A resurgent al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is capitalizing on the deadly civil war in Yemen, emerging as the strongest jihadist group in the country while a Saudi-led coalition concentrates on routing the Shiite Houthis and the West focuses on the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Lebanon must take action to stop Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah from exporting its “mercenaries” into Yemen and Syria, reportedly urged a Saudi military spokesman.
Contents: Syrian regime encircles Aleppo, causing new flood of refugees; Saudi Arabia ready to send ground troops into Syria; Saudi Arabia sees itself in an existential crisis; Turkey denies Russian reports of Syria invasion
The prime minister and vice-president of Yemen, Khaled Bahah, fled the country with several of his ministers in October, after Iran-backed Houthi insurgents attacked the palace where they were living.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly recruiting young Afghans who visit to fight against the Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis in the ongoing Yemen war.
Contents: China signs nuclear deals with Saudi Arabia and Iran; China signals support for Saudis in Yemen, and for Palestinian state
The Chinese government issued a joint statement with officials of Saudi Arabia in support of the Sunni government of Yemen under President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, days before President Xi Jinping is set to visit Iran, the main international support of the Shiite Houthi rebels.
A Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a police building in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 26 people and injuring nearly 15, reports The Associated Press (AP), citing security officials loyal to Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis.
A Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) clinic in Yemen was hit by a “projectile” on Sunday, killing at least five people and wounding ten more in the blast, the humanitarian group announced.
Saudi Arabia’s air force intercepted a Scud missile launched from Yemen Saturday night, according to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Yemeni rebels known as Houthis and their allies.
A missile fired from Yemen Saturday struck the Saudi southwestern border city of Najran, killing three civilians and injuring others, according to the Gulf Kingdom.
Nine months of war between a Saudi-led military coalition and a Yemeni rebel group have left thousands of civilians dead, a nation gravely polarized and the land strewn with debris, mines and unexploded bombs.
The much-touted seven-day cease fire in Yemen began on Tuesday afternoon and lasted maybe an hour, before there were reports of both Saudi warplanes dropping bombs on Houthi insurgents, and the Houthis shelling a loyalist stronghold. Naturally, each side blames the other for breaking the agreement.
A week-long cease-fire in Yemen’s civil war is scheduled to begin on Monday, followed on Tuesday by peace talks in Switzerland brokered by the United Nations.
An abnormally large number of desert locusts are expected to hatch beginning in January in Yemen, threatening to eat through a chunk of an already dangerously depleted food supply. Most Yemenis rely on humanitarian aid for food and water following a year of civil war and the rise of jihadist violence in the Middle East’s poorest nation.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a member of a U.S.-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia, has deployed to Yemen more than 400 Colombian mercenaries who had been training in the Emirati desert to combat Iran-linked Shiite rebels known as Houthis, reports The New York Times (NYT).
Former U.S. Army Master Sergeant John Hamen, abducted by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on October 20, has died in captivity. The exact circumstances of his death have not yet been disclosed.
While the Obama administration deals with the fallout from bombing a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan, the Saudis have a similar situation on their hands in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi insurgents.
With the Shiite Houthi rebels losing ground in southern Yemen, Sunni jihadist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State appear poised to fill the power vacuum in areas where neither the Houthis nor internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have been able to secure a foothold.
Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, who threw the country into civil war this year after a coup attempt against exiled president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, have written a letter to the United Nations accepting a seven-point peace plan led by Oman.
Contents: Yemen’s Houthis sign letter agreeing to peace plan; Generational frustration grows among West Bank Palestinians; Russia Ministry of Defense videos found to be deceptive; The sleazy world of loan sharking — legally
Contents: Saudi Arabia appears to have stalled in the Yemen war; Saudi Arabia under international pressure to end Yemen airstrikes
Prime Minister Khaled Bahah—of the internationally recognized Yemeni government that fled to Saudi Arabia after the Iran-backed Houthis seized swathes of Yemen early this year—has returned to his homeland after months of exile.
Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is in self-exile in Saudi Arabia, backed out of United Nations-brokered talks this week with Iran-linked Houthi rebels, according to the leader’s office.
Egypt and Qatar have deployed about 1,800 ground troops to Yemen this week, with other members of the 10-country coalition formed by Saudi Arabia in March to combat the Iran-linked Houthi rebels in Yemen expected to follow suit.
Iran-linked Houthis and their allies are willing to accept a United Nations Security Council resolution to end the brutal war in Yemen while Saudi Arabia appears unwilling to support a negotiated settlement in the near future, according to a leaked UN email.
Contents: The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen suffers its deadliest day; In major escalation in Yemen war, Qatar is sending 1,000 troops; Britain’s RAF drones target and kill British nationals in Syria
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, and one of the American captives has been identified.
At least 398 children have been killed and more than 605 maimed since the “brutal armed conflict” in Yemen escalated on March 26, reported the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF on Wednesday.
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced on Tuesday that he is not supporting President Obama’s Iran deal, becoming the second Democratic Senator to do so, joining Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in refuting the accord.
A United Arab Emirates military brigade has joined ground troops combating Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, in a move that senior Yemeni and American military officials believe could intensify a regional fight between Iran and Saudi-led Sunni Gulf countries, reports the New York Times (NYT).
According to South Korean sources for the Korea Times, Yemeni rebels have attacked Saudi Arabian targets with missiles purchased from North Korea.
Yemen’s internationally-recognized president has decreed that armed groups fighting against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen merge with his national army units in an apparent effort to bring ground forces on his side together.
Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces seized the strategic southern port of Aden in Yemen from Shiite Houthi rebels, unexpectedly turning the tide of Yemen’s war in favor of Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.
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As the Shiite Houthi rebels who have taken over Sanaa continue to wage war against troops loyal to deposed Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Sunni Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group has taken credit for another Shiite mosque bombing, stating that they plan to “take revenge” upon the Houthis for attempting to control the country.
The United Nations has upgraded the humanitarian crisis in Yemen to a Level 3 emergency, the most dire possible scenario on the UN scale. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow for food, water, and medicine to enter the nation, as more than 80% of the population is entirely dependent on foreign aid to live.
Yemen’s pro-Houthi military proudly announced that it had launched a Scud missile at a base in Saudi Arabia, reports Yemeni state-run news outlet Saba.
Nearly 80% of Yemen’s civilian population is dependent on humanitarian aid for food and water, while six million are believed to be suffering “severe” hunger, and up to 8,000 people may have contracted Dengue fever. This is the dire portrait of a war-torn nation the United Nations presented this week, as fighting between Shiite Houthi rebels and supporters of Sunni President Hadi and Saudi Arabia continue to struggle for power.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), a Sunni group, has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Yemen’s capital Sanaa near the Qiba al-Mahdi mosque used by Shiite Houthi rebels, reports Reuters, citing witnesses and a security source.
