Yemen - Page 18

A troubling report from the UK Independent says that al-Qaeda has acquired sophisticated surface-to-air missiles from battlefields like Syria, Iraq, and Yemen and used a battle-tested Russian missile system to shoot down a French-made Mirage fighter jet, flown by the United Arab Emirates over Yemen.

Church officials in India are denying the now metastasizing rumors that Father Tom Uzhunnalil has been murdered by crucifixion at the hands of his radical Islamic captors.

The Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schonborn, issued a statement claiming he could confirm that Islamic State jihadists crucified 56-year-old Father Tom Uzhunnalil, an Indian Catholic priest, on Good Friday.

Ynet news reports:  Among the people arrested by the Houthis in Yemen following the “smuggling” of a 600-year-old Torah scroll by the 17 Jews who were brought to Israel in a secret operation on Monday was a member of the Jewish

Kirsten Evans, executive director of In Defense of Christians, spoke about the genocide perpetrated against Christians in the Middle East on the Good Friday edition of Breitbart News Daily.

At least 50 members of the resurgent al-Qaeda branch in Yemen were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the mountains of southern Yemen, Reuters reports, citing medics and a local official.

The internationally recognized government of Yemen and Shiite Houthi rebels have agreed on a ceasefire, Yemeni officials have reportedly said on condition of anonymity.

Major Saudi-led combat operations against Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen, which began nearly a year ago, are “coming to an end,” the spokesman for the military coalition reportedly said.

Contents: Saudi Arabia says it will ‘end major combat operations’ in Yemen; Over 100 civilians killed in Saudi airstrike in Yemen

The Islamic State militants who killed the four Missionaries of Charity in Yemen earlier this month “tied them up, shot them in the head and smashed their heads,” according to an eye witness who escaped the killing. One of the

Pakistan’s Dunya News reports Saudi Arabia has proposed a “NATO-like” military alliance of Muslim nations, meant not as a defensive alliance against a particular country, “but to combat terrorism and emerging threats like ISIS.”

Two warplanes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fatally crashed while fighting the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, the New York Times reports, citing Saudi Arabia’s official news agency.

Saudi Arabia declared that anyone linked to Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah will be deported from the kingdom, Al Arabiya News Channel reports.

There are signs the Houthi insurgents in Yemen might be talking with Saudi Arabia about ending the year-long civil war, including an encouraging prisoner transfer and the Houthis asking their patrons in Iran to back away from the conflict.

Another piece slides across the board between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle Eastern game of thrones, as Djibouti, recently estranged from Iran, prepares to sign a deal that will give Saudi Arabia a military base in the East African country.

Al-Qaeda has denied responsibility for the savage attack on a home for the elderly established by Mother Teresa in Yemen’s port city of Aden, in which four Catholic nuns were murdered, along with 12 other people.

Indian and Yemeni officials believe the Islamic State kidnapped an Indian priest in an attack that left 16 dead at a nursing home in Yemen.

Contents: Italy debates military intervention in Libya after ISIS kills Italian hostages; Looking back at the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ Libya military intervention; Russian media calls Gaddafi’s Libya an ‘oasis of stability’; Police in Turkey use force to shut down opposition newspaper

Pope Francis has reached out with a message of condolence for the victims of a terrorist attack on a care home in Yemen operated by the Missionaries of Charity in which four Catholic nuns as well as 12 other people were

Yemen’s internationally-recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi claimed 85 percent of the territory seized by Iran-backed Houthi insurgents, and forces loyal to previous president Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been recaptured.

Yemeni Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Nasir al-Tahiri is accusing the Shiite Houthi rebels that have run the official government out of the nation’s capital of hiring African “mercenaries” to fight in the nation’s ongoing civil war.

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.

The national security parole board for Guantánamo Bay has approved the transfer of 35-year-old Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmed, a former bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, to an as-yet-undetermined “Arab-speaking country” that can offer “appropriate security assurances.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif warned Saudi Arabia not to send ground forces into Syria, as the Saudis have declared their intention to do. Anticipating charges of hypocrisy over the thousands of troops Iran has deployed in Syria, Zarif insisted they were merely “military advisers.”

Travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries who have visited Libya, Somalia, and Yemen will need to obtain a visa in order to travel to the U.S. under new Department of Homeland Security travel restrictions.

Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash announced that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is willing to deploy ground troops to Syria to combat the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

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 Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack aimed at the presidential residence in Aden, Yemen, on Thursday. Reports say that up to 11 people were killed in the blast and at least 20 wounded.

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: Reader comments on xenophobic ‘Soldiers of Odin’ in Finland; European Union said to be collapsing over migrant crisis; Mideast borders set by Sykes-Picot and Balfour declaration under fire; The 2016 market meltdown raises fears of financial crisis

Contents: China signs nuclear deals with Saudi Arabia and Iran; China signals support for Saudis in Yemen, and for Palestinian state

AFP relates the remarkable statistic that almost 100,000 refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia flowed into Yemen last year, often dying en route, despite a brutal civil war that mushroomed into an international conflict. As bad as things are in Yemen, Ethiopians and Somalis are still willing to risk death to emigrate there.

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.