Allgemein / General
22.11.2015 – Der Freitag
Erdöl und Wirtschaftskrieg
Erdölkrieg. Der Westen bringt nicht nur Ölquellen in seine Gewalt, sondern nutzt die Kontrolle von Erdöltransportwegen zur Führung von Wirtschaftskriegen.
In diesem Zusammenhang ist auch der aktuelle Krieg, den Saudi Arabien und einige arabische Länder mit logistischer Unterstützung der USA seit März 2015 im Jemen führen, zu sehen. Der Jemen ist eines der ärmsten Länder der Welt. Wie gerade die Nachrichtenagenturen berichten, sind durch den aktuellen Krieg laut UNICEF eine halbe Million jemenitische Kinder vom Hungertod bedroht,[2] bis November 2015 mussten 7.000 Menschen ihr Leben lassen. Als Kriegsgrund wird ein Konflikt von Sunniten und Schiiten vorgeschoben, tatsächlich geht es jedoch darum, wer die Meerenge im Golf von Aden kontrolliert, die Saudis im Verbund mit den USA oder eine Iran-freundliche Regierung in Sanaa. Jedes Schiff, das von Europa in den Indischen Ozean oder von dort zurück will, muss den Golf von Aden passieren, auch jedes Schiff, das aus dem Iran kommt und nach Europa will. Indirekt ist auch Deutschland an diesem Krieg beteiligt, das Waffen an Saudi Arabien liefert und erst 2015 ein großes Rüstungsgeschäft abgeschlossen hat. Obwohl inzwischen wirklich jeder weiß, dass Saudi Arabien auch den IS mit Waffen versorgt, schlossen die USA mit Saudi Arabien Waffengeschäfte im Wert von 1,29 Mrd. US-Dollar ab, unter anderem werden 22.000 selbststeuernde Raketen und 5.000 Umbaukits, mit denen sich alte Raketen mit Hilfe von GPS-Signalen in präzisionsgelenkte Waffen umbauen lassen, an Saudi Arabien geliefert – von Angelika Gutsche
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/gela/erdoel-und-wirtschaftskrieg
22.11.2015 – Democracy Now
Yemen is not Paris: western media’s cold shoulder
Yemen has never been a staple of the western media. It did pop up on the news when in a leadership shift à la Arab Spring, Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in February 2012 as president after thirty-three years as strongman. In January this year Yemen came back to our screens when the Houtis, a Zaidi Shiite group, seized control of the government. In response, a Sunni Saudi-led,US-backed coalition started bombing the south of the country in March to neutralize the insurgents. Amidst the confusion and vanished institutions, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State (IS) affiliate in the region strengthened their foothold in this corner of the Middle East.
This chain of events has brought to Yemen a humanitarian disaster. According to UNOCHA, the UN’s humanitarian agency, over 84% (21.1 million) of Yemenis cannot meet basic needs such as food, water, and medical supplies. Almost 1.5 million Yemenis have been forced out of their homes. Since March more than 5,600 people have been killed, around of whom 2,700 are civilians.
This situation has been worsened by a maritime blockade engineered by the Saudi-led coalition to cut supplies to the Houtis. Yemen is now hardly importing any food or fuel, the latter essential to keep generators, ambulances and water pumps working. After a visit to Yemen in August, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said, “Yemen in five months is like Syria after five years […] the world needs to wake up to what is going on.”Yet media coverage of Yemen, in particular of its dire humanitarian situation, remains shamefully scant. But why is that?
The fact that one of the world's poorest and hungriest countries is being fatally hit by man-made mayhem has failed to make a sustained dent in the western media in the way that similar conflicts did. The 2011 Libyan civil war that overthrew and killed Gaddafi, or Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the summer or 2014 – more civilians have already died in Yemen than did in Gaza - generated far more media indignation, or, “sense of moral urgency,” as Sara Roy, Harvard associate of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies, puts it, than the Yemeni conflict has done or will ever do.
It is true that with very few international and local reporters on the ground, verifying facts is challenging. ”Local journalists have either fled to their villages or left the country and there are only a handful of foreign journalists in the country and they keep a low profile,” says Charlene Rodrigues, a freelance journalist based in Sana'a, Yemen’s capital. With sea and land routes to Yemen nonexistent or notably dangerous, the two weekly Saudi-controlled flights to Sana’a are pretty much the only option for foreign reporters to enter the country.
“The public responds best to human interest stories, photos, and videos that paint a picture of what it is like to live under blockade and in the middle of a war. But in the case of Yemen these products are thin on the ground. Without journalists in the country, Yemen is slowly fading from people's consciousness," argues Imad Aoun, Oxfam’s Yemen Media Lead.
Updates from inside the country became even scarcer when, following a UN resolution in mid-April demanding the end of violence in Yemen, the major international powers shut down their embassies and evacuated their diplomats.
Given the critical lack of journalists and diplomats, the hundreds of aid workers active in the country are a crucial source of updates from the field. UN agencies and charities like the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC)and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) maintain a significant presence. In late October, news of a bombarded MSF-run hospital, the only operational facility in the North-western district of Haydan, by Saudi-led airstrikes emerged thanks to the condemnation of the organisation’s aid workers. Occasionally, charity workers use main stream media channels to shed light on the dreadful situation in war-torn Yemen.
“It is tragic that, even before the current crisis began, 61% of Yemenis needed humanitarian aid. That went on for around a decade with hardly any coverage in the media,” argues Karl Schembri, Regional Media Advisor at the Middle East Regional Office of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Such media apathy is reinforced by the aloofness of the western political class, in particular “by thelack of engagement from leftist politics [indeed displayed with Palestine],“ as Sophia Dingli, a Lecturer in International Relations at University of Hull,maintains.
Finian Cunningham, a contributor writer for RT, argues that given that the US, Britain and France provide the Arab coalition with intelligence and logistics “the onus” is ”on [the CNN, the BBC and France 24] because their governments are implicated in grave crimes.” The mainstream media’s uninterest in this conflict cannot be attributed to the irrelevance of the country. But the potential role of Yemen as a supplier of oil to the west; the control of the key port of Aden, gateway to the Red and Arabian Seas; the country’s proximity to volatile Somalia; and Sana'a’s strategic position in the Sunni-Shiite struggle make Yemen an important territory for western and regional powers to rein in.
With the Yemeni conflict eclipsed by the Syrian and Iraqi chaos, it is still surprising that the nature of the Arab intervention in the country has failed to raise enough eyebrows. The very fact that the obscure and opulent Saudi absolute monarchy is guiding autocratic regimes like Egypt’s and Sudan’s into the gory assault of one of world’s worst-off countries should surely have dragged western editors to pay a much closer look to Yemen.
Of the main non Anglo-Saxon, state-own English-language broadcasters, four are widely covering the Yemeni conflict. RT (originally Russia Today) and Iran’s Press TV are reporting almost daily about the alleged atrocities committed by the Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-allied Houthi insurgents.
On the other side, Qatar’s Aljazeera is proving comparatively objective on its extensive reporting of the conflict – the more remarkable bearing in mind that Qatar sent 1,000 troops to Yemen as part of the Arab coalition. Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya does very little more than glorifying the advance of the Arab coalition in what is a de facto propaganda war vis-à-vis RT and Press TV.
The wholesale return of IS to the headlines following the Paris massacre will soon bring Yemen to the attention of commentators. The bloody chaos engulfing the country and the increasing grievances unleashed by the Arab invasion guarantee sectarian and jihadist volatility for years to come. The media should play a proactive part in warning our leaders that another Syria and another Iraq are in the making. – by Javier Delgado Rivera
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.
21.11.2015 – Yemen News Today
Peace talks delayed as Saudi stocks up on bombs – update 21st November
This week has been the same never ending reports of death and destruction in Yemen. And the UN is saying today that they peace talks – due to start next week – are now delayed until December. I guess Hadi and his powerful neighbours want to make more progress in the ground war before entering the talks, but as usual – the ground war is at stalemate. Everyone says this war can only be ended by negotiations, so why oh why do they have to kill more Yemenis before they talk, for God’s sake?
Taiz is a ferocious battleground, with both sides hoping to use any progress there as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations. I read in one paper that the Houthi-Saleh alliance are using mercenaries from Ethiopia – I don’t know if it is true – and the Saudi-led alliance is definitely bringing in mercenaries and allies from all over the Middle East, Africa, and South America. If you read newspaper articles in papers from members of the Saudi led coalition, they are winning. On the other hand, if you read Iranian or Houthi papers and news agencies, then you would also read that they too are winning. When I hear from ordinary Taiz people with no political affiliations, they only state that they are being killed and starved.
Hadi – who ran away from his country and responsibilities at the beginning of the war has moved back to Aden at last – he says permanently. I guess he’s left his family safe and comfortable in Riyadh. I hope this development means that more effort will be put into security matters in Aden. Al Qaeda is driving around openly and the Houthi-Saleh alliance are said to be approaching the city – again. Adenis have been asked to leave their weapons at home – but with gun-toting militias around and no effective police or army, that’s a big ask. Hadi’s return may indeed draw the fight to Aden, as he is himself a divisive figure with limited popularity and many enemies.
The Saudi bombing raids are as fearsome as ever, killing and destroying all in their wake, especially in the northwest of Yemen. They obviously have used up lots of their bombs (they dropped 40,000 in the first seven months of war); they have now ordered another 25,140 air to ground missiles from US, including 1,500 penetrator warheads (usually nuclear tipped) and 2,000 of the huge Mother Of All Bombs, each over 1000 pounds. Total cost said to be 1.3 billion US dollars. Human Rights Watch have called on the US not to send weapons to Saudi Arabia, but I guess no-one is listening. An Italian news outlet said the weapons are on their way already. There is the usual round of dire warnings about the Yemeni humanitarian situation – this week ICRC has put out an appeal about the crisis – as has UNICEF. The two recent cyclones have added to the disastrous situation in Yemen. But it’s one thing making a plea and wringing your hands. Yemenis actually need action now – they are already dying.
The UK media this week has really focused on Paris and the events there, and I guess for people like me who are trying to get empathetic coverage of a much bigger disaster elsewhere this is frustrating. For example, on BBC Radio 4 a man said that after two lots of bombs in 10 months, he is wondering whether Paris is a good place to bring up his children. HELLO!!!! People in Yemen have had massive destructive bombs every single day for over 237 days in some cities like Saada; their homes, schools, hospitals destroyed and perhaps they too think that this is not a good place to bring up children. Some cities such as Taiz have had ground war every day for over four months, their city looking as damaged as cities in Syria after 5 years. Don’t Yemenis and Arabs want to protect their children too? Surely this is the reason why there are so many refugees in Europe today – by Judith Brown
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
20.11.2015 – Al Monitor
Surrounded by war, Yemen’s students suffer
The war in Yemen is taking a huge psychological and material toll on young students as their schools are being intentionally targeted, officials say. Education officials there estimate the war has destroyed more than 1,300 schools, required hundreds of others to be converted into shelters and created a black market for, of all things, school supplies.
“The UN stood helpless as schools are targeted by all parties to the Yemeni conflict,” Paolo Lembo, UN resident coordinator in Yemen, said in October. “We cannot compel any of the parties to refrain from targeting schools, as imposing such a condition upon them by force is extremely difficult.”
The fighting, which began in late March, has damaged all levels of the education sector. The children of Yemen, numbering in the millions, are being deprived of their basic right to an education. They are suffering great mental anguish as the fighting continues unabated, accompanied by air strikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition.
“The repercussions of the aggression waged by the Saudi-led coalition are grave, particularly upon the education sector, leading to the abrogation of given childhood rights,” Deputy Minister of Education Abdullah al-Hamidi confirmed to Al-Monitor, adding that damage inflicted on the vital sector is massive. “Hundreds of schools [have been] destroyed, while the remaining standing few were converted to shelters for refugees fleeing a number of Yemeni cities.”
He noted that “six and a half million children have been affected by this war.”
Moreover, Hamidi explained that the ministry is “unable to furnish educational material due to a lack of paper used to print textbooks and the impossibility of importing such paper as a result of the siege imposed by the aggressors against our country.”
In a phenomenon seldom seen anywhere else in the world, many Yemenis are being driven to purchase their educational essentials on the black market that has emerged in the capital of Sanaa and other provincial centers. The market is driven by demand and a lack of official action against the trade of educational material.
Yet, Hamidi said there are reasons to be optimistic. Parents seem determined to uphold educational standards by encouraging their children to attend schools. Also, ministry representatives who have visited many schools in Sanaa said primary and secondary students expressed their desire to continue their studies despite the raging war.
Salem Mughallis, Education Office general director in Aden, described the specific situation in that city.
Like others, Mughallis emphasized that the damages of war are not limited to material losses, but extend to the psychological impact on students and teachers alike.
In that regard, Sanaa schoolteacher Abed Abdelghani told Al-Monitor, “Many families were forced to leave their homes in Sanaa and move to other areas in search of security. As a result, refugee students were compelled to adapt to new realities in the areas to which they fled. Students, predominantly children aged between 7 and 10, are the segment of society most affected by this war.”
Abdelghani stressed “the urgent need for Yemen to psychologically rehabilitate its students, thus allowing them to return to school.”
“Some have lost their fathers or other family members in addition to the [other] psychological traumas that they have endured due to the indiscriminate shelling of heavily populated areas.” – by Ashraf Al-Falahi
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/11/yemen-war-students-suffer-education.html
19.11.2015 – Vice News
More Than 800 Women and Children Have Died in Yemen, and No One Has Food
Yemen's humanitarian and human rights catastrophe continues to worsen, according to new UN figures which put the number of killed since late March at more than 5,700.
Speaking to reporters in Cairo by videoconference, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van Der Klauww said that 830 of the dead were women and children. UN officials had earlier put the total number of civilians killed at more than 2,600.
As the death toll in the conflict pitting Saudi-led coalition forces against Shia Houthi rebels and their allies continues to rise, humanitarian conditions have only grown more dire, said the coordinator. 21.2 million people in the country – 82 percent of its entire population – are in need of some sort of humanitarian assistance.
Prior to the start of hostilities in Yemen, the country was already the Arab's world's poorest. Most of Yemen's food and basic goods must be imported from abroad, a necessity that has led to critical shortages of both food and now medical supplies. In addition to the danger posed to companies attempting to import supplies, a Saudi blockade of the country has severely diminished the flow of goods to a trickle in many parts of Yemen. When they are available, prices for both food and fuel have skyrocketed. In turn, the pumping and transport of water, which requires fuel, has been severely curtailed.
Humanitarian organizations including Doctors Without Borders have also accused the Houthis of blocking aid once it has arrived in the country. Last month, the group said rebel fighters had prevented the transport of basic medical supplies into the hotly contested city of Taiz.
"In this conflict, we have seen an almost complete disregard for human life, with indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure," said Van Der Klauww – by Samuel Oakford
19.11.2015 – UN News Center
Senior UN relief official warns health and education systems in war-torn Yemen ‘near collapse’
Warning that “humanitarian agencies cannot be a substitute for [Yemen’s] basic services,” a senior United Nations relief official wrapped up a three-day visit to the country stressing that its health and education systems in the country are on the brink of collapse and stressed that “peace is the only solution to prevent a humanitarian disaster.”
“Eight months of conflict have had a devastating effect on all aspects of life in Yemen, with the health and education sectors the hardest hit,” said the Head of Operation for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging in a news release.
Mr. Ging also reported that a sharp reduction in imports and a ban on exports have reduced public and commercial revenues, resulting in collapsing services and livelihoods.
“Ministries are running out of money for supplies and salaries for health workers and teachers, and there are widespread shortages of medicines to treat chronic illnesses. MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières] is warning of a catastrophic situation for dialysis patients in particular,” he added.
On his visit, from 15 to 17 November, Mr. Ging met affected people, humanitarian partners, and representatives of the Government and the opposition and stressed that everyone “called for an immediate end to the conflict and the resumption of normal commercial activities.”
Mr. Ging commended the work of Yemeni civil society organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) and UN organizations during the course of the crisis.
"There has been an impressive scale-up of aid operations thanks to the heroic efforts of humanitarian staff, but we must be clear that humanitarian agencies cannot substitute for a country's public services,” noted Mr. Ging.
OCHA reported that UN and its humanitarian partners are doing their utmost to deliver aid despite the challenging environment.
Agencies are distributing food to 2.4 million people on a monthly basis, providing medical supplies to improve health access for 2.6 million people, and treating 97,000 severely malnourished children, OCHA said adding that country-wide vaccination campaigns continue.
Further, the UN agency said that emergency water and sanitation support has reached 3.7 million people since April.
Mr. Ging stressed the need for all parties of the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law saying that it is ‘unacceptable to prevent aid deliveries or to steal humanitarian supplies.’
Lastly, he appealed for the immediate lifting of the siege on Taiz city and an end to the bureaucratic obstacles to aid delivery inside Yemen.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52607#.Vk6ijHYvfct
Kulturerbe / Cultural heritage
22.11.2015 – Deutschlandradio Kultur
BOMBEN DER SAUDI-ARABISCHEN KOALITION: Angriff auf Jemens Kulturerbe
Abdulmalek El Maqaleh hat als Reiseführer früher viele Deutsche durch die uralten Gassen von Jemens Hauptstadt begleitet. Die legendären Turmbauten von Sanaa, über 6000 dicht aneinander gedrängte Häuser, bis zu acht Stockwerke hoch, sind Weltkulturerbe.
"Die Altstadt ist historisch, eine der ältesten Städte der Welt. Der Bau, der heute steht, ist über 1000 Jahre alt."
Trotzdem schlugen auch hier Bomben der saudi-arabischen Kampfjets ein.
"Die Altstadt ist zweimal angegriffen worden. Da sind Häuser total zerstört. Und über hundert Häuser sind betroffen."
Abdulmalek El Maqaleh ärgern diese Aussagen[der Saudis]:
"Ich sage dazu, dass sie immer 'Huthi, Huthi' sagen. Das stimmt nicht. Sie haben ungefährt 40 alte Kulturstätten bombardiert. Nicht nur Sanaa. Der alte Damm von Ma'rib ist zerstört worden, der Mon-Tempel, Baraqish... Die Zitadelle in Taiz ist auch zerstört worden."
Die Luftangriffe der saudi-arabischen Kampfjets gefährden Jemens Kulturerbe. Das bestätigt auch Dr. Iris Gerlach. Sie leitet die Außenstelle des Deutschen Archäologischen Institutes in Sanaa, musste aber aus Sicherheitsgründen schon Ende 2013 das Land verlassen. Dass die saudi-arabische Koalition gezielt Kulturstätten im Jemen unter Beschuss nimmt, bezweifelt sie zwar.
"Ich denke, es sind Kollateralschäden. Es ist eine gewisse Unwissenheit, obwohl wir Archäologen gemeinsam mit der Unesco eine Liste aufgestellt haben, von allen Museen, von allen antiken Plätzen im Jemen und die ist weitergereicht wurden an die saudi-arabischen Koalition, natürlich mit der dringenden Bitte, dort keine Luftangriffe zu fliegen. Andererseits ist es wohl so, dass diese Orte möglicherwiese auch als Verstecke von der sogenannten Huthi-Opposition genutzt werden. Und dann wurde uns gesagt, dass da auch keine Rücksicht auf Antiken genommen wird."
Auch die Grabungsstätten der deutschen Archäologen sind betroffen.
"Ma'rib, 150 Kilometer östlich der Hauptstadt, war im frühen ersten Jahrtausend bis in die ersten nachchristlichen Jahrhunderte Zentrum Südarabiens. Von hier hat sich eine großartige Hochkultur entwickelt, mit ganz wunderbarer Architektur. Einer dieser kleinen Stadtanlagen mit mindestens drei, vier Tempeln haben wir seit den 90er-Jahren ausgegraben. Und diese große Tempelanlage ist durch Kampfhandlungen zerstört worden. Das ist für immer verloren. Das ist, was einen traurig und hilflos stimmt."
Umso dramatischer, dass auch in Dhamar, im Hochland des Jemen, ein gerade neu errichtetes Museum von saudischen Kampfjets in Schutt und Asche gelegt wurde.
"12.500 Objekte beherbergte dieses Museum. Und das ist wirklich dem Erdboden gleich gemacht worden. Hier passieren grauenhafte Dinge, humanitär absolut genauso wie Zerstörung des Kulturgutes." – von Cornelia Wegerhoff
21.11.2015 – International Business Times
Yemen: 23 heritage sites destroyed by Saudi airstrikes
Saudi-led air raids have razed to the ground 23 archaeological landmarks including six ancient cities, six castles, three museums, two mosques, four palaces and several other archaeological sites in the Arab country.
Director of Yemen's General Organisation of Antiquities and Museums Mohannad al-Sayani said that nearly two dozen landmarks and monuments had been severely damaged since the beginning of Riyadh government's airstrikes on Yemen.
The sites were located in the central Yemeni city of Ma'rib, the southern port city of Aden, the southwestern city of Dhale, Sa'adah in northwestern Yemen and the western port city of Hudaydah, as well as the cities of Ta'izz, Shabwa and Hajjah in the south of the country, according to Yemen's official Saba news agency.
Anthropologist and historian Francesco G. Fedele who was a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Yemen for ten years said in an interview with The Intercept: "We are dealing here with unnecessary and possibly wanton destruction… by the Saudi Arabian army.
"It is sad that such a conduct by the Saudis is not being condemned and, worse still, is kept under silence by conniving governments particularly in North America," he added.
The historical sites have sustained between 30%-100% of damage as a result of Saudi Arabia's aerial bombardment of its southern neighbor – by Fiona Keating
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/yemen-23-heritage-sites-destroyed-by-saudi-airstrikes-1529862 = http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.de/2015/11/23-heritage-sites-destroyed-in-saudi.html#.VlHbDnYvfcs
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
22.11.2015 – Zeit Online
Landminen bringen Offensive der Regierungsarmee im Jemen ins Stocken
Wegen Landminen ist die Offensive der jemenitischen Regierungstruppen und ihrer Verbündeten zur Rückeroberung der südwestlichen Provinz Taes ins Stocken geraten. Die von den Huthi-Rebellen eingesetzten Anti-Personen- und Anti-Panzer-Minen hätten das Vorrücken der Einheiten gebremst, hieß es am Sonntag aus Kreisen der Armeeführung. Mehrere Soldaten seien getötet worden. Die Truppen von Präsident Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi bezogen demnach rund um die Stadt Rahida Stellung, um die Rebellen aus der zweitgrößten Stadt der Provinz zu vertreiben. Vier Huthis seien bei Gefechten südlich von Rahida getötet worden, sagten Vertreter der Regierungstruppen.
22.11.2015 – AFP
Landmines slow key advance by Yemen loyalists
Pro-government forces in Yemen pressed their advance Sunday to recapture the southwestern province of Taez but were slowed by landmines planted by Shiite rebels, military officials said.
"We have advanced after having cleared and destroyed a large quantity of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines planted by the Huthi rebels and their allies" amongst renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a military official said.
Troops and allied Popular Resistance fighters had advanced towards Rahida, the province's second-largest city, on the road linking main southern city Aden with Taez, the official said.
Four Huthis were killed and two others captured in an ambush by loyalists that targeted two rebel patrols south of Rahida, he said.
A Yemeni commander confirmed that mines were hampering the progress of government forces and had caused casualties among fighters, without providing any figures – by Nabil Hassan
http://news.yahoo.com/landmines-slow-yemen-loyalists-advance-taez-002400425.html see also http://www.albawaba.com/news/houthi-forces-using-banned-land-mines-yemen-771730
21.11.2015 – Fars News
Yemeni Forces Take Control of Key Mountain in Ma'rib
Yemen's Ansarullah fighters and army troops took a strategic mountain in the Yemeni Province of Ma'rib from the Saudi-backed militants.
The Yemeni forces gained full control over Al-Ashqari mountain in Ma'rib, informed sources said Saturday.
Earlier reoports said the Yemeni forces fired rockets at a power station in Saudi Arabia's Southwestern region of Jizan as the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters continue to retaliate against the Persian Gulf kingdom's aggression against their nation.
The Yemeni missiles pounded Baydah power station in al-Khubah area in Jizan region, sources said Saturday.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830001432
Kommentar: Und eine iranische Agentur berichtet von Erfolgen der Huthis und ihrer Verbündeten. Während gleichzeitig die Gegenseite von Erfolgen in einem anderen Frontbereich berichtet:
21.11.2015 – WAM
National army, Yemen's resistance forces draw closer Taiz amid disarray among Houthi rebels
acked by the popular resistance and the Arab coalition forces, the Yemen's national army have been advancing on the southwestern front along the Lahij Governorate to the first border areas of the Taiz Governorate.
The local sources in the region said there has been disarray in the ranks of the Houthi militia and Saleh group amid reports they were fleeing from the battlefields.
They added that the disarray came after the national army on Tuesday evening tightened full control over Al Sharaijah area and its environs, and captured dozens of the Houthi militia and Saleh group forces. Meanwhile, the national army and the popular resistance through the air force coverage of the Arab coalition managed to overcome the danger of mines and advanced rapidly in the first areas of Taiz Governorate.
The sources said that the legitimate forces backed by Apache gunships pounded the defence lines of the Houthi rebels on the southwestern front. They could advance further with the support of the jetfighters to the areas bordering Taiz on the eastern gate of the city.
The reports said that the dozens of militia surrendered to the forces of the national army in the region, adding that many of them who gave their weapons, were mostly children.
http://www.wam.ae/en/news/[Emirates]/1395288272884.html
21.11.2015 – Vestnik Kavkaza
Military operation in Yemen has reached deadlock
As suggested by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Forecasting and Settlement of Political Conflicts, Alexander Kuznetsov, the military operation of Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen has not reached its goal. "Despite the air raids, air strikes, which have killed 5600 people, according to the official data, in fact there were many more, there has been great destruction. But the military power of the Houthi groups, the groups of [ex-President Ali Abdullah] Saleh , have not been destroyed, and more than that, not even badly damaged".
The ground operations in Yemen, which began in September, in general, are proceeding pretty badly, facing difficulties."Firstly, after the events known at the beginning of September, when a Tochka-U missile destroyed, according to some sources, 80 Saudi and UAE soldiers, on the other, 120 people, of course the enthusiasm of Saudi Arabia to fight was diminished. Now some very strange contingent is being formed, some Sudanese armed forces. There is information that representatives of private military companies from Europe, the USA and Latin America are being involved. I believe this is absolutely unacceptable. Because it puts the trump card in the hands of the terrorists and extremists in the region. Of course, if people arrive, non-Muslims in the country to fight Muslims, then this won’t lead to anything good, and we know it well. And this very scratch contingent that will fight in Yemen, there is no certainty that it can achieve any great military success ", Alexander Kuznetsov says.
According to him, ‘’There is fighting in the city of Taiz, once one of the largest cities in Yemen, there has been vast destruction in the city. But a great success has not been reached by the coalition, despite the rather fierce shelling from both sides, the rather fierce fighting. That is, the military operation has come to a standstill of some kind, in general, this was predicted by many experts, analysts from the beginning when it all started, Saudi Arabia, actually, got its Afghanistan. And more than that, the Saudi army is not prepared for prolonged military conflict, a conflict of such duration. There is no combat experience, there is no coordination, and so on. To date, it is clear that there is no alternative to a political dialogue in Yemen. And the attempts of both sides to resolve the case by military means, to destroy each other, are doomed to failure.’’
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/Military-operation-in-Yemen-has-reached-deadlock.html
21.11.2015 – Emirates 24 7
Two Houthi commanders killed in Yemen
Report says two are close to Houthi chief
Yemeni national resistance fighters killed two Houthi field commanders close to the group’s top leader in an ambush in the central region.
The resistance fighters ambushed the two commanders riding in a convoy with other coup rebels on a rugged road West of the central town of Ibb.
Yemen’s network Masdar Online said the fighters attacked the convoy on Saturday in Adeen area and that other insurgents were also killed or wounded.
Quoting military sources, it said the resistance men carried out the ambush after watching rebel movements in that area for five days.
The network did not identify the two commanders killed in the ambush but said they are close to the Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi.
“The ambush was followed with heavy fighting for nearly half an hour. Two field commanders close to Abdul Malik Al Houthi were killed while several other rebels were also killed or wounded in the clashes,” the report said.
http://www.emirates247.com/news/two-houthi-commanders-killed-in-yemen-2015-11-22-1.611293
21.11.2015 – Press TV Iran
Saudi warplanes kill 8 fishermen in western Yemen
At least eight Yemeni fishermen have lost their lives after Saudi Arabia’s warplanes bombed their boasts in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s al-Masirah TV reported on Saturday that the fishermen were killed near Hanish Island in the western province of Hudaydah.
In a similar attack on Thursday, Saudi jets pounded several boats off the coast of Zaqar Island, killing 20 fishermen and injuring several others.
Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes targeted a residential area in the northern Sa’ada province. The airborne assault left a Yemeni woman and her son dead and several others wounded.
20.11.2015 – Yemen Post
20 fishermen killed in new massacre by coalition off Yemen
At least 20 fishermen were killed and tens of others injured after they had been attacked by the Saudi-led coalition off Yemen's western coast, local officials said on Thursday.
Apache helicopters of the coalition targeted the boats of the fishermen near this islands of Honaish and Zoqar on the Red Sea committing a second massacre in days, they said.
The death toll is expected to rise as the rescue teams have been unable reach the tragedy site, they added.
Days ago, 11 fishermen were killed in attacks by the coalition, weeks after around 100 fishermen were killed off Hodeida.
Today, the coalition carried out fresh airstrikes in the provinces of Saada, Hajjah, Jawf and others.
The raids coincided with continuing battles between the pro-government forces and the Houthi militants in the provinces of Taiz, Dhali and Jawf.
In Dhali, five civilians were killed and injured in mortar attacks by the pro-government fighters in the district of Damt, the Saba news agency reported.
In Taiz, locals said 10 civilians were killed and 7 others injured in mortar attacks on their residences by the Houthi militants.
The government forces backed by the popular resistance and the coalition launched an offensive to drive the militants of Taiz three days ago.
On Thursday, more fighters from both sides, around 14, were killed and injured in raging battles in key parts in downtown and on outskirts, the sources said.
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=8285&MainCat=3
20.11.2015 – The National UAE
Pro-government forces in Yemen wrest control of Al Wazeyah from Houthis
Pro-government forces in Yemen seized full control of Al Wazeyah district in Taez on Thursday.
They also advanced against the Houthi rebels in other areas of the province seen as crucial to retaking the capital.
Fighters from the popular resistance, the Yemeni military’s fourth region and troops from the Saudi-led coalition forced the Houthis to flee to the rebel-held port city of Mokha.
Al Wazeyah district borders Mokha district and is about 100 kilometres south-west of Taez city, the provincial capital. The district is also near the main road to Al Hodeidah province, which is under the control of the Houthis and their allies from renegade units of the military.
“The Houthis fled towards Mokha, and they are trying to gather there, but today we started to gather the forces in Al Wazeyah district, and then we will storm Mokha area. But we need time to draw a plan for the storming of Mokha,” said a resistance leader, who did not want to be named for fear of Houthi retaliation.
The pro-government forces have now blocked the road leading to Mokha from Al Wazeyah and Taez city, the source said.
He said the capture of mountain areas in Al Wazeyah meant the rebels could no longer use the mountains to launch shelling attacks on pro-government forces and civilians in the district.
“The forces advanced in most of the fronts in Taez city, but the main advance was in Al Wazeyah and the forces are also trying to advance on the front at Al Rahida,” the resistance leader said.
Al Rahida city lies on the main road from Aden to Taez, Yemen’s third largest city, 40 kilometres farther north. Warplanes from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have been targeting Al Rahida heavily in recent days to explode landmines planted on the road leading to the city.
When the Yemeni army and the popular resistance could not advance any more towards Al Rahida, resistance fighters living in the city resorted to street battles.
Moa’ath Al Yaseri, another resistance leader from Taez, said: “Usually fighting on the streets is the last choice, but resistance fighters were forced to engage in street battles in Al Rahida to liberate the city from inside and then they will help in opening the road for the forces to go towards Taez city.”
He said at least two resistance fighters and several Houthis were killed in the fighting in Al Rahida.
Mr Al Yaseri added that if street fighting proved successful in Al Rahida then the resistance would engage in street battles to help liberate other areas of Taez province.
20.11.2015 – Press TV Iran
Tens of Saudi-led forces killed in central Yemen
Tens of Saudi-led forces have reportedly been killed when Yemeni army soldiers backed by fighters from allied popular committees targeted their military base in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib.
On Friday, the fatalities came after Yemeni soldiers and their allied fighters lobbed a barrage of rockets at a military camp on the outskirts of the provincial capital city of Ma’rib, located 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of the capital, Sana’a, Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.
Yemeni forces also fired tens of mortar rounds at al-Mehzar and Ain al-Thourin military bases on the outskirts of al-Rabu’ah town in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Asir region. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties.
Separately, Yemeni soldier launched a retaliatory attack against al-Ash base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Najran, thought no casualties were reported.
Also on Friday, Yemeni soldiers backed by popular committees took control of the strategic Bahzan Heights in the eastern part of the embattled Arab country from militiamen loyal to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438433/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Marin-Asir-region-
UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
21.11.2015 – Press TV Iran
A delegation from Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and the General People's Congress (GPC) arrived in Omani capital Muscat on Saturday, to take part in preliminary consultations ahead of the United Nations-brokered peace talks on Yemen aimed at restoring stability in the war-ravaged country.
They will meet the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to discuss the UN peace draft. Mohammed Abdul Salam, Ansarullah spokesman, expressed hope that the upcoming talks in Geneva would end in genuine results and resolve the conflict in Yemen.
Frankreich / France
21.11.2015 – The Independent
Francois Hollande's 'war' with Isis won't stand in the way of France's arms deals with Saudi Arabia
Despite the President's huffing and puffing about war the spiritual mentors of the militants will be left untouched
The country which lent its Sunni-Wahhabi creed to the Isis killers of Paris will care nothing for François Hollande’s huffing and puffing about war. The Saudis have heard it all before, this New World Order stuff, way back in 1991 when George W Bush dreamed up the sub-Hitlerian expression for the Middle East he thought he could produce: an oasis of peace, a place of weaponless wealth in which swords would be turned into ploughshares – or at least into bigger oil tankers and longer pipelines.
The Saudis are far too busy blowing up bits of Yemen in their crazed war against the Shia Houthis to worry about the Sunni-Wahhabi crazies of Isis. Their enemy remains America’s new best friend – Shia Iran – and they are as keen as ever to dethrone the Alawite-Shia President of Syria, even if Isis is in the front line against Bashar al-Assad. They know that French foreign policy has favoured Saudi trade as fervently as it once opposed the Iranian nuclear agreement – and that billions of dollars’ worth of US military supplies will still flow to the kingdom despite their countrymen’s links to the cult which destroyed 129 lives in Paris.
If anyone thinks that Barack Obama is going to discipline Saudi Arabia’s monarchical theocracy, they have only to glance at the proposed $1.29bn sale of US weapons to the 79-year-old King Salman to realise that the US doesn’t care to curb the kingdom’s ferocity.
It has largely stopped bombing Isis – surprise, surprise –but desperately needs more weapons after burning up its arms inventories on the poverty-stricken Yemenis. The proposed weapons deal – already approved by the US State Department – includes Boeing direct attack munitions and Paveway laser-guided bombs from Raytheon.
Human rights groups have long accused the Saudis’ air strikes of indiscriminately killing civilians – the UN put the total civilian dead at 2,355, each one, of course, as precious as the 129 lives destroyed in Paris on Friday.
The Americans – and the French – would presumably like the Saudis to kill 2,355 members of Isis, but that is not to be. The US Congress has already permitted Obama to sell another 600 Patriot PAC-3 air defence rockets – putting £5.4bn in Lockheed Martin’s pocket – although the Houthis have not a single aircraft in their possession. The missiles are presumably intended to protect Saudi Arabi from the Iranian air attack that no one in the Gulf really believes will ever take place.
And of far more interest to France will be its own lucrative arms deals with Saudi Arabia, where Hollande still hopes – forlornly, one might add – to supplant the US as the kingdom’s main arms supplier. He may think he’s “at war” with Isis – but the spiritual mentors of the so-called Caliphate will be left untouched – by Robert Fisk
Commentrary by Lucky Udugampola: Although it is ISIS that killed French citizens!! ??
A very strange French policy indeed. In other words you deal with and sell arms to the murderers of your own citizens, i.e. ISIS, so that they can continue to kill and main your citizens, with the weapons you the French Govt. Sells to the ISIS sponsors, aka the House of Saud.
https://www.facebook.com/yemen.crisis/posts/532504970249077
Italien / Italy
Italien liefert in großem Umfang Bomben an saudi-Arabien. Sie werden auf Sardinien hergestellt und von dort von einer Fracht-Fluggesellschaft, die dem Clan des Diktators von Aserbeidschan gehört, nach Saudi-Arabien geflogen. Die italienische Verteidigungsministerin findet das alles völlig normal. Thema ist das Ganze nur in Italien und auf einer in Lybien registrierten englischsprachigen Webseite. Und für deutsche Medien ist das überhaupt kein Thema. damit liefern jetzt die vier größten EU-Länder waffen an Saudi-Arabien.
20.11.2015 – Unimondo
Bombe all’Arabia Saudita: inaccettabile che per la Pinotti sia “tutto regolare”
A seguito delle recenti dichiarazioni del Ministro della Difesa, Roberta Pinotti, secondo cui le forniture di bombe aeree all’Arabia Saudita sarebbero “regolari” e “nel rispetto della legge”, Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, Amnesty International Italia e l’Osservatorio OPAL di Brescia chiedono un incontro urgente con il Presidente del Consiglio, Matteo Renzi, per chiarire la posizione del Governo italiano sulle esportazioni di armamenti.
“E’ inaccettabile che la ministro della Difesa, Roberta Pinotti, sostenga che sono regolari le fornitura di bombe e materiali militari italiani all’Arabia Saudita impegnata in un conflitto in Yemen senza alcun mandato da parte delle Nazioni Unite. Chiediamo un incontro urgente con il Presidente del Consiglio, Matteo Renzi, per chiarire la posizione del governo italiano sulle esportazioni di armamenti”. Lo scrivono in un comunicato congiunto la Rete Italiana per il Disarmo, Amnesty International Italia e l’Osservatorio Permanente sulle Armi Leggere e Politiche di Difesa e Sicurezza (OPAL) di Brescia
In una intervista rilasciata ieri a margine di un convegno, il ministro Pinotti ha affermato, a proposito delle recenti spedizioni di bombe aeree fabbricate in Italia e inviate in Arabia Saudita, che “è tutto regolare per quanto riguarda le autorizzazioni” e che il Governo italiano “opera nel rispetto della legge”.
“Il ministro Pinotti sa bene – commenta Francesco Vignarca, coordinatore della Rete italiana per il Disarmo – che la legge n. 185 del 1990 vieta espressamente le esportazioni di tutti i materiali militari e loro componenti verso i Paesi in stato di conflitto armato e in contrasto con i principi dell'articolo 51 della Carta delle Nazioni Unite. Segnalo al Ministro Pinotti che l’Arabia Saudita lo scorso 28 marzo ha formalmente annunciato alle Nazioni Unite il suo intervento militare in Yemen, ma non ha mai ottenuto dall’Onu alcuna autorizzazione né legittimazione. Il governo dovrebbe perciò sospendere immediatamente l’invio di materiali militari ai sauditi e rispondere in parlamento alle numerose interrogazioni che da mesi sono depositate” – conclude Vignarca.
Nei giorni scorsi è stata portata a termine una nuova spedizione da Cagliari di componenti di bombe prodotte negli stabilimenti RWM Italia di Domusnovas (in Sardegna) con destinazione Arabia Saudita. E’ la terza consegna di ordigni militari del 2015, la seconda per via aerea che fa chiaramente intendere l’urgenza di approvvigionamento di materiale bellico da parte delle forze armate saudite.
“Si tratta di un carico di tonnellate di componenti di bombe italiane che è atterrato nella base militare della Royal Saudi Armed Forces di Taif – sostiene Giorgio Beretta dell’Osservatorio OPAL di Brescia. Ma non sappiamo – ed è anche questo che il governo dovrebbe chiarire – se si tratta di esportazioni che rispondono a nuove e recenti autorizzazioni o a quelle rilasciate negli anni scorsi (si veda l’allegato in pdf). Resta il fatto che ordigni inesplosi del tipo di quelli inviati dall’Italia, come le bombe MK84 e Blu109, sono stati ritrovati in diverse città dello Yemen bombardate dalla coalizione saudita e che il nostro Ministero degli Esteri non ha mai smentito che le forze militari saudite stiano impiegando anche ordigni prodotti in Italia”.
19.11.2015 – La Nuova Sardegna
New bombs for Yemen are brought to Saudi-Arabie via Sardinia. With Photos.
Cagliari, Mauro Pili lancia l'allarme: un nuovo carico di bombe in partenza da Elmas
La destinazione è l'Arabia Saudita. Il deputato di Unidos denuncia il fatto nel suo profilo Facebook: «State sottoponendo la Sardegna a un rischio gravissimo»
Alle 21 di mercoledì 18 novembre all’aeroporto di Cagliari-Elmas è atterrato, proveniente dall’Azerbaigian, l’aereo pronto a caricare le bombe prodotte nella fabbrica Rwm di Domusnovas e destinate all’Arabia Saudita. Il carico, anche se non ci sono conferme ufficiali, sarà utilizzato nello Yemen, paese stravolto dalla guerra civile. Le armi sono arrivate alle 22.30: un carico massiccio coperto alla vista da alcuni mezzi della società di gestione dello scalo. La partenza era prevista nel cuore della notte. Il parlamentare Mauro Pili, di Unidos, ha sollevato il caso chiedendo lo “stop ai viaggi di morte”.
Il deputato di Unidos Mauro Pili sul suo profilo Facebook ha appena annunciato oggi, mercoledì 18, che nella notte dall'aeroporto civile di Cagliari partirà un nuovo carico di bombe.
«Migliaia di bombe - scrive - saranno caricate in piena notte nel volo secretato cargo 747 per l'Arabia Saudita».
Mauro Pili interviene nel dibattito sulle missioni internazionali dopo l'attacco terroristico a Parigi chiedendo che venga immediatamente sospesa la nuova missione di bombe dall'aeroporto civile di Cagliari.
«State sottoponendo la Sardegna ad un rischio gravissimo - scrive ancora -. Basta giocare con le bombe sulla testa della Sardegna. È inaudito che si usi un aeroporto civile facendolo diventare un bersaglio inaudito di terrorismo e non solo»
http://lanuovasardegna.gelocal.it/cagliari/cronaca/2015/11/18/news/cagliari-mauro-pili-lancia-l-allarme-un-nuovo-carico-di-bombe-in-partenza-da-elmas-1.12467482 with ideo / mit Video
Siehe auch: https://twitter.com/cotti5stelle/status/659676756492832768/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw und https://twitter.com/kkvignarca/status/667122737928937474 und https://www.facebook.com/TAWFIK.AFFASH/photos/a.347536245391693.1073741826.346470052164979/775643235914323/?type=3 und https://twitter.com/beretta_g/status/668190591491186688
19.11.2015 – Reported Ly (with photos and film)
Italy sends two bomb shipments to Saudi Arabia in 20 days
Italy’s government is facilitating massive civilian casualties and untold suffering in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s cabinet cannot use plausible deniability to excuse the ongoing licensing of Italian-made bombs for export to the Saudi armed forces.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Italian MP Mauro Pili notified parliament arms manufacturer RWM Italia was preparing to load and ship another cargo of bombs at Elmas Airport, Sardinia. Pili asked the shipment be blocked. For reasons unknown, Renzi’s government did not rescind the permit and the cargo was loaded flown under cover of darkness before dawn this morning, Nov. 19, 2015.
We know these bombs are being dropped on Yemen.
Two prior investigations by reported.ly tracked deliveries of these bombs from Italy to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both part of the coalition bombing Yemen. Evidence collected by reported.ly shows RWM Italia bombs on the ground in Yemen. Many western pension funds, education funds, state funds and other investors benefit from the sale of these arms through their investments in Rheinmetall Defense AG, RWM’s parent company.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly documented potentially illegal assaults and airstrikes against civilians by both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi militia who control much of Yemen. This renders Italy’s export of bombs potentially illegal, as explained by Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International Researcher on Arms Control, Security Trade and Human Rights.
Under the Arms Trade Treaty and the EU Common Position on arms export control, Italy must undertake a rigorous case-by-case risk assessment of each proposed arms transfer to determine if there is a substantial risk that the arms are likely to be used by the intended recipient to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. If there is a substantial risk, Italy must deny the export license. [Emphasis by reported.ly]
Reported.ly’s community monitors the cargo in real-time – by Malachy Browne
https://reported.ly/2015/11/19/italy-sends-two-bomb-shipments-to-saudi-arabia-in-20-days/
30.10.2015 – Reported Ly (with photos)
Exclusive: Italy sends more RWM bombs to Saudi Arabia
Using community-sourced social content and the live plane tracking service, FlightRadar24.com, reported.ly followed a cargo of bombs aboard a Boeing 747 as it was flown from a civilian airport in Sardinia in Italy to a military base in Saudi Arabia. Italy’s approval of the shipment arguably contravenes the Arms Trade Treaty.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, several eyewitnesses and local media on the Italian island of Sardinia photographed dozens of bombs on the runway at Cagliari airport. Guarded by Italian police, the bombs were loaded aboard a Boeing 747 cargo plane.
Evidence suggests the bombs were made at the nearby manufacturing facility of RWM Italia, a munitions company that has shipped thousands of bombs to Saudi Arabia and other armed forces bombing Yemen, as revealed in this investigation by reported.ly in June. This reporter has seen documentary evidence of bombs with RWM Italia manufacturing codes on the ground in Yemen.
Local journalist Michele Ruffi sent us the video above of the airplane and the cargo. We independently verified this by matching geo-located Instagram photos taken Thursday, pinpointing the plane on the runway.
Separately, Sardinian politician Roberto Cotti tweeted this photo of the cargo, allowing us to identify it as MK80-series bombs manufactured and exported by RWM Italia in contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars since 2011.
The Boeing 747 is operated by Silk Way Airlines, an Azerbaijan cargo company. Historic flight records shows the plane travelling regularly between Baku and Dubai, Frankfurt, Kiev and Zhengzhou in China. Ian Petchenik at FlightRadar24.com helped us to locate the plane’s signal on the tarmac in Sardinia and trace it as it departed Thursday evening for Saudi Arabia (the destination was unlisted at the time).
After losing track of the plane over Egypt, we picked it up again as it crossed over the Red Sea and began to descend toward Jeddah. In a last-minute change of route, the plane was diverted to Taif, a regional airport that is also a military base of the Royal Saudi Armed Forces. The transponder appears to have been switched off once it reached Taif, but flight data confirms it departed from there Friday morning, October 30.
Angered by the shipment from a civilian airport, Sardinian politician Mauro Pili says he asked Italy’s Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) if the cargo plane was authorised to carry weapons. ENAC issued a statement, published by the ANSA news agency, that the plane was “duly authorized” as “a regular commercial flight.” Pili also uploaded video evidence of the cargo being loaded.
“With regard to the news published today on some news agencies regarding a flight operated from Cagliari carrying war material”, ENAC in a statement explains that “it was a commercial flight duly authorized in context of international technical regulations governing the transport of such materials.“
This statement suggests that the cargo was authorized by Italy’s Department of Defence or Department of Foreign Affairs. With help from Italian contacts, we are asking the ministries if this is the case, and if necessary we will submit a parliamentary question to find out. [UPDATE: We understand a parliamentary questions will be submitted during session on Friday, October 30.]
While we cannot say with absolute certainty that these bombs were unloaded at Taif airport for use by the Saudi armed forces, is it highly likely that they were given the ongoing conflict and the trade that is proven between RWM Italia and Saudi Arabia. In July, Italian Arms Analyst Giorgio Beretta exposed yet another shipment of bombs to Saudi Arabia.
This latest evidence suggests a greater urgency in delivering the bombs to Saudi – in a previous contract with the UAE, bombs were shipped by sea through Jeddah port.
Together, this evidence strongly suggests that the Italian government continues to grant licenses for the export of arms to forces bombing Yemen with horrendous consequences. At least three shipments have been made since the bloody conflict began – by Malachy Browne
https://reported.ly/2015/10/30/exclusive-italy-bombs-saudi-arabia/
Kommentar: Also auch Mitschuld von Italien an Mord und Zerstörung im Jemen. Damit kommt nach Großbritannien, Frankreich, Deutschland Italien als viertes EU-Land als vierter EU-Todesengel im Jemen dazu.
More articles in the Italian press:
http://www.wallstreetitalia.com/armi-e-bombe-dalla-sardegna-alla-guerra-in-yemen/
http://www.cagliaripad.it/news.php?page_id=23711
http://www.disarmo.org/rete/a/42277.html
http://www.sardiniapost.it/politica/bombe-in-pista-allaeroporto-di-cagliari/
Die ausführende Fluggesellschaft gehört dem Clan von Präsident Alijev: http://www.rferl.org/content/Aliyevs_Azerbaijani_Empire_Grows_As_Daughter_Joins_The_Game/2127137.html . Und zu Präsident Alijev: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0lham_%C6%8Fliyev
Propaganda
22.11.2015 – WAM
Al Houthi stubbornness will soon backfire’ in Yemen: paper
Iran-backed Al Houthi militants will not come to the negotiating table until their arms stockpile is destroyed, analysts have said.
"They will not give up their plot to expand Iran’s network of proxies across the region," Saif Al Jahafi, a leading Yemeni political analyst, told Gulf News yesterday.
He accused the militants of ‘hiding behind Al Qaida’ in order to buy time to carry out their goals.
"Al Houthis fought a series of on-again off-again conflicts with Yemeni governments for most of the last decade in what was commonly known as Al Houthis’ ‘six wars’ against [former president Ali Abdullah] Saleh between 2004 and 2010. Those conflicts led to the then-president’s declining legitimacy in the first decade of the new century," he said.
"They are doing a great injustice to the Yemeni people by following orders from Iran, which only cares about its expansionist interests with little regard for Yemeni blood," he explained, pointing out that Tehran has similar policies in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
"Their strategy of using force to make Yemenis succumb to their will is clearly not working," he said. Al Jahafi noted that Al Houthis’ stubbornness is only tightening the noose around their own necks, predicting that their actions will soon backfire.
"The time of salvation has come."
Southern Yemen is completely liberated from Al Houthi control, he said, and they are now trying to depict the south as being controlled by Al Qaida and Daesh, to mask their own losses.
Omar Abdul Aziz, a UAE-based columnist, said Al Houthis are ‘neither prepared nor willing’ to accept a political settlement. He said they fear they will lose privileges they gained following a GCC-brokered initiative to resolve the Yemeni crisis in 2011 when then-president Saleh agreed to transfer power to then-vice president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, after massive demonstrations demanded he step down from power.
Al Houthis want to go back to the terms of the GCC initiative, said Abdul Aziz. "But, this is impossible now since Al Houthis killed too many people, destroyed major cities and ripped apart Yemen’s national cohesion," he said.
The Geneva-based Advisory Centre for Rights and Freedoms petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Council over atrocities committed by Al Houthis, including firing on boats carrying civilians who fled the war-torn Yemeni provinces resulting in the deaths of over 75 people.
The rights organisation expressed grave concern over the ‘systematic’ killing of civilians including babies, pregnant women and the elderly in ‘horrific’ attacks.
The petition includes testimonies of Yemenis who survived massacres at the hands of Al Houthis and a statement issued by Al Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdul Salam, who admitted on his Facebook page that his men were targeting civilians for alleged ‘Al Qaida’ ties. The organisation says Al Houthi abuses are systemic.
https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395288302890.html
Kommentar: Die ünlichen Propaganda-Versatzstücke von den Huthis als den Handlangern des Iran, über die Schuld der Huthis an allen Zerstörungen und Toten im Jemen etc.
21.11.2015 – The National UAE
Yemen situation will still need a political solution
An all-out assault on key areas of the north, especially Sanaa, is therefore a very dangerous proposition for government and allied forces on two counts. It would be much more difficult to prevail under the current circumstances, and the civilian costs would be very high. The Yemeni and international political price of such an assault would probably be seen as prohibitive.
The key to a Yemeni conflict remains, as it has been from the beginning, a political solution. And the crucial factor in achieving that remains breaking the decisive Houthi-Saleh alliance.
http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/yemen-situation-will-still-need-a-political-solution
Kommentar: Eine der wenigen besonneneren Stimmen aus den Golfstaaten.
21.11.2015 – AFP
'We don't target civilians' in Yemen: Saudi-led coalition
The Saudi-led coalition's combat planning chief on Saturday defended the air war in Yemen against widespread international concern about high numbers of civilian casualties.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, the Royal Saudi Air Force brigadier general -- who cannot be identified under the military's security restrictions -- accused rights groups and other critics of "looking through one eye only".
"They are receiving all the information from the adversary," he said of Yemen's Huthi rebels supported by forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"We are sticking to the rules, the international rules and Geneva Convention, first, and law of conflict," said the brigadier.
"We don't deviate from those standards," the brigadier told AFP during the first visit by a foreign journalist to the coalition's planning and operations centre at King Salman Air Base in Riyadh.
"We don't target civilians," he said, nearly 10 months into the Arab coalition's war in support of Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The United Nations reports more than 5,700 people killed in Yemen since March.
"Most of the victims of the Huthi shelling and Saudi strikes are actually civilians," said Farea al-Muslimi, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center – by Ian Timberlake
http://news.yahoo.com/dont-target-civilians-yemen-saudi-led-coalition-165315951.html = http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/we-dont-target-civilians-in-yemen-saudiled-coalition_36806
Kommentar: Wahrscheinlich die dickste, dümmste und dreisteste Propagandalüge dieses Krieges.
20.11.2015 – Saudi Gazette
The legitimacy of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Yemen
Saudi Arabia’s current military campaign has caught the attention of many throughout the international community. Ultimately the question focuses on, as with all military intervention, what are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s interests in Yemen and what does it hope to accomplish? The ongoing campaign is a reaction to a series of destabilizing events in the region beginning with the Second Gulf War, followed by the fall of Mubarak’s Egypt and the ongoing attempts of Iran to meddle in the internal affairs of Bahrain.
None of these events were the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, either directly or indirectly. Saudi Arabia has always been concerned about the instability of Yemen spilling onto Saudi soil, but in previous years this orthodox concern focused more on a potential collapse of Yemen or on a severely weakened state resulting in humanitarian concerns spilling into Asir Province. However, the ability of regional actors to destabilize Yemen and put it on a path where it’s posture could be potentially hostile to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an intolerable position. Furthermore, any sovereign government has the responsibility to protect the well-being of its people and indifference to such a situation at moments like this is not an option.
Let’s take this current position and see how a similar set of circumstances would be played out in other parts of the world. Would, for example, the United States be indifferent if Mexico suddenly took a similar path to that of Yemen, and began bringing lethal cruise and ballistic missiles up to its border with the US, and arming non-state actors who would represent legitimate security risks not only to the United States but to US citizens who live in those immediate border areas? One has witnessed what the people of Najran have endured this year. If rockets and mortars fired from Tijuana landed in San Diego, or from Juarez into El Paso, Texas what would the responsible actions of the American government be? In South America how does Colombia react to a somewhat similar situation regarding a hostile Venezuela which threatens the livelihood of Colombian citizens affected by a terrorist organization called FARC which is sponsored by Venezuela? Does Iran take an indifferent approach on its southern border to the Baluch population that straddles both sides of the border? In all cases the answer is no, a responsible government would not be indifferent to this and allow the livelihood and well-being of its citizenry to be the victim of such hostile and potentially lethal actions.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a direct interest in ensuring that its citizens are able to live peaceful lives in their day-to-day existence without the threat of mortars, armed non-state actors and potentially cruise and ballistic missiles threatening the health and well-being of those people living near the border with Yemen.
Moreover, it is the responsibility of any government to address a situation such as this. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia furthermore has a legitimate interest in seeing to it that those individuals who are responsible for allowing this situation to develop inside Yemen are not only identified and called out for their actions, but after a careful analysis, the Kingdom must decide what action it will take. Saudi Arabia did not take this policy of intervention in Yemen as a first resort but as a last and final one only after looking at the facts on the ground as they are. What these points ultimately culminate in are the actions of a responsible and growing regional power doing what it must in order to assert its legitimate rights in the face of a situation that is not of its own making.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/the-legitimacy-of-saudi-arabias-involvement-in-yemen/
Commentary: A view from Saudi Arabia on the Yemen war. There is no chance that any commentator could be critical - I think he is answering international criticisms as much as informing the Saudi public. But logic is missing. Saudi Arabia wants Yemen to be stable - then why destabilise it by constant bombing of homes, schools, hospitals, market places, IDP camps, petrol stations, electricity and water infrastructure, factories manufacturing food and bottling water, roads and bridges; why starve its population with a cruel and indiscriminate blockade? Why encourage the development of extremist militias such as Al Qaeda in the southwest of Yemen? How does dropping over 40,000 bombs in the first 7 months of war help with stability? How does destroying the Yemeni economy, leaving millions without any means of earning a living help to create stability? The rockets and attacks on Najran mentioned in this article have only occurred SINCE the Saudi bombing of Yemen, in response to Saudi attacks; it cannot be said that these were a reason for Saudis attacks.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1058793580939799
Terrorismus / Terrorism
22.11.2015 – Academia Edu
Al-Qa'ida & Islamic State in Yemen: A Battle for Local Audiences – by Elisabeth Kendall
https://www.academia.edu/15757466/Al-Qaida_and_Islamic_State_in_Yemen_A_Battle_for_Local_Audiences
20.11.2015 – Al Araby
IS releases propaganda video targeting al-Qaeda in Yemen
The Islamic State group released a video this week, attacking its extremist rival, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The video conincided with a major assault by al-Qaeda militants on Yemeni units in Hadramaut province on Friday.
IS has accused its rival of working with militia units allied to President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi - who are fighting alongside the country's army against Houthi rebels.
The video, titled Oh, al-Qaeda in Yemen, where are you going? slammed the group's decision to hand over control of military bases and the Mukalla port to the so-called popular committees, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed's Arabic service.
IS called on al-Qaeda to wage war against Hadi loyalists, the Saudi-led coalition and Popular Resistance forces.
The group also invited the group's leader, Qasim al-Rimi, to swear allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Al-Qaeda has controlled the southern Hadramaut city of Mukalla and surrounding areas since early this year.
The video also mocked al-Qaeda for being led by someone killed two years ago, referring to the elusive former Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and criticised al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for a message he released in support of ousted Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi.
IS has claimed responsibility for suicide attacks against the Hadi government and the Saudi-led coalition, as well as assassinating several Popular Resistance leaders over the past few months.
Earlier this month, al-Qaeda released a video statement that said the Islamic "caliphate" declared by IS was illegitimate, and dismissively referred to the organisation as "Baghdadi's group
20.11.2015 – Spiegel Online
Provinz Hadramaut: 29 Tote bei Angriff auf Militärstützpunkt im Jemen
Bei einer Attacke von Extremisten auf einen Armeeposten und anschließenden Gefechten sind im Jemen 15 Soldaten und 14 der Angreifer getötet wurden. Die Miliz in der ostjemenitischen Provinz Hadramaut gilt als Ableger des Terrornetzwerks al-Qaida. Mehr als 20 Soldaten seien verletzt worden, meldeten lokale Sicherheitskreise am Freitag.
Zu Beginn des Angriffs habe sich ein Selbstmordattentäter in einem Wagen in die Luft gesprengt, heißt es. Danach sollen etwa 25 bis 30 Milizionäre den Stützpunkt angegriffen haben. Sie hätten sich zurückgezogen, nachdem Verstärkung für die Armee eingetroffen sei. Der Angriff ereignete sich nahe der Stadt Schibam. Die Gefechte in der Gegend halten nach Angaben aus Sicherheitskreisen noch an, meldet die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters.
Der jemenitische Zweig des "Islamischen Staates" bekannte sich inzwischen zu dem Angriff. Der Hadramaut, die größte Provinz des Jemen, ist eine Qaida-Hochburg. Die Terrororganisation beherrscht die Provinzhauptstadt Mukalla und greift immer wieder die jemenitische Armee an.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/jemen-fast-30-tote-bei-angriff-auf-armeeposten-a-1063788.html
20.11.2015 – Reuters
Islamic State claims Yemen attack
Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the army in the eastern region of Hadramawt on Friday that a security source said killed at least 19 Yemeni soldiers and 35 militants.
Earlier on Friday a different securitysource said Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was responsible for the attack.
Islamic State's Yemen branch has attacked both main sides in the country's civil war in recent months, targeting the Shi'ite Houthi militia in mosques in the capital Sanaa as well as Saudi-led forces and a local grouping of anti-Houthi fighters, with suicide blasts in Aden in September that killed dozens.
Islamic State said in a statement it had killed nearly 50 soldiers in the attack, many more than the number cited by local officials, and just one of its fighters was killed carrying out a suicide bombing using a car in the assault.
Fighting was still going on in the area after the initial attack by militants between the towns of Shibam and al-Qatn, the security source said. Islamic State said it had targeted three separate army posts.
Unverified footage on social media purporting to show the attack included a large blast followed by a big plume of smoke, and the sound of shooting as well as distant voices shouting.
20.11.2015 – Reuters
Islamic State in Yemen says it carried out Hadramawt attack
Islamic State's Yemen wing said in a statement on Islamist websites and social media that it carried out Friday's attack on the army in Hadramawt province in which at least 14 soldiers and 15 militants were killed.
The group said that it had killed nearly 50 soldiers and police in the attack, gaining control of three army posts, and that one of its members had died in a suicide bombing in a car during the fighting.
http://news.yahoo.com/nearly-30-dead-qaeda-attack-clashes-yemen-094211679.html
20.11.2015 – AFP
Yemen Qaeda attacks leave 15 soldiers, 19 jihadists dead
Al-Qaeda launched attacks on two army positions in southeast Yemen early Friday that left 15 soldiers and 19 jihadists dead as well as several civilians wounded, army and medical sources said.
An officer said the attacks targeted army positions near the town of Shibam in Hadramawt province, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda whose militants control its capital Mukalla.
Twelve soldiers and 19 jihadists were killed, according to the officer, but a medical source later said the army lost 15 men and several civilians were wounded in the attacks.
The main attack was staged at the western entrance to Shibam, which is known as the "Manhattan of the Desert" and listed as a UNESCO world heritage site for its high-rise mud-brick buildings.
Local officials said fierce clashes broke out after Al-Qaeda militants exploded a roadside bomb targeting an army patrol, while a suicide bomber blew up a car at an army post near a residential area.
"The blast damaged many homes, wounding several civilians," the medical source said in the nearby town of Seiyun, where the casualties and the bodies of the dead soldiers were transported.
Army units posted in Hadramawt are loyal to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in the face of an armed revolt by Shiite Huthi rebels.
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-qaeda-attacks-leave-12-soldiers-19-jihadists-081842106.html
20.11.2015 – Reuters
Islamic State in Yemen says it carried out Hadramawt attack
Islamic State's Yemen wing said in a statement on Islamist websites and social media that it carried out Friday's attack on the army in Hadramawt province in which at least 14 soldiers and 15 militants were killed.
The group said that it had killed nearly 50 soldiers and police in the attack, gaining control of three army posts, and that one of its members had died in a suicide bombing in a car during the fighting.
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-52: / Yemen Press reader 1-52:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
Was ist Ihre Meinung?
Kommentare einblendenDiskutieren Sie mit.