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Saudi Arabia Conducted 119 Airstrikes Against Civilian Targets In Yemen, UN Panel Finds
Saudi Arabia Conducted 119 Airstrikes Against Civilian Targets In Yemen, UN Panel Finds
In March, Saudi Arabia’s air campaign in Yemen will enter its second year.
Riyadh began flying combat missions last year in an effort to rollback the Iran-backed militiamen who drove Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi into exile. The results of the strikes have been mixed. The Houthis were driven from Aden but the fight for Sana’a is far from over.
And while the Saudis and the Houthis battle it out, ISIS and al-Qaeda are doing what they do best: finding opportunities amid the chaos. Just today for instance, ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb that exploded outside of Hadi’s residence in Aden. Hadi was unharmed but six people were killed in the attack.
As you might recall, the Saudis have a rather checkered human rights record. Earlier this month, the kingdom carried out its largest mass execution in 25 years, killing 47 in what Riyadh pitched as a crackdown on “terrorists.”
That rather blatant disregard for human life has carried over into the air campaign in Yemen.
As we’ve documented extensively, Riyadh’s warplanes have “accidentally” hit everything from MSF hospitals to wedding parties and just last week, we brought you the following footage of what Yemen Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Nashwan Attab called a “heinous massacre” involving an ambulance and rescue workers.
Now, a 51-page report from a UN panel of experts on Yemen has revealed “widespread and systematic” attacks on civilian targets by Saudi planes.
The report (which was obtained by The Guardian) says the following:
“The panel documented that the coalition had conducted airstrikes targeting civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international humanitarian law, including camps for internally displaced persons and refugees; civilian gatherings, including weddings; civilian vehicles, including buses; civilian residential areas; medical facilities; schools; mosques; markets, factories and food storage warehouses; and other essential civilian infrastructure, such as the airport in Sana’a, the port in Hudaydah and domestic transit routes.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Yemen president quits amid worsening crisis
Yemen president quits amid worsening crisis
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi quits along with Prime Minister Khaled Bahah as Houthi rebels consolidate grip on capital
Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has quit along with his prime minister and cabinet, plunging the country into political crisis even as Houthi rebels consolidated their grip on the capital.
Hours after Hadi resigned, authorities in four provinces of Yemen’s formerly independent south, including its main city Aden, said they would defy all military orders from Sanaa.
The committee in charge of military and security affairs for Aden, Abyan, Lahej and Daleh, which is loyal to Hadi, condemned the “tragic events in Sanaa and the totally unacceptable demands made by the Houthis,” the Shia fighters who have controlled much of the capital since September.
Hadi’s resignation on Thursday came a day after he and Houthi rebels announced that they had reached an agreement to resolve the crisis gripping the country.
Government spokesman Rageh Badi said the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Khaled Bahah handed its resignation to Hadi on Thursday without providing further details, the AP news agency reported. Hadi then resigned shortly afterwards.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Yemen crisis explained
Yemen crisis explained
As Yemen plunges deeper into chaos, Al Jazeera Hashem Ahelbarra explains who the key players are in the conflict.
Recent fighting between Houthi rebels, who took control of the Yemeni capital in September, and the army has thrown the country deeper into chaos.
Hashem Ahelbarra, an Al Jazeera correspondent who has reported extensively from the country, explains what is at stake and who the key players are in the conflict.
What triggered the latest bout of violence?
Hashem Ahelbarra: When pro- Houthi militias abducted Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, the Yemeni president’s chief of staff, President Hadi gave orders to the army to take over the security of the capital. This was seen by the Shia Houthis as a government plot to dismantle their Popular Committees.
The committees are pro-Houthi militias which were deployed on the streets of the cities that were captured by the rebels last year. They set up checkpoints around government buildings, at the international airport of Sanaa and near the presidential palace.
The Houthis had initially agreed to pull out their fighters once a government was formed. They later backtracked saying that withdrawing their fighters from the capital would lead to more instability.
Who are the main players in Sanaa right now?
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Yemeni Government Admits It Has Lost Control Of Nation Amid “Attempted Coup”
Yemeni Government Admits It Has Lost Control Of Nation Amid “Attempted Coup”
In what Yemen’s information minister described as an “attempted coup” Shia Houthi rebels (backed by Hizbollah and Iran) have surrounded the Yemeni Presidential Palace putting them, as The Telegraph reports, in direct confrontation with al-Qaeda and the Yemen government. Amid hopes of a compromise deal or cease-fire in the conflict that has been under way since September when the Houthis swept into Sana’a, the latest reports are the nation has gone from bad to worse…
- YEMENI PM SAID SURROUNDED BY HOUTHI MILITIAS: CNN
- YEMEN INFORMATION MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT HAS LOST CONTROL OVER COUNTRY — CNN
Oil prices, interestingly, fell on the increasing tensions today – as we pre-suppose the market is pricing in a successful coup – and the ensuing pump-fest of supply (at any price – just give us revenues) will trump Yelemni tribes threats to cut off supply if the President is harmed.
*YEMEN HOUTHI REBELS SEIZE STATE NEWS AGENCY, TV STATION: AP
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