Sa’ada War Set to Flare Again
No reconciliation yet.
SANA’A, Feb. 15 — Houthi leader Abdul Malek Al-Houthi has recently threatened to avenge the death of field leader Ahmed Abdulla Abdan Al-Ezzi, whom he accused government-supported militias of killing last week.
Al-Houthi’s media office accused local authorities in Al-Jawf of setting up an armed ambush that targeted citizens on the public road of Zahir district, killing five citizens.
“Militias from the government in Al-Jawf headed by Khaled Al-Sharif, head of the Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum (SCER), carried out this operation,” said their press release.
The release said that they considered this a criminal and dangerous act. “We shouldn’t be silent toward this crime as it comes within a current government plan carried out by militias to target prominent social figures and medical staff,” said the release. It added that the government murdered Dr. Mohammed Abdulla Al-Hamass and two of his assistants, and also targeted social figures who never participated in any conflict.
For his part, Al-Sharif denied all accusations attributed to him by the Houthis, maintaining in a statement to aleshteraki.net that murdering Al-Hamass and other incidents comes within the framework of tribal revenge.
“Issuing such false notifications comes within aggravations and partisan intrigues,” said Al-Sharif.
The head of the SCER didn’t notice what he called “false notifications” with regard to murdering the five social figures in Al-Jawf, stating that the killings were not directed by the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) but by Al-Houthi. However, according to Aleshteraki.net, he warned leaders and media of the JMP against accusing him of any relation to the incident.
In the same context, Sheik Yahya Bin Abdulla Al-Dughsi, head of Al-Matamma district of Al-Jawf, warned against the dangerous sequences of the current tribal conflict. He maintained that these same tribes have split between pro-Houthis and pro-government tribes. He called on Al-Jawf tribes to stand firm in front of any threats against social peace in the governorate.
Al-Dughsi said that the consequences will be disastrous if the current situation continues.
“We tribes of Al-Jawf are ready to solve our problems. We announce our solidarity with our political leadership,” said Al-Dughsi in a statement to Marebpress.net. He demanded Houthis who are not from Al-Jawf to leave the governorate, pointing out that tribes of Al-Jawf can solve their own problems.
In addition, he said that those “who intervened in the governorate and those who don’t have the right to intervene, especially Houthis of Sa’ada, are responsible for what is going on.” He added that elements of Al-Houthi’s leadership are behind what is going on in Al-Jawf.
The crisis in Al-Jawf began before the end of the fifth war in Sa’ada between Houthis and the government army. This fifth war increased supporters of Houthis in several areas of Yemen, particularly in Al-Jawf where a number of citizens have been affiliated with Shiite groups for decades. Houthi supporters in Al-Jawf have already carried out many operations that targeted security centers and checkpoints and killed a number of soldiers.
An old article that lays it out well:
15 January 2009 (IRIN) – Clashes between two tribes in Amran Governorate, northern Yemen, have been taking place for over three months, and tribal leaders and observers fear the conflict could spill over into other northern areas.
Over 50 people, including women and children, have been killed in clashes between the Harf Sufian and al-Osaimat tribes since November 2008, according to local sheikhs. The tribes belong to powerful rival tribal coalitions, the Bakil and the Hashid.
Mohammed Aysh, an expert on tribal conflict in Yemen, said the clashes could lead to fighting between the Hashid and the Bakil. He pointed out that elements of the two tribal coalitions were engaged in highway robbery and abductions in late December; scores of people were abducted and their vehicles seized.
He said the clashes could lead to a shift in the balance of power, and a waning of the government’s authority over Bakil areas, which could come more and more under the influence of Shia rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, whose stronghold is in Saada Governorate.
“The Bakil tribes would successively support al-Houthi, especially as the government stance towards the conflict seems neutral,” he told IRIN.
The conflict has its roots in the early 20th century with disagreements over land known as al-Sawad, bordering al-Osaimat and Harf Sufian areas, but flared up again in the wake of the Saada conflict. [see: IRIN]
Throughout 2008, the Harf Sufian tribe (part of the Bakil coalition), supported al-Houthi in his fight against government troops in Saada. Harf Sufian leaders accuse the government of supporting the Hashid coalition in the current conflict.
A Harf Sufian tribal leader who preferred anonymity told IRIN the government was stirring up the conflict to take revenge on the Harf Sufian tribe for backing al-Houthi and killing a number of government soldiers.
“The al-Osaimat tribes [Hashid coalition] are supported by the state, which also gave them weapons,” he said, adding that heavy weaponry had been used in the conflict.
Al-Osaimat tribal leader
Sheikh Nasser Abu Shawsa of the al-Osaimat tribe said the current conflict had its origins in a dispute over the al-Sawad area, but denied the government was supporting his tribe against the Harf Sufian. He also accused Harf Sufian tribesmen of being followers of al-Houthi.
“The Houthis are supporting Harf Sufian against us. The dispute over that land [al-Sawad] is just an excuse…” he told IRIN.
According to Shawsa, 20 al-Osaimat tribespeople have been killed and another 60 wounded, with 30 killed and 80 wounded on the Harf Sufian side.
“The conflict will continue until God or the state resolves it,” he added.
Sheikh Bakil Hubaish, a prominent leader in Harf Sufian, said farms and houses had been destroyed, leaving some families homeless, but that the clashes had not affected development: “Illiteracy is rampant and if there is a school, you don’t find staff. There are no paved roads. People and children are accustomed to wars.”
SA’ADA, Jan. 14 — A number of people living in Sa’ada refugee camps as a result of the war between the government and the Houthis in the governorate have complained to the Yemen Times about some members of the Yemeni Red Crescent Association’s staff (YRCA) and the organizations that support it.
The refugees said that camp staff mistreat them and deprive them from aid donated by foreign humanitarian organizations including food and blankets, particularly during the winter. They added that they lack medical services in the four camps of Al-Anad, Ahmed Talh, Al-Ahsa and Sam.
Nashwan Aqabah of Saqain said that Talh camp supervisors dismissed him from the camp because he had demanded that the refugees’ situation be improved and accused certain staff members of corruption and oppression against refugees, including women and children.
He confirmed that, whereas the camp once housed 300 refugees, only 70 remain because the YRCA has thrown out all the others who are now homeless. “We don’t know where they went. They may be scattered in Sa’ada, Sana’a and the other cities. They may be eating from the garbage cans,” said Aqabah.
“What is more painful is that YRCA employees ordered by officials of Sa’ada throw out girls from the camps to live astray and homeless,” said Aqabah. “Moneera Mohammed Ali, 18, was thrown out of the camp although she supports her two little brothers after their father was killed during the war in Sa’ada. She has high blood pressure, and needs medical care as well as continuous follow up.”
Yemen Times holds a copy of the girl’s medical report which shows her health problems. In addition, Yemen Times received a document which includes signatures of around 30 women who represent 274 children -boys and girls- who say they were affected by the non-humanitarian behavior of the YRCA in Sa’ada, according to the women who signed the document.
A tribal source in Sa’ada said in a statement to the Yemen Times that prostitution has spread notably among the youth in the nearby areas of some camps. The source said that the reasons behind that include families’ poverty and hunger, particularly as their children lack the minimum level of food.
“YRCA staff keeps the aid which it receives from different humanitarian associations for itself and to serve influential figures from the ruling party. They don’t deliver 10 percent of the aid,” said the source.
“The employees hide blankets and cooking utensils from the displaced people and offer them only a little which is not enough. Two men died due to severe cold by the advent of winter,” said the source.
Yemeni officials and activists had stated that humanitarian situation in Sa’ada is still difficult. The displaced families are still unable to come back to their villages in spite of the peace agreement between the government and the Houthis. They said that access to citizens in the affected areas far from the city of Sa’ada is still difficult due to the government’s siege on some areas under the control of Houthis.
Several local and international humanitarian organizations expressed their concerns about the situation of citizens in the camps and demanded the government provide a secure passage to deliver food and medicine to the affected areas.
Although seven months have passed since President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared the war over in Sa’ada, affected citizens are still suffering from a lack of many essential needs in the markets as tribes have seized many trucks carrying food supplies to them.
Additionally, the ongoing feud between the Al-Esaimat of the Hashid tribe and the Harb Sufian of the Bakil tribe has complicated the situation in Sa’ada, and Sa’ada citizens – particularly those who are loyal to Houthis- are increasingly being cut off.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that tribal leaders block the passage of trucks including those which carry petrol, gas and food. They said that the tribes seize trucks and drivers when they learn that they belong to Sa’ada citizens and unload the items that they carry. They maintained that they set drivers free and allow them to take back the trucks empty.
The results of the war between the Al-Esaimat and the Harb Sufian has increased the crisis and caused repeated electricity cuts. The confrontations between the two tribes have left behind many people dead and injured. The war resulted from a dispute for agricultural lands on the border of the two tribes’ land.
The price of 20 liters of petrol has increased to YR 2,000 -sometimes YR 1,300- as approved by the concerned parties due to the difficult roads that the oil trucks have to negotiate to reach Sa’ada. The price of gas has risen to YR 2,000 per cylinder. In some areas of Sa’ada, it is difficult to obtain gas at all.
With regard to the reconstruction of the governorate, Yemen Times received a report of a survey conducted from Sa’ada Reconstruction Fund on post-war damage in the governorate. The report says that so far 7,180 houses, 1,421 farms, 94 schools, 8 clinics, 4 police stations, 3 courts, 3 public buildings, 267 mosques and another 90 houses have been recorded as damaged during the fighting. In total, 9,027 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
The report didn’t mention the areas under the Houthis’ control, according to a tribal source. Consequently, the survey committee still needs more time to survey the rest of the damage in the whole governorate.
The Yemen Times called the YRCA and asked them about the refugee camp residents’ complaints, but officials in the association did not respond to the accusations. Rusli Al-Haisami, director of YRCA, said that journalists can visit the camps and see the situation there but he confirmed that they should have a prior permission from the security authorities.
