Yemeni knot

US Senate passes bill to halt military support to Saudi in Yemen

The US Senate voted 54 to 46 to block further involvement by the US military in the war in Yemen, where bombings by Saudi Arabiaand the UAE, conducted with US weapons, are blamed for causing mass civilian deaths, starvation, and the spread of disease.

"We have the opportunity to take a major step forward in ending the horrific war in Yemen and alleviating that terrible, terrible suffering being experienced by the people in one of the poorest countries in the world," Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, said.

"There is no secret as to why there is a cholera epidemic. It's because the Saudis bombed the water treatment facilities so the water isn't clean any more," said Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat.

Aid groups estimate that as many as 60,000 civilians have been killed in the war and as many as 85,000 children starved to death.

The Senate action sends the resolution back to the House of Representatives, which is expected to approve it a second time after having voted 248 to 177 on February 13 to approve the measure. The resolution is being brought forward under the War Powers Act of 1973, a Vietnam War-era law that asserts Congress's authority over the deployment of US military power.

Yemeni knot

Saudi Arabia is reportedly outsourcing its war in Yemen to child soldiers

Saudi Arabia is reportedly outsourcing its war in Yemen to be fought by child soldiers from Sudan.

According to a bombshell investigation from the New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick, the Saudis are dipping into their deep pockets to bankroll a militia of Sudanese fighters — many of them children — to fight on the frontlines against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, insulating the Kingdom from casualties and the political blowback they could cause. Many of the Sudanese fighters come from the region of Darfur, where violent conflict consumed the countryside for more than a decade. Across the Red Sea in Yemen, they face a steep risk of death again:

At any time for nearly four years as many as 14,000 Sudanese militiamen have been fighting in Yemen in tandem with the local militia aligned with the Saudis, according to several Sudanese fighters who have returned and Sudanese lawmakers who are attempting to track it. Hundreds, at least, have died there.

The conditions inside Yemen were already bleak. The war there, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has by some estimates claimed the lives of nearly 50,000 people. The conflict has spurred a massive humanitarian crisis, leaving more than 12 million people on the brink of starvation and in desperate need of assistance.

Yemeni knot

Mattis and Pompeo call for Yemen ceasefire 'within 30 days'

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all participants in the Yemen civil war to agree to a ceasefire "in the next 30 days," a call that comes amid criticism of US support for the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict.

"Thirty days from now we want to see everybody around a peace table based on a ceasefire, based on a pullback from the border and then based on ceasing dropping of bombs that will permit the (UN) special envoy, Martin Griffiths -- he's very good, he knows what he's doing -- to get them together in Sweden and end this war," Mattis said at an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.

His call was later echoed by Pompeo, who issued a statement saying, "The United States calls on all parties to support UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Yemen."

"Substantive consultations under the UN Special Envoy must commence this November in a third country," Pompeo added.

Mattis and Pompeo both insisted that the US-backed Saudi-led coalition and the Iranian-aligned Houthis stop their respective aerial and missile attacks.

Yemeni knot

Ali Abdullah Saleh, Strongman Who Helped Unite Yemen, and Divide It, Dies at 75

Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former leader of Yemen, was known as a hardy survivor of Middle Eastern politics who had ruled for more than three decades and re-emerged to play a major role in his country’s devastating civil war.

Mr. Saleh, who was killed on Monday in Yemen under circumstances that remained unclear, was a canny manipulator of Yemen’s complex tribal politics who once likened his presidency to “dancing on the heads of snakes,” but his Machiavellian skills and good luck finally ran out. Aides said he died after an explosion at his home in Sana, the capital. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, his onetime allies in the war, said they had killed him in an ambush in the desert.

On Saturday Mr. Saleh had publicly broken with the Houthis, calling on Yemenis to “defend the nation” against them. That move in a lifetime of juggling alliances proved to be his last.

Yemeni knot

Yemen Rebels Threaten to Use New Weapon

Yemen’s Houthi forces have threatened to shoot down Saudi vessels found anywhere near Red Sea ports controlled by the rebels with the newly launched ‘underwater’ torpedo missiles.

The torpedo, nicknamed Al-Manbab, is reportedly capable of hitting enemy ships from far away, although the exact firing reach remains unknown.

A video shows what appears to be a number of rockets on static display. Each projectile featured a warhead, several stabilizers and a tail. Shiite rebels, backed by Iran, claimed the new weapon could be deployed “very soon” against Saudi warships blockading Yemeni ports. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the video is authentic and the torpedoes are operational, according to rt.com.

Yemeni knot

Trump foreign policy: American military increasingly involved in Yemen civil war

In 2015, the United States closed its embassy in Yemen as a civil war tore the country apart. The U.S. Marines guarding the embassy had to ditch some of their weapons before boarding a chartered commercial airliner with embassy staff as Iranian-backed forces stormed the capital city of Sanaa and helped themselves to abandoned embassy vehicles as well as the compound itself.

US special operations forces who had been hunting Al-Qaeda in Yemen were also withdrawn when the Iranian-backed group known as the Houthis seized the capital.

But despite the forced departures, the American military now finds itself increasingly involved in Yemen's civil war - and there are fears it could be open-ended.

Yemeni knot

'Our Enemies Want to Starve Us'

The war between the self-proclaimed Houthi government in Sanaa and the Saudi Arabian-led coalition has thus far resulted in the loss of 10,000 lives. Hisham-Sharaf Abdullah, 60, was once a minister in the cabinet of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the country's elected president. Today, Sharaf is the foreign minister of self-proclaimed Houthi government, which is not internationally recognized. The Houthis are fighting against Hadi, elements of the divided Yemeni army and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Yemeni knot

140 killed & 525 injured after reported Saudi-led airstrike hits funeral in Yemen

A bombardment carried out by Saudi-led coalition jets has rocked a funeral ceremony in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, killing over 140 people and injuring hundreds more, according to the UN. Local media claim the death toll is much higher.

The Saudi-led coalition targeted a building hosting a Houthi funeral ceremony, killing a total of 140 people, United Nations said in a statement.

Yemeni knot

Boris Johnson urged to back inquiry into alleged Saudi war crimes

The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, is facing calls to reverse UK policy and back an independent international investigation into alleged Saudi breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen.

The call from the international development select committee came as new figures showed the UK granted arms export licences for use in Saudi Arabiavalued at £530m in the first quarter of this year. The figures were compiled from official government figures by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

The pressure for Johnson to change Foreign Office policy and unequivocally back an international inquiry came after his department released a string of corrections to previous oral and written statements made by ministers that had assured MPs the government had assessed whether there were breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Yemen by Saudi Arabia, and concluded no breach had taken place. 

Yemeni knot

‘Saudi violence in Yemen can’t be ignored any longer’

The UN has blacklisted Saudi-led coalition for killing and maiming thousands of children in Yemen. But will there be any consequences or sanctions for the House of Saud? Will their allies reconsider their support for Riyadh?

The United Nations included the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen on the blacklist of child rights violators. Among others listed are notorious groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram. The Houthis - who are on the other side of the conflict – have been on the UN list for at least five years. 

Yemeni knot

The U.S. is quietly helping Saudi Arabia wage a devastating aerial campaign in Yemen

One week before the Brussels terrorist attacks, a Saudi-led coalition bombed a market in Mastaba, Yemen. Although more people died in Mastaba than in Brussels — 106 versus 34 — the media and the international community in general ignored that earlier atrocity, as they've ignored most of the 150 indiscriminate aerial attacks reported by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch in the last year.

The problem, however, is worse than inattention; the West is actually supporting — by way of arms and military assistance — this all-but-invisible war.

Yemeni knot

New Report of U.S.-Made Cluster Bomb Use by Saudis in Yemen

Human Rights Watch released a report Sunday providing new indications that Saudi Arabia has fired American-made cluster munitions, banned by international treaty, in civilian areas of Yemen, and said their use may also violate United States law.

The report included photographs from Yemen purporting to show unexploded but potentially lethal remnants of American cluster weapons, suggesting that they had failed legally required reliability standards.

If confirmed, the report could put new pressure on the United States over support for its ally Saudi Arabia in the Yemen conflict. The Americans have sold arms and furnished training and expertise to a Saudi-led coalition that has faced widespread criticism for what rights groups call anindiscriminate bombing campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in nearly a year of fighting.

Yemeni knot

And Yemen Burns With Washington’s Blessing

The Saudis keep hitting civilians — a wedding party on Monday, killing 120 — and blaming U.S. intelligence for bad targets.

Overshadowed by its relative smallness and obscured by its relative complexity, the six-month-old civil war in Yemen is the middle child of Middle East conflict. Recently, its most prominent mentions in the U.S. have been in the Republican debates as candidates have placed the rebellion by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government on the list of Iran’s regional evildoings.

Yemeni knot

IRAN-BACKED HOUTHIS TAKE ‘SEVERAL’ AMERICANS HOSTAGE IN YEMEN

Yemeni Houthi jihadists have reportedly taken a number of Americans hostage in Yemen as they fight to take control of the country, the U.S. State Department confirmed Monday. One of the American captives has been identified.

Scott Darden, 45, is one of the captives, a source with knowledge of the ongoing hostage situation told CNN. He was captured by the Iran-backed Houthi militants in March, and they have yet to ask for a ransom, the source said.

Yemeni knot

The U.S. is enabling a terrible mistake in Yemen

Don't look now, but another nation in the Middle East is falling to pieces.
This time it's Yemen, which was already the poorest nation in the region when a civil war broke out early this year. Things have only gotten worse since Saudi Arabia intervened with major military force.
It's a humanitarian disaster. But it also illustrates the increasingly obvious downsides to America's close relationship with Saudi Arabia. By not pushing the Saudis to back off, or even speaking out on their mistake, America is setting the stage for future disasters.

Yemeni knot

A Canadian reporter smuggles himself into Yemen to see the war first hand

Continued fighting between Houthi rebels and other groups on the ground, along with frequent air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition has prevented the delivery of humanitarian supplies. It has also kept out Western journalists. It's just too dangerous — plus, the Saudis are not allowing journalists into the country. But, that didn't deter Canadian reporter Matthieu Aikins.

Yemeni knot

Yemen fighting rages as air strikes intensify in Sanaa

The Arab coalition has intensified air strikes on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa while fighting raged between pro-government fighters and Houthi rebels in the country's south.

Friday's air raids in Sanaa's al-Jaraf neighbourhood killed six people, including a woman and a child, and injured six others, rebel sources told the Reuters news agency.