Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
Am wichtigsten / Most important
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
Huthis und Nordjemen / Houthis and Northern Yemen
Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
Großbritannien / Great Britain
Italien / Italy
Somalia
Söldner / Mercenaries
Waffenhandel / Arms trade
Flüchtlinge / Refugees
Terrorismus / Terrorism
Propaganda
Drohnenkrieg / Drone war
Saudische Luftangriffe / Saudi air raids
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
C = Chronik / Chronicle
D = Details
E = Wirtschaft / Economy
H = Humanitäre Fragen / Humanitarian questions
K = Krieg / War
P = Politik / Politics
PH = Pro-Houthi
PS = Pro-Saudi
T = Terrorismus / Terrorism
Am wichtigsten / Most important
17.1.2016 – War Is A Crime (*** B K)
The Scale of the Slaughter: Passive Reporting vs Scientific Mortality Studies
How many people have been killed in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Somalia? On November 18th, a UN press briefing on the war in Yemen declared authoritatively that it had so far killed 5,700 people, including 830 women and children. But how precise are these figures, what are they based on, and what relation are they likely to bear to the true numbers of people killed?
If McClatchy [report on Afghanistan, 2011] had investigated the striking anomaly of a reported decrease in civilian casualties in the midst of a savagely escalating war, it would have raised serious questions regarding the full scale of the slaughter taking place in occupied Afghanistan. And it would have revealed a disturbing pattern of under-reporting by the UN and the media in which a small number of deaths that happened to be reported to UN officials or foreign reporters in Kabul was deceptively relayed to the world as an estimate of total civilian war deaths.
The reasons for the media’s reluctance to delve into such questions lie buried in Iraq. During the U.S. military occupation of Iraq, controversy erupted over conflicting estimates of the numbers of Iraqis killed and details of who killed them. If more UN officials and journalists had dug into those conflicting reports from Iraq and made the effort to really understand the differences between them, they would have been far better equipped to make sense of reports of numbers of people killed in other wars.
The critical thing to understand about reports on numbers of civilians killed in wars is the difference between “passive reporting” and scientific “mortality studies”.
When I was investigating the conflicting reports of civilian deaths in Iraq, I spoke with Les Roberts, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s School of Public Health and one of the co-authors of two comprehensive mortality studies conducted in occupied Iraq in 2004 and 2006. Les Roberts had conducted mortality studies in war zones for many years, including studies in Rwanda in 1994 and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2000 that are still widely cited by the media and Western politicians without the taint of controversy that was immediately attached to his and his colleagues’ work in Iraq.
In 2004, Roberts and his colleagues conducted a scientific epidemiological study of mortality in Iraq since the U.S. invasion. They concluded that “about 100,000 excess deaths, or more” had resulted from the first 18 months of U.S.-led invasion and occupation. They also found that, “Violent deaths… were mainly attributed to coalition forces,” and, “Most individuals killed by coalition forces were women and children.”
Both Nancy Youssef of McClatchy (then Knight Ridder) and John Simpson of the BBC also reported that U.S.-led forces, not Iraqi resistance fighters, were probably responsible for most civilian deaths in Iraq, based on figures published by the Iraqi Health Ministry. On September 25th 2004, the Miami Herald carried a report by Youssef under the headline, “U.S. attacks, not insurgents, blamed for most Iraqi deaths.” A Health Ministry official told Youssef, “Everyone is afraid of the Americans, not the fighters. And they should be.”
But after John Simpson noted the same pattern in the next Health Ministry report on the BBC’s flagship Panorama news program, the BBC received a phone call from the occupation government’s Health Minister disavowing his own ministry’s published data on who was killing who in Iraq. The BBC retracted its story and subsequent Health Ministry reports no longer assigned responsibility for civilian deaths to either party in the conflict.
As each of their studies was released, Roberts and his colleagues became targets of blistering campaigns by U.S. and British officials to dispute and dismiss their findings.
In reality, the huge discrepancy between the results of these mortality studies and “passive reporting” was exactly what epidemiologists expected to find in a conflict zone like occupied Iraq. As Les Roberts and his colleagues have explained, epidemiologists working in war zones typically find that passive reporting only captures between 5% (in Guatemala, for example) and 20% of the total deaths revealed by comprehensive mortality studies. So their finding that passive reporting in Iraq had captured about one in twelve actual deaths was consistent with extensive research in other war-torn countries.
In 2015, Physicians for Social Responsibility co-published a report titled Body Count: Casualty Figures After 10 Years of the “War on Terror,” with a new estimate of 1.3 million total war deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2001 and 2011. This 97-page report meticulously examines and evaluates mortality studies and other evidence from all three countries, and the authors conclude that the studies published by the Lancet are still the most accurate and credible studies conducted in Iraq.
But what can all this tell us about the figures cited by the UN and the media for civilian deaths in other war-torn countries since 2006?
As noted in Body Count, the only reports on civilian mortality in Afghanistan, including those published by the UN, are based on passive reporting. To accept these figures as actual estimates of war deaths would be to believe that the most heavily bombed country in the recent history of warfare (over 60,000 air strikes in 14 years) has been a safer place to live than most Western cities, with only 5.9 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants per year, compared to 6.9 in Frankfurt and 48 in Detroit.
As the authors explain, “The problem in determining the number of killed civilians is the “passive” research method itself. It can capture only a fraction of all cases…. In order to get more reliable approximations, on-site research and scientific polls would be necessary. In Afghanistan, these simply do not exist.”
The authors of Body Count very conservatively estimate the number of Afghan civilians killed at 5 to 8 times the number passively reported, giving an estimate between 106,000 and 170,000. At the same time, they acknowledge the conservative nature of this estimate, noting that, “…compared to Iraq, where urbanization is more pronounced, and monitoring by local and foreign press is more pronounced than in Afghanistan, the registration of civilian deaths has been much more fragmentary.
If the ratio of actual deaths to passively reported deaths in Afghanistan is in fact somewhere between those found in Iraq (12:1) and Guatemala (20:1), the true number of civilians killed in Afghanistan would be somewhere between 255,000 and 425,000. As in Guatemala, the UN and Western reporters have little access to the remote resistance-held areas where most air strikes and special forces raids take place, so the true number of Afghan civilians killed could well be closer to the higher of these numbers.
As in Rwanda, the DRC, Guatemala and Iraq, only serious, scientific mortality studies can expose the full scale of the slaughter endured by the people of Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and other war-ravaged countries.
The politically contrived controversy surrounding mortality estimates in Iraq has deterred the U.S. corporate media from making any attempt to gain a more accurate picture of the scale of the slaughter in these other wars. This has left average Americans in almost complete ignorance of the human cost of modern war, and has served to shield our political and military leaders from accountability for appalling decisions and policies that have resulted in catastrophic losses of human life.
Deaths counted by "passive reporting" cannot be an estimate of total deaths in a war zone because they are fragmentary by nature. But serious researchers have developed scientific methods they can use to make realistic estimates of total war deaths. As with climate change and other issues, UN officials and journalists must overcome political pressures, come to grips with the basic science involved, and stop sweeping the vast majority of the victims of our wars down this Orwellian "memory hole". – by Nicholas J. S. Davies
http://warisacrime.org/content/scale-slaughter-passive-reporting-vs-scientific-mortality-studies
Comment: Very important also for the Yemen war. These excerpts are looking quite long but are only excerpts. Please read at the original site. Thus I fear, my estimate – already including those who died because of the Saudi blockade, which must be added to the victims of a “normal” war — of 80.000 killed until mid-December is quite low.
Comment by Judith Brown: This is a very important issue. It suits Western powers and their allies to distort death statistics - to increase those killed by the other side, where possible, and to ignore deaths that are a consequence of their own actions - including war casualties and casualties of blockades. This article discusses this phenomena in detail.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154040510268641
18.1.2016 – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (*** B C K)
Yemen: Reported US covert actions 2016
This page details events reported by US and Yemeni government, military and intelligence officials, and by credible media, academic and other sources.
Many of the US attacks listed below have been confirmed by senior US or Yemeni officials. However some events are only speculatively attributed to the US, or are indicative of US involvement. We therefore class all strikes in Yemen as either “confirmed” or “possible”.
Both the Pentagon and CIA have been operating drones over Yemen. But the US has also launched strikes with other weapons systems, including conventional jet aircraft and cruise missiles. The Bureau records these operations as “additional US attacks”
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2016/01/18/yemen-reported-us-covert-actions-2016/
and 2015:
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2015/01/26/yemen-reported-us-covert-actions-2015/
and back to 2001 links at the same sites.
17.1.2016 – Truthout (*** B K)
Drones and the Imperial Mindset
The latest expose of drone operations in Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan provide new details on how utterly routine is the indiscriminate killing of innocent people in these military assaults.
But in this age of endless violence here is a question to ponder: Why is an indiscriminate terror assault with an AK-47 on innocent people more of a moral outrage than an indiscriminate weaponized drone attack on innocent people?
The scope and detail of U.S drone operations exposed in these new revelations have already been widely commented on. Here we will only note the one five-month period in Afghanistan in 2012-2013, when nearly 90 percent of the people killed in drone airstrikes were not official targets of the operations. Or that in 2012, the White House approved assassinations of 20 people in Somalia and Yemen. As The Guardian reported, doing so led to more than 200 more people dying.
In Yemen, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's report, drone spy technology was used to launch a cruise missile attack in December 2009 against Al Qaeda that killed 44 civilians, including 22 children. That missile attack was launched from a U.S. Navy ship unleashing 166 exploding cluster sub-munitions with over 200 sharp steel fragments. In Pakistan, "targeted killings" by American drones over the past decade have caused as many as 4,000 deaths, the Bureau further reports. Some 423 to 965 of these deaths involve innocent civilians, including 172 to 207 children. The majority of these killings occurred under sponsorship of the Obama administration.
This is the imperial mind-set of the privileged and the powerful at work, always brave about the deaths of others, whom it is implicitly deigned must be ready for any sacrifice on behalf of their geopolitical objectives.
The normalization of assassination expresses itself not only in destroyed lives and the fear, despair, and anger that hangs like a Sword of Damocles over populations living in targeted regions. Does anyone seriously believe drone killings do not stir popular hostility toward the United States in the regions under attack?
The corporate media's reporting of drone operations works to separate the American public from the raw horror of the violence, to render it more distant or remote. Even when news coverage acknowledges controversy surrounding the use of military drone strikes, the "accidental" deaths and other issues, the coverage has the air of the routine about it, as if reporting bad weather in far away locales. Everything is seen through a cultural film that subverts the sharp immediacy of the violence.
All in all, modern power politics is now just a school for lies. Meanwhile, the U.S. government tells lies to cover up deaths by drone, of those unidentified or unintended victims who magically become "enemies" in the bureaucratic score sheets of recorded casualties.
Whether the issue is death by drone, death by infantry, death by aerial bombardment, death by napalm or agent orange or economic sanctions, any accounting of actual casualties in modern military conflicts remains wildly imprecise. That in itself is a damning indictment of the state of the world and the warmongers who run it.
Life remains invariably cheap next to the machinations of military power and those who hold its reins.
What we need now are not more career politicians who gravitate to wealth, privilege and power, who cry selective tears for some, but whose loyalty to the capitalist status quo renders their empathy biased when it comes to the encompassing global reality of social injustice – by Mark T. Harris
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34448-drones-and-the-imperial-mindset
12.2015 – Gulf Studies Center (***B K)
DRONE STRIKES IN THE WAR ON TERROR: The Case of Post-Arab-Spring Yemen
The “War on Terror” being waged in the Middle East against Islamic extremists is based in large part on the use of sophisticated technology, including drones which can target and kill individuals in the most remote locations. This essay examines the history of drone use in Yemen and addresses the issue of measuring its success and the ethical implications of killing suspected terrorists and innocent civilians without recourse to a judicial system. It is argued that while the use of drones in Yemen and in Pakistan may eliminate a few major terrorist leaders, the sympathy created for victims serves as an effective recruiting tool for future terrorism and also creates a negative view of the United States. The author draws on his experience as an anthropologist working in Yemen since 1978 and following the current civil conflict in Yemen in which extremist groups have expanded their influence.
It is hard to win the hearts and minds of Pakistanis when they see the bodies of people they know blown to bits by an unseen drone.
The harm caused by the killing of innocent civilians, especially women and children, is exacerbated by the trauma inflicted on the local population by the drones, which are audible even when just collecting information. Some villagers were so afraid of the drones that they left their homes. “Survivors of the attacks continue to have nightmares of being killed in the next strike,” confirmed those interviewed in Yemen. “Men go to their farms in fear. Children involuntarily urinate when they hear the sound of aircraft. They are afraid to go to school.”
I do not find much comfort in the argument by Henry A. Crumpton, a former deputy chief of the C.I.A.’s counterterrorism center, that drones are a great improvement over the fire bombing of Dresden. If Mr. Crumpton thinks Dresden is anything like a rural town in Wassab, Yemen, he needs a refresher course in World War II history. Every time a family mourns the loss of a victim, there is a potential recruiting tool for yet more terrorists.
The legality of using drones to kill suspected terrorists has been challenged according to existing human rights laws and protocols. In the case of Yemen the drone attacks were conducted while there was no state of war and also with the compliance of a dictatorial regime that had targeted political rivals.
Morality has a pragmatic side beyond the issue of human rights promoted as a mantra by the West. The use of drones to take out terrorists may kill a few individuals, but it also likely to create more individuals who hate the United States. The sympathy now seen in rural Yemen for militant Islamic groups is in large part a direct result of the American drone policy and not because of any natural affinity between local tribes and the terrorist agenda of al-Qaida or ISIS.
I can only offer without hesitation this take-away moral: drone killing, justified or not, simply does not work to reduce terrorism in Yemen, Pakistan or anywhere – by Daniel Martin Varisco
Comment: These excerpts are only a very small part of this very long and profound article.
13.1.2016 – Minority Rights Group (*** B H)
‘Even war discriminates’: Yemen’s minorities, exiled at home
All Yemenis suffer reality of war, but burden of conflict heaviest on most vulnerable – new report
The report, ‘Even war discriminates’: Yemen’s minorities, exiled at home, focuses on religious minorities and the rise of sectarianism, and looks into the situation of the little-known Muhamasheen community.
Although Yemen has very little history of sectarian tension, activists interviewed said that religious extremism is on the rise, and the threat of targeted violence between the Sunni Muslim majority and the country’s two main Shi’a Muslim sects has increased.
‘The rise in sectarian tensions, hate speech and targeted attacks on religious communities is of great concern, a sure sign of the long-term impact of this conflict on Yemeni society,’ says Rania El Rajji, author of the report.
The war has had a devastating impact on the Muhamasheen, who suffer caste-based discrimination and fall outside of traditional tribal and societal structures. They mostly live in slum areas on the outskirts of cities, and many are unemployed or confined to menial jobs, such as garbage collection.
Muhamasheen live in cities most affected by the conflict, such as Aden, Taiz, Hodeida and Saada. Coalition airstrikes and heavy bombing have forced them to seek refuge elsewhere, yet their experience of displacement has been different from that of other Yemenis, as instead of being housed in public institutions and schools, they have tended to flee to open farmland, parks and public spaces, and have been largely left to their own devices.
Humanitarian organizations’ limited capacities, lack of access and inability to monitor aid distribution have further exacerbated the vulnerabilities of Muhamasheen. For instance, in the besieged city of Taiz, some of the aid destined for them has been diverted to other communities by local Sheikhs.
In Yemen, existing patterns of discrimination before the outbreak of the current conflict have been deepened in a context of instability, violence and protracted humanitarian crisis. Humanitarian organizations’ limited capacities, access and ability to monitor distributions have further exacerbated the vulnerabilities of communities such as the Muhamasheen. While their plight is shared by millions of other Yemeni civilians whose lives have been devastated, the particular challenges facing minorities must be incorporated into broader humanitarian efforts to protect and assist those on the front line of the conflict.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/even-war-discriminates-yemen-s-minorities-exiled-home and fill report: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/MRG_Brief_Yemen_Jan16.pdf
Allgemein / General
19.1.2016 – Middle East Eye (* B P)
Yemen: Pursuit of glory could end in a quagmire
The war in Yemen, now close to a year old, has provided a similar sort of political and identity-building function for the Gulf ruling families, already feeling challenged post-Arab Awakening by a young population asking questions about who they are and what role they can and should fulfil in their societies.
When a GCC coalition led by Saudi Arabia’s defence minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched air strikes in March 2015, the assumption was that the Houthi rebellion would be quickly snuffed out.
In this bellicose scenario, the young prince would emerge as a strong and courageous Sunni warrior, smiting the Houthis and their backers in Shia Iran. He would strike a blow for the 70 percent of Saudis who are under the age of 30 and beginning to show impatience with their parents’ acceptance of a social contract that for decades stressed caution over action, quiescence over complaint.
He would use war as a tool to help define a generation looking for change and by defining them he would control them.
The script has not worked out, but popular support remains high in the kingdom as it does in all the other GCC states. Only Oman has stood aside.
And when the UAE casualties came home many saw the sacrifice of the soldiers as spilling blood for the nation. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Sweet and right it is to die for your country.
They did not see the blood of thousands of Yemenis nor the destruction of schools, hospitals, roads, electricity and water desalination plants in one of the world’s poorest countries in quite the same light, perhaps, because their media has chosen not to show it.
To tie national identity to war, tempting as it may be, is to go down a dangerous road. Because when wars start to go badly wrong as happened in Vietnam for America and is happening now for the GCC states, popular enthusiasm inevitably wanes and questions are asked of the leaders – by Bill Law
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/yemen-war-and-pursuit-national-identity-886413082
19.1.2016 – Critical Threats (A K)
Gulf of Aden Security Review - January 19, 2016
Short overview on events: U.S. airstrike kills three suspected al Qaeda militants in Shabwah governorate; SVBIED targets chief of security in Aden; coalition airstrike hits Sana’a police headquarters; President Hadi orders smuggling crackdown in Shabwah governorate
http://www.criticalthreats.org/gulf-aden-security-review/gulf-aden-security-review-january-19-2016
Humanitäre Lage / Humanitarian situation
19.1.2016 – British Red Cross (A H)
Red Cross reaches two million people in Yemen with humanitarian aid
The Red Cross and the Yemeni Red Crescent are providing two million people in Yemen with humanitarian aid through a co-ordinated programme.
With temperatures now dropping towards freezing and food prices remaining high, many families will need support over the winter. To help, the Red Cross distributed food and other relief items such as medicines.
Ted Tuthill, Head of Middle East and North Africa Region at the British Red Cross, said “The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent is helping with war wounded, water and economic security. The Yemen Red Crescent Society is active and working under enormous pressure and we support them through our Yemen crisis appeal.”
18.1.2016 – RT (A H)
Class of Endurance: Yemen students graduation pic at building bombed by Saudis
Graduating high school students at the Yemen Modern School in the country’s capital city, Sanaa, took a defiant photo to mark the end of their time in high school and depict what they went through to complete their education in a war-torn country.
https://www.rt.com/news/329340-class-of-endurance-yemen-students/
19.1.2016 – taz (* B H)
Krieg den Krankenhäusern: Ungeachtet der rudimentären Gesundheitsversorgung greifen die Konfliktparteien selbst medizinische Einrichtungen an
Im Jemen möchte man weder Arzt noch Patient sein. Denn Angriffe auf Krankenhäuser und andere medizinische Einrichtungen sind im Krieg in dem Land an der Südspitze der Arabischen Halbinsel keine Einzelfälle.
Ungefähr 100 medizinische Institutionen sind seit Ausbruch der Kämpfe im März 2015 nach Angaben der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) beschädigt oder zerstört worden. Mehr als 600 Einrichtungen mussten geschlossen werden. Über 15 Millionen Menschen leben derzeit ohne Gesundheitsversorgung. Die WHO warnt bereits seit Monaten, das Gesundheitssystem stehe vor dem Zusammenbruch.
[in diesem Krieg] „wird Neutralität der medizinischen Einrichtungen nicht respektiert“, wie Kedir Omar, der Chef des Internationalen Roten Kreuzes im Jemen, konstatiert. „Es wird mit Absicht auf medizinische Einrichtungen gezielt, und in manchen belagerten Orten wird auch der medizinische Nachschub blockiert“, beklagt er.
„Die Bombardierung von Krankenhäusern sendet eine Botschaft an das medizinische Personal, die Ärzten und die Patienten, dass sie in großer Gefahr sind“, erklärt Joe Stork, stellvertretender Direktor der Nahostabteilung der internationalen Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Dass die Einrichtungen den Kriegsparteien nicht bekannt sind, ist unwahrscheinlich. „Die Orte, in denen wir arbeiten, egal ob Krankenhäuser oder kleinere medizinische Einrichtungen, sind bekannt. Wir informieren alle Kriegsparteien mit GPS-Daten und weisen darauf hin, dass diese Orte respektiert werden sollten, wir dort eine Präsenz haben und medizinische Dienste leisten“, erklärt die Ärztin Reem Djera in der jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa telefonisch. Sie koordiniert die Projekte von „Ärzte ohne Grenzen“ im Norden des Landes – von Karim El-Gawhary
http://www.taz.de/Konflikt-im-Jemen/!5266409/
18.1.2016 – Doctors without borders (** B H)
Yemen: "Our patients and staff need to feel safe"
Interview with Juan Prieto, general coordinator of MSF projects in Yemen
Shiara hospital is the latest of more than one hundred health facilities affected by the conflict ravaging Yemen.
We know that a projectile hit the entrance of the hospital, which had already been destroyed by a previous attack against the centre. The impact sent a lot of shrapnel flying which killed or seriously injured people in the area.
People still consider hospitals a target and try to avoid them as much as possible. The only cases that we are receiving are emergencies and mass casualties following attacks.
Up to now we have been able to restore the emergency room, stabilisation and referral services, and we are struggling to get the maternity unit back to work. We are working with a reduced staff in the hospital, focusing only on urgent medical needs. The facility is considered a dangerous place, don’t forget that it has been hit three times in the last year.
Nevertheless, our staff have returned to their positions albeit apprehensively. They are more determined than ever, given the situation in the country and the specific needs in Razeh, to continue working for the population.
We have identified at least 130 facilities directly affected by the conflict, hit by missiles launched from the ground or by airstrikes. We see the consequences now in Razeh, where services have been disrupted or hospitals are in a state of disarray or have been forced to close down, unable to serve the people in need of them.
Medical facilities that should be places of healing for the population, no longer seem to be safe for the patients or for the medical staff operating in them, even when their work and their buildings should be protected. As I say, it is not easy for the medical staff to go back to work when they feel uneasy and threatened. It's a disaster.
We need to take into account that our medical staff have been working for seven months under constant bombing in Saada. And in Razeh district, which is on the frontline, the shelling has been continuous since March. Even knowing the risks, we balanced the urgent needs and ensured critical services were provided. Now, after Shiara, the feeling is different, it will take time to restore the trust, to dispel the idea that we are in danger for doing our jobs.
What are the main needs for the population in the area?
First and foremost, protection. People are living in caves, returning to their homes to check on them, to see if they are still standing! They are living under the constant threat of being killed, as this is a conflict area. It's a mountainous region, with about 120,000 inhabitants, who haven't left the area. It's rich in resources, so the basic needs are more or less covered, unlike in other parts of Yemen where people are struggling to access food and water and have nothing to feed their children. The threat is not starvation; here the threat is the war itself.
http://www.msf.org/article/yemen-our-patients-and-staff-need-feel-safe
18.1.2016 – UNICEF (* B H)
In Yemen, a classroom called home
Families displaced by conflict in Yemen take shelter where they can find it, eat whatever they can and live in fear of the deadly violence that continues every day.
For 37-year-old Mariyam, survival is a daily challenge. The days pass slowly, but it’s the evenings when pain and panic grip her. Her 13 children look to her for food, but there is none to offer. Her husband manages to bring back some leftovers from restaurants, but even that is not enough to feed 13 growing children. The meal lasts less than a minute, as all the children quickly swallow whatever they can get their hands on. Mariyam and her husband can only watch their children in despair.
Mariyam fled with her children from Taiz, a city that has seen some of the bloodiest fighting since the escalation of conflict last March. She had no choice but to run with whatever personal belongings she could gather. After a few days, she found shelter in a classroom in Ibb, a city two hours away from Taiz. Seven months later, there is no respite in the conflict, nor any change in her displaced status. She and her children continue to share space in a classroom with four other families or 20 other women and children – by Rajat Madhok and Tahani Saeed
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/yemen_89844.html
18.1.2016 – United Nations Development Programme (B H)
Harvesting fog in western Yemen
In the Manakha Mount area, water availability from rain sometimes doesn’t even reach 50 m³ per capita per year. Women and girls spend much of their days fetching water.
Innovative local actions were urgently needed to address this crisis. So UNDP, in partnership with the National Foundation for Watershed Management and Services (and funded by the Water Governance Project for Arab States) has been working to help communities in Manakha take advantage of a surprising resource: fog.
The fog-harvesting units are 3x2 meter mesh screens that condense enough fog to provide drinking water for a family of seven. Local communities are now benefiting from the increase in drinkable water and women and children are no longer required to travel hours to collect water during the dry months.
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/ourstories/harvesting-fog-in-western-yemen.html
18.1.2016 – Gulf Times (A H)
RAF launches relief project in Yemen
Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) has implemented a project of urgent relief in besieged areas in the Yemeni governorate of Taiz, including the distribution of 2,000 baskets of food for more than 12,000 people affected by the blockade.
The food baskets contain the most necessary food items for affected families, such as rice, sugar, flour, dates, children formula, canned food and other necessary materials with quantities sufficient for 6 to 7 families for a period not less than one month.
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/475451/RAF-launches-relief-project-in-Yemen
17.1.2016 – Alistair Reign News Blog (H)
Tweets And News Reports Will Not Feed Yemeni Children
The United Nations World Food Programme has stressed in a news release. appeals to all parties to the conflict to allow the safe passage of food to all civilians in need in all areas in Taiz,” said Muhannad Hadi, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The Mona Relief Charity Organization is making a difference, and they are reaching the Yemeni families literally dying without the food delivered by their brave staff and volunteers. Donations can be made on their website or at Go Fund Me Campaign.
Please donate today and #SaveALifeInYemen.
http://alistairreignblog.com/2016/01/17/tweets-and-news-reports-will-not-feed-yemeni-children/
17.1.2016 – Al Arabiya (A H)
MSF delivers medical aid to Yemen’s besieged Taez
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said said it delivered medical supplies on Sunday to areas besieged by Houthi militias in Yemen's flashpoint Taez city for the first time in months.
The group also known as Doctors without Borders said two trucks "full of essential medical supplies" entered the southwestern city in the first such operation in five months.
10.1.2016 – Middle East Eye (* B H)
In Yemen, it's who you know that stops you starving
Refugees, poor local residents say they have not received aid because they are not connected to the local sheikh
Humanitarian aid arrives in al-Ofa village in the district and goes directly to the local sheikh, Abdulghani Abdurrahman. According to Maqtari [a displaced person] , the sheikh distributes the aid only to his friends and relatives who are originally from the area.
Abdurrahman [the sheikh] told MEE there were hundreds of displaced people in his village, adding that he is not responsible for them. Instead, he was only responsible for the residents of his village."There are many displaced people, such as Maqtari, but I am not willing to write their names down for any relief organisations, and I will not provide them with aid - they are not my citizens."Relief organisations to send coordinators.
The relief organisations do not come to the rural areas regularly, and that is why they have depended on sheikhs and other people in the villages. After finding out about the alleged bias of the sheikhs, they now plan to send a coordinator to rural areas. – by Nasser Al-Sakkaf
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemeni-sheikhs-distribute-aid-only-family-and-friends-913269462
Houthis und Nordjemen / Houthis and Northern Yemen
Siehe auch “Propaganda” / See also “Propaganda”
17.1.2016 – AP (A T)
2 senior security officials assassinated in Yemen
Yemeni officials say two security officials were assassinated in separate incidents by unknown assailants.
The officials say that Police Chief Adel al-Asshabi of Bayda province was killed by a bomb planted in his vehicle on Sunday. Mohammed al-Dhali, of the special forces, was gunned down by attackers on a motorcycle in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa.
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/2-senior-security-officials-assassinated-in-yemen-1.389230
16.1.2016 – Middle East Monitor (* B P)
Houthi kidnappings post-Arab Spring: the story of Dr. Al Guneid
Since the Saudi-led airstrikes, the Houthis despotic nature has increased and they have been exceptionally cruel to anyone opposing them. Activists on social media have been a specific target. One in particular, Dr. Abdulkader Al Guneid, a prominent English speaking voice from Taiz, was highlighting Houthi crimes early on, well before they became well known internationally.
On 5 August 2015, he was kidnapped. From what was immediately apparent, he tweeted that the Houthis broke into his house. They then put him a car and he has not been seen by his family since.
Dr. Al Guneid remains one of the most prominent examples of the persecution of intellectuals and nationalists by the Houthi and Saleh militias. His social media presence was not only strong and reputable, but also very passionate. It’s important to remember that he is one of many who have been persecuted for expressing their opinions and for speaking against Houthi/Saleh crimes in their area – by Diana Alghoul
Comment: Houthis continue to detain 100s of politicians, activists, and journalists with no information about them. The Saudis also seem to have an effective system of manipulating news - who hears anything substantial about the ferocious war on Yemen in the West as they and their western allies have ab effective news blackout - and they behead their dissenters. This war is just beyond disgusting.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1087952358023921
Südjemen und Hadi-Regierung / Southern Yemen and Hadi-government
19.1.2016 – Khaleej Times (AP)
Yemeni vice-president Khaled Al Bahah has called for stronger ties with its neighbouring states, in hopes of supporting the development of a stable and peaceful nation, while suggesting that the government expects to return to Yemen within the coming days, although calling it "wishful thinking".During a press conference held on Tuesday in the Capital, Al Bahah urged for more economic support from Gulf countries in terms of investment projects.
He pointed out that his country has been ignored for over 50 years and thus it added more issues to the ongoing crisis. "The neglect since the 1960s has helped rise the series of opposition groups within the nation, if the neglect continues then the conflict could equally continue," he added.
Al Bahah noted that although the country is facing difficult times, he still believes that through economic support and investments it will see a a light at the end of the tunnel quicker than imagined. "Yemen is a great problem for its neighbours, but it is also a great benefit," he added.
He explained that helping Yemen through a dynamic increase in the sectors of health, education and economy will also help lead the country to peace and stability.
Kommentar: Das übliche Lobgehudel an genau diejenigen, die das Land kaputtbomben, darf natürlich auch nicht fehlen. Womit er natürlich recht hat: Die elende wirtschaftliche Lage der Vergangenheit hat natürlich entscheidend zu den zahlreichen Konflikten im Land beigetragen. Mit einem wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung hätte hier vieles besser laufen können. Es sind ganz verschiedene Gründe, die das verhindert haben. Das würde hier zu weit führen. Freilich: Dank Bahahs lieben Freunden am Golf ist jetzt alles noch viel schlimmer. Änderung nicht in Sicht.
19.1.2016 – Almasdar News
Exiled Yemeni President eyes the oil areas of Yemen
Late last week, Aden-based president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi appointed Major General Ahmed Saeed Ben Brik as the new governor of Yemen’s Hadramaut Governorate.
Faced with crippling losses at the hands of the Houthis, Hadi hopes to strengthen his position and secure the oil rich area in the Hadramaut Governorate.
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/24512/
Comment: Hadramaut is ruled by Al Qaida, thanks to the Saudi intervention. The new governor will not have much to do.
18.1.2016 – AFP (A T)
Judge shot dead in Aden
Gunmen on Monday shot dead a judge in Aden, in the latest attack in the violence-plagued city of southern Yemen serving as the government’s temporary base, police said.
The unidentified assailants on a motorbike opened fire at Abdulhadi Mohammed near his house in the Mansura district, killing the judge, a police official said, adding they managed to flee.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/d4a4c040-dfd6-41bd-9c67-d9cbb2b616a4.aspx#.Vp4NULG4LdI.facebook
18.1.2016 Al Monitor (* B T)
Assassinations, chaos cripple Yemen's Aden
Aden — whose residents have taken up arms in light of the ongoing battles in the city — has turned into a scene of bloody operations conducted in broad daylight.
These variables have required that Hadi, the head of his government and some ministers change their transportation habits. Hadi has been moving by helicopter between the presidential palace and the strategic port of Aden, which is less than a 30-minute drive away.
The current government has not fulfilled the promises made after the Houthis were expelled from Aden in the summer of 2015. Most notably among these promises are the reconstruction and the restoration of security. The residents believe that violence is triggered by the Houthis at times, and by extremist gunmen at other times, while the authorities are clearly absent.
The article sums up the main events – by Ahmed Alwly
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/yemen-aden-political-assassinations.html
17.1.2016 – Gulf News (A E)
Yemen government clamps down on Shabwa smuggling of oil and arms
Army soldiers seize dozens of oil trucks heading to Iran-backed Al Houthi territory in the north
In Yemen’s southern province of Shabwa, local army forces have implemented a presidential order aimed at cracking down on oil and arms smuggling by a local figure linked to ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
An aide to the governor of Shabwa province told Gulf News on Sunday that army soldiers from the 21st Brigade in Markha’a district seized dozens of oil trucks heading to Iran-backed Al Houthi-controlled territories in northern Yemen.
18.1.2016 – Stern (A T)
Mehrere Tote bei Selbstmordattentat im Jemen (mit Film)
Vor dem Haus des militärischen Sicherheitschefs sprengte sich ein Selbstmordattentäter in seinem Fahrzeug in die Luft. Mindestens vier Menschen wurden bei dem Anschlag getötet, darunter der Leibwächter des Sicherheitschefs.
http://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/selbstmordattentat-im-jemen--mehrere-tote-vor-dem-haus-des-sicherheitschefs-6653916.html = http://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/tote-bei-selbstmordattentat-im-jemen-1.2822722 = http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/01/18/tote-bei-selbstmordattentat-im-jemen?videoId=367074175
17.1.2016 – Deutschland funk (A T)
Zehn Tote bei Anschlag in Aden
Im Süden des Jemen sind bei einem Selbstmordanschlag mindestens zehn Menschen getötet worden, die meisten von ihnen Zivilisten.
Nach Angaben von Sicherheitskräften sprengte sich der Attentäter mit einem Kleinbus am Eingang der Residenz des Polizeichefs von Aden in die Luft. Ziel war offenbar der Polizeichef selbst. Er blieb aber unverletzt. Zu dem Anschlag bekannte sich zunächst niemand.
http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/jemen-zehn-tote-bei-anschlag-in-aden.1947.de.html?drn:news_id=570665
17.1.2016 – AFP (A T)
10 killed in suicide car bombing in Yemen's Aden
A suicide car bombing killed at least 10 people, mostly civilians, Sunday in an attack on the residence of the police chief of Yemen's southern city of Aden, security officials said.
They said a bomber wearing an explosives vest blew himself up at the entrance to General Shalal Shaea's house in the Tawahi district of the port city.
Eight civilians and two guards were killed, while the police chief was not hurt, the sources said
http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bomber-kills-six-yemens-aden-163011931.html
17.1.2016 – AP ( A T)
Suicide Bomber Targets Police Chief in Yemen's Aden, Kills 7
A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the police chief's house in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, killing seven civilians and security forces in a failed assassination attempt after militants killed two other security officials elsewhere in the country.
Ambulances raced to the police chief's house after the explosion, which could be heard across the city, witnesses said. Officials said an armored vehicle blocked the suicide car bomber meters from the gates of the house. Seven people were killed and 12 injured after the explosion ripped through a bus that was passing by – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/senior-security-officials-assassinated-yemen-36343006
17.1.2016 – AP ( A T)
Suicide Bomber Targets Police Chief in Yemen's Aden, Kills 7
A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the police chief's house in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, killing seven civilians and security forces in a failed assassination attempt after militants killed two other security officials elsewhere in the country.
Ambulances raced to the police chief's house after the explosion, which could be heard across the city, witnesses said. Officials said an armored vehicle blocked the suicide car bomber meters from the gates of the house. Seven people were killed and 12 injured after the explosion ripped through a bus that was passing by – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/senior-security-officials-assassinated-yemen-36343006 and film by Reuters: http://uk.reuters.com/video/2016/01/18/suicide-car-bomb-in-yemen-kills-four?videoId=367072093&videoChannel=117759
UNO und Friedensgespräche / UN and peace talks
18.1.2016 – UN News Center (A P)
Yemen: Ban urges all sides to commit to ceasefire and resume UN-brokered talks to end fighting
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53034#.Vp3CA_nhCUk
Comment by Judith Brown: Well - it's one thing asking them. But with USA and UK selling the, weapons, the war inside Yemen paying lots of money to poor mercenaries from Africa and South America, who is going to want the war to stop - except Yemenis and no-one bothered to ask their opinion when the war was started. They didn't want it in the first place.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154044143918641
Saudi-Arabien / Saudi Arabia
18.1.2016 – Raialyoum (A P)
There is intense speculation in the Gulf media nowadays that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz intends to abdicate in favour of his son, Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Gulf media is meanwhile singing the praises of King Salman’s one year reign which we find rather surprising given that he has presided over the ongoing war in Syria, started a new one in Yemen and precipitated oil prices into a disastrous freefall, started a spat with Iran, decimated the economy (imposing swingeing cuts in government and social security expenditure), and executed unprecedented numbers of prisoners – many for non-violent offences.
report by Washington think-tank the ‘Gulf Institute’ suggested that King Salman has been spending ‘hundreds of millions’ in buying support for his plan among the Saudi royal elders. His rationale is that he wants his direct heirs to retain power and the throne – by Abdel Bari Atwan
http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=375857
Comment: Abdul Bari Atwan states that anyone is critical of KSA they are accused of interference with the affairs of state. But as the author states, what are they doing with Iran, Syria, and I would also add Yemen, is what he would call interference.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1088863134599510
Comment: Oh, that’s certainly true. Saufdi voice have told Saudi is leading the Yemen war because it wants to free Yemen from dictatorship – what about freeing Saudi Arabia from dictatorship first?
18.1.2016 – I'm Muslim, I'm against Wahhabism (D)
Saudi historian claims WOMEN CAN BE RAPED if they drive a car!!!
https://www.facebook.com/NotoWahabism/videos/823703191091598/
16.1.2016 – Money Week (B P)
Trouble in the House of Saud
The desert kingdom is launching a Thatcherite revolution to rescue itself from a ballooning deficit. But will that be enough to save the ruling family? Simon Wilson reports.
http://moneyweek.com/trouble-in-the-house-of-saud/
16.1.2016 – Washington Post (B P)
This young prince could be the next Saudi king
14.1.2016 – Oil Price (B P)
Saudi Arabia: A Weak Kingdom On Its Knees?
The great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—the long-time dictator of crude oil prices for the world—is struggling on all fronts.
The Saudis are losing their proxy wars in both Syria and Yemen; their OPEC leadership is under threat; they are not winning the crude oil price war; and its long-running alliance with the West is in question.
From Saudi Arabia’s perspective, Iran seems to be gaining ground everywhere. Saudi Arabia has several weaknesses that help explain the current anxiety emanating from Riyadh.
The Saudis are in a state of panic all around—from its OPEC status and dwindling reserves to its proxy wars that absolutely cannot turn into full-fledged wars and its growing friendlessness. The fact that oil fell briefly below $30 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years won't have helped.
At the end of the day, Saudi Arabia has overextended itself, and overestimated its prowess and it does not have the clout that it once had to be able to do this effectively.
If you're wondering whether there will be an all-out war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it's unlikely. At this point, the Saudis are likely to continue the proxy war and hope that the Iranians do something foolish to upset the nuclear deal with the West. Until then, Saudi Arabia will make a lot of noise and attempt subversive activities, but nothing more – by Tom Kool
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Saudi-Arabia-A-Weak-Kingdom-On-Its-Knees.html = http://www.therussophile.org/great-news-five-signs-that-the-evil-saudi-kingdom-is-crumbling.html/
12.1.2016 – Middle East Eye (* B P)
Iran-Saudi clash: The tide turns against Riyadh
Rather than a force for stability, Saudi Arabia is coming to be seen by Western policymakers as a problem causer
Indeed, the Western reaction to the squabble between Riyadh and Tehran has been notable for the blame being directed the Saudi leadership’s way.
Indeed, if Al-Saud did not have the Islamic republic to hate right now, perhaps they would have been obliged to invent it. The Iranian Other has provided a convenient cause against which to rally the religious scholars and the general public behind the new leadership of King Salman and his son Mohammed, who as deputy crown prince has been given so much power. It gives the regime the leverage to effect some fiscal tightening to weather the oil price plunge.
The wider significance of the Nimr affair remains, however, that we are dealing with a very different Saudi Arabia today.
The empowerment of Arab Shia communities (a problem of foreign policy), the spread of universalised expectations of governance brought on by globalisation and the information technology revolution (a problem of domestic politics), and the problem of generational change within the ruling family have all changed the game (a problem of leadership).
Rather than a force for stability, Saudi Arabia is coming to be seen by Western policy makers as a problem causer. The shift is gradual, but there have been many signs of it: leaked opinions of German intelligence services, the heightened PR efforts of Saudi officials and semi-officials in Western media, even the presence of Saudi Arabia on the list of shibboleths of political correctness that Donald Trump wants to take down.
In a sense, Saudi Arabia may come to give the impression of a power in decline, and all the more unpredictable for it. One reason why its histrionic wrangle with Iran these past weeks bears a faint trace of irrelevance – by Andrew Hammond
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/iran-saudi-clash-tide-turns-against-riyadh-97090470
10.1.2016 – Foreign Policy (* B P)
The new leadership in Saudi Arabia has been pursuing an aggressive foreign policy that is less dependent on, and on many occasions at odds with, the United States. The country is overstretched militarily and is facing potential domestic trouble. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Saudi Arabia’s military expenditures from 2003 to 2014 totaled $507.6 billion. According to estimates, Iran spent less than one-fourth of that staggering amount. Despite its militarization and the support from major Western powers, Saudi Arabia has yet to score a victory on the battlefields in its cold war with Iran.
The Saudi decision to sever ties with Iran is directly related to its assessment that Iran has the upper hand in the region. They fear that Iran’s position will significantly improve after the lifting of the sanctions. And they know Saudi Arabia’s strategic value to the United States diminishes as tension between the United States and Iran decreases.
It is high time for the United States to give a little tough love to Saudi Arabia. This is not to suggest abandoning it, as it has been a useful ally in some respects. It does mean that the United States should not automatically side with Saudi Arabia against Iran at a time when Iran is implementing the nuclear deal, seeks a rapprochement with the United States, and has proven to be a sworn and effective enemy of ISIS, which is a major threat to American national interests – by Mohsen Milani
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/saudi-arabia/2016-01-10/saudi-arabias-desperate-measures
21.12.2015 – Project Syndicate (* B P)
Saudi Arabia’s Phony War on Terror
Containing the scourge of Islamist terror will be impossible without containing the ideology that drives it: Wahhabism, a messianic, jihad-extolling form of Sunni fundamentalism whose international expansion has been bankrolled by oil-rich sheikhdoms, especially Saudi Arabia. That is why the newly announced Saudi-led anti-terror coalition, the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, should be viewed with profound skepticism.
Saudi Arabia has been bankrolling Islamist terrorism since the oil-price boom of the 1970s dramatically boosted the country’s wealth. According to a 2013 European Parliament report, some of the $10 billion invested by Saudi Arabia for “its Wahhabi agenda” in South and Southeast Asia was “diverted” to terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
This shift [in Western politics] has spurred the Kingdom to announce a “crackdown” on individuals and groups that fund terror. But, according to a recent US State Department report, some Saudi-based charities and individual donors continue to fund Sunni militants.
Tellingly, the alliance [the anti-terror alliance proclaimed by the Saudis] includes all of the world’s main sponsors of extremist and terrorist groups, from Qatar to Pakistan. It is as if a drug cartel claimed to be spearheading a counternarcotics campaign.
Beyond Saudi Arabia’s strategic manipulations lies the fundamental problem with which we started: the Kingdom’s official ideology forms the heart of the terrorist creed. A devoted foe of Islamist terrorism does not promote violent jihadism. Nor does it arrest and charge with “terrorism” domestic critics of its medieval interpretation of Islam. Saudi Arabia does both.
Unless the expansion of dangerous ideologies like Wahhabism is stopped, the global war on terror, now almost a generation old, will never be won. No matter how many bombs the US and its allies drop, the Saudi-financed madrassas will continue to indoctrinate tomorrow’s jihadists – by Brahma Chellaney
18.11.2015 – Global Risk Insights (* B P)
Salafi Shake-Up: ISIS encroaching on the House of Saud
Friday night’s terrorist attacks in Paris moved up the timeline of this showdown between ISIS and the House of Saud, making it vital for the West, particularly the US, to properly understand the conflict and make preparations for a new reality in the Middle East.
http://globalriskinsights.com/2015/11/salafi-shake-up-isis-encroaching-on-the-house-of-saud/
6.9.2015 – Saudi Spokesman on TV
I have been told this Saudi spokesman is saying that either Sanaa is surrendered or they will kill everyone living there. As a Yemeni friend of mine commented- isn't that called genocide? Well it is definitely a big war crime
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154042659328641
USA
18.1.2019 – Huffington Post (* B P)
The U.S. Should Not Accompany Saudi Arabia Over the Cliff
The United States should rethink its ties to a country that engages in mass executions and disastrous military campaigns.
Like other totalitarian regimes that have no legitimacy and no base of support, the Saudis are wrapping themselves in religion.
Most of those executed were Sunni, and the executions were designed to frighten the overwhelmingly Sunni population of Saudi Arabia into silence. At the same time, the inclusion of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr sent a similar warning to the Shiite minority.
The Saudi effort to sustain the life of their regime is broad and profound. For decades, Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars for madrasas and mosques that spread their Wahhabi brand of Islam, and has funneled comparable sums to insurgents such as the al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Jubhat al-Nusra directly and indirectly through covert operations.
The Saudis also claimed that the Houthis in Sudan are Iranian proxies, and even though much of the U.S. media accepts this claim at face value the evidence is slim.
The Saudis have contributed a great deal to fueling two civil wars -- Syria and Yemen -- without any consequences. And neither war has resulted from religious differences but rather because of Saudi efforts to fend off any challenges to their corrupt regime.
Saudi Arabia's recent mass executions represent a significant test to the United States. Our founding principles of freedom and democracy are being torn to shreds in the last throes of the Saudi regime. The United States should not blindly march in lock step with Saudi Arabia to the edge of the cliff of fire and destruction in the Middle East – by Adil E. Shamoo
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adil-e-shamoo/the-us-should-not-accompa_b_9010522.html = http://antiwar.com/blog/2016/01/19/the-us-should-not-accompany-saudiarabia-overthecliff/
Großbritannien / Great Britain
18.1.2016 – The Independent (A P)
David Cameron defends Britain's alliance with Saudi Arabia and rejects accusations it funds Isis
David Cameron has defended Britain’s alliance with Saudi Arabia, including British assistance to the country’s widely-criticised military campaign Yemen.
The Prime Minister said the UK’s alliance with the oil-rich autocracy was important for its security and seemed to reject accusations that funding for Isis came from the Kingdom.
Mr Cameron stood by his ally and defended exports and military advisor support given to the country during its ongoing war.
“First of all, our relationship with Saudi Arabia is important for our own security. They are opponents of Daesh and the extremism terrorism,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“In terms of our arms exports I think we have some of the most stringent controls anywhere in the world and I’ll always make sure they’re properly operated.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure that the work done by Saudi Arabia is properly targeted and it’s right that we should do that. We’re working with them and others on behalf of the legitimate government on Yemen.”
Mr Cameron however said some educational training programmes funding by Saudi Arabia could be problematic, though he did not directly link them with extremists – by John Stone
Comment: He should be sentenced by court for his keen support of Saudi’s killing, export of extremism and terrorism.
Comment by Judith Brown: Did anyone else hear this sickening interview on the Today Prograame by this wealthy man who sounds so very pompous but knows nothing. He criticised the wives of immigrants - the conversation centred around the word 'Muslim' whom he was SO condescending towards - saying their poor language skills encouraged their children to turn to 'terror' whatever that means - he intends to deport wives of British men who can't speak English well enough EVEN IF they have British children (would that make the children more or less likely to turn to 'terror' I wonder) - he defended Saudi Arabia's attacks on Yemen - he insisted they were supporting the 'legitimate government' though there is none - but thought the schools Saudi funds might promote wrong values - but though that seems to me to imply Saudi 'values' might be a problem rather than immigrant mothers it was not Cameron's conclusion. The sooner we get rid of this Eton toff and get someone who lives in the real world in charge of UK politics the better.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10154042537193641
18.1.2016 – RT (A P)
Cameron stands by Saudi regime, defends Yemen bombing campaign
David Cameron has voiced support for the controversial Saudi-led air-strike campaign in Yemen and dismissed concerns that Riyadh is funneling funds to Islamic State.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday, the Prime Minister defended UK’s arms exports to the oil-rich autocracy and said that the UK carefully monitors how the Saudis use British-made weapons.
“Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is important for our own security. They are opponents of Daesh [Islamic State] and this extremist terrorism,” he said.
“In terms of our arms exports, I think we have some of the most stringent controls anywhere in the world and I’ll always make sure they’re properly operated.”
https://www.rt.com/uk/329310-saudi-funded-education-cameron/
17.1.2016 – Contra Magazin (* B P)
Jemen-Krieg: Britische Militärs unterstützen Saudi-Arabien
Britische Militärexperten unterstützen die Saudis im Krieg gegen den Jemen, mit dem diese die Marionettenregierung von Präsident Mansour wieder an die Macht bringen wollen.
Wie die britische Zeitung "The Telegraph" berichtet, sitzen britische Militärexperten in den Kontrollräumen der Saudis, von wo aus die blutigen Angriffe auf das Nachbarland organisiert werden. Das britische Verteidigungsministerium betonte jedoch, dass die Briten keine Ziele für Luftangriffe auswählen würden.
Bestätigt wurde die Anwesenheit der britischen Militärs vom Außenminister Saudi-Arabiens, Adel al-Jubeir. Gegenüber Journalisten sagte er: "Wir fragten eine Reihe von verbündeten Ländern ob sie kommen und Teil des Kontrollzentrums sein wollen". Dabei verdeutlichte er, dass diese genau wissen, wo die Angriffe geflogen werden: "Ich weiß, dass sie sich der Ziellisten bewusst sind".
Das britische Verteidigungsministerium betonte jedoch, dass das Militär des Vereinigten Königreichs nicht direkt in die Auswahl der Ziele oder die Programmierung der Präzisionswaffen involviert sei. Allerdings würde man die Luftwaffe Saudi-Arabiens und jene anderer verbündeter Golfstaaten bei der Handhabung der intelligenten Waffensysteme trainieren. "Wir unterstützen die Saudi-Truppen durch langanhaltende, lange existierende Abmachungen" – von Marco Maier
Kommentar: Dazu ausführlich die englischsprachigen Berichte im Yemen Press Reader 87 unter „Am wichtigsten“. Es ist erstaunlich, dass diese wichtige Meldung in den deutschsprachigen Medien fast vollständig totgeschwiegen wird und man hierzu gerade einmal diese Quelle zitieren kann. Auch eine gezielte Googlesuche ergab auf Deutsch weder in Mainstream- noch alternativen Medien auch nur einen (!!) anderen Treffer als ausgerechnet das Contra-Magazin, das sich oft genug nicht gerade durch journalistische Sorgfalt auszeichnet. Warum ist das bei uns kein Thema??? So sei denn hier das Contra-Magazin zitiert, dem ich sonst andere Quellen vorziehen würde.
14.1.2016 – The Conversation (* B P)
Parliament urgently needs to keep tabs on Britain’s arms exports
With human rights now declared “no longer a top priority” under the Conservatives, the current era increasingly feels like a rerun of the 1980s when it comes to international responsibility.
Just as the current government is doing, the Thatcher government imposed austerity at home while aggressively pursuing arms sales abroad in the hope of generating jobs, improving Britain’s balance of payments and producing economies of scale for domestic weapons procurement.
The signature element of this policy was the Al-Yamamah contract with Saudi Arabia – a deal that would become the mainstay of the British defence industry. At the same time, the Iran-Iraq war created both a massive market for arms supplies and a perceived imperative to provide arms to the secular Iraqi regime.
While today’s cast list is slightly different, the new era of “ethical” arms sales feels much like the bad old days. The short-termism of foreign policy and the attractions of the Gulf arms market for austerity Britain have meant that the serial compromises over human rights have continued.
And once again, the Middle East is generating a crisis of European arms export and wider foreign and domestic policy.
As the UK goes to war in Syria and considers how it might best support “friendlies” on the ground, it is doubly imperative that Parliament holds the government to account for its policies on arms transfers. The British state must ensure that it meets its own domestic and international responsibilities – by Anna Stavrianakis and Neil Cooper
http://theconversation.com/parliament-urgently-needs-to-keep-tabs-on-britains-arms-exports-52865
Italien / Italy
18.1.2016 – Terra Nuova (A P)
Bombe per l’Arabia Saudita: Rete Disarmo annuncia mobilitazioni
«Sabato scorso dall’aeroporto di Cagliari Elmas è partito un nuovo carico di bombe per rifornire l’aviazione saudita che da nove mesi sta bombardando lo Yemen senza alcun mandato internazionale». Rete italiana per il Disarmo, nel rinnovare l’appello al Governo a sospendere queste forniture, annuncia mobilitazioni per le prossime settimane al fine di ottenere un'applicazione rigorosa e trasparente della legge 185 del 1990 che regolamenta questa materia.
«E’ inammissibile che dall’Italia continuino le spedizioni di bombe aeree per l’aviazione saudita che da nove mesi sta bombardando lo Yemen senza alcun mandato internazionale causando migliaia di vittime anche tra i civili e tra i bambini e in aperta violazione del diritto internazionale umanitario.
«La Legge italiana (n. 185 del 1990) vieta espressamente non solo l’esportazione, ma anche il solo transito, il trasferimento intracomunitario e l’intermediazione di materiali di armamento “verso i Paesi in stato di conflitto armato, in contrasto con i principi dell’articolo 51 della Carta delle Nazioni Unite, fatto salvo il rispetto degli obblighi internazionali dell’Italia o le diverse deliberazioni del Consiglio dei Ministri,da adottare previo parere delle Camere”. (art. 1.c 6a) e “verso Paesi la cui politica contrasti con i principi dell’articolo 11 della Costituzione” (art.1.c 6b)».
http://www.terranuova.it/Movimenti/Bombe-per-l-Arabia-Saudita-Rete-Disarmo-annuncia-mobilitazioni
Somalia
17.1.2016 – Reuters (A P)
Somalia received Saudi aid the day it cut ties with Iran: document
Somalia received a pledge of aid for $50 million from Saudi Arabia this month on the same day it announced it was cutting ties with Saudi rival Iran, a document seen by Reuters.
Diplomats said it was the latest sign of patronage used by the kingdom to shore up regional support against Iran
"The Saudis currently manage to rally countries behind them both on financial grounds and the argument of non-interference," a diplomat said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-saudi-iran-idUSKCN0UV0BH
Söldner / Mercenaries
19.1.2016 – Sputnik News (A K)
400 US-Blackwater-Söldner kämpfen für Saudi-Koalition im Jemen
Bei den Bodentruppen der arabischen Koalition kämpfen vor allem Söldner, darunter auch 400 Mann der privaten US-Militär- und Sicherheitsfirma Blackwater, wie der Sprecher der Huthi-Rebellenkämpfer, Brigadegeneral Scharaf Ghalib Lukman, gegenüber RIA Novosti mitteilte.
„Unter diesen Söldnern befinden sich Somalier und Personen aus sudanesischen Stämmen. Es gibt allerdings auch Europäer, Amerikaner und Kolumbianer. Hierbei handelt es sich um Angestellte aus der Struktur, die unter dem Namen Blackwater (mittlerweile in „Academy“ umbenannt — Anm. d. Red.) bekannt wurde. Diese Truppe umfasst rund 400 Personen“, so der Sprecher.
Kommentar: Das Thema Söldner wurde schon oft angesprochen. Hier einmal eine Zahl in Verbindung mit Blackwater. Auch wenn es ein Sprecher der Gegenseite ist: Die Zahl erscheint keineswegs besonders hoch.
Waffenhandel / Arms trade
18.1.2016 – Blacklisted News (* A P)
BIG GUNS: Western Powers Protect Arms Markets Ignoring Civilian Killings
The West continues its strong political and military support to one of its longstanding allies in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia –- despite withering criticism of the kingdom’s battlefield excesses in the ongoing war in neighboring Yemen.
The arms supplying countries, for obvious reasons, are unwilling to jeopardize their markets, specifically Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi arsenal alone includes Boeing F-15 fighter planes (US supplied), Tornado strike aircraft (UK), Aerospatiale Puma and Dauphin attack helicopters (French), Bell, Apache and Sikorsky helicopters (US), Boeing E-3A Airborne Warning Control System (US), Sidewinder, Sparrow and Stinger missiles (US) and Abrams and M60 battle tanks (US).
Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, a Senior Research Fellow with the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS that for years, the US government has documented Saudi human rights abuses in its own reports, including the State Department.
“Yet the United States continues to provide a largely open-ended weapons supply line to the Saudi government. It’s time for the US government to act in accordance with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and with its own laws and suspend arms transfers to Saudi Arabia,” she said.
She argued US weapons manufacturers’ profit motives for continuing massive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia should not drive US military and foreign policy.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, from 2010-2014, the United Kingdom and the United States were Saudi Arabia’s top weapons suppliers.
The United Kingdom accounted for 36 percent of the Saudis’ weapons deliveries, just edging out the United States, which accounted for 35 percent of Saudi weapons imports. France was a distant third at 6 percent.
In an article in Counter Punch published last November, William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project the Center for International Policy and a senior adviser to the Security Assistance Monitor, said the recent surge in US arms transfers to the Middle East is part of an unprecedented boom in major US arms sales that has been presided over by the administration of President Barack Obama.
“The Obama administration’s push for more Mideast arms sales has been a bonanza for U.S. weapons contractors, who have made increased exports a primary goal as Pentagon spending levels off. Not only do foreign sales boost company profits, but they also help keep open production lines that would otherwise have to close due to declining orders from the Pentagon,” said Hartung.
27.11.2014 – International Business Times (** B P)
Financial Firms Invested $27 Billion In Cluster Bomb Makers, Report Shows
Financial institutions around the world have been investing in companies that manufacture illegal weapons, according to a new report by PAX, a peace advocacy organization based in the Netherlands. The group reported 151 financial entities, encompassing banks and pension funds, invested $27 billion in firms that manufacture cluster mines between 2011 and 2014.
“We must put lives before profit,” Amy Little, a representative of the Cluster Munition Coalition, said in a statement Thursday. “We’re talking about a weapon that is currently killing civilians in Syria and eastern Ukraine and continues to claim lives in Laos fifty years after it was used.” – by Kathleen Caulderwood
http://www.ibtimes.com/financial-firms-invested-27-billion-cluster-bomb-makers-report-shows-1730344 and see also at http://www.stopexplosiveinvestments.org/news/33/59/Banks-Behaving-Badly-US-27bn-invested-in-cluster-munition-producers-while-use-of-banned-weapon-continues-in-Ukraine-and-Syria
Comment: The bombs that were dropped on civilians in Yemen were making money for arms manufacturers but also financial institutions that are investing in these disgusting weapons. What an immoral world we live in. Details of firms are here.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1088168061335684
Comment: That clearly means: Your investments or pension funds may have been used to produce cluster bombs and to kill people, mostly civilians, from Yemen to Ukraine and Laos.
Flüchtlinge / Refugees
19.1.2016 – Sputnik News (B H)
Over 92,000 Migrants Arrive in Yemen by Sea in 2015 Despite Conflict
Almost 90 percent of the migrants came to Yemen from neighboring Ethiopia, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"Latest data on sea arrivals in Yemen shows that despite the ongoing conflict some 92,446 people arrived by boat there in 2015. This is one of the highest annual totals of the past decade. A full two thirds arrived since March 2015 when the conflict began," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in briefing notes published on the agency's website.
Almost 90 percent of the migrants came from neighboring Ethiopia, the spokesman said, adding that only 2011 and 2012 saw higher refugee numbers arriving in Yemen.
With most arrivals taking place across the Arabian Sea, and with some 95 reported migrant deaths in 2015, the UN refugee agency warned potential migrant deaths during the dangerous crossings in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. Migrant routes into Yemen have moved away from the Red Sea, the spokesman said. The country's conflict, centered on the Taizz governorate on the Red Sea coast, may have been the chief reason for the change, he added.
While Yemen's conflict has not deterred migrants from crossing into the country, there have been reports of migrants facing movement restrictions, becoming caught up in fighting and killed, according to the briefing note. Reasons for the ongoing migration regardless of the dangers include misinformation about the conflict's intensity and of the dangers of crossing, the UNHCR said.
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160119/1033381933/yemen-refugees-un.html
Terrorismus / Terrorism
19.1.2016 – Combating Terrorism Center (* B T)
Al-Qa`ida and the Islamic State Benefit as Yemen War Drags On
Abstract: Yemen is in the midst of a bloody and chaotic civil war that benefits both al-Qa`ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State. As the war continues, AQAP will attempt to acquire and govern more territory while the Islamic State will seek to further radicalize local populations by grafting an Iraqi-style sectarian war onto the existing conflict. Both groups vie for recruits and territory, and their competition could also spark attacks outside of Yemen as AQAP and the Islamic State attempt to demonstrate that they, and not their rival, are at the forefront of the jihadi movement – by Gregory D. Johnsen
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/al-qaida-and-the-islamic-state-benefit-as-yemen-war-drags-on
Propaganda
19.1.2016 – Sudan Tribune (A P)
Bashir’s deputy: Sudan’s participation in Yemen war is sign of mature policy
Sudan’s First Vice President Bakri Hassan Salih commended the participation of the Sudanese army in the war against the Houthi militants in Yemen, saying it a sign of good policy towards its neighbours.
"The Sudan’s participation in the (Saudi-led) Decisive Storm (military campaign) demonstrates the steady, straightforward and mature stance of our country towards its neighbours. […]"Sudan is proud of its Arab and African affiliations and the country’s participation in the Decisive Storm is a true indication of our approach of fraternity and support towards our neighbours."
http://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article57736
Comment: Nice propaganda. The Saudis just pay well.
17.1.2016 – Riyadh Vision (A P)
Houthi horror: Teachers tortured, served food in waste container
Houthis can cross all limits when it comes to violation of human rights. This is evident from the tale of horror narrated by the two Saudi teachers who were held captive for almost 10 months by the terrorists in Yemen.
It was obviously a harrowing time in captivity as the two had to constantly face abuse and torture — physical and mental — by their kidnappers and always felt death was looming. Al-Sharari had even slipped into coma for two days after he was severely thrashed by the militants.
Comment: Yes, the Houthis had arrested these two Saudi religious teachers without any reason and had treated them very evil, which cannot be tolerated. But that the Saudis mock about that – really is not more than propaganda.
17.1.2016 – Tag 911 AE (A P)
Yemen’s Prime Minister demands concessions from Houthi rebels
The Yemeni Prime Minister has called on Houthi rebels to do their part to break the political gridlock that is paralyzing the country.
Bahah stressed that the Houthi rebels must adhere to UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and release all political prisoners as well as lift the blockade on besieged cities in order to move things forward.
http://tag911.ae/yemens-prime-minister-demands-concessions-from-houthi-rebels/
Comment: And resolution 2216 again and again. This resolution simply demands the capitulation of the Houthis, what they never will concede. Thus, this resolution – the Hadi government and the Saudis off course always are insisting in – prevents any serious peace talks. And, really spoken: the headline thus should not speak of “concessions”, but it really means: “Yemen’s Prime Minister demands capitulation from Houthi rebels”.
17.1.2016 – WAM (A P)
Human rights situation in Yemen is dire: Human Rights Minister
Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, Ezzedine Al Asbahi has described the human rights situation in Yemen as "frightening" and urged the European Union and international organisations to pressure the rebel militias to comply with UN Security Council resolution 2216 and implement the agreement concluded at the recent peace talks in Biel, Switzerland.
"The human rights situation (in Yemen) is dire because the rebel militias continue to commit criminal acts. They have arrested hundreds of people in unknown places and prevent their families from even knowing their whereabouts," the Yemeni Human Rights Minister said during a meeting with the European Union's Ambassador to Yemen, Bettina Muscheidt.
The rebel Houhti militia and forces loyal to now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh continue to violate human rights and crack down on politicians, civilian activists and journalist number of Yemeni governorates.
In addition, he noted, the rebel militias launch systematic attacks on schools and turn them into prisons and military camps. They are attacking residential neighbourhoods, hospitals and medical teams for helping injured people, he added.
Al Asbahi further noted that by the rebels continue to block humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in Taiz and other besieged cities. "This does threatens peace and is in violation of international human rights laws.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/human-rights-situation-yemen-dire-human-rights-minister = http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-militias-make-for-dire-human-rights-situation-1.1655815
Comment: Really funny as the much more terrible Human Rights violations by the Saudi coalition air raids and blockade of half the country (not only one city as Taiz which is blocked by the Houthis) are mentioned by no world. And even worse, in other places this same Hadi government even denied that these violations even existed. Thus, a “Human Rights Minister” as part of this government is not more than a bad joke. And: Resolution 2216 again and again and again.
17.1.2016 – Asharq Al-Awsat (A P)
Bin Dagher: What’s Taking place In Yemen Does Not Encourage New Talks
Yemeni Presidential Advisor, Ahmed bin Dagher, revealed that Ismail Ould Cheikh, UN envoy to Yemen, failed to convince the insurgents to get back to the talks with the legitimacy’s delegation, until now.
However, bin Dagher and another member of the legitimacy’s delegation, clarified to Asharq Al-Awsat that the legitimacy has […]
Comment: The fault is off course always with the other side. And making things even more simple: Speaking of the Hadi government just as “legitimacy” in person seems rather foolish.
Drohnenkrieg / Drone War
Siehe unter “Am wichtigsten” / See at “most important”
Saudischer Luftkrieg / Saudi aerial war
19.1.2016 – Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Saudi strike kills 9 Yemeni students, woman
Yemen’s al-Masira television channel reported that the Tuesday airstrike left nine students and a women dead in an area in Ta’izz Province. Nearly ten others were also injured.
Meanwhile, Yemen's official Saba Net news agency said more than a dozen civilians were killed and five others wounded in similar attacks on homes in the town of Haydan, the northwestern province of Sa’ada.
Saudi warplanes also carried out airstrikes on two areas in the capital, Sana’a.
In addition, the provinces of Ma’rib and Jawf were targeted by the Saudi warplanes.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/19/446437/Yemen-Saudi-Arabia-Taizz-Saada-Sanaa/
19.1.2016 – WAM (A K PS)
Coalition planes strike Houthi secret meeting
Arab Coalition warplanes intensified strikes targeting a secret meeting of Houthi leaders, killing several of them, reported Al Bayan.
Comment: Does this refer to the raid attacking a local police building (see articles below) making these policemen, Hothis and civilians who were killed “a secret meeting of Houthi leaders”? Maybe.
18.1.2016 – Deutsche Welle (A K)
Mehr als 30 Tote bei Luftangriff im Jemen
Die Kampfflugzeuge kamen in der Nacht, doch das ganze Ausmaß der Luftschläge wurde erst im Laufe des Tages deutlich. Die Bomben trafen das Hauptgebäude der Verkehrspolizei und einen lokalen Polizeiposten in der Hauptstadt Sanaa. Wie ein Sprecher des von den aufständischen Huthi-Rebellen geführten Gesundheitsministeriums am Montagabend mitteilte, ist die endgültige Opferzahl noch nicht bekannt.
Bislang wurden 33 Tote geborgen, neun weitere Menschen sind verletzt. Die meisten von ihnen Soldaten und Polizisten. Augenzeugen zufolge befinden sich noch Personen unter den Trümmern der Gebäude, die teilweise dem Erdboden gleich gemacht wurden.
http://www.dw.com/de/mehr-als-30-tote-bei-luftangriff-im-jemen/a-18988100 siehe auch http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/4907269/Luftangriffe-im-Jemen_Etliche-Soldaten-getotet-?from=gl.home_politik
19.1.2016 – CNN (A K)
Airstrikes kill at least 35 throughout Yemen
At least 35 people have been killed and dozens injured in airstrikes throughout Yemen since Sunday, the Defense Ministry said.
The deadliest strike targeted police in a densely populated downtown area of Yemen's capital, Sanaa – by Hakim Almasari
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/18/middleeast/yemen-violence/
18.1.2016 – AP (A K)
Airstrike hits police facility in Yemen, 26 killed
An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeted a building used by police in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 26 people and wounding about 15, Security officials said on Monday.
The officials, who are loyal to anti-government Shiite rebels known as the Houthis, said some 30 more people are believed to be still trapped under the debris of the badly damaged building in central Sanaa.
The dead and wounded were policemen and Houthi rebels, they [officials] said.
The targeted building was partially used as a gathering point for security forces and on occasion used by the Houthis as an assembly point for forces headed to deployment elsewhere in Yemen.
The airstrike happened shortly before midnight on Sunday – by Ahmed Al-Haj
http://news.yahoo.com/airstrike-targets-police-facility-yemens-capital-084432121.html and see also AFP, with further information:
A nearby mosque was also hit by the strikes. Civilians were among the casualties, the source said, but further details were not immediately available.
http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/many-dead-wounded-strike-yemen-police-hq-rescuers
Comment: When bombs crush buildings then there are no services to help rescue those trapped any more due to the effects of war. Instead people have to move debris by hand when they are trying to pull people out of destroyed buildings. With 30 trapped under this rubble it will be a massive job.
https://www.facebook.com/yemennewstodayenglish/posts/1088493714636452
17.1.2016 – Yemen Post (A K)
Coalition intensifies air raids on Yemen capital
The Saudi-led coalition intensified its airstrikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa and the province of Jawf in the past 24 hours.
In Sanaa, airstrikes resumed this morning targeting the Al-Nahdain brigades within the presidential palace and the missile brigades in the west after heavy overnight raids.
Also, eyewitnesses said airstrikes targeted the military camps around the TV station.
There were no reports of casualties.
In Jawf, the Saba news agency said the coalition carried out 45 air raids since last night. Houses and properties of people were damaged and destroyed in the raids, it said.
http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=8375&MainCat=3
17.1.2016 – MSF (A K)
MSF-supported hospital bombed in Yemen: death toll rises to six
As of 17 January, the death toll has risen to six after a critically injured patient died on 16 January in the MSF hospital in Saada
http://www.msf.org/article/msf-supported-hospital-bombed-yemen-death-toll-rises-six
17.1.2016 – Sputnik News (A K)
Arab Coalition Hits Yemen Intelligence Headquarters in 2 Airstrikes
According to a source in Yemeni security forces, Saudi-led Arab coalition jets have struck Yemen’s intelligence headquarters twice 5 miles northwest of the country’s capital.
17.1.2016 – AFP (A K)
Journalist killed in Yemen capital bombing: witness
A freelance Yemeni journalist was killed Sunday in an air raid by the Saudi-led coalition on rebel-held Sanaa, a witness said.
Almigdad Mojalli was hit by shrapnel as a missile slammed into the capital's southern Jaref suburb while he was covering air strikes, said his colleague, photojournalist Bahir Hameed.
"Planes were hovering above when we were struck," Hameed said.
According to his Twitter account, Mojalli reports for Voice Of America and the IRIN humanitarian news agency.
http://news.yahoo.com/journalist-killed-yemen-capital-bombing-witness-150628668.html see also http://www.voanews.com/content/airstrike-in-yemen-kills-freelance-journalist-working-for-voa/3149762.html and http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/1/17/air-raid-kills-freelance-journalist-in-yemen
18.1.2016 – The Telegraph (A K)
Leading Yemeni journalist who worked for international media killed in air strike
Almigdad Mojalli, who had also worked for the Telegraph, was one of only a handful of Yemeni journalists working with international news organisations
A leading Yemeni journalist was killed by an air strike on Sunday as he left a village where up to 21 civilians had been killed days earlier.
Almigdad Mojalli was one of a handful of Yemeni journalists working with international news organisations, including the Telegraph, to report on the country’s ten-month war.
Friends said his car was struck by an air strike as it travelled to from Jarif, an eastern village where bombing raids killed 21 civilians days earlier. He was travelling with a photographer, who survived.
Mr Mojalli’s work for The Telegraph focused on the cost of war, documenting Saudi-led air strikes and Houthi ground attacks, as well as the number of child soldiers who had been sucked into the conflict’s vortex.
Richard Preston, head of world news [The Telegraph], said: "It is only through the courage and resourcefulness of writers like Almigdad that the rest of the world gets to read about what is happening in the bloodiest conflict zones and we are all grateful for his work. We all send our condolences to his family, for whom of course the loss is most grievous."
Kriegsereignisse / Theater of War
19.1.2016 – Fars News (A K PH)
British Officer Killed in Yemen
"A British officer of Blackwater security firm was killed in al-Wazaya region in Taiz province," a Yemeni army source said on Tuesday.
The source declined to reveal any further details.
Elsewhere in Yemen, over 120 mercenaries, including the Saudi, UAE and US officers, were killed in the Yemeni troops' missile attack on the command center of the Saudi-led coalition in Ma'rib.
"The Yemeni army missile unit fired a Tochka missile at the operations room of the Saudi-led forces in Ma'rib (on Sunday) and killed over 120 mercenaries with different nationalities," Ali al-Houthi, an Ansarullah Movement Leader, told FNA on Tuesday.
"46 Saudi mercenaries, 11 UAE and 9 Saudi officers and 11 foreign commanders of the US Blackwater company were among those killed in the attack," he added.
Houthi said that 6 Apache and 4 Black Hawk helicopters and 4 drones armed with missiles were also destroyed in the attack.
The command room of communications with the spying satellites and airplanes was also destroyed completely.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941029001398 see also at http://www.allnewscenter.com/british-and-us-officers-killed-in-yemen/
19.1.2016 – Daily Messenger / Press TV Iran (A K PH)
Yemeni counteroffensives thwarting Saudi advances in Yemen: Army
Counteroffensives by the Yemeni army and allied forces hitting targets within Saudi Arabia have thwarted military attempts by the kingdom to advance inside Yemen, the Yemeni army says.
On Monday, a military source said the Yemeni army and Houthi fighters had thwarted an attempt by Saudi mercenaries to advance on the al-Omari camp in Ta’izz Province and killed or and injured an unspecified number of them.
They also gained control of the strategic mountain of al-Kola in the Yemeni province of Ma’rib after fierce clashes with mercenaries and Saudi-backed militants, leaving a number of them dead and injured. Yemeni forces also captured five mercenaries, including an Ethiopian national, during the clashes.
Several key hills in Ma’rib were also taken by the Yemeni forces.
Yemeni troops further launched artillery and rocket attacks on military targets in the Saudi regions of Najran, Jizan and Asir. A Saudi weapons warehouse and tanks were destroyed in the attacks.
http://dailymessenger.com.pk/2016/01/19/yemeni-counteroffensives-thwarting-saudi-advances-in-yemen-army/ and http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/19/446385/Yemen-Luqman-counteroffensives/
17.1.2016 – Albawaba (A K PH)
Houthi rebels fire missiles on Saudi base in Marib
Overview at the theater of war in the last days (see Yemen Press Reader 87).
http://www.albawaba.com/news/houthi-rebels-fire-missiles-saudi-base-marib-793960
Neue Artikel zum Nachlesen 1-87: / Yemen Press reader 1-87:
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose oder / or
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