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After Attacking Saudi Oil Facilities, Yemen Warns UAE Similar Attacks if it Does Not Leave the Saudi-Led Coalition

September 20, 2019 

A Saudi naval vessel in the Red Sea, file, September 19, 2019	A hospitalized Yemeni girl, file, September 19, 2019

 

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The following news stories are from the Yemeni independent website Al-Masdar ( http://www.almasdaronline.com/category/42  ):

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4 civilians killed, 20 injured in bomb blast on bus carrying passengers near Al-Wade’ah port

September 20, 2019, ALMASDARONLINE ٢٠ سبتمبر ٢٠١٩

Four civilians were killed and about 20 others injured on Thursday when an explosive device exploded as a passenger bus passed near the Al- Wade’ah international outlet in Hadramaut province, eastern Yemen.

A military source told Al-Masdar Online that an explosive device planted on the international road near the Port of Al- Wade’ah, which links Yemen and Saudi Arabia, exploded while a mass transport bus carrying more than 40 passengers was passing by which was coming from Saudi Arabia.

The blast, believed to have been planted to target a military convoy expected to pass through the area, killed four passengers and injured about 20 others, some of them seriously injured, the source said.

According to the source, the wounded were rushed to a hospital in Sieyun city .

A similar explosive device targeted a military vehicle belonging to the government forces in al-Abrb district, Hadhramaut Desert, eastern Yemen, a few days ago, killing one government member and wounding two others.

The operation comes at the same time as an explosive device exploded in the city of Shebam in Hadramaut Valley, which killed coalition commander Brig. Gen. Bandar bin Mazyad al-Otaibi, two Saudi soldiers and two Yemenis, and injured 10 others.

Coalition declares thwarting 'terrorist and hostile act' of Houthis south of the Red Sea

September 20, 2019, ALMASDARONLINE ٢٠ سبتمبر ٢٠١٩

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said Thursday that the Houthis had tried to carry out an "act of terrorism and aggression" in the southern Red Sea, western Yemen.

Al-Maliki said in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the coalition's naval system thwarted the Houthi militia's attempt to carry out an "imminent hostile and terrorist act", using a remotely - boobytrapped boat.

He added that the coalition forces spotted the boat after it was launched by the Houthis from Hodeidah province, Thursday morning (September 19, 2019).

According to Al-Maliki, "the booby-trapped boat, which poses a threat to regional and international security and a threat to maritime transportation and global trade, has been destroyed."

Al-Maliki stressed that "the joint coalition forces command continues to implement strict and deterrent measures against this terrorist militia and neutralize and destroy such capabilities that threaten regional and international security."

The Houthi group has not yet announced any operation, nor have we been able to obtain a comment on the coalition's statement.

The Houthi group is carrying out operations against Saudi and coalition targets, including targeting ships in the Red Sea by booby-trapped boats, some of which have succeeded, while coalition forces have thwarted most of these attacks.

Coalition commander killed in Hadramaut Valley and four soldiers in targeting military patrol in Shebam city

September 19, 2019, ALMASDARONLINE ١٩ سبتمبر ٢٠١٩

The commander of the coalition forces (Saudi nationality) was killed in the Hadramaut Valley and four of his companions in a violent explosion targeting military vehicles, Wednesday morning, in the city of Shebam in Hadhramauti province in eastern Yemen.

A military source told Al-Masdar online that the explosion targeted a military patrol of the first military zone deployed in Hadhramauti valley, which was carrying the commander of the Forces of the Arab coalition in The Valley of Hadramaut Brigadier General "Abu Nawaf", who was killed along with four other soldiers, including two Saudi soldiers and two Yemenis, in addition to injuring About a dozen other soldiers were injured.

He said the blast killed and wounded other soldiers of the Yemeni government, without giving details of their number and military ranks.

The operation comes two days after a military force of the first military zone deployed in Hadhramaut Valley raided a den where security-wanted elements were holed up in The City of Shebam.

A military source said that violent clashes broke out between the army's Hadramout Special Task Battalion and gunmen linked to acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks targeting a military force last week.

Last Thursday, a soldier and a citizen were injured in the targeting of gunmen of a military force of the Al-Hadarim Battalion, stationed in the historic city of Shebam in the Hadhramaut Valley in eastern Yemen.

Last week, terrorist elements targeted a force from the first military zone on a security reinforcement mission in Shebam district by detonating a motorcycle bomb that burned three cars, injuring a soldier with moderate burns and wounding another citizen.

Earlier this month, Hadhramaut Provincial Undersecretary for Valley and Desert Affairs Issam al-Katheri launched the force and security deployment in five districts in Hadhramaut Valley. Eastern Yemen.

The security deployment included the provision of vehicles and personnel from the Special Task Force (Al-Hadharim Battalion) of the 1st Military Region, in the Districts of Sah, Sieyun, Shebam, Qattan and Tarim.

Al-Qattanand Shebam directorates in particular witnessed killings and assassinations of civilians, military and security personnel as a result of the targeting of security headquarters and the end of the near-complete role of its security services.

Most of the Hadhramaut Valley directorates are in poor security conditions as a result of poor support, which has caused significant disruption in recent years.

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The following news stories are from the pro-Houthi website Yemen Extra (http://www.yemenextra.net/):

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Yemeni official highlights the strength of Yemenis

On Sep 19, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces has lauded the highly disruptive drone attacks on Saudi Aramco petroleum and gas processing plants at Abqaiq and Khurais in the kingdom’s Eastern Province as an outstanding example of the military prowess of Yemeni army forces.

“Our forces have reached a high level of efficiency and ability. They can manufacture various types of unmanned aerial vehicles in record time. The Second Deterrent Balance Operation, which targeted Saudi oil installations, is a perfect example of the capabilities of our forces in terms of planning and implementation,” Brigadier General Yahya Saree said a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Wednesday evening.

He said on Saturday in a warning statement” just one operation by the Yemeni army will cost the UAE regime a lot.

The spokesman revealed new details of the second deterrence operation that targeted Saudi oil facilities” we have dozens of targets within our target bank in the UAE, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and may be targeted at the moment.”

” The UAE must quit Saudi-led aggression if it wants to save its glass towers.”

These the Yemeni aircraft have fission heads carrying four precision bombs to hit the targets accurately and can be jammed from enemy Radars.

In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started  a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and  prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.

Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Abdulsalam: Yemeni Rocket Force to Strike UAE Depth Next

September 18, 2019, YemenExtra, M.A.

The head of the Yemeni negotiating delegation, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said that “The UAE deserves to be targeted more than ever, stressing that the implementation of balanced deterrence operations in the depth of the UAE has been authorized and the military will choose the right place and time.”

In a phone interview with Al Jazeera television, on Tuesday afternoon, he explained that the UAE plays in the margin of deception and misinformation of the national forces to be far from retaliation and deterrence, while they continue their aggression, siege, negative presence in the south and call for the disruption of the unity of the nation.

Abdulsalam said that “the UAE continued its siege of Ad-durayhimi and through its mercenaries, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid to civilians trapped for more than a year and a half despite the human rights and humanitarian appeals.”

Abdulsalam noted that the UAE had no credibility after announcing its intention to “withdraw from Yemen” and it was given Sana’a as an opportunity to prove it.” He denied, at the same time, the existence of an understanding with the UAE to neutralize it from any deterrent attacks, but “it was given an opportunity after it announced the beginning of its withdrawal in the media.”

Abdulsalam also called for a Yemeni awakening to expel the UAE occupation from the south of Yemen especially after it became clear to everyone what the UAE is doing and its real intentions. 

Saudi-led coalition’s Daily Update for Wednesday, September 18th, 2019

September 19, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US, and its paid fighers, on Wednesday, continued to launch raids and bomb a number of provinces, causing material damage to public and private property.

In Sa’ada, a civilian was wounded with Saudi border guards’ gunshots in Razih district. The coalition destroyed civilians’ houses in Baqim district with two raids, launching a raid on Kahlan camp.

In Hodeidah, two children were wounded with a shell fired by the coalition’s paid fighters on a house in Attohayta district. The paid fighters targeted several areas of Kilo-16 with medium machineguns.

In Hajjah, the coaliion launched 2 raids on Haradh district.

In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started  a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and  prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.

Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. 

ICRC: 75% of Yemenis have no access to healthcare

September 19, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday that 75 per cent of Yemenis have no access to healthcare.

On Twitter, the ICRC wrote: “There are 27 million people living in Yemen. There are 20 million people in Yemen with no access to healthcare. That’s almost 75% of the population. That’s catastrophic.”

In another tweet, the ICRC wrote: “Almost 75% of people in Yemen have no access to healthcare. Nearly 50% of health facilities in Yemen no longer function. Less than 30% of the desperately needed medicines and medical supplies are entering Yemen.”

In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started  a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and  prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.

Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

85,000 Children in Yemen May Have Died of Starvation: New York Times

On Sep 19, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

The United States announced on Wednesday that peace talks to end the war in Yemen would begin next month in Sweden. The announcement came amid growing global pressure to stop the bombing campaigns by a Saudi-led coalition that have unleashed conditions amounting to possible war crimes, according to a United Nations report in August.

The announcement by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis at the Pentagon came on the heels of a statement by the aid agency Save the Children on Wednesday that underscored the harrowing nature of the conflict: An estimated 85,000 children might have died of hunger since the bombings began in 2015.

Experts say Yemen has become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and 14 million people could soon be on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.

‘It’s entirely preventable’

“For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death — and it’s entirely preventable,” Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s country director in Yemen, said in the statement. “Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop.”

The statement said that 85,000 was a conservative estimate of how many children under the age of 5 had starved between April 2015, when Saudi Arabia began its air war, and this October.

In addition to the airstrikes, Saudi Arabia has imposed economic sanctions and blockades on Yemen, contributing to the deepening humanitarian crisis.

The price of food has doubled

David Beasley, the managing director of the World Food Program, visited Yemen last week and painted a dire portrait of the situation.

“What I have seen in Yemen this week is the stuff of nightmares, of horror, of deprivation, of misery. And we — all of humanity — have only ourselves to blame,” Mr. Beasley told the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Since the spring, the price of basic food staples has doubled, Mr. Beasley added. “For a country that’s dependent on imports for the basic needs of life, this is disaster,” he said.

As the death toll from the military operation worsens, rebuilding the economy has emerged as a priority to prevent widespread famine.

The war blocks a gateway for aid

Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in April 2015 to fight the Shiite rebels backed by its regional rival, Iran. But instead of a quick victory, the Saudi-led campaign evolved into a bloody stalemate. The bombardment, which relies heavily on arms and equipment from the United States, has torn the country asunder.

Because of fighting around the port of Hudaydah, a crucial gateway for aid efforts, humanitarian programs have been scaled back, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Friday.

Save the Children said it had been forced to reroute supplies for the north of the country through the southern port of Aden, with deliveries taking three weeks instead of one.

According to Stephen L. Anderson, country director for the World Food Program in Yemen, 8.4 million people are considered to be severely food insecure, one step from famine.

phone interview on Wednesday. “Even if peace were to break out tomorrow, which is very unlikely, we’ve still got a massive humanitarian crisis on our hands,” he added.

Trump’s defense of the Saudis

President Trump has defended Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, blaming Iran for the conflict. Tehran, he said in a statement on Tuesday, was “responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” while “Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave.”

In his embrace of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Trump has dismissed his own intelligence experts’ conclusion that the kingdom’s young de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had ordered the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi, fueled his “America First” agenda by touting a huge Saudi arms deal and doubled down on the need for the Saudis’ help in the Middle East to contain Iran.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump praised the Saudis for a drop in oil prices, writing on Twitter: “Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!”

By largely absolving Prince Mohammed of any responsibility in the killing of Mr. Khashoggi — “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Mr. Trump said — he ignores a documented list of humanitarian disasters and rights abuses by the kingdom, and his pardoning of Saudi Arabia could embolden autocrats across the globe, analysts say.

This month, the United States said that it would end air refueling flights for the Saudi military campaign in Yemen and prepare sanctions against Saudis linked to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi. But those steps were seen as limited and in response to overwhelming international condemnation.

The United States Agency for International Development has said that the United States was providing more than $566 million in aid to manage the humanitarian crisis. In a fact sheet published Nov. 9, it pointed to the damage done to civilian infrastructure following the Saudi coalition’s deployment around the port city of Hudaydah. 

Mr. Mattis did not specify a date for the peace talks for fear of coming out ahead of a United Nations announcement.

“It looks like that very, very early in December, up in Sweden,” he said in Washington. “We’ll see both the Houthi rebel side, and the U.N.-recognized government, President Hadi’s government, will be up there.”

Mr. Mattis added that the Saudi-led coalition had stopped its offensive around Hudaydah before the talks. 

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