Krieg im Jemen: Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 66

Yemen Press Reader 66: IS und Al Kaida im Jemen erstarkt - Kaum Fluchtmöglichkeiten für Jemeniten - Humanitäre Krise - Vor Waffenruhe und Friedensgesprächen - Heftige Kämpfe, viele Tote

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Schwerpunkte / Key aspects

Am wichtigsten / Most important

Allgemein / General

Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

Houthis

UNO und Friedensverhandlungen / UN and peace talks

Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

USA

Großbritannien / Great Britain

Deutschland / Germany

Söldner / Mercenaries

Flüchtlinge / Refugees

Terrorismus / Terrorism

Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

Drohnenkrieg / Drone war

UNESCO-Kulturerbestätten / UNESCO heritage sites

Am wichtigsten / Most important

14.12.2015 – New York Times

Islamic State Gains Strength in Yemen, Challenging Al Qaeda

The conflict has produced another bitter legacy: a new branch of the Islamic State that has quietly grown in strength and appears determined to distinguish itself as Yemen’s most disruptive and brutal force, carrying out attacks considered too extreme even by the country’s branch of Al Qaeda.

The Islamic State’s deadliest attack, on mosques here in the capital, killed more than 130 people and helped start Yemen’s civil war in March. Now, as mediators are struggling to end the conflict, the group is fueling new tensions by carrying out powerful car bombings in southern Yemen and releasing videos filled with grisly executions and sectarian denunciations of Yemen’s Shiite minority.

Like Islamic State affiliates in Egypt and Libya, the Yemeni group has shown signs it is more closely coordinating its activities with the headquarters in Syria, analysts said. And its emergence has only added to the peril from Sunni extremism in Yemen, already home to a powerful branch of Al Qaeda that has been able to seize territory during the latest conflict, including Al Mukalla, the country’s fifth-largest city.

American intelligence and counterterrorism analysts say the Qaeda affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, remains the most urgent militant threat in this fractured country. But they are closely watching the effort by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, to peel off defectors from Al Qaeda’s wing here.

An analyst in Yemen who closely follows Sunni extremist groups in the country said the scale of the attacks by the Islamic State showed that it was becoming just as dangerous as Al Qaeda.

Yemeni officials with the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have appeared to underestimate the threat posed by the Islamic State — or even deny its existence.

Nadwa al-Dawsari, a Yemeni analyst and nonresident fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington, said there was a widespread perception in southern Yemen that the threat from the Islamic State was “manufactured.” That perception was fueled by the group’s “invisibility,” , as well as Mr. Saleh’s well-documented history of manipulating extremist groups for his own ends, including to win financial and military support from the United States for counterterrorism operations, she said.

“The presence of foreign troops hasn’t been helpful, except for keeping Saleh and the Houthis from coming back,” she said. “Aden does not need foreign troops for security. It needs local security structures and police forces.”

The struggles by the coalition to establish security and stem the growth of the militant groups could carry consequences beyond Yemen’s borders, according to security analysts – by SHUAIB ALMOSAWA, KAREEM FAHIM and ERIC SCHMITT

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/world/middleeast/islamic-state-gains-strength-in-yemen-rivaling-al-qaeda.html

Comment: Very interesting article, worth reading in full

10.12.2015 – Open Democracy

Can Yemenis escape?

So what are Yemenis to do? Close the doors of their houses and slowly die of starvation and thirst? Or move en masse, the way Syrians are now heading for Europe?

Is the coalition air and land war against Yemenis about to end? A second round of ‘peace talks’ is scheduled to start in Geneva on 15 December. Getting to a date and a meeting which ‘both’ sides agree to attend has taken almost 6 months of efforts for Ismail Ould al Sheikh Ahmed, the new Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General. In addition to having had to cope with undermining by his predecessor and underwhelming support by the Permanent 5 of the UNSC, his nomination was accepted by the GCC largely because they considered him weak and ineffective.

He has operated in less than ideal conditions: merely achieving agreement on a meeting is a significant achievement, given the reluctance of the warring parties and the international environment. However, I have not met a single person who expects these talks to achieve very much, if anything. Hope is free and anyone with friends and family in Yemen has to continue to have some hope, what else can we do?

The coalition

Yemen has become the focus of not only a violent and murderous civil war between factions loosely aligned with the so-called ‘legitimate’ government on the one hand and former ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh and his Huthi allies on the other. While this unfortunate development was predicted by many in recent years, it was dramatically worsened by the open foreign intervention and emergence of a ‘proxy’ war between the Arab Gulf states led by a new, young and warmongering leadership in Saudi Arabia which insists that Yemen is the site of a life or death struggle against its rival Iran for domination of the politics in the Arabian Peninsula.

Iranian involvement is blown up as a major threat regardless of reality, which includes limited material support but mostly boasts of responsibility for events Iran neither sponsored nor, in many cases, even supported; some experts describe these claims as demonstrating the immaturity of some of Iran’s leadership. The coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates includes all GCC states except Oman, and a variety of other Arab and African states whose motivation for joining is probably closely related to expectations of financial support from the GCC states.

Having upset the GCC states with its nuclear deal with Iran, the US and other western states are supinely assisting the GCC and abdicating any critical faculties, let alone respect for their own commitments through the Arms Control Treaty and other aspects of international humanitarian law. This to the extent of continuing to supply the coalition with arms and ammunition including cluster bombs, which they know are used against civilians. Their immorality goes so far as feeble verbal protests at attacks by coalition air strikes or Huthi/Saleh shelling on humanitarian facilities, including the destruction of two hospitals run by a universally respected humanitarian organisation, Medecins sans Frontières, in addition to a total of 69 other medical facilities since March.

War-related Suffering

By 2011, the country’s economy had already largely collapsed, with over 54% of the population officially considered poor, water resources running out, drought destroying the limited agriculture, extremely high unemployment, continued rapid population growth and other ills. The popular uprisings of 2011 demonstrated that hope could triumph over realistic expectation, but these hopes were soon dashed when the struggle became dominated by the various elite factions supported by an international community which sought a change in leadership but not a change in social, political or economic policies, let alone a transformation of the military/security structures.

Just to bring the record up to date. In August this year, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross pointed out that, after 5 months of war, the situation in Yemen was as bad as that in Syria after 4 years of war, something which came as a real shock to those of us who follow the situation closely and thought that it would take at least two years to get that bad.

By December, according to the World Health Organisation, over 15 million Yemenis (over 58% of the population of 26 million) lack access to medical services, 20 million (77%) “lack access to safe water and sanitation, and conditions are ripe for a major disease outbreak”. While the officially recorded death toll since March has reached over 5,700, this only accounts for those who died in functioning health facilities where records are kept. This toll ignores all premature deaths due to lack of access to medical treatment for chronic [diabetes, kidney failure etc..] or acute conditions. Similarly, the 27,000 recorded injuries only include those who reached medical treatment.The majority of medical facilities do not operate, lacking water, electricity, medical supplies and salaries for their staff. Taking into consideration the fact that all sides in the struggle are preventing basic food, medical and other supplies from reaching those living in areas under the control of their opponents, living conditions for the vast majority of the population have reached levels of desperation. The ‘blockade’ preventing the delivery of food and fuel primarily affects the ordinary citizens

The militias and other military factions get priority access to anything that does get through, either through ‘taxation’ or by simple force of arms, thus ensuring that attempts at weakening the enemy have the primary effect of worsening hunger and disease for the populations.

While the United Nations and its humanitarian institutions are trying to help, it is worth noting first that they are only targeting 11.6 million people when their own data states that 21.2 million are in need. Second their appeal for USD 1.6 billion for this year had been only 49% funded by the end of November. Moreover much of this funding comes from the GCC states which actively ‘politically’ target their aid to prevent it from reaching the ‘rebel’ controlled areas. Saudi Arabia, the largest funder, immediately pledged to finance the full USD 274 million requested by the UN for humanitarian work in April; that was the easy bit and good public relations. Then it proceeded to set up the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid in May to manage the disbursement of these funds. It then decided that each of the nine main UN organisations would have to sign one or more separate Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), thus ensuring further delay: the largest one was with the World Food Programme for USD 143 million agreed in September. These slow procedures have obviously delayed the delivery of assistance, regardless of the complex conditions imposed and the deep gratitude which the heads of each of these institutions expresses grandiloquently on receiving each cheque.

In the absence of any legitimate means of earning income to survive, Yemenis are more dependent than ever on their friends and relatives abroad. Such support is almost impossible to send because the international banking system is, occasionally at least, refusing to make transfers to Yemen. Meanwhile prices of all basic foods are rocketing: since March prices have risen on average by 57% for wheat, 74% for onions, 325% for cooking gas, 287% for diesel and 274% for petrol. These are average, things are far worse in the frontline areas [Taiz, al Baidha, Mareb and Jawf] and the areas which are furthest away from the ports. This is partly due to the unavailability of these basic products because of reduced imports (thanks to damage of the port infrastructures and preventing many commercial ships from entering) and the cost of in-country transport due to fuel shortages. In this context the suggestion that famine is just round the corner hardly comes as a surprise. Water shortage is possibly even greater than that of food, as diesel is essential for much of the pumping necessary to extract the little available water. Costs rise throughout the system as checkpoints by any one of the many armed groups collect their share of goods going past them.

Meanwhile the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate: this week, the newly appointed Governor of Aden and his escort were assassinated by a car bomb. He was widely respected by the city’s population for actually trying to help improve security and governance in the city and was having an impact on the situation. In the past three years many, if not all, middle ranking officials, whether military or civilian, who demonstrated commitment to their responsibilities and tried to improve the abysmal living conditions of the population, have been threatened and many have been killed. Who is behind these assassinations? Whose interests do they serve? Clearly those who want to see the country sink even further into lawlessness, havoc and turmoil. And these include not only the usually blamed and suspected Al Qaeda or Daesh but also Saleh whose policy since having to give up the presidency in 2012 has been après moi le deluge and has, unfortunately most successfully, done his best to demonstrate that without him in the driving seat, the country would collapse. After decades of suspicion by all except his international political supporters, his close relationship with some of the previously mentioned elements has been explicitly mentioned in a recent report by the United Nations Sanctions Committee.

With all this, did Yemenis really also need the damage caused by two historically unprecedented cyclones hitting different parts in November? Just one of the many signs of the kind of events likely to become more frequent with the worsening of climate change.

Can Yemenis escape?

Escaping to neighbouring countries is barely an option. Travel to Saudi Arabia has been severely restricted since 1990, with a fence/wall being built along much of the border between the two countries, and since the war started a few border posts have been opened where some Yemenis are allowed in, mostly those from the south, and under restrictions.

New regulations have enabled many illegal Yemeni migrants in Saudi Arabia to regularise their situation, but these changes are more a security measure to control Yemenis than a humanitarian one to relieve suffering. The UN says that 30 000 Yemenis have entered Saudi Arabia between March and end of November. The border with Oman has been controlled by a fence constructed in the1970s to prevent the infiltration of weapons and support to the People’s Front for the Liberation of Oman who were defeated in 1975: but the fence has remained ever since. As a result only 500 Yemenis have been allowed in to Oman, by contrast with 50, 500 third party nationals! Travel by sea has been of little attraction in recent years when Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans were taking refuge in Yemen to get away from their own civil wars, climate induced droughts, and starvation. The crossing is exceedingly dangerous. The overwhelming majority of nearly 30, 000 who have gone to Somalia are Somalis, but over 3,000 are Yemenis who are so desperate that they have headed that way, while Djibouti has received over 16, 000 Yemenis. Overall the total number who left Yemen is close to 170, 000, but only 52, 000 of these are Yemenis.

Travel to western states has been exceedingly difficult for many years even, in some cases, decades as a result of general constraints on the movement of poor people around the world, in this case worsened by the ‘threat’ posed by less than a handful of aggressive armed Islamists. Why or how an insignificant number of failed attempts at causing explosions on aircraft can or should be used to demonise and punish the entire population of a country is a question rarely asked of our immigration services or political rulers. But the result is that most Yemenis don’t even attempt to come to Europe or the USA and the latest suggestion by Donald Trump that ‘all Muslims should be prevented from coming to the USA’ is just another racist slur which unfortunately colours the debate, worsens perceptions and increases hostility.

Until recently, Yemenis could travel without visas to Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Malaysia. It can safely be assumed that few would chose to go to Syria where the war is as bad or worse than in Yemen. Egypt, where there are already many Yemenis, does not provide a friendly and conducive atmosphere and has recently restricted visa-free entry to Yemenis over 45 or under 13 years of age. In the latest discouraging development, Jordanian authorities have cancelled their hospitable approach and demand visas; where is the Jordanian embassy in Yemen? Does it have a functioning visa service accessible to people? Only Malaysia remains, but for how much longer?

So what are Yemenis to do? Close the doors of their houses and slowly die of starvation and thirst? Try to get into boats and cross into Africa? Or face the minefields on the borders of Saudi Arabia and move en masse, the way Syrians are now heading for Europe? Is there any sense of humanity and solidarity left in the world? – by Helen Lackner

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence

About the author

Helen Lackner has worked in all parts of Yemen since the 1970s and lived there for close to 15 years. She has written about the country’s political economy as well as social and economic issues. She works as a freelance rural development consultant in Yemen and elsewhere and is currently also engaged in research on hydro politics in Yemen. Her latest book as editor: -Why Yemen Matters,Saqi books 2014

https://opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/helen-lackner/can-yemenis-escape

Comment: How I agree with this article - thank you to Helen Lackner, who has long been a sympathetic and astute commentator on Yemen. When an educated middle class man, previously with managerial experience, who has lost his job, savings and ever asset in this war, says to me that he can no longer afford food and must leave Yemen or he and his four children will die, it is serious. The problem is, how on earth will they get out? The Jordanians have closed their borders today to Yemenis without a visa. And travelling out by boat or plane is expensive. So many are trapped inside this brutal war.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072987419520415

Allgemein / General

14.12.2015 – Vanessa Beeley, Navid Nasr

The Saudi coalition in Yemen has been completely outwitted [admittedly not hard as wits are not a known resource among the Saudi ruling despots], out manouvered and outdone by the resilience, courage and nobility of the Yemeni fighting forces from all factions of the Yemeni people.

This is a quote from a young fighter which gives some indication of the spirit of these people:
"we lunched a rocket to saudi. to king khalid air base. its Yemeni rocket
KAHER 1. its russian made developed in yemen
im happy to hit the depth of saudi but much happier that we developed rockets and we manufacture it in yemen
im sooooooooooooo proud and happy."

The Yemenis strategy was to invade the southern borders of KSA to give them leverage and the ferocity of their attacks and their success shocked the arrogant Sauds to the core..this among other wise and intelligent moves by Ansarullah has given them the upper hand against a hugely disproportionate military force.

This is why there will be a ceasefire. God bless the Yemeni people and may justice be brought upon the carrion Sauds..

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154673270628868&set=a.96554553867.106987.667683867&type=3&theater

Comment: This is a comment by a Yemeni sympathiser with the Houthi-Saleh alliance. Many Yemenis were long suspicious of their wealthy neighbour and resented its interference in Yemeni affairs - and especially its attempts to impose Wahhabism on Yemen. But following the onset of this war the suspicion has turned into hatred as Saudi destroys more and more of Yemen, and led to this attack on the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia. This area was for hundreds of years part of Yemen, since the formation of Saudi Arabia in 1934 it was disputed, and in negotiations in 2000 Saleh conceded it to Saudi. So the attacks on this area has great significance for many Yemenis.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1073002569518900

14.12.2015 – Independent Strategy and Intelligence Study Group

Meanwhile in Yemen…

With all the talk of negotiations between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi/Iranians, you wouldn’t know it with all the fighting taking place in Yemen (check out “No End in Sight in Fighting on the Arabian Peninsula Front” for additional info). Fighting between the Saudi coalition, Houthis/Iran/Hezbollah, AQAP and the Islamic State (IS) continues to be fought with neither side showing indications of letting up. Earlier this month IS executed a VBIED attack that killed the newly-installed Hadi faction’s governor of Aden. This was followed up with additional attacks by IS as well as AQAP and the Houthis in targeting senior Coalition members, such as senior GCC operations officer Saudi COL Abdullah al-Shiyan (variant-Sahian).

We’ve also been seeing a steady increase in the use of mercenaries by GCC nations such as the UAE, who have been feeling the stress of a prolonged military campaign in Yemen. Latin American countries such as Colombia has become a fertile recruiting ground for the UAE government as there’s no shortage of supply in former-Colombian Army vets looking for work. The Colombian military is top-notch (and better than the average Saudi Soldier btw), so the guys being hired for deployment to Yemen aren’t exactly the dregs of society. However, we’re now starting to see more casualties from the merc side as they take on more of the conventional military role as the Emirati forces become exhausted from the Zinjibar offensive and push to Mukalla.

The situation in Taiz is dire with Houthis blocking aid deliveries and in some cases attacking such convoys – which has added to a greater sense of urgency for the coalition to secure the city. Over 200,000 people are affected, especially those in need of medical care. The United Nations (UN) has tried to negotiate with the Houthis – but they don’t take them seriously. Why should they? The UN is about as flaccid as the current US government. The Houthis have been brutal to the civilian population, with women and children being among the hardest hit.

IS has grown considerably over the last few months with AQAP personnel getting turned off by the way AQAP leader Qasim al-Raymi does things and defecting to Team Baghdadi (see “New AQAP Leader Named – What to Expect” for more details).

On the GCC side, a lot is going to hinge on what happens inside Saudi Arabia in the coming months. The House of Saud is plagued with a multitude of internal problems within the royal family itself brought about by the ambitions of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (reference – “Saudi Game of Thrones” and “Vlad Uses Saudi Prince’s Thirst for Power to His Advantage Against US Influence”).

Many Links!

http://isisstudygroup.com/?p=9947

Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation

14.12.2015 – Reuters (TV)

Nach neun Monaten Bürgerkrieg steht das Land vor einer humanitären Katastrophe.

Yemen faces "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis

After nine months of civil war, Yemen's health sector is crumbling. Natasha Howitt reports.

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/jemen-viele-tote-zivilisten-nach-saudischem-luftangriff-im-jemen-13965796.html = http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/viele-tote-zivilisten-nach-saudischem-luftangriff-im-jemen-1.2782702 (Deutsch)

http://uk.reuters.com/video/2015/12/14/yemen-faces-catastrophic-humanitarian-cr?videoId=366671707&videoChannel=75 (English)

Comment: The situation in Yemen today is so horrendous. Some of the filming is from Aden, which is one of the few places where the Saudi-led coalition is allowing humanitarian aid in.Most cities in the old North Yemen including the capital Sanaa do not petrol and hence there is little traffic on the roads.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072925962859894

13.12.2015 – UNICEF Yemen

When you can't get to the health centre...maybe, just maybe the health worker will literally climb mountains to reach you!

Abdulmalek Mohsen has a diploma in public health and was trained by unicef in 2009. In the past two weeks he and his colleagues have slung their malnutrition screening equipment on their backs and climbed up and down mountains, to reach 201 malnourished children in Ottma, Dhamar.

Thanks to Anwar Abdullah who shared these photos with us.

https://www.facebook.com/unicefyemen/posts/979599912106052

Commentary: The Yemenis are incredible. With no emergency services people are rescuing people trapped in bombed buildings by hand. They share food, help out with clothes and blankets for the displaced. They are setting up NGOs to help cope with the ongoing crisis despite having no money and resources and with bombs all around. Now another incredible thing - aid workers going to deliver medical aid on foot. I've seen so many pictures of people coping on their everyday lives, despite the ferocity of war. Hats off to you Yemen and may you fund peace soon.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072655896220234

13.12.2015 – Emirates News Agency

ERC recruits 600 school teachers in Hadhramaut

The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, has recruited 600 teachers in the Yemeni city of Seiyun as part of a project launched to resolve the teacher shortage problem facing the schools of Wadi Hadhramaut.

The project, "Teacher of Generations", is a step up and distinct initiative as part of the ERC's efforts to support the educational process in Yemen. The ERC also launched another support initiative which will see the distribution of 10,000 school bags to students in the Al Mahra province

http://www.wam.ae/en/news/[Emirates,%20International%20Aid]/1395289155315.html

Commentary: wonder who they are...this is Al Qaeda country, and life will be difficult for anyone involved in education in Hadramaut at this moment. There are displaced people from less stable parts of Yemen staying in Hadramaut and the recruits could be from amongst their ranks.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072597016226122

10.12.2015 – Emirates News Agency

UAE Extends AED 73.5 million for Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

As per the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and in the context of UAE’s response to the United Nations’ and the international organisations’ plans to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, UAE today provided AED 73.5 million (US$ 20 million) to ensure the basic needs of the people of Yemen.

Under the agreement, this grant will be channeled to number of the UN’s and international organisations to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, including directing AED 44 million (US$ 12 million) to support health care and needs, AED 29.3 million (US$ 8 million ) to enhance the food security, children and mothers nutrition. The aid will concentrate in governorates of Taiz, Aden and Lahej, especially in support of the health care in Ta’izz.

It is worth mentioning that under the UAE’s grant given to the humanitarian organisations, AED 36.7 million (US$ 10 million) will be directed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), AED 22.2 million (US$ 6 million) to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), AED 7.34 million (US$ 2 million) to UNICEF, and AED 7.34 million (US$ 2 million) to other international organisations.

The total UAE aid provided in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen since last March to date has so fare reached AED 1.62 billion (USD 441 million).

http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/uae-extends-aed-735-million-humanitarian-crisis-yemen

Kommentar: Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate leisten humanitäre Hilfe in größerem Umfang. Alles bleibt freilich nur ein kleiner Bruchteil dessen, was sie selbst vorher zerstört haben.

10.12.2015 – World Food Programme

Food Assistance In Yemen: It doesn't get any harder than this

Walking through the streets of what is left of Dar Sa’ad District in the city of Aden, one of the country’s most important ports, it is as if the dormant volcano on which this ancient city lies came alive to spew destruction and desolation.

Among the many hardships Yemenis have to deal with, the increasing shortage of fuel is one of the worst.

To date, WFP-chartered ships have imported more than 4 million litres of fuel to Yemen allocated to more than 60 aid organizations in Aden, Sana’a and Hodeidah.

Since May 2015, nearly 2.5 million litres of fuel were allocated by the Logistics Cluster to more than 60 organizations.

Let the data speak

yemen Population: 25.9 million
Internally displaced: 2.3 million
Food insecure estimated: 14.4 million
Severely food insecure estimated: 7.6 million
People reached with food assistance in October: 2.8 million

Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Deputy Regional Director, appealed to the international community to support WFP in its efforts to help the people of Yemen:

“Clearly Yemen is one of the hardest places in the world today to work, massive security concerns, escalation in the fighting and violence across the country.

We are doing well; we are improving our reach and getting to more people every month, but clearly with half of the country now just one step away from famine, we need the international community to really come behind us, and support us, particularly over the next few months.” – Photo reportage by Ammar Bamatraf, Narrative by Gioacchino Gargano

http://panorama.wfp.org/food-assistance-in-yemen-it-doesnt-get-any-harder-than-this

29.11.2015 – RTE

RTE World Report 29 November 2015 - The Seige of Taiz, Yemen

The Battle for Taiz - Struggling to survive siege, snipers and shelling 200,000 civilians are currently besieged in Yemen's third largest city. Food, fuel and medical supplies are being blocked by Houthi fighters from entering Taiz. In a rare report from inside the city, Iona Craig describes life under the siege – Iona Craig (Radio)

https://soundcloud.com/iona-craig/rte-world-report-29-november-2015-the-seige-of-taiz-yemen?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

Comment: A radio report - please listen. I'm not sure if I posted this before - the fantastic Iona Craig has travelled Yemen and sent heartbreaking and illuminating reports from Saada, and and now Taiz, which has for months been the frontline between the Houthi-Saleh alliance and the Saudi-led coalition. If she can get into Yemen and do such good work telling the story of the war from the perspective of the suffering Yemeni civilian, why can't reporters from the major news agencies from the rest of the world - and why is this war so secret???? Someone was interviewed by Iona in this report and said, "By the time the world finds out about Yemen we will all be dead."

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072985392853951

Houthis

13.12.2015 – Human Rights Watch

Yemen: Houthis Shut Groups, Detain Activists

33 Closed Down; ‘Disappearances’ Unresolved

Houthi authorities in Yemen have closed several dozen nongovernmental organizations and arbitrarily detained numerous activists since taking over the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. Human Rights Watch interviewed activists with four Sanaa-based organizations that the Houthis closed down in April 2015, apparently because of their links to the Islah political party, which is opposed to the Houthis.

The Yemen office of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights told Human Rights Watch that since September 2014, the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have raided and shut down 33 groups in Sanaa, in many cases confiscating assets and equipment. Most of these groups have been prevented from reopening, particularly those affiliated with Islah, the high commissioner’s office said.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/13/yemen-houthis-shut-groups-detain-activists

Commentary: This is a definite problem - the Houthis have shut down many organisations in Yemen, and detained people that are hostile to them - and it is one of the schisms that is destroying Yemeni society and feeding the war machine in Yemen. Many Islah supporters in regular contact with me are very aggressive towards the Houthis, and the Houthi-Islah mutual hatred is something that has to be tackled in the peace talks if they are to succeed. It is both one of the causes of the terrible battles and civilian suffering in Taiz, and at the same time, the suffering in Taiz feeds into the hatred, forming a cycle of aggression and despair.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072595872892903

Kommentar: Man darf hier freilich nicht vergessen, dass es sich um eine Kriegssituation handelt und die Islah-Partei klar auf der den Huthis entgegengesetzten Seite steht. Auch die Briten haben etwa im 2. Weltkrieg die British Union of Fascists verboten und die Parteiführer interniert. Nicht hinnehmbar sind natürlich sämtliche Misshandlungen und Verschwi ndenlassen der unter diesen Umständen Internierten, wie im Jemen seitens der Huthis offensichtlich gerschehen.

UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks

14.12.2015 – International Business Times

Isis and al-Qaeda wait in wings as fragile truce begins in broken Yemen

There have been a number of prior attempts to implement ceasefires and begin negotiations, including most recently in September.

These collapsed before they could even begin when the Hadi-led Yemen government demanded acceptance of UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2216 prior to negotiations. This resolution was passed in April and calls for, among others, Houthi withdrawal from areas it controls. It has also been persistently rejected by Houthis.

Although the special envoy stated that the goal of talks will be the development of a plan to implement relevant UNSC resolutions, including the aforementioned Resolution 2216, there are no reports at this time of the Hadi-led government insisting on its acceptance as a precondition. In this context, with reports of anti-Houthi advances in various areas of Yemen, including in Taiz, the coalition likely sees an opportune time to press their position.

At the same time, the peace talks and thus far absence of any strict preconditions underline the fact that the coalition and Hadi-led government recognise that they would also seriously benefit from both a ceasefire and any potential resolution to the ongoing crisis. International pressure and criticism has substantially increased and includes accusations that the coalition is regularly and knowingly striking civilian targets – by Miriam Goldman

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-al-qaeda-wait-wings-fragile-truce-begins-broken-yemen-1533298

14.12.2015 – Reuters

With region in turmoil, West pushes for Yemen peace

Alarmed by the rise of Islamic State, under pressure from the West and with stalemate on the battlefield, Yemen's civil war foes are expected to launch their most serious peace efforts so far at U.N.-mediated talks in Geneva starting on Tuesday.

Fuelling the urgency behind Tuesday's talks is a perception in the West that the war, in part a proxy contest between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, is a dangerous distraction diverting regional attention from what should be the pre-eminent task of fighting IS on its home turf and ending Syria's larger war.

"There is an opportunity now more than at any of the previous talks and negotiations to stop this war ... to confront terrorism and challenges," a spokesman for the Saudis' adversary, the Houthi militia group, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, said.

According to officials in the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Western countries are keen to avoid a power vacuum that could give jihadist militants the haven they now enjoy in the southern port of Aden and other lawless areas.

"In recent weeks, Washington and London have exerted intense pressure on President Hadi and the government side to make concessions and not to be extreme in terms of executing the Security Council Resolution," one senior Yemeni government official told Reuters.

Previous talks have stumbled over Hadi's insistence that his foes immediately heed the United Nations and quit Yemen's population centres - an unlikely prospect given their dominance there.

But with Yemen so divided and its political classes polarised, few in the country expect the Geneva talks to hammer out a political transition and even pausing the daily killings would be considered a major accomplishment – byMohammed Ghobari and Noah Browning

http://news.yahoo.com/region-turmoil-west-pushes-yemen-peace-114302607.html

14.12.2015 – dpa

Waffenruhe im Jemen vor neuen Friedensgesprächen

Vor dem Beginn neuer Friedensgespräche für den Jemen soll in der kommenden Nacht ein Waffenstillstand in Kraft treten. Das berichtete der arabische Nachrichtenkanal Al-Arabija. Von morgen an wollen die Konfliktparteien in Genf unter UN-Vermittlung über einen dauerhaften Waffenstillstand verhandeln.

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/politik/konflikte-waffenruhe-im-jemen-vor-neuen-friedensgespraechen-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-151214-99-312194 = http://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/id_76397228/waffenruhe-im-jemen-vor-neuen-friedensgespraechen.html

14.12.2015 – Junge Welt

Kampf um die Macht

Jemen: Waffenruhe vor Friedensgesprächen zwischen Huthi-Rebellen und Regierung

Drei Delegationen hätten ihr Kommen zugesagt, die Gespräche sollen vermutlich außerhalb von Genf stattfinden und würden »solange dauern, wie es erforderlich« sei, sagte Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Eine Delegation wird aus Vertretern von Präsident Abed Rabbo Man­sur Hadi und seiner Regierung bestehen, eine zweite vertritt die Interessen der in westlichen Medien meist als »Huthi« bezeichneten, der schiitischen Gruppe der Saiditen zugerechneten Ansarollah-Rebellen. Eine dritte Abordnung bilden Vertreter des Allgemeinen Volkskongresses, der nach wie vor stärksten politischen Partei im Jemen, die unter dem Vorsitz des früheren Präsidenten Ali Abdullah Saleh steht, 2012 Hadi ins Amt half, jetzt aber mit den Huthi verbündet ist.

Neben den jemenitischen Parteien hatte auch die von Saudi-Arabien geführte Koalition dem Waffenstillstand zugestimmt, die mit anhaltenden Luftangriffen und mittlerweile auch Bodentruppen den im Jemen wenig geliebten Hadi an die Macht zurückbomben will. In westlichen Medien und Agenturmeldungen las es sich so, als habe dieser den Waffenstillstand in einem Brief an UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki Moon vorgeschlagen. Tatsächlich haben die Vereinten Nationen bereits verschiedene Anläufe unternommen, um politische Gespräche, begleitet von einem Waffenstillstand, in Gang zu bringen.

Mitte November hatte der Iran, der als Unterstützer der Huthi-Bewegung gilt, alle Seiten aufgefordert, die UN-Friedensgespräche zu Jemen aufzunehmen. Teheran beschuldigte Saudi-Arabien, mit seinem militärischen Eingreifen in den innerjemenitischen Konflikt die Lage im Land drastisch verschlechtert zu haben. Der Iran sei sehr an der Sicherheit Jemens, Saudi-Arabiens und der gesamten Region interessiert, erklärte der stellvertretende iranische Außenminister für arabische und afrikanische Angelegenheiten, Hossein Amir Abdollahian. »Aber Saudi-Arabien muss aufhören, die Sicherheit anderer zu gefährden, um seine eigene Sicherheit zu gewährleisten.« – von Karin Leukefeld

https://www.jungewelt.de/2015/12-14/012.php

Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia

13.12.2015 – Deutsche Welle

Saudi Arabia: An oil powerhouse out of balance

Saudi Arabia's natural resources have made it wealthy and influential. But low oil prices, the war in Yemen and regional scuffles with Iran are whittling away its financial wiggle room.

In October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the authoritarian kingdom will only be able to continue spending at its current pace for another five years - then its massive financial reserves will have dried up.

The trend has become increasingly precarious. The economic emergency can to be tied to one single factor: the price of oil. For almost a year, the price of that natural resource has been slumbering around 40 to 50 dollars (36-45 euros) a barrel. In fact, the price even fell below 40 dollars a barrel - lower than it has been in six years - following a recent meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna. "Saudi Arabia uses a per barrel price between 80 and 100 dollars for balanced budget calculations," says Sebastian Sons from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

For that reason, McKinsey, a consulting company, released a study this December urging the royal house not to wait for a rise in oil prices, but rather to initiate reforms as soon as possible.

Yemen is not only a military disaster, it's a financial disaster as well. So far it is estimated that costs have been in the neighborhood of 50 billion dollars in Yemen, and 20 billion dollars in Syria. Syria expert and journalist Daniel Gerlach told the German public radio station Deutschlandfunk that Saudi Arabia had already invested 100 billion dollars in the Syrian conflict.

Yet the country's sovereign wealth funds still have enormous reserves – by Nicolas Martin

http://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-an-oil-powerhouse-out-of-balance/a-18915389

USA

14.12.2015 – The American Conservative

The U.S. Continues to Fuel the Unnecessary War on Yemen

[It] is to repeat the observation that the Saudi-led coalition’s regional priorities are sharply at odds with Washington’s, and their fixation on Iran and its allies (real and imagined) and their sympathy for and complicity with jihadist groups make them useless and pernicious clients. Indulging the Saudis and their allies in their attack on Yemen remains one of the biggest errors that the Obama administration has made overseas, and it certainly stands out as the most cynical and indefensible. Even if the peace talks commencing in Switzerland this week lead to a sustained pause in the fighting, it will have come after almost nine months of a senseless and avoidable military intervention that our government had no business supporting.

Matt Purple also notes the contradiction between U.S. support for the war on Yemen and its desire to have the Saudis and other Gulf states contribute to the anti-ISIS coalition:

It should be said here that the U.S. would have been wrong to help the Saudis and their allies in Yemen even if it didn’t come at the expense of their support for the war on ISIS, and it ought to cut off all support for the campaign in Yemen regardless of how much the Gulf states contribute to the other conflict. In any case, the reality is that the war on Yemen has greatly strengthened both the local Al Qaeda and ISIS affiliates to the long-term detriment of Yemen and the wider region. Once again, an ill-conceived, unnecessary war in the name of “stability” has sown more chaos and given a boost to terrorist groups. U.S. weapons, fuel, and intelligence help to keep that war going, and that support makes the disaster in Yemen partly our responsibility – by Daniel Larison

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-u-s-continues-to-fuel-the-unnecessary-war-on-yemen/

14.12.2015 – The National Interest

America’s “Clinical Insanity” in Yemen

The United States is abetting a war in Yemen that’s given elbow room to Islamic extremists and lured its allies away from the fight in Syria.

Since last year, the United States has conducted the vast majority of the airstrikes against the Islamic State, and “leading from behind,” while an effective taunt for Republicans, was always a misnomer for the America-dominated campaign in Libya. Nevertheless, Yemen does stand out as a unique distraction for our allies. “It’s sucked up all the sorties and ground forces that we had wanted to deploy in Iraq and maybe in Syria,” one Pentagon official told the Washington Times.

The United States is supporting the war in Yemen by providing weapons and sharing intelligence. This has helped induce a humanitarian disaster.

It’s shameful enough that our Yemen policy is enabling the destruction of civilians, but it’s also empowering our jihadist enemies—and not only by rerouting Arab planes away from Syria. The violence in Yemen has created yet another void that’s been exploited by those savants of instability, the Islamic State. ISIS first proffered salutations to Yemen in March when it blew up two Shiite mosques in Sanaa, killing 142 worshippers. Since then, it has gradually turned up the terroristic burner, culminating in an alarmingly high-profile car bomb attack that killed the governor of Aden earlier this week.

So to review, the United States is seeking to destroy Islamic extremists. It’s also abetting a war in Yemen that’s given elbow room to Islamic extremists and lured our allies away from the fight in Syria. This is what’s known among foreign policy scholars as “clinical insanity.”

The Houthis are an unsavory bunch of characters—they overthrew Yemen’s president and have committed atrocities of their own—but they also despise Al Qaeda and ISIS as much as we do. They’re not our enemies and the coalition’s sledgehammer-against-a-fly approach to destroying them isn’t helping anyone – by Matt Pirple

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-%E2%80%9Cclinical-insanity%E2%80%9D-yemen-14598

Kommentar: Der Autor stellt die katastophale Einmischungspolitik der USA im Nahen Osten nicht in Frage, aber immerhin auch aus interessengeleiteter amerikanischer Sicht den Jemenkrieg.

Großbritannien / Great Britain

14.12.2015 – The Telegraph

British support for Saudi Arabia wrecking aid to Yemen, senior Tories warn

Ahead of United Nations-sponsored peace talks, senior Tory figures warn that Government's support for Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen has wrecked more than a decade's worth of British aid spending in the country

David Cameron has been accused of squandering nearly £400 million in taxpayers' aid to Yemen through its support for the Saudi-led military offensive in the country’s civil war.

The Prime Minister is facing an outcry from aid agencies and a rift in his own government over his continued backing for Saudi Arabia's role in the conflict, in which nearly 6,000 people have died.

Britain has not only sold Saudi Arabia weapons that have allegedly been used for indiscriminate bombing, but also supports Riyadh diplomatically, despite claims by aid agencies that Saudi forces are making the situation worse.

"Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends," Andrew Mitchell, the former Tory whip and ex-Secretary of State for International Development, told The Telegraph. "The Yemenis are being pulverised by the Saudis while we try to get aid in through ports which are being blockaded and while British ordnance is being dropped there."

Britain insists the actions of its long-term ally are part of a legitimate effort to prop-up the existing government and ensure regional stability. But aid agencies accuse both sides of committing serious human rights abuses – by Louisa Loveluck, and Colin Freeman

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/12048207/British-aid-and-military-policy-pursuing-different-ends-in-Yemen.html

14.12.2015 – RT

British military and humanitarian policy at odds in Yemen, says senior Tory

UK support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen has come under fire ahead of peace talks as senior Tories and human rights groups accuse Prime Minister David Cameron of fueling instability in the country, which has received £55 million in UK aid this year.

Though the UK has emerged as one of Yemen’s top humanitarian donors, Cameron’s government has been criticized for continuing to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia during the conflict, in which some 6,000 people have been killed

Former Tory cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell told the Telegraph: “Britain’s humanitarian and foreign policy are pursuing different ends.

“The Yemenis are being pulverized by the Saudis while we try to get aid in through ports which are being blockaded and while British ordnance is being dropped there.”

Tim Cross, a retired Major General, said: “The UK is of course well within its rights to sell arms to Saudi Arabia when in line with international and domestic legal frameworks.

“But there is a clear risk that the government is complicit in indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas – breaches of international and UK law. How our ally is using British arms runs counter to our self-proclaimed role in the world, and our aid efforts.”

https://www.rt.com/uk/325854-britain-aid-yemen-military/

8.6.2015 – RT

25p from everyone's council tax goes into bombs that strike Yemen

25p from every person's council tax goes towards pension funds and a percentage of that is invested into the making of the bombs. Paul McGowan, Peace activist & retired teacher is campaigning for councils to invest in ethical businesses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uj72JNfFUg

Commentary: This is a way that our government uses loopholes to invest in illegal weapons.

https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1072622352890255

12.12.2015 – Fox News

Critics try, but fail to kill $1 billion weapons deal for Saudi Arabia

Barring last minute opposition from Congress, Saudi Arabia is poised to receive a hefty $1.3 billion weapons package that includes 13,000 “smart bombs” from the United States by the end of the year. But don’t necessarily expect it to be used to fight ISIS.

Critics say the payload of sophisticated weapons will instead bolster the Saudis' continuing air war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

While Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, supports the action in Yemen, he has requested “that the committee be notified of future weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia resulting from this proposed sale,” according to an email forwarded to Foxnews.com from the committee.

He is joined by ranking member Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who has raised alarms about the human rights issue, along with other Democratic members.

They are not expected to stop the sale, however. It is the most recent in a long line of arms deals brokered with Riyadh -- $90 billion worth since 2010, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Reached for comment, the State Department, which engineered the sale, called Saudi Arabia “a key U.S. strategic partner within the region,” and that “the purchase of these munitions will rebuild Saudi Arabia’s inventory, helping them to meet their defense requirements over the long term.”

On the human rights issue, the State Department says it has “noted our concern several times regarding civilian casualties and deaths in Yemen,” and has encouraged the coalition to investigate “credible accounts of civilian casualties.”

“At a minimum they have to stop aiding and abetting Wahhabism; I would hope that the administration would make that a condition,” said former Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who is now the Jerry and Susie Wilson Chair in Religious Freedom at Baylor University, and lobbies often on Capitol Hill for protection of religious minorities in the Middle East conflict zones.

Saudi officials have long denied the complaints and have often pushed back against detractors. Early this year, they blocked an arms agreement with Sweden after its foreign minister Margot Wallstrom called the kingdom a dictatorship and criticized the sentence of 1,000 lashings it imposed on a blogger there. The kingdom called her remarks "offensive."

But the issue has become so pronounced in recent months due to the terror attacks in Europe, that world leaders are speaking out more. In a moment of candor this week, the German Vice Chancellor accused the kingdom of financing terror.

A breakdown of the munitions being sold to the kingdom can be found on the State Department website. – by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/12/12/critics-try-but-fail-to-kill-1-billion-weapons-deal-for-saudi-arabia.html

Söldner / Mercenaries

13.12.2015 – Beforeitsnews

Mercenaries operating in Yemen tied to Blackwater

Overview article on a subject treated before in several “Yemen Press Readers”, referring to articles in the media and films

Receiving scant attention from Western mainstream media outlets except for a few notable exceptions, Americans and many alternative media outlets have remained ignorant to the fact that private mercenaries from Blackwater (aka Academi) appear to have been contracted by the GCC Gulf state feudal monarchies to assist in the military war of terror in Yemen against the Houthi rebels and the embattled Yemeni people.

Still, on December 9, a flurry of reports from media outlets such as Press TV, TeleSur TV, Al-Manar, Al –Bawaba, and Colombia Reports have revealed that around 15 Blackwater mercenaries have been killed in a fierce battles with the Houthi forces since Tuesday.

Al-Masirah, Yemen’s Arabic language website reported that the Commander-In-Chief of the firm’s operation in Yemen, a Mexican national, was killed on Wednesday in the al-Omari district of Ta’izz Province.

Press TV reports that a number of British, French, and Australian advisers and commanders as well as six Colombian soldiers were killed.

In late November of this year, it was reported that around 1,800 former Latin American soldiers who had been recruited by a program once managed Blackwater founder Erik Prince were being trained in the desert of the United Arab Emirates to be used against the Houthis at some point.

It was estimated that about 450 of the soldiers were from Colombia.

The New York Times wrote that “The United Arab Emirates has secretly dispatched hundreds of Colombian mercenaries to Yemen to fight in that country’s raging conflict, adding a volatile new element in a complex proxy war that has drawn in the United States and Iran.”

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2015/12/mercenaries-operating-in-yemen-tied-to-blackwater-3256352.html

14.5.2015 – New York Times

Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder

Columbian Mercenaries in the United Arab Emirates. By MARK MAZZETTI and EMILY B. HAGER

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html?_r=2

Flüchtlinge / Refugees

8.12.2015 – New Telegraph

Seventy Ethiopian migrants drown off Red Sea coast of Yemen

At least 70 Ethiopians drowned when a boat used by smugglers to transport illegal migrants to Yemen sank in the Red Sea in rough weather, security authorities in the western part of the country said on Sunday.

Human traffickers often use unseaworthy boats to smuggle African migrants to Yemen, seen as a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and Oman, and the West.

Security authorities in Taiz province said the small boat sank on Saturday due to high winds and rough seas off the country’s al-Makha port.

They said the boat was carrying 70 people, all of them Ethiopians.

Tens of thousands of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and beyond crowd into often unsafe boats each year and many drown, reports Reuters.

In March, at least 42 illegal African migrants drowned in the Arabian Sea off the southern coast of Yemen.

http://newtelegraphonline.com/seventy-ethiopian-migrants-drown-off-red-sea-coast-of-yemen/

Commentary: It is hard to believe that still people try to come to Yemen, but that’s what it is. How miserable their life in Africa must be?

Terrorismus / Terrorism

14.12.2015 – New York Times

Islamic State Gains Strength in Yemen, Challenging Al Qaeda

Siehe oben unter „Am wichtigsten / See above at „Most important“

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/world/middleeast/islamic-state-gains-strength-in-yemen-rivaling-al-qaeda.html

Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War

14.12.2015 – The Guardian

Houthi rebels' attack rocks prospects for Yemen peace talks

Scores of Saudi-led coalition’s troops killed in attack day before government and Houthi representatives due to meet in Switzerland

Hopes for progress at UN talks on ending the war in Yemen have been overshadowed by an attack by Houthi rebels that killed scores of troops of the Saudi-led coalition, including two senior commanders, just hours before a planned ceasefire.

The Houthis released video footage of a missile strike they claimed had killed 152 enemy troops in the Bāb al-Mandab area of south-west Yemen. Confirmed fatalities included the Saudi Col Abdullah al-Sahyan, and Sultan al-Kitbi, a senior Emirati officer. Sahyan was hailed on Saudi social media as a national hero.

The rebels said they had caused heavy losses in lives and equipment, including Apache helicopters. Yemeni media later reported Saudi missiles being fired in the Taiz area while the Saudis announced the deployment of forces on the border with Yemen – by Ian Black

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/14/houthi-rebels-attack-rocks-prospects-for-yemen-peace-talks

14.12.2015 – Defence Blog

Saudi National Guards deploys reinforcements to Southern border with Yemen

Saudi National Guards deploys reinforcements to Southern border with Yemen to stop the advances of Houthis rebels.

The Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) has been ordered to deploy to the Southern border with Yemen to help defend the kingdom’s border with Yemen, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Saudi Arabian National Guard(SANG also known as the White Army) is one of the three major branches of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national guard is under the administrative control of the Ministry of the National Guard, instead of the Ministry of Defence. The current Minister is Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was appointed to this position byKing Abdullah on 27 May 2013. It differs from the Saudi army in being forged out of tribal elements loyal to the House of Saud and tasked with protecting the royal family from internal dangers such as a coup d’état.

http://defence-blog.com/army/saudi-national-guards-deploys-reinforcements-to-southern-border-with-yemen.html see also http://gulftimes.ae/saudi-arabia-mobilises-counter-insurgency-units-on-yemen-border/

14.12.2015 – AP

GROUND FIGHTING RAGES ON IN YEMEN AHEAD OF CEASEFIRE

Fierce fighting was underway between forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government and the country's Shiite rebels just hours before an agreed-on truce was supposed to start at midnight Monday, officials said.

The clashes, which were taking place in Yemen's southern, central and western provinces, killed a total of 32 people, including 10 civilians, according to the security and medical officials.

There were also at least 16 people wounded across the country, said the officials who have remained neutral in Yemen's civil war.

Also Monday, the rebels fired a long-range missile at a secret headquarters of the pro-government military leadership close to the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab, killing two senior coalition officials, the Houthis said in a statement.

Pro-government military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations, confirmed the hit and the two casualties. The attack suggested the rebels have improved intelligence, the officials said – by Ahmed Al-Haj

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-14-08-32-37

14.12.2015 – International Business Times

Saudi Coalition, Houthi Rebels Intensify Attacks In Yemen Ahead Of Proposed Ceasefire

Houthi rebels launched a Russian-made Tochka short-range ballistic missile at coalition forces Monday, according to the Houthi-controlled SABA News Agency. The report stated that at least 146 coalition forces and other anti-Houthi fighters were killed in the attack in Taiz, the southern city of Yemen that has been under fire from both sides for months.

Asset Source, a mobile intelligence and monitoring company, reported between 16 and 18 Sudanese, 23 Saudi, seven Emirati, and nine Moroccan soldiers were killed in the attack. The Houthi report also claimed that at least 40 mercenaries from the U.S. security services training company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, now called Academi, were among the fatalities.

International Business Times was not able to independently confirm the numbers, but Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency reported that a Saudi Colonel and officer from the United Arab Emirates were killed in Taiz Monday “while carrying out their duties in ... liberating Taiz.”

The lethal Tochka missile, a Soviet-era ballistic missile that also goes by the NATO reporting name SS-21 Scarab, was also the weapon of choice when Houthis launched an attack at a coalition-controlled base in September, killing at least 45 Emirati troops, five Bahrainis and 10 Saudis -- the deadliest operation against coalition forces until now.

Houthis have access to roughly 40 Tochka missiles, according to a recent interview with an official from Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The official told IBT that Houthis have access to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s weapons cache. It was not immediately clear whether the missile used on Monday was part of this stockpile or a recent acquisition.

In the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, coalition airstrikes Sunday killed 12 people and wounded at least 20 others, including women and children, according to the pan-Arab TV channel Al-Mayadeen. In a separate attack, the coalition launched at least 11 airstrikes in the northwestern province of Hajjah and a further 25 people were killed in aerial strikes between Saturday and Sunday morning – by Alessandria Masi

http://www.ibtimes.com/saudi-coalition-houthi-rebels-intensify-attacks-yemen-ahead-proposed-ceasefire-2223830

14.12.2015 – Arab News

50 Houthis killed in battle

With battles still raging at the Saudi-Yemeni border, the enemy is forcing large numbers of its fighters to pass through in a bid to penetrate the border, promising their fighters they are near a big victory, but incurring more human losses, equivalent to half of these large forces during each battle

At the same time, the joint military force is still in control in every area of the border, deterring any attempts to infiltrate Saudi territory.
Al Ekhbariya satellite TV channel, the Ministry of Culture and Information-operated Arabic channel, featured an extensive detailed news report on the battles. This past Friday, the channel’s news reporter was there on the battlefield describing some of the details of the happenings on the ground, near Wadi Almoghaialh in Jazan, where a surveillance tower for the joint military forces is keeping a close eye on the area. The tower witnessed one of the biggest attacks from the enemy side on Friday.
"About 200 fighters of the enemy forces advanced with weaponry close to the border. The joint military force saw them and engaged them in a four-hour battle, killing more than 50 of the enemy fighters. Two soldiers of the joint force were martyred and one injured during the battle," said reporter Khalid Al-Janahi.
Brig. Abdullah Al-Juaid, a commander of the joint force who was one of the fighters at the front, described the situation as reassuring. He said: "The valley is full of the bodies of the enemy fighters and we are in full control."
The enemy was showering Almoghaialh center with weapons including Katyusha rockets, mortar shells, artillery and tanks. Also during Friday’s operations, hostile elements were seen in separate locations moving on the border, but the Saudi soldiers dealt with them opening direct fire, killing 12 of them, and destroying two vehicles and one rocket launcher.
News reports by the TV channel explained that the Houthis and the supporting battalions of the Republican Guard, in addition to the forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, tried to launch more attacks on the border in the Jazan sector to achieve results and occupy locations to acquire favorable positions ahead of the Geneva negotiations.

http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/850141

Kommentar: Beide Seiten berichten von hohen Verlusten der Gegenseite. Die eigenen Verluste werden nicht erwähnt.

14.12.2015 – Morocco World News

Seven Moroccan Soldiers Reportedly Killed in Yemen

Seven Moroccan soldiers were reportedly killed on Sunday night along with Saudi soldiers in a rocket strike in Yemen as fighting flared before Tuesday’s peace talks.

This information should be taken with utmost caution, as Moroccan authorities have not confirmed the death of the soldiers.

The number of confirmed casualties on the Moroccan side is still not clear. Citing Asset Source, a mobile intelligence and monitoring company, the International Business Times reported that nine Moroccan soldiers were reportedly killed in the attack, in addition to 16 and 18 Sudanese, 23 Saudi, seven Emiratis.

“In the absence of official sources, the information remains pure propaganda of the Houtis, following rumors about a Moroccan participation in ground operations,” Moroccan military expert, Abdelhamid Harifi, was quoted by medias24 as saying.

http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/12/175077/seven-moroccan-soldiers-reportedly-killed-in-yemen/

14.12.2015 – Alalam

VIDEO, Yemeni Forces kill 80 Saudi Mercenaries Including 42 Blackwater Forces

Yemeni forces have managed to kill over 80 Saudi-led Mercenaries, including 42 Blackwater armed men, in a ballistic missile attack in the western Bab-el-Mandeb area.

The Yemeni army, backed by popular committees loyal to the Houthi Ansarullah movement forces, targeted a Saudi military headquarters in the Yemen’s southwestern province of Taizz with a Tochka ballistic missile on Sunday night, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported.

Twenty-three Saudi, nine Emirati, and seven Moroccan forces, including a number of commanders, were also killed in the attack. Other reports said the attack left nearly 150 casualties among the Saudi-led forces.

The surface-to-surface missile also destroyed two Patriot missile systems, three Apache helicopters, more than 50 military vehicles, all belonging to the US Blackwater Worldwide security services company. The report added that two Saudi warships were damaged while fleeing the incoming Katyusha rockets that were fired spontaneously due to the missile impact.

Elsewhere, a Yemeni ballistic missile, named Qaher 1, hit a regional airport in the Saudi region of Jizan. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and the extent of damage inflicted.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni army spokesman said the forces killed some 20 Sudanese mercenaries in an attack on Yemen’s southwestern province of Lahij.

http://en.alalam.ir/news/1769109

14.12.2015 – Almasdar News

150 Saudi-Led Troops, Mercenaries Killed in Yemen Tochka Attack

At least 150 Saudi-led troops and mercenaries were killed in a ballistic missile attack on a Saudi military installation in the western countryside of Bab-el-Mandeb.

On Sunday, Yemeni sources said that the Yemeni army and the popular committees launched a Tochka missile on the headquarters of the Saudi military command in the southwestern province of Taiz.

The sources reported this death toll, noting that an Emirati colonel named “Sultan Bin Hweidan” was among the killed.

Among the casualties were Saudi, Emirati, and Moroccan troops; this was in addition to the death of at least 42 mercenaries hired by the US-based private military contractor, Blackwater, the sources added.

Sources added that at least 146 charred bodies arrived in Aden via the Al-Umari military camp, while also adding that the coalition forces sent a ship carrying medical supplies to the coast in order to assist the high number of casualties.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/20731/

14.12.2015 – Albawaba

Houthi media: 80 Saudi troops, including 42 Blackwater, killed in Yemen ballistic missile attack

Houthi rebel forces killed over 80 Saudi-led troops, including 42 Blackwater mercenaries, in a ballistic missile attack in the western Bab-el-Mandeb area.

The Yemeni army, backed by popular committees loyal to the Houthi rebel movement, targeted a Saudi military headquarters in the Yemen’s southwestern province of Ta’izz with a Tochka ballistic missile on Sunday night, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah news website reported.

Twenty-three Saudi, nine Emirati, and seven Moroccan forces, including a number of commanders, were also killed in the attack. Other reports said the attack left nearly 150 casualties among the Saudi-led forces.

The surface-to-surface missile also destroyed two Patriot missile systems, three Apache helicopters, more than 50 military vehicles, all belonging to the US Blackwater Worldwide security services company. The report added that two Saudi warships were damaged while fleeing the incoming Katyusha rockets that were fired spontaneously due to the missile impact.

Elsewhere, a Yemeni ballistic missile, named Qaher 1, hit a regional airport in the Saudi region of Jizan. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and the extent of damage inflicted.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni army spokesman said the forces killed some 20 Sudanese mercenaries in an attack on Yemen’s southwestern province of Lahij.

Yemenis carry out these attacks in retaliation for Saudi strikes, launched with the aim of bringing back to power the country’s embattled president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/houthi-media-80-saudi-troops-including-42-blackwater-killed-yemen-ballistic-missile-attack-7810

14.12.2015 – Reuters

Two top Gulf commanders killed in Yemen rocket strike: sources

Two senior commanders from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among dozens of Gulf, Yemeni and Sudanese soldiers killed in a rocket strike in Yemen as fighting flared before Tuesday's peace talks, local media and Yemeni sources said.

The Tochka rocket strike on a Red Sea army camp south-west of the besieged city of Taiz early on Monday appears to be one of the bloodiest setbacks for Gulf forces in months of fighting against Iran-allied Houthi forces and Yemeni army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Sultan Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi, an Emirati officer, was killed near Taiz, Emirati state news agency WAM reported. Saudi Press Agency SPA said Colonel Abdullah al-Sahian and Kitbi "were martyred at dawn on Monday while shouldering their duties in overseeing operations to liberate Taiz".

The Houthis said via their own media outlets that the two commanders were among scores killed in a rocket attack near Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea coast.

A source in Hadi's forces confirmed that a rocket had been fired at coalition forces in the Dhubab area, north of Bab al-Mandab and south-west of the city of Taiz, adding that "tens were killed" in a camp that houses Yemenis, Sudanese, Emiratis and Saudis.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0TX0FW20151214#lvrW13QfxXJpdgvo.97

14.12.2015 – Aljazeera

Senior Saudi and Emirati officers killed in Yemen

Two senior officers from the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's government have been killed near the city of Taiz, Saudi and Emirati authorities say.

Saudi Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan and Emirati officer Sultan al-Ketbi were killed at dawn on Monday "while they were carrying out their duties in supervising operations to liberate Taiz" province in Yemen's southwest, the official Saudi Press Agency news agency said.

The Emirati state news agency WAM separately confirmed Ketbi's death.

Media controlled by the Houthi rebels said the two had been killed in a rocket attack on the Red Sea coast.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/senior-saudi-emirati-officers-killed-yemen-151214061736457.html see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/saudi-emirati-officers-killed-in-fighting-in-yemen/2015/12/14/18f0525c-a246-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588_story.html

13.12.2015 – Albawaba

Yemeni troops shoot down Saudi spy craft

Yemeni troops have downed a Saudi Arabian reconnaissance aircraft in the Jihanah district of the Sanaa province.

According to Yemeni security sources, the spy plane was shot down by the Yemeni’s air force in the mountainous regions of the province on Saturday.

An ensuing missile attack by Yemeni forces targeted a Saudi airbase in the kingdom’s southwestern Asir region.

Meanwhile, Yemeni troops carried out a retaliatory attack on a Saudi mercenary camp in the impoverished state's southwestern province of Lahij, destroying a tank and killing two soldiers.

At least 19 mercenaries fighting for Saudi forces were killed in an attack on the southwestern Taiz province. Some 13 others were also killed during an attack in the southwestern province of Dhale.

Earlier in the day, Yemen’s Defense Ministry announced that a Saudi Arabian F-16 jet was downed before landing at an airbase in the Lahij province.

Yemenis carry out these attacks in retaliation for Saudi strikes, launched with the aim of undermining Houthi movement and bringing back to power the country’s embattled president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/yemeni-troops-shoot-down-saudi-spy-craft-780722#.Vm27HGev2YY.facebook

Kommentar: Iranische Agentur, also Yemeni tropps: Einheiten auf Seiten der Huthis.

13.12.2015 – Al Araby

Yemen rebels 'fire surface-to-surface missile into Saudi Arabia'

Houthi rebels have fired a "ballistic" missile into the King Khaled bin Abdul Aziz airbase in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a Yemeni military source loyal to the Houthi rebels has claimed. The official Yemeni News Agency run by the rebels said the rocket, dubbed Qahir-1 [Vanquisher-1], was a locally developed version of a Russian SAM-2 rocket, modified to operate as a surface-to-surface missile. The rebels claimed the two-stage rocket is 11 metres long and weighs 2 tonnes, and has a range of 250 km.

http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2015/12/13/yemen-rebels-fire-surface-to-surface-missile-into-saudi-battles-continue

Drohnenkrieg / Drone War

2015 – International Security

Drone Wars Yemen: Analysis

The purpose of this database is to provide as much information as possible about covert U.S. drone and air strikes (e.g. cruise missiles) in Yemen in the absence of any such transparency on the part of the American government. This data was collected from credible news reports and is presented here with the relevant sources.

This resource is updated after every drone strike.

Throughout the history of the program, there have been 15air strikes and 122 drone strikes in Yemen. With the exception of the first lethal drone strike in Yemen in 2002, all of them have been launched during the Obama administration.

http://securitydata.newamerica.net/drones/yemen-analysis.html

UNESCO-Kulturerbe / UNESCO Cultural heritage

2015 – UNESCO

Yemen: Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (4)

Cultural (3)

Historic Town of Zabid (1993)

Old City of Sana'a (1986)

Old Walled City of Shibam (1982)

Natural (1)

Socotra Archipelago (2008)

Properties submitted on the Tentative List (10)

A Tentative List is an inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination. More about the Tentative List Process...

Archaeological site of Marib (2002)

Historic city of Saada (2002)

The Historic City of Thula (2002)

The Madrasa Amiriya of Rada (2002)

Jibla and its surroundings (2002)

Jabal Haraz (2002)

Jabal Bura (2002)

Balhaf/Burum coastal area (2002)

The Hawf Area (2002)

Sharma/Jethmun coastal area (2002)

Activities (1)

The Inventory of the historic city of Sana'a: a tool for urban conservation

News (7)

Emergency Action Plan for the Safeguarding of Yemen’s Cultural Heritage announced Thursday, July 16, 2015

Yemen’s Old City of Sana’a and Old Walled City of Shibam added to List of World Heritage in Danger Thursday, July 2, 2015

The Director General of UNESCO condemns the destruction of historic buildings in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen Friday, June 12, 2015

UNESCO Director-General condemns airstrikes on Yemen’s cultural heritage Tuesday, June 2, 2015

UNESCO launches emergency response plan to safeguard Yemen cultural heritage Wednesday, May 13, 2015

http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ye

Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-65: / Yemen Press reader 1-65:

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or

http://poorworld.net/YemenWar.htm

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

Dietrich Klose

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

Dietrich Klose

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