme — led by the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse — looked into Yemen’s ‘forgotten war’; highlighting the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing campaign over Yemen to drive Houthi rebels from the city. It reported how the airstrikes — which have hit some civilian targets — are supported by Britain as the country sells arms to Saudi Arabia.
Alas, this focus has not gone down well with Daniel Kawczynski, the Tory MP who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. He has tweetedNewsnight editor Ian Katz to warn him that the licence fee should ensure balanced reporting rather than ‘one-sided propaganda’:
Now Kawczynski is scheduled to appear on tonight’s episode to make his case.
Update: Kawczynski’s appearance on the show did not go smoothly. The Tory MP had a strongly worded debate with James O’Brien, who aggressively grilled him on the country’s links to Saudi Arabia. Kawczynski remains adamant that the BBC are ‘trying to falsify the situation’ on the ground ‘through their biased coverage’.
He says ‘it’s time that people stood up to the appalling bias of the BBC’, before commenting that ‘the BBC is omnipotent and such an important organisation and never makes any mistakes’. Mr S senses a degree of sarcasm in his latter comment.
11.9.2015 – The Telegraph
Britain 'fuelling war in Yemen' through arms sales, says charity
Oxfam accuses British government of quietly fuelling war in Yemen through its ongoing arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Britain is one of the leading arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia. It has granted the Gulf Kingdom 37 export licenses for military goods since Yemen’s war began.
“The UK Government is quietly fuelling the Yemen conflict and exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises potentially in breach of both domestic and international laws on the sales of arms," Oxfam said in a statement on Friday.
“There is a paradox at the heart of the government’s approach to Yemen,” said Oxfam’s Chief Executive Mark Goldring on Friday. “On the one hand the Department for International Development is funding efforts to help civilians caught up in the conflict, while on the other the Government is fuelling the conflict that is causing unbearable human suffering."
In April, the British government allocated £4 million to help meet emergency needs as Yemen teetered on the edge of humanitarian disaster. Aid agencies say 1.8 million children across the country are at risk of malnutrition and that 84 per cent of the population are in immediate need of humanitarian assistance.
The British government says it is not participating directly in the Saudi-led operations, but acknowledges it is providing technical support and precision-guided weapons to Saudi Arabia - by louisa Loveluck
Politik der Saudis und der Golfstaaten
14.9.2015 – Dubai Eye
Yemen : We Care campaign launched
On the directives of His Highness President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and instructions of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and follow-up of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, and Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), the ERC has launched a major humanitarian campaign to help about 10 million people affected by the unfolding crisis in Yemen. Themed “Yemen: We care”, the one-month long campaign aims to mobilise support for the ERC programmes and projects with the aim of easing the suffering of those caught up in Yemen’s conflict.
http://dubaieye1038.com/yemenwecare/
Kommentar: Propaganda at its best. Eine humanitäre Jemenhilfe-Aktion von denen, die selber das Land zerbomben. Sehr schön hierzu auch die Meldung einer Spende durch einen Manager:
14.9.2015 – Gulf News
Damac chairman donates Dh1m to Yemen campaign
Donation falls within our strong belief of supporting people in need
“This donation falls within our strong belief of supporting people in need wherever they are and regardless of their nationalities or background,” Sajwani said. He added that the Yemen: We Care campaign represents a noble cause as do all the campaigns led by the leadership in the UAE, aimed at helping millions of Yemenis. “We hope that our humble contribution will help ease their suffering in the current conflict,” he said.
http://m.gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/damac-chairman-donates-dh1m-to-yemen-campaign-1.1583792
Kommentar: Beachte die Hervorhebung.
11.9.2015 – Middle East Research and Information Project
The GCC Needs a Successful Strategy for Yemen, Not Failed Tactics
For the last 45 years, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has tried to mitigate its Yemen problem through short-term tactics, rather than construct and give resources to a strategy for solving it. That policy has failed repeatedly. A bold and lasting transformation is needed, not the same ineffectual meddling.
Traditionally, the attitude of most GCC members toward Yemen has been fond but standoffish. The Gulf states have been fairly generous in funding projects and providing aid, but held populous Yemen at arms’ length, for reasons both demographic and ideological, the latter being fear of Marxism and republicanism.
Saudi Arabia has always regarded Yemen as a direct threat. King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz is reputed to havewarned his sons that “the good or evil for us will come from Yemen,” and so to keep it weak and divided. It is unclear exactly what the Saudi royal was wary of: Yemeni intentions of taking over the entirety of Saudi Arabia; efforts by Yemen’s Hamid al-Din dynasty to defeat their Al Saud rivals; or merely attempts by Yemen to recover the three provinces of ‘Asir, Jizan and Najran that ‘Abd al-‘Aziz had captured from Imam Yahya in 1934. But the king’s advice was taken to heart, and has been implemented ever since. “The Saudis want a moderate government in Sanaa—on a short leash,” Michael Van Dusen, a long-time senior staffer for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote in 1982, referring to hundreds of millions of dollars in annual disbursements to both the Yemeni government and Yemeni tribal leaders.
In addition, and as it has done in many Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia subsidized the export of puritanical Wahhabism into a nation that traditionally was Shafi‘i Sunni in the south, and Zaydi and Isma‘ili in the north. This state-sponsored evangelism was perceived as a threatening political encroachment on Zaydi space. It also grated on many Yemenis’ national sensibilities, something the Wahhabis should have known.
The 2011 uprising in Yemen brought millions of people into the streets, protesting against precisely the elite corruption and autocracy that Saudi Arabia (with Western backing) had worked to entrench. Saudi policy toward Yemen since the popular revolt is almost certainly an attempt to maintain the status quo ante. Indeed, the GCC initiative that claimed to break the political impasse has been seen as an effort to achieve an apparent transition of power while ensuring, sub rosa, that the same coterie of Saudi clients remain in place. Certainly, the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm is an attempt to reinstate ‘Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the presidency. Yet Hadi was President ‘Ali ‘Abdallah Salih’s long-term vice president, his clique shows traits similar to the deposed Salih’s, and a terrorist-traced salafi, ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Humayqani, has reportedly been appointed as Hadi’s “adviser.” Many Yemenis will see Humayqani as a Saudi-placed eminence grise.
The GCC fears that the Zaydi Houthis are a fifth column for Iran, and claims they receive a copious Iranian weapons supply. In fact, the Fiver Shi‘a—with their founding doctrine of resistance to an unjust ruler—are an ideological threat to the Islamic Republic’s theory ofvelayat-e faqih (rule of the jurisprudent), and were mostly armed by Salih. The Gulf states could regard the Zaydis as a cherished Arab ally against the Iranians, whose Safavid antecedents destroyed the first Zaydi state. Instead, GCC policy is driving Zaydis into Iranian arms.
The GCC tactic of divide, bribe and rule is a consistent failure. A new strategy is urgently needed, one based on the European model of building mutual advantage. It’s time to change – by James Spencer
http://www.merip.org/gcc-needs-successful-strategy-yemen-not-failed-tactics
Kommentar: Sehr interessante Analyse, die die gegenwärtige Entwicklung aus der regionalen Geschichte erklärt.
Saudische Seeblockade
14.9.2015 – Swedish Club
Yemen - Port situation
We have been informed by our Hodeidah Office based on the information received from Advisor of Chairman of the port authority that they have reopened the Mokha port on 11/09/2015 and the port is operational and safe.
Please be informed that the Hodeidah port has been reopened & started the work for receiving the ships from 27/08/2015 at 11:30 am & all operations are working normaly & they has been received & berthed first ship MV. ORYX at berth no.4 & started discharging at 12:30 pm for the cargo Steel & Flour.
Please be informed that any vessel calling Yemeni ports require to get entry permission from Ministry of Transport, the ships agent or receivers needs to obtain this prior to the vessels arrival to Bab Al-MandabAny vessel coming to the Yemeni ports should be calling to the naval forces of the Saudi Arabian coalition by VHF on channel 16 for the arrival registration before 3 miles of arrival to the Bab Al Mandab to get approval to enter to the Yemeni territorial waters and thereafter they will advise the ship's master about the anchor position until getting the final approval to enter after inspection.
http://www.swedishclub.com/main.php?newsid=1452&mcid=1&mid=109&pid=19
Kommentar: Die Blockade mit der Durchsuchung aller Schiffe hat die Versorgung einbrechen lassen (siehe weiter unten). Das genannte „Transportministerium“ ist natürlich Teil der die Hadi-"Regierung" im saudischen Exil.
14.9.2015 – The Indian Express
70 sailors from Gujarat stranded in war-torn Yemen, MEA ‘working on evacuation’
The men have been stuck for over 15 days now at Khokha port in Yemen where they had gone to deliver cargo. This comes days after six Indians, most of them from Gujarat, were killed following air strikes in the Arab country.
India said Sunday that it is taking steps to ensure safe evacuation of its nationals from Yemen after a sailors’ group claimed that 70 seamen from Gujarat are stranded in the war-torn country. Officials spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs’ Vikas Swarup said on Sunday, “Our mission in Yemen (camp office in Djibouti) is aware of the situation and taking steps to ensure safe evacuation of Indians.” Nearly 70 seamen from the coastal village of Mandavi in Kutch and from Jodiya and Salaya villages of Jamnagar have been stuck for over 15 days at Khokha port in Yemen where they had gone to deliver cargo in five boats, a sailors’ group in Gujarat said, appealing to the government to rescue them.
Kommentar: Diese Geschichte zeigt, was es mit der saudischen Seeblockade des Jemen auf sich hat.
13.9.2015 – The Times of India
70 sailors from Gujarat stranded in crisis-hit Yemen, sailors' group says
"About 70 Gujarati sailors along with five vessels are stranded in Yemen for around 15 days and they now need the government's help for their rescue," Vahanvatta Association of Kutch and Mandavi president Haji Juneja told PTI.
"The sailors are in a pitiable condition as some forces have been bombarding them. They escaped death last night when some force, either of the insurgents or the Saudi coalition, began an attack with rocket launchers," he said, adding that the sailors had gone to Yemen on a voyage to deliver cargo.
Meanwhile, one of the stranded sailors, identified as Sikandar from Mandavi village, sent an audio message last night in which he said that they last night came under a bomb attack.
"I am an Indian. My name is Sikandar. We are at Khokha port. They have lobbed three rockets and we somehow managed to save ourselves. We are running here and there to save ourselves," Sikandar says in the message.
"We are 70 Indians stranded here along with five ships. They have been bombarding us with warplanes. Please help us. We are Indians. We are in great difficulty. They will kill us. Please save us," he said.
13.9.2015 – Rediff News
Yemen: Intense shelling force Indian crew to seek shelter in village
Around 70 crew members, who had to abandon ship in search of safety, are now stranded near the Khokha Port. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com spoke to Indian crew members who say they are safe for now but will die of hunger if not rescued by the Indian government.
Wali Mohd, one of the Indian crew member from Kutch Mandvi told Rediff.com that as many as 70 crew in five ships are stranded near Khokha Port in Yemen.
Wali said that all were safe but on Saturday night had to evacuate their ship and seek shelter in a small village about six kilometres away from the port, after heavy shelling began where their ship was anchored.
"It is a small village and people here are helping us with water, food and shelter," Wali Mohd said. He feared that given the intensity of the shelling they may not be able to remain safe for longer.
Wali Mohd was reduced to tears as he spoke with this correspondent over the phone. He was unable to give the name of the village but said that it was just five to six kilometres away from Khokha Port.
He said that they were forced to evacuate their small mechanised boat after heavy shelling on Saturday and the group abandoned the ship in search of safety. Most of these 70 were now scattered, he said. "We ran wherever our instincts took us," Wali Mohd said.
When asked if the Indian government was in touch with them, Wali Mohd said, "We get a lot of calls from India but due to poor network connectivity it was difficult to say who the callers were." He said he wasn't aware of the exact date when they sailed from Mandvi with a cargo of foodgrain, textile material and edible oil, but were stranded at Khokha Port for more than a week. Wali Mohd said two of the ships that set sail last w
10.9.2015 – Antikrieg
Blockade der Saudis paralysiert Nahrungslieferungen in den Jemen
Als Land mit wenig bebaubaren Flächen musste der Jemen schon lange rund 90% seiner Lebensmittel aus dem Ausland importieren. Traditionell wurde das per Schiff betrieben, aber mit einer Seeblockade der gesamten jemenitischen Küste durch die Saudis die letzten Monate hindurch ist es nicht einfach, diese Schiffe in einen Hafen zu bekommen.
Viele Reedereien haben sich zurückgezogen, nachdem der Versuch, in den Jemen zu liefern, mit endlosen Verzögerungen durch die Marinekräfte vor der Küste verbunden ist. Diejenigen, die weiterhin versuchen, Lebensmittel zu liefern, warnen vor der steigenden Gefahr einer Hungersnot besonders im Norden, wo die Blockade so gut wie alle Lieferungen verhindert.
23 Schiffe liegen allein vor der Küste von Hodeida, ohne Hinweis, wann, ja ob sie überhaupt die Genehmigung zum Anlegen bekommen werden. Sogar im Fall, dass sie grünes Licht bekommen, ist es schwierig, die Lieferung abzuwickeln, da die Kriegsflugzeuge der Saudis einen großen Teil des Hafens mit Luftangriffen zerstört haben, darunter auch die Ladekräne, mit denen die Schiffe entladen werden.
Die Marine der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika gab eine Warnung heraus, dass rund 14 Millionen Jemeniten aufgrund der Blockade ohne Grundnahrungsmittel dastehen könnten, und dass die Blockiererländer keine klare Erklärung für ihre Verzögerung liefern, obwohl die meisten Schiffe aus Europa und aus den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika kommen.
Bemerkenswert ist, dass die Marine der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, die zeitweise selbst bei der Blockade mitgemacht hat, nominell um den Schmuggel „iranischer Waffen“ in den Jemen zu verhindern, jetzt an der Blockade herumnörgelt. Die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika nehmen weiterhin an dem Krieg teil, aber genau zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt nicht direkt an der Blockade.
Früher diese Woche hatten zwei indische Schiffe die Nase voll vom Warten und versuchten, die Blockade zu durchbrechen und Treibstoff in einen der Häfen in der Nähe von Hodeida zu liefern. Sie wurden von den Kriegsflugzeugen angegriffen und 20 indische Bürger wurden durch die Angriffe getötet – von Jason Ditz
http://antikrieg.com/aktuell/2015_09_11_blockade.htm = http://europaobjektiv.com/nachrichten/news-sammlung_1624.html
Kommentar: Nach neueren Meldungen wurden 7 Inder getötet, 13 überlebten.
in English:
Saudi Blockade Paralyzes Food Shipments to Yemen
A nation with little arable land, Yemen has long had to import some 90% of its food from abroad. This has traditionally meant ships, but with a Saudi-led naval blockade of the entire Yemeni coast for the past several months, it’s not easy to get those ships into port.
Many shipping companies have pulled out, since trying to deliver to Yemen means endless delays from the naval forces off the coast. Those who continue to try to deliver food warn of a growing risk of famine, particularly in the north, where the blockade is preventing virtually all shipments.
23 ships are parked off the cost of Hodeida alone, with no indication when or even if they’ll be allowed to dock. Even when they’re given the go-ahead, it’s difficult to make their deliveries since Saudi warplanes destroyed much of the port’s infrastructure in airstrikes, including the cranes that would usually lift huge cargoes of grain off the ships.
The US Navy issued a report warning that some 14 million Yemenis could be left without basic foods because of the blockade, adding that the blockade countries aren’t offer clear explanation of the holdup, even though most of the ships are from Europe and the US.
It is noteworthy that while the US Navy is grousing about the blockade they have actually taken part in it at times, nominally to prevent “Iranian weapons” from being smuggled to Yemen. The US remains involved in the war, but not directly in the blockade right now.
Earlier this week, a pair of Indian ships got tired of waiting and attempted to run the blockade and deliver fuel to one of the ports near Hodeida, they were attacked by the warplanes, and 20 Indian citizens were killed in the attacks – by Jason Ditz
http://news.antiwar.com/2015/09/10/saudi-blockade-paralyzes-food-shipments-to-yemen/
Ältere Linksammlungen: https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose
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