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As Saudi Air Strikes Continue, US and UK Politicians Start to Criticize the War on Impoverished Yemenis

April 18, 2018 

Pro-Saudi Yemeni fighters, file, April 18, 2018	Site of a Saudi air strike on Yemen, file, April 18, 2018

 

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The following news stories are from the Yemeni pro-Saudi website Al-Sahwa ( http://www.alsahwa-yemen.net/  ):

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Arab Coalition jets bombard Houthi secret camp in Sana'a
 
4/17/2018 1:23:00 AM الصحوة نت – خاص
 
The Arab Coalition's fighter jets bombed a secret training camp for Houthi rebels in Al-Hayma district in Sana'a, a local official said.
 
The official told Khabar news website that the coalition aircraft raids targeted during the past two days a secret training camp for the Houthis in Bani Omar area in Al-Hayma. He said the raids left a number of rebels dead and wounded, without giving further details.
 
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Bin-Daghr: No more fighting or bloodshed in Aden
 
4/17/2018 1:21:00 AM الصحوة نت – خاص
 
Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed bin Daghr said that there will be no more fighting in the interim capital Aden thanks to the return of the government.
 
In late January 2018, clashes broke out between the government and the southern separatists. Bin-Daghr made the remarks as he headed a consultative meeting with the rectors of public and private universities in Aden on Sunday.
 
He said that the government will not allow the return of bloodshed in the interim capital, and will stop the wave of assassinations against government soldiers, mosque preachers and political activists. ""The murders that happened in the past months in Aden and other provinces are a criminal act whose perpetrators will not get away with it."
 
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Houthis kill child, injure his brother by heavy shelling
 
4/16/2018 1:22:00 AM الصحوة نت – خاص
 
Houthis killed Jamal Jameel a 14-year-old boy and dismembered the feet of his younger brother by heavy shelling on their village in Wadi Aman area east of the city of Taiz on Sunday, local sources told al-Moshahed news website.
 
The Shia Islamists invaded the city of Taiz in March 2015 and have since been besieging it and killing, in addition to military servicemen, large numbers of civilians by heavy shelling, sniper shootings and landmines.
 
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Houthi senior operatives and Hezbollah missile experts killed in airstrike
 
4/18/2018 12:06:00 AM الصحوة نت – خاص
 
A senior operative of the Houthi rebel militia and a number of missile experts from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia have been killed by Arab Coalition air strikes that targeted their positions in Saada province.
 
Well-informed sources said an Arab Coalition fighter jet hit and killed the commander of the Artillery and Missiles Battalion in the 112th Infantry Brigade, Abdullah Saeed al-Jabri nicknamed as"Abu Said", and a group of militiamen and rocket experts from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in one of the caves near al-Boqaa in Saada, the stronghold of the Houthi rebels.
 
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Unknown gunmen assassinate army member in Taiz
 
4/18/2018 12:05:00 AM الصحوة نت – خاص
 
Eyewitnesses have reported seeing gunmen kill Hani al-Azani, a member of the 22nd Brigade in the army in Al-Mojalliah area in downtown Taiz on Monday by shooting fire on him.

Witnesses said the gunmen escaped the scene right after committing the crime.

Taiz is one of many southern Yemeni provinces witnessing a wave of assassinations against soldiers, clerics and political activists supportive of the internationally recognized government. 
 
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268 Houthi violations in Mahweet during Q1 of 2018
 
4/18/2018 12:04:00 AM الصحوة نت - خاص
 
The Observatory for Rights and Freedoms in Al-Mahweet has revealed that the Houthi rebel militia committed 268 violations northwest of the capital Sana'a during the first quarter of 2018.
 
The violations include abductions, forced displacements, recruitments and looting and seizing of properties under different pretexts, prosecution of oppositionists, occupation of state institutions, political party premises and other institutions.
 
The organization said in its report that 45 people have been held in the militia's prisons for more than two years, including 6 persons kept in enforced disappearance.
 
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New sites recaptured from Houthis in Beidha
 
4/17/2018 1:24:00 AM الصحوة نت - خاص
 
On Sunday, the army and popular resistance forces managed to retake new sites in the district of Thi Nafe'a in Beidha province in central Yemen.  Local sources said that the army was able to liberate the sites of Taba, Al-Qatlah and Tuba Sharqan sites following a major offensive on all the sites.
 
The sources said that the army seized weapons and ammunition in the captured sites, including ammunition of machine guns and Kalashnikov firearms.
 
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The following news stories are from the pro-Houthi website Yemen Extra (http://www.yemenextra.net/):

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At least 100 Food, Commercial Vessels Blocked to Enter Yemen

Apr 18, 2018, YemenExtra, SH.A.
 
“Red Sea Ports Foundation” condemned the undeclared blockade imposed on Hodeidah port by the Saudi-led coalition, accusing Saudi alliance of seeking to empty the port, which 70% of the country’s imports get through it and serving some 21 million citizens.
 
In a statement, the foundation indicated that the food vessels arriving from the beginning of this year to the port were receiving compulsory orders from the coalition forces to change their course.
 
Also described the acts of the Saudi-led coalition as “maritime piracy”, and confirmed that such practices are an apparent violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that in the period of war and crisis, ports and outlets must be avoided from any violations.
 
It also confirmed its adherence to international standards issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations, noting that ships entering the port of Hodeidah, have clearance from the UN Office of Protection and Inspection, but they forced the ships to change their route.
 
The foundation called on all international, humanitarian and human rights organizations, to stand and solidarity with the Yemeni people against the practices of the Saudi-led coalition against the Port of Hodeidah, and working to lift the blockade on Yemen.
 
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Saudi Airstrikes Continue Raining on Yemen on April 16th: Report
 
Apr 17, 2018, YemenExtra, M.A.
 
The impoverished country of Yemen has been bombed on a daily basis by the Saudi-led coalition since March 26 of 2015.
 
Despite the countless accusations of war crimes perpetrated by the Saudi regime and their allies against thousands of innocent Yemeni civilians, the world has chosen to abandon Yemen and leave it solely facing the worst humanitarian catastrophe, a cholera outbreak, a strangling all-out blockade and a ruthless war that has devastated the already-weak infrastructure.
 
Speaking of Yemen being subjected to Saudi American bombs on a daily basis, here is what happened in Yemen on April 17th:
 
In Hodeidah Province, coastal western Yemen, 6 citizens of one family were killed following the targeting of their house in Al-Haedh area in Hais district.
 
In Sana’a Province, two women were killed while another five women, a man and a child were injured. A number of houses and communication network were also damaged following 7 air raids on Massar mountain in Manakha district.
 
According to local sources in Sana’a province, there are reports of new victims following raids on the fortress of Massar mountain in Manakha district.
 
In addition, a citizen was wounded in a raid conducted by the Saudi-led coalition targeting a farm in Saffan district.
 
The warplanes of the coalition also waged a raid on the village of Ramada in Nehm district in Sana’a Province.
 
In Sa’ada, a citizen was injured by the Saudi border guards in the district of Monabeh border district, while Ghor region in Gammur district as well as various areas in Baqim and Razeh were hit by Saudi rocket and artillery attacks. The houses and property of Razih were damaged as a result of the Saudi bombing.
 
Moreover, the Saudi-led coalition conducted at least 12 airstrikes on the regions of Al-Fara and Al-Sawh as well as Abu Jabarah Valley in Ketaf district, 8 more raids struck different areas of Baqim district, 2 air raids hit Qahzah region northern Saada city, 5 airstrikes hit Alaf area in Sahar district and Al-Sama mountain western the city, in addition to an airstrike targeting Al-Aqzol region in the same district and 4 airstrikes on the central security camp in the city.
 
Heading to Hajjah Province, 11 air raids hit Haradh and Medhi districts during the past hours, and launched 9 raids on the areas of Faj Haradh and Al-Mazraq, while one more air raid hit the citizens’ farms in Al-Jar region in Abss district.
 
In Lahj, four raids were carried out on the areas of Al-Sharija and Hamala Bakrash.
 
In Jizan, the Saudi-led coalition launched 10 raids on Dode mountain during the past hours.
 
A Saudi-led war began against Yemen on March 26 of 2015, in an attempt to reinstall a Saudi-friendly president, Hadi. Hadi was ousted by the Ansarullah revolutionaries, whereas the latter enjoy wide public support, and that is when they took control over the country’s affairs with an aim of eliminating foreign intervention or influence over Yemen.
 
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US Senator Rand Paul Calls for Ceasing Support of Saudi War on Yemen

Apr 18, 2018, YemenExtra, M.A.
 
A US Senator, Rand Paul, called on the White House to reconsider its support of the Saudi-led war against Yemen, stating that this blind support for the Saudi regime must stop.
 
The American senator, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, urged the need to re-review the American role in the Yemeni war, including providing arms to Saudi Arabia.
 
The senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also warned at a session on US policy in Yemen that 17 million Yemenis are on the verge of famine.
 
“Who started this war? this is not clear, this war is a civil war and we are now in it, do we know that? thousands are dying while 17 million people live on the verge of famine.”
 
“We must reconsider our military intervention and supply of weapons to the Saudis. We must think whether this intervention makes sense or does it make us worse?”
 
Sen. Chris Murphy earlier criticized the US government for empowering the current humanitarian crisis in Yemen. “This is a humanitarian disaster,” Murphy told fellow senators after showing pictures of starving children amid what UN officials called the world’s worst famine in decades. This famine is caused in part by the actions of the United States of America.”
 
Members of the US Senate submitted a proposal a few months ago to reject the arms deal signed by President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabia because Riyadh has committed war crimes in Yemen and supported terrorist groups in the region.
 
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“Why Syria and not Saudi Arabia?”: Jeremy Corbin
 
Apr 18, 2018, YemenExtra, SH.A.
 
Britain’s opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbin on Monday questioned the legal basis for Britain’s involvement in the attacks on Syria, saying the strike in Syria raises many legal questions.
 
“Why Syria and not Saudi Arabia?” Corbin asked the prime minister at an emergency session of parliament in London over the British strike in Syria on Saturday.
 
“The Yemeni crisis is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Why does the British government continue to support Saudi Arabia?” He said, noting that Britain had moved in Syria but had not moved in Yemen, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
 
“We do not really see any other countries hit,” he said, adding that “installations were hit in Saudi Arabia, especially since the kingdom uses phosphorous and banned munitions according to a report published by the humanitarian organization last month.”
 
“How does this fit with Britain continuing to sell arms to Saudi Arabia?” He continued.
 
Corbin stressed that the military movements in Syrian territory were preceded by the investigation of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, stressing that the British parliament has the authority to approve or reject military actions.
 
He called on the British opposition to develop a law to become parliament debates for military interventions binding.
 
The head of the British Labor Party called on the prime minister to work with all countries including Russia and Iran to resolve the Syrian crisis.

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