Armies of Liberation

Actually the ICRC said in addition to the 15,000 displaced in official camps that they know of, theres thousands more that are beyond reach. With 4000 homes listed by the government as destroyed, one would expect at least 40,000 civilians who have no homes to return to. Of course, the solution to this factual dispute like many in Saada is to open up the region to international aid workers and others.

Al-Sahwa

Sahwa Net- Yemeni official security source has ruled off the accuracy of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s figures about the displaced people of Saada war. The source affirmed that most Saada displaced people came back to their homes in the wake of the president’s announcement of ending Saada war.

ICRC had estimated that 15,500 displaced people are living in difficult conditions in camps near Saada city, and that thousands more are scattered around areas that are hard to access.

Source: Reuters

Aid workers are struggling to reach needy people uprooted by conflict in northern Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday. The neutral humanitarian organisation estimated that 15,500 displaced people are living in difficult conditions in camps near Saada city, and that thousands more are scattered around areas that are hard to access.

“The lack of clean water and medical care are particularly serious for the displaced, the sick, the wounded, and isolated communities,” the ICRC said, warning insecurity was preventing its workers from responding to urgent humanitarian needs.

“Except in Saada city and its immediate vicinity, it remains difficult or impossible for the ICRC to operate in the conflict zones of northern Yemen,” it said in a statement.

These figures of property damage in Sa’ada were first released in July 2007, so the totals are certainly much higher now after the fifth war. In the mean time, prominent activists including al-Khaiwani remain in jail. Another is Mohammed al-Miftah, who is on a hunger strike after being disappeared by the Interior Ministry.

Sahwa Net – The head of Al-Haq Party’s shoura council Mohammad Miftah has been going on a hunger strike since two months. Miftah who was kidnapped by gunmen belonging to the Interior Ministry on May 21, 2008, said he would not suspend the hunger strike until he is released…It is worth noting that the authorities suspect that Miftah belongs to the al-Houthi movement in Saada.

This is the same Miftah who Amnesty International called a prisoner of conscience. A Zaidi cleric Mohamed Miftah was released in May 2006 apparently after receiving presidential pardons. He had been serving an eight-year prison term.

And Ali Mohsen surfaces…

Mareb Press: The governmental committee assigned to evaluate and count the damages caused by the rebellion in Sa’ada province returned today to the Sa’ada, chaired by the Minister of Local Administration, Abdul Qadeer Hilal, and the Deputy of Prime Minister for Security and Stability affairs, Rashad al-Alimi, Minister of Defense, Mohammed Ahmed, and commander of the Eastern North region, Ali Muhsen al-Ahmer.

The committee will visit military and security units in the province to inspect the condition of soldiers.
Meanwhile, the cabinet studied yesterday the initial report on counting the damages caused by the armed rebellion in Sa’ada province, prepared by the committee chaired by Abdul Qader Hilal, Minister of Local Administration.

The cabinet directed the committee to carry out field visits to Bani Hushiesh district in Sana’a province to evaluate and count damages caused by the rebellion and including its findings in the report to be raised to the government.

A total of 4141 houses, and 88 farms were damaged in Northern Province of Sa’ada during the war between the Al Houthi rebels and the government troops, said a primary official report on Tuesday. The report which was carried by the state-run news agency Saba said some 201 public installations including 116 schools, 36 health utilities, and 26 mosques were also either wholly of partially damaged.

Source: IRIN

A recently formed government committee has faced problems assessing damage to buildings and property in conflict-hit Saada Governorate, northern Yemen.

Committee members had to return to the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after being intercepted in Mashor village Saada Governorate, by pro-government tribes who said they, not the al-Houthi rebels, should have priority when it came to government assistance. The pro-government tribes did not want the committee to start assessing the damage in “pro-al-Houthi villages”, demanding instead that the government give them priority assistance as a reward for fighting on the government side.

However, a few days later, on 6 August, the committee went back to another part of Saada Governorate on the orders of the Cabinet, to try and complete its assessment.

Minister of Local Administration Abdul-Qader Hilal, who chairs the committee, said: “We will work in accordance with the president’s orders and the state’s strategy to promote peace and reconstruct Saada.”

An interim report by the committee, which was set up on 22 July, said 4,141 houses and 88 farms (including 24 poultry farms) had been damaged in the past two months alone, due to the fighting. It also said 201 public buildings were damaged, including 116 schools, 36 health centres and 26 mosques in the same period.It is unclear to what extent a ceasefire in mid-July - following a deal between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and representatives of the rebel leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi - was holding. Local media have reported continuing sporadic clashes between the two sides.

Meanwhile, local media reports indicate that some army leaders were reportedly not happy when Saleh tried to end the fighting before they could defeat the rebels.

Rebel allegations

A statement by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s information office on 3 August said some army leaders were trying to violate the ceasefire deal: unidentified army officers had set up four military checkpoints on the main road to Har Sufian, a pro-al-Houthi area in Amran Governorate. It said there were other violations, which had resulted in the killing of a number of citizens.

In November 2007, a government committee said 3,375 properties had been damaged in five of Saada’s 15 districts, but the assessment was cut short by the fighting.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced during the clashes in Saada Governorate since 2004. According to the 2004 population census, Saada Governorate has 81,568 houses and a population of some 700,000.

Yemen Observer

Abdul-Mulak al-Huthi, leader of the rebel tribe in Sa’adah in the north of Yemen confirmed in a letter sent to President Ali Abdullah Saleh his commitment to Saleh’s proposed cease fire, including retreating from mountains hideouts, evacuation from citizens’ houses, ending all armed initiatives and handing over all captives from the army, reported the September 26 website, mouthpiece of the Yemeni army.

(Read on …)

IRIN:

SANAA, 24 July 2008 (IRIN) - Since 2004 hundreds of people have been killed and thousands displaced as a result of fighting between Shia rebels and government forces in the northern governorate of Saada. IRIN takes a look at the background to the conflict, and tries to shed light on why it still smoulders today.

The Shia al-Houthi rebels take their name from their leader, Hussein Badraddin al-Houthi, who was killed in September 2004, and succeeded by his brother, the current leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

Whereas most lowland Yemenis in the south of the country are Sunni, Yemenis in the northern, more mountainous areas are Shia - specifically, followers of the Zaydi doctrine. (For more on this and the history of the Zaydis in Yemen, click here).

(Read on …)

Two generators in Saada to reinforce main station power
SABA

[28 July 2008]

SANA’A, July 28 (Saba) - Under the urgent solutions to reconstruct Saada governorate, two power generators amounting to $1.2 million arrived in Saada on Monday to reinforce the power of the main station of Qahzah.

The two generators that generate 3,000 KW of power would contribute to raise the station’s capacity that would activate the development process in the governorate, Saada governor Hassan Mana’a said during his visit to the station.

Mana’a expressed his gratitude to the station administration and staff as they kept on feeding the governorate with power in spite of the exceptional circumstances the governorate has witnessed.

The new generators will enter service in two weeks, the Deputy Minister of Electricity Adel Thamaran said, adding that they would cover 50 percent of the Station’s power deficit.

He said that the ministry has commenced several procedures to strengthen the power capacity in the province such as purchasing spare parts for generators at the station to be backed to service at a cost of $ 750,000 in a month.

The ministry has also put a tender for a project to establish another power station with a capacity of 15 MW at a cost of $ 20 Million, Thamaran said.

IRIN

SANAA, 28 July 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Saada Governorate, northern Yemen, have not been able to return home after their houses were destroyed in recent fighting between government forces and Shia rebels, local sources have said.

The long-running conflict, which started in 2004, has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.

“There are still thousands displaced because their houses were destroyed,” Salem Mohammed, an IDP in Saada city, told IRIN. He said some IDPs were worried fighting could flare up again and preferred to stay in the six IDP camps which have been set up in and around Saada city, or with host families.

The destruction of farms and infrastructure during the recent fighting, which began in May and lasted 70 days, had also driven many farmworkers from the land, aid agencies said.

Most government officials in Saada were unwilling to comment, but Saada Governor Hassan Manna said 70 percent of the displaced families had returned to their homes over the past few days.

Sporadic clashes

Meanwhile, some people in Saada city told IRIN minor clashes had erupted between followers of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Shia rebel leader, and government forces in the mountains.

Al-Houthi’s Information Office on 26 July said the army had opened fire on a pregnant woman and killed her as she tended sheep in Allaf Valley. In a separate statement on 24 July, it said the army had opened fire on displaced families returning to their homes, killing one person and injuring another. The army had also shot dead a child while he was tending sheep in Bani Moaath District, it said.

The Information Office has denied press reports that two Sunni mosques were destroyed by al-Houthi fighters in Dahyan District. According to local media, the two mosques were destroyed on 23 July by armed men. The authorities have not commented on the destruction of the mosques.

Cabinet forms committee

On 22 July the Cabinet formed a committee, chaired by Local Administration Minister Abdul-Qader Hilal, to assess the damage and reconstruction efforts in Saada Governorate.

At a meeting on 27 July the committee formed two teams - one to assess damage to private property, and the other to assess damage to public utilities.

Hilal said development projects, which had stalled since 2004, would start in areas not affected by the fighting, and that reconstruction was contingent on peace and stability.

This is a good sign that the war is over.

HODEIDAH, NewsYemen

Soldiers differently injured during war in Sa’ada, north of Yemen, on Saturday staged a sit-in in a street in Hodeidah demanding that the government pay them their financial rights and compensations.

Two hundred soldiers blocked the Hodeidah-Sana’a highway and prevented vehicles, especially the government ones, from crossing.

NY’s reporter in Hodeidah reported that demonstrators wanted to meet the governor of Hodeidah and President Saleh. Reporter said that riot police were extensively deployed in front of government institutions in the area but did not try to break up the sit-in.

The military commander Mohammad Mujahid Nameran promised demonstrators their requests will be met, but they refused his promise and decided to go on their protest.

President Saleh last week announced the end of war in Sa’ada and many soldiers started to return from three-month confrontations with rebels that claimed hundreds of lives among forces and rebels and injured many others.

There are thousands of political prisoners, preventative detentions or arbitrary arrests relating to the Sa’ada war. Witness Testimony, Click Here Today IRIN reported, “Abdul-Rashid al-Faqih, head of Hiwar Forum, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), said about 3,000 people had been arrested by the authorities for supporting al-Houthi. Of these, 500 detainees are known. The rest are unidentified because their families are scared of reporting their fate. Their whereabouts are unknown, he told IRIN.”

About 3000 sounds right and then there are the southern political prisoners, Al-Sahwa:

Sahwa Net-Several activists have stressed the importance of opposing the arbitrary arrests, affirming the illegality of what is named the State Security Court in which southern leaders and activists are trying.

Mohammad al-Mikhlafi , head of the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights, said that the political prisoners number amounted 864 from March up to-date, pointing out that all of them are from the southern provinces except the comedian Fahad al-Qarni.

He added in a seminar organized by YOHR on Wednesday in Sana’a that such trials ignite hatred against the unification particularly when many political figures are among those who are being prosecuted. Al-Mikhlafi said that the judiciary became an opponent of journalists, indicating that journalists are prevented from attending public hearings and prosecuted.

The war that al-Khaiwani wrote about, which got him imprisoned, is supposedly over. The Yemeni president called the rebel leader and its done. Hopefully, they will release al-Khaiwani now that everybody is friends again.

The Yemeni military’s extensive bombing campaign over the last four years has destoyed homes, villages, and infrastructure including schools and water facilities in Yemen’s northern Sa’ada province. The regime is currently calling for the nearly 100,000 people who were driven from their homes by the fighting to return. Quite tragically, many have no place to go anymore. But if it is safe for the people to return then it must be safe enough for the Yemeni government to finally allow access to international aid organizations. Both Doctors Without Borders and the ICRC have deemed the region a humanitarian disaster; however, they haven’t been able to get in to render medicine, food, water and shelter to the displaced families. From Yemen Online.

“End” of War in Yemen: Displaced Residents of Harf Sufian to Return Home
YemenOnline- July 20, 2008- The gubernatorial leaders of Amran met to discuss the return of those displaced by the war against between the government and the Houthi Rebels. Led by the deputy governor of Amran, Saleh Abu Uja, the meeting birthed a committee that would facilitate the return of the displaced citizens. The return of the residents, however, will not be possible without rebuilding the damaged town. The war had left Harf Sufian demolished, as described by many. It was a critical battle ground and an important location that was fought over repeatedly throughout the war. It was captured and recaptured by both sides on several incidents. President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an end to hostilities on Thursday. However, even after the cease fire fighting still continued in Sadah, casting doubt on how long the peace would last. The rehabilitation of Harf Sufian has symbolic significance. This healing of the country’s war wounds is an important step forward in the peace process.

I hope its true and that the release of al-Khaiwani is part of the deal:

Mareb Press: The President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that the war between the governmental troops and Al Houthi rebels has ended and it would never come back again.

“The war which was in some districts of Sa’ada has ended three days ago, and it will never come back again,” Saleh said.

In the first reaction, Yahya al-Houthi, currently residing in Germany, said in an interview with al-Jazeera satellite channel, President Saleh and his brother Abdul-Malik have agreed in telephone calls to end war in Sa’ada.

“The reason for ending the war is that we (al-Houthis) have severely blockaded the 17th militar infantry devision brigades under the leadership of brigadier Abdul Azeezal-Shahari, in Sa’ada for two months. So, the president asked for stopping war,” he added.

Yahya said it is President Saleh who always “begins and ends wars.” However, al-Houthi said that ceasefire this time is more serious.

He said “this ceasefire will continue just if the state army stops attack on people and people can equally get their rights. To continue this truce, we need peace, serious and responsible dialogue and we need to implement Doha deal”, said al-Houthi.

Local sources said that some clashes are still taken place in some of Sa’ada districts between the army and al-Houthi rebels.

There was a two day lull. From the Yemen Times:

Alleged human rights abuses in Bani Hushaish

The Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Aleshtaraki.net reports that the Yemeni army has committed human rights abuses against several residents of Bani Hushaish, located east of Sana’a. It quoted local sources as saying that the army attacked Beit Al-Aghrabi village with heavy weaponry, although Houthi gunmen withdrew from the village and stopped fighting, according to a tribal mediation.

“The army destroyed residents’ homes and property before raiding the village. [Army personnel] evicted residents, including women and children, to a nearby school,” Bani Hushaish sources say, adding that the soldiers beat, badmouthed and insulted citizens.

According to the same sources, female soldiers from counterterrorism units deployed in the area arrested numerous women from Beit Al-Aghrabi village on suspicion of supporting Houthi gunmen. They further noted that the Yemeni army has arrested the majority of the village’s male residents under age 50.

In a statement published by state-run Al-Thawrah daily newspaper on Wednesday, an official government source in Bani Hushaish denied the authenticity of the report by Aleshteraki.net, clarifying that the Yemeni army is searching for wanted fugitives and that no human rights abuses have been committed.

Various sources allege that several army commanders, tribal leaders and regional forces have intervened to foil the mediation efforts that played a notable role in ending the war, unblocking the Sana’a-Sa’ada Highway, releasing besieged troops and transporting food supplies to the war-affected governorate.

Regarding the proposed “Popular Army” to be comprised of 27,000 recruits under the command of the Hashid tribe to fight Houthis, tribal sources affirm that the establishment of this army is underway.

In its most recent issue, Al-Ahale independent weekly newspaper blamed the Saudi Special Committee, chaired by Emir Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, for establishing and funding what it described as the “Janjawid Army,” hinting at the prospective popular army.

The weekly continued, reporting that an unnamed Saudi committee member recently visited Yemen to meet with tribal leaders, encouraging them to back the government in its war against Houthis.

Worries over potential sectarian conflict

A religious forum including Salafi members and tribesmen was held Tuesday, chaired by Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zindani, rector of Al-Iman Islamist University and also on the U.S. terror list. At the forum, participants agreed to contribute to the gathering of tribesmen under the name of a “Popular Army” to fight against Houthis, who belong to the Zaidi Islamic sect.

Reliable sources report that Salafi leaders promised to gather thousands of well-trained jihadists, most of whom are called “Yemeni Afghans,” to back the Yemeni army in its fight against Zaidi Houthis in Sa’ada and other areas.

The Yemeni government’s intent to form a religious committee in collaboration with Salafis to fight against Zaidi Houthis has raised sharp controversy among all of those concerned, who predict that doing so will create a new crisis, as well as sectarian and political conflicts that may harm Yemen’s social fabric.

Various social figures believe that establishing such a committee with religious powers constitutes a threat to personal and civil freedoms, noting that it also creates obstacles to Yemen’s emergency democracy.

Imagine how messy its going to get if the “citizens’ militia” comes to fruition.

Sana’a, Yemen - Gunmen loyal to a Shiite rebel group killed a senior regional official in an ambush in the north-western Yemeni al-Jawf province on Wednesday, local sources said.

The sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Abdul-Wahab al- Dhamin, the deputy governor of al-Jawf, and three tribal chieftains accompanying him were killed after the gunmen opened fire on al- Dhamin’s car.

The attackers ambushed the car near al-Zahir district of al-Jawf, some 195 kilometres north west of the capital Sana’a, they said.

The assassination of al-Dhamin was likely a direct retaliation of the killing Abdu Abu-Rass, a leading member of the rebel group, in al-Jawf earlier in the day.

Abu-Rass and one of his body guards were ambushed by armed tribesmen in al-Zahir district.

In a separate ambush, two soldiers were killed and four others injured in the Barat district of al-Jawf Wednesday, local officials said, adding that the attackers were also Shiite rebels.

I wish it was true but the machine guns are still audible from the capital, Sana’a. This is at least the fifth declaration of the end of the war since 2005

Saada war ended three days ago, Pres. Saleh declares

SANA’A, July 17 (Saba) - President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared here Thursday the end of the war in Saada province, the north of Yemen.

“The war in districts of Saada province ended three days ago and it will never back.” Saleh said during the inauguration ceremony of summer centers and youth camps organized by the Supreme Committee for Summer Centers and Youth Camps and Ministry of Youth and Sport.

Worth mentioning, the Supreme Security Committee called last Wednesday all citizens fled from their villages in districts of Saada province to return home.

The committee also called citizens of Bani Hushaish and Harf sufian district of Amran governorate to return to their villages and homes peacefully.

The boundaries of the war in Yemen war are expanding beyond the northern Sa’ada governorate. Bombing is audible from the nation’s capital for the first time. Recent battles are among the bloodiest in memory.

After four years of armed conflict between the government and a group of Zaidi rebels, the war’s impact is spread far beyond the combatants and the field of combat. Military, judicial and civil policies targeting the rebels have precipitated a humanitarian crisis in Sa’ada and a civil crisis in the nation with rights groups protesting mass arrests and other tactics.

Opposition party leaders in Sa’ada condemned the unannounced military bombing of Dhahian City in July, calling the tactic, “an unprecedented crime.” In May, rebel spokesman Sheik Saleh Habrah said government shelling in Dhahian, Al-Mahader and al-Ghabair killed 30 civilians and wounded scores. Over 85,000 Sa’ada residents fled indiscriminate government bombing and are internal refugees. Malnutrition is widespread among the 750,000 Sa’ada residents after a long standing government blockade.

Casualties in the last month number in the hundreds. Aerial bombardment in Sa’ada and Amran was accompanied by direct engagement of forces. The Yemeni military is deploying helicopters, tanks, Hawn mortars and Katushkya rockets to target the Zaidi rebels who are themselves well armed and often mingle among the civilian population.

Thousands died since the fighting began in 2004 when security forces clashed with a small group of students protesting the Iraq war. The group was led by Zaidi cleric and Member of Parliament, Hussain al-Houthi, who was later killed by regime forces in what some claim was an ambush during a mediation session.

Both the military and the rebels’ ranks have swelled since the war began. The Houthi rebels grew from 400 fighters to several thousand today. Many of the rebel’s newest recruits are not ideologically affiliated with the Houthist movement but motivated by anti-government sentiments and in some cases, by financial reward. Many joined the rebellion in response to the bombardment of the governorate and a campaign of arbitrary arrests. Security forces also arrested dozens of soldiers who defected to the Houthis. Foreigners fighting on the rebels side purportedly include Somalis who joined for a USD100 fee.

The Yemeni military inducted Salafi tribal fighters and jihaddists into its campaign against the rebels. The paramilitary is led by Sheik Abdulmajid al-Zindani and Tariq al-Fadhili. Both men had personal relationships with Usama bin Laden in years past. Al-Zindani is classified as a terrorist financier by the US Treasury. Between five and ten thousand of these fighters are deployed by the state, some quite young and often without adequate military training. (Read on …)

Did Saleh forget he said that he was in cell phone contact with all the escpaed al-Qaeda, 13 of which were convicted?

al-Motamar

Almotamar.net - An official information source at the Presidency Office disproved Friday report by al-Wasat newspaper false allegations of holding a telephone call between the President of the Republic Ali Abdullah Saleh and the insurgent terrorist Abdulmalik al-Houthi. The source said what the newspaper published was fabricated, false and groundless.
The source affirmed that the President would not at all events communicate with the terrorists and enemies of the homeland and those instigation sedition and declaring rebellion and violation of the constitution and law and order in addition to perpetrating committing sabotage and terrorist acts harming the security and interests of the homeland and the citizens.

US to give $1.7million as humanitarian assistance to Yemen
Saturday 12 July 2008 21ouSat, 12 Jul 2008 21:10:26 +0300 09 PM / Mareb Press
Mareb Press

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has approved $ 1.7 million in urgent food aid to Yemen to help alleviate pressure on Yemen’s food supplies caused by the global food crisis.

In total, the donation compromises 2,540 metric tons of wheat, wheat flour, kidney beans, green peas, and rice, to be administered and distributed through the United Nations World Food Program’s ongoing humanitarian relief activities in Yemen, the US embassy in Sana’a said in a press release a copy of which was sent to Mareb Press.
In a meeting with UN aid representatives, international NGOs, and other foreign diplomats, U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Stephen Seche reiterated the US government’s concern over the humanitarian situation in Saada, calling for immediate measures to alleviate the severe hardships faced by the civilian population.

Ambassador Seche added that free and safe access to humanitarian aid for populations affected by the conflict in Sa’ada and the surrounding governorates is needed to ensure efficient delivery and distribution of food aid.
The $1.7million aid package includes $ 1.2 million to assist in the humanitarian response in northern Yemen, and $500,000 for the Somali refugees in southern Yemen.

USAID has been operating in Yemen since 1958, and is currently working in five governorates: Shabwa, Mareb, AI.-Jawf, Amran, and Sa’ada.

EU

Almotamar.net - The European Commission has allocated a sum of one million euro within the framework emergency humanitarian aid to help the victims of al-Houthi rebellion in the Yemeni governorate of Saada.
A press release by the European Commission obtained by almotamar.net Tuesday mentioned that the grant, offered via administration of humanitarian aid of the European Commission (echno) and under responsibility of commissioner Luis Michel, would served to help the injured and migrants from Saada.
The European Commission allocated the one million euro to offer immediate humanitarian assistance including distribution of food, pure water, emergency sewage systems, lodging, non-food materials, medical aid materials and some integrated relief activities for about 49000 migrant persons.
The Commission appealed for all parties to facilitate reaching of all humanitarian international organisations to those affected by the battles so that to enable them carrying out their jobs effectively.
The statement mentioned that the conflict that has taken long since 2004 and has escalated lately caused negative impact on Saada governorate. The battles forced civilians to leave their areas as reports indicated that the number of those affected by the conflicts in Saada is over 77000 citizens.
The European Commission added that the steady increase in the number of migrants in camps increased the need for lodging, water and food because of the world rise in prices of food.
The Commission quoted reports that water and sewage systems and public health in camps are not satisfactory and that threatens the health of migrants.

Media Line

At least four people were killed and six wounded in ‘S’ada as a 14-year-old boy detonated an anti-personnel mine that he was carrying outside a government complex, local media reported.

This is the first time a child has been used and it remains unclear whether or not he knew he was going to die, sources at the Yemen Times told The Media Line.

Saturday’s attack came after government forces and local rebels loyal to the Houthi tribe were involved in heavy fighting over the weekend.

Sources at the Yemen Times also reported that, for the third day running, the state air force has been targeting areas of combat in ‘S’ada. The planes are hovering continually and hitting places where even the government military is present.

The soldiers were killed because of either engaging with the Houthis in combat or their proximity to the Houthi camps. Dozens of military soldiers are reported dead because of the air force attacks.

Yemen Times

SA’ADA, July 6 — For the fourth day in a row, the Yemeni army has been attacking with heavy weaponry and fighter jets several villages in Mirran district and other areas in Amran governorate’s Harf Sifyan district, believed to be another stronghold of Houthi loyalists, tribal sources said Sunday, noting that hundreds on both sides were killed or injured.

“During direct clashes between the army and Houthi supporters, army fighter jets dropped bombs on Saturday, but they missed their targets, instead hitting military positions in the area of Mirran, resulting in an increased death toll involving troops,” the sources continued, pointing out that the same mistake was repeated Sunday morning.

According to the sources, bloody confrontations between army personnel and Houthis have continued for many days in the Mirran mountains as the Yemeni army attempts to score a ground victory and seize control of strategic positions in the area. However, despite backing from fighter jets, the army is facing fierce resistance by Houthis.

Backed by Hashid tribesmen, Salafi groups and jihadists, the Yemeni army launched two offensives this past weekend against Houthis after its military tactics failed to prevent necessary supplies from reaching Houthis over the past seven weeks

As the Yemeni army gathers brigades from various governorates to Sa’ada to wage war against Houthis’ main stronghold in Mirran, according to presidential directives, the governors of Sana’a, Amran and Sa’ada have invited thousands of citizens to form a populist army to hinder Houthis’ spread in rural areas.

However, other tribal sources disclose that citizens haven’t responded to this invitation, despite the fact that the government promised to recruit them into the army, as citizens fear potential involvement in the armed conflict with Houthis in Sa’ada.

The ruling authority is gathering more military forces in preparation for a new war in Mirran, as 1st Armored Division brigades have failed to make progress on the ground since the most recent war broke out in April.

Yemen Observer
The investigations showed that they used internal and external journalists’ e-mails, and provide them with false news about the conflicts in order to raise the insurgents’ morals.

The security source said that the captured elements’ confessions disclosed that they used to write reports about public opinion trends and sent them together with some photographs to Abdulmalik al-Huthi and external journalists, particularly to the American journalist Jane Novak using certain links.

The Yemeni government doesn’t dispute the authenticity of the photos in question. The crime is sending them out of the country, “especially” to me.

Update: Not that the truth matters in Yemeni courts, but Howie reminds me he found the photos at a public forum and sent them to me. I’ll dig for the link where they were posted online way before I ever published them.

Announced by the 26 Septemper (sic), website of the Yemeni military, the charge is distributing information (probably photos of civilians killed by government bombing in Saada.) No mention of progress in tracking down the al-Qaeda in Yemen webmaster though…

From al-Motamar,

the ruling party’s website: The source also pointed out that elements of the network were writing leaflets and sending some information on trends of the public opinion and then sending them to terrorist Abdulmalik al-Houthi in addition to sending some film shots to journalists and newspapers abroad , among them American press especially to the American journalist Jane Novak. They were also writing daily bulletins of the so-called the information office of the rebels. The source added that elements of the network confessed of receiving funds from families of Hamidudin living in one of the neighbouring countries. He explained that after completing investigations with the network elements they would be sent to concerned authorities to be given just punishment for the acts they have committed.

Did they mean photos like these? The ones that show the Yemeni government’s war crimes? These photos were actually published by a Yemeni newspaper . They show Yemenis digging out the bodies of women and children killed by government bombing. In Sa’ada, the Yemeni government is waging an intensive and random bombing campaign against its own citizens as well as starving them with a food blockade. Very Sudan-like.

Warning: Horrible pictures below the fold of the Yemen women and children killed by their own government in Saada Yemen. (Read on …)

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Almost forty leaders of tribes belong to Bakeel on Monday gathered in the capital Sana’a and discussed preparing a “popular army” to carry out armed confrontations with al-Houthi’s followers in Bani Husheish in Sana’a, Harf Sufyan in Amran and in Sa’ada, local sources told NY.

The tribes, including Hashid, Jabal Eial Yazeed, Eial Suraih, al-Haima, Kholan, al-Hada’a and other tribes, have been divided into three groups to sand by the army in the three conflict fronts.

Sources said that the president military advisor Abdullah Ali Elaiwah and governor of Amran Kahlan Abu Shawareb are exerting efforts to get support from as many sheikhs and tribesmen in different areas of Harf Sufyan as possible. It is said that Abu Shawareb met with some sheikhs and could convince then to collaborate with the army against al-Houthis but some other sheikhs did not attend the meeting.

Local sources in Harf Sufyan said that the missile strikes on areas of the district ceased, but said confrontations are fiercer at night. Press resorts said that two al-Houthis were killed and four were arrested in clashes on Monday.

Yahya recently wrote a small article noting the slogan “Death to America” is a political one and, “We are not anti-American per se.” (??!!) The rebels, he said, while opposing US policies, aren’t REALLY calling for the death of all Americans and the destruction of the United States. It just sounds that way. Nifty. I hope none of their followers gets confused by all the nuance.

I do agree with the US position that the Houthis do not fit the classic definition of “terrorist” because they are not transnational and do not target civilians. And I’m glad to hear something from the US about the DIRE humanitarian situation in Sa’ada. A humanitarian truce is urgently requred to save lives by allowing food, fuel and medicine into the governorate of 700,000. The “mini-Darfur” some people call it, and I can see the analogy.

Yahya al-Houthi welcomed the American refusal to designate al-Houthis among terrorist movements.

Al-Houthi appreciated the position of the US embassy and the European Union and added that the dialogue is the only solution for this issue.

“Ali Abdullah Saleh has done his best to reflect an image that this war is a defense for America,” “but, he ignored that the Americans know democracy and they know that al-Houthi groups are just expressing their opinions and practicing their freedoms,” Abdul Malek added in a letter a copy of which was sent to Mareb Press.

Houthis started the war under the motto “Death to America, death for Israel.” They tried to convince ordinary people and the ordinary public that the political regime in this country is supported by the USA. Now, Yahya al-Houthi is appreciating the position of America.

An American official affirmed that the U.S. refused to designate al-Houthi followers among terrorist movements, saying that the designating is a complicated process based on strong evidence that an individual or a group is involved in terrorist acts.

Post updated

Katushkya Missile missed? Land mine redeployed?
BBC

At least five people have been killed in an explosion in north-western Yemen, according to news reports. Local officials said they do not yet know what caused the explosion, which happened at a post office. But the blast is reported to have hit the province of Saada, which has seen sporadic fighting between Shia rebels and government forces.

Al-Jazeera, land mine

At least five people have been killed in an explosion in the town of Saada in northwest Yemen, a witness said. The blast, which local sources said was caused by a landmine, occured near Saada’s post office on Saturday. Witnesses said that a number of other people had been injured in the incident. Security forces sealed off the site and rescue workers took away the casualties.

Sources said that the landmine was being carried out by a person, believed to be from the al-Huthi group, Shia rebels who have been fighting the government since 2004.

Other reports indicate that Colonel Mohsen Tabaza, Deputy Commander of Operations in The First Infantry led by Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar half brother of Ali Saleh was killed by a sniper in a different location.

Mareb Press reports News Yemen reports a 14 year old suicide bomber….

Security source said that a 14-year-old young man exploded himself near to the governmental complex and the post office in Sa’ada governorate.

The source told the independent News Yemen website that about two people were killed and six other were injured. Rescue services evacuated the casualties as security forces sealed off the site.

Abdul Malek al-Houthi threatened in an interview with Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper to expand the cycle of war outside Sa’ada province. He said, “The real war has not started yet.”

He added the war against his group is funded by Saudi Arabia and supported by America. He denied receiving any support from Iran describing the Iranian position as “negative”.

“Striking the capital Sana’a by Katusha missiles is a possible choice.”

Update: The crack Yemeni forensics team determined from the shrapnel that it was the Houthis:

Almotamar.net - Investigations conducted by security authorities into the terrorist incident that happened on Saturday nearby the post office in the city of Saada by a suicide bomber disclosed that the explosive charge that went off as the person carrying it was trying to take from under his clothes to kill citizens gathering in front of the post building and killed its carrier and injured four other persons.

A security source said today that it has been revealed that shrapnels of the explosive charge are of the same type of charges used by elements of terror and insurgency followers of the terrorist al-Houthi in the sabotage acts that happened during the past period.

The assassinated military guy was killed by a sniper:

YemenOnline-July 5.2008- Military commander, Brigadier Mohssen Tabaza was killed by snipers today in Saqqen district in the Sada’a governorate. In other news, seven people were killed in an explosion in the town of Saada in northwest Yemen, a witness said.

The blast was caused by bomb. A man, suspected to be a Houthi Rebel, was carrying the bomb when it exploded next to a post office, killing him and six others. More than 12 civilians were injured.

Officials speculate that the bomber was headed towards a government building in front of the post office. Security forces sealed off the site and rescue workers took away the casualties.

Yes why would the Houthis bomb their own people? Or for that matter why would anybody blow up civilians to start with? Yemen Post

According to government sources, a Houthi suicide bomber exploded himself inside a governmental compound last Saturday killing four innocent citizens. Even though the Houthi spokesperson denied the incident and claimed that the government is only trying to give them a negative image, my core focus is not who is responsible for it but rather what happened.

Most of you might remember the suicide bomber who blew himself up in an Amran mosque and killed nearly a dozen and injured 21 as they were praying. Before that incident Yemen has never heard of suicide bombers who attack their own people.

This brings up another question. Why would someone kill innocent people to defend what he believes in? The government blamed Houthis for both attacks, while they denied the allegations. Supposing that Houthi loyalists were after both attacks, it is logical that they would be after innocent worshippers in a mosque or by passers in a governmental institution instead of killing their so called enemies, the government forces?

What I can see is a new and dangerous era in Yemen’s war tactics, which if not taken seriously will harm the country in a way no one could predict. People who decide to be suicide bombers in most occasions are those who face bad financial situations, little if no hope for the future, and ongoing problems in their everyday life. Looking at that, many Yemenis are illegible for entry in that category if nothing is done to stop it soon.

More

Special sources told the Yemen Post that a Houthi suicide bomber blew himself up with an explosive belt at 11a.m., on Saturday in front of a Sa’ada governmental complex and the post office.

Eye witnesses stated that the youth, 15- years-old, blew himself up as nothing of his remainings was left to identify his identity, adding he was trying to enter into the governmental complex.

However, he was not able to enter due to the inspection process at the door by security soldier. This caused him to blow himself outside the government complex.

The attack resulted in killing four and injuring four others. The attack is considered the second of its type in Sa’ada. The first attack involved a mosque in Sa’ada and left behind dozens killed and injured.

Government sources indicated that army forces are making progress at all war fronts in Sa’ada especially in areas believed to be safe havens for Houthi loyalists.

In return, media sources revealed that Houthi snipers shot dead Muhsen Tayrah dead on Saturday in Saqeen district. He was the deputy head of the first armored brigade’s operations department.

A humanitarian truce, a good idea.

Peacekeepers to disengage the warring sides is another one, but that won’t get any traction.

Sahwa Net- The United States has expressed its concern over human consequences caused by the conflict in Saada . American officials in Sana’a urged infighting sides, Houthi rebels and the government to let food, fuel and other necessities arrive to civilians.

An American official affirmed the authenticity of reports saying that the U.S. refused to designate al-Houthis among terrorist movements, pointing out that the designating is a complicated process based on strong evidence that an individual or a group is involved in terrorist acts.

As for the Yemen-U.S. relations crisis, the U.S. official said that U.S. believes that Jmal al-Badawi , the mastermind of the 2000 bombing of USS Cole bombing that killed 17 American sailors and has t Jaber Elbaneh , a Yemeni-American convicted of planning attacks on oil installations in Yemen, have to be extradited to U.S.

Update: Like Christian Bibles, apparently 12er books are illegal in Yemen: (Ithna Ashari is the official religion of Iran that Saleh recently desribed as racist . Twelvers constitute ninety percent of the modern population of Iran and fifty-five to sixty percent of the population of Iraq. Twelver Shiites are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and also have substantial populations in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, India, Afghanistan and Bahrain.)

Yemen Observer:
A group of 8 Yemeni men accused of supporting the al-Huthi tribe’s armed rebellion against the Yemeni Government has been held in the southern harbor of Aden, official sources said on Thursday.

“The 8-member cell was running a printing press for printing and distributing leaflets promoting the dark, backward, and terrorist ideas of al-Huthi,” A spokesman for the ministry of interior said in a statement. The printing press was seized by the authorities, the spokesman added.

The men were running the printing press with the purpose of distributing publications promoting extreme, marginal Shiite ideology called Ethna Ashari, which says rulers of Islamic nations must be decedents of the prophet Mohammed.

The 8 men were among those wanted by the security authorities, whose pictures and names were given out to security checkpoints on charges of supporting the al-Huthi armed rebellion in Sa’adah.

Late last June, also 8 leading rebellion supporters were arrested in Al-Jawaf, Sana’a, and Amran provinces as part of the crack-down by the government on supporters of rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Sana’a refused to classify the al-Houthi rebels as terrorists, saying that classification of terrorist groups is a very complicated process which needs to based on hard evidence. “Until now, such evidence does not exist in this issue,” said an embassy statement published in Al-Sahwa newspaper on Thursday.

The embassy also expressed in that statement its concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sa’adah because of the armed conflict between rebels and government troops. It urged the two warring parties to secure the food, water, and fuel necessary for the civilians being affected by the war.

This doesn’t make sense. I dont think the Houthis are connected to Lebanese Hezbollah, and if Saleh wants to end the fighting, all he has to do is implement his end of the peace accord.

CBS News

President Saleh sent a message to the Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, urging him to intervene to put an end to the fighting with the rebel Huthi followers in Saada in northern Yemen, according to a report posted on a Yemeni Internet forum by the Yemeni Shiiter group Ansar al Haq. The group also posted several videos that showed aftermath pictures of an airstrike by Yemeni warplanes on a village in Saada. One video showed what the group said were parachute drops of food and supplies for Yemeni forces stranded in the Meran area.

Arresting people who are printing books? It could be the normal mainstream Zaidi teachings, its unclear.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces could seize on Thursday a cell in Aden relating to Houthi rebels which printed books of the Imamate rule.

A source told 26 September newspaper that the cell includes 8 persons that promoted to Houthi ideologies. On the other hand, confrontations are still underway in Saada governorate between rebels headed by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and Yemen’s army.

YT: The Yemeni Socialist Party-affiliated Aleshteraki.net has quoted informed sources as saying that Houthi gunmen shot down an MI-8 helicopter at 10 a.m. Tuesday as it hovered over the 17th Military Division, which has been besieged for more than a month, in an attempt to supply its troops with food and ordinance.

The site’s sources say that members of the 17th Military Division – besieged in Mirran area for 44 days now – are angry at the government’s seeming indifference toward releasing them, so they’ve begun telephoning media outlets to complain about their harsh conditions.

The besieged troops say they lack basic living necessities such as food, water and medication, particularly as they are subjected to frequent Houthi assaults. They note that sympathetic boys in the area had been supplying them with food until Houthis discovered this and stopped them from doing so two days ago.

The besieged troops include division commander Abdulaziz Al-Shahari, whom Houthis blame for intensifying the blockade on various Mirran villages after a July 2007 ceasefire agreement reached by both sides in Doha went into effect. Houthis further accuse Al-Shahari, a Salafi extremist, of insulting Zaidi ideology.

On Sunday, Houthis shot dead Mohammed Al-Fadhli, head of the 10th Military Division’s training unit, in Al-Sama as he was surveying the area prior to a planned attack against the strongholds of Houthi leaders in Matra district.

Military commanders question strategy

YemenOnline - June 29, 2008- According to MarebPress, military officers have started to complain about how the war in Sadah is being conducted. Officers are puzzled over their commands, as they seem strategically ineffective. After many advances by the army in the Houthi stronghold, they have received orders to stop fighting. The Houthi militia in the regions of Mahadha and Maran has taken tremendous blows by the army, losing many men and control of strategic locations. Yet instead of going for the clincher, the army has been ordered to stand down.

This voluntary slowdown in their own progress has allowed for the Houthi rebels to regroup and reclaim land they had lost to the army. The army is then redeployed to regions they had previously won. This back and forth course of engagement has prolonged the war for much longer than is thought necessary by many military strategists. Some political analysts are beginning to question: are there ulterior motives behind the extension of the war?

boom boom boom, you can hear it from Sana’a

Yemeni Military forces are facing two enemies in Sa’ada.
YemenOnline-June 2,2008- The situation in Merran, Sa’ada governorate is getting more serious as some of the military camps have been cut off by the rebels since the beginning of the fifth war’ sources informed YemenOnline. Accordingly, food supplies and military reinforcements could not reach those undersiege camps.Now, hunger represents another major enemy that the military forces have to confront . At another level, in spite of what military sources have been reporting for the last three weeks that they have taken control over the whole area of Bani Hushaish, bombings, according to an eye witness, were heard once again in Bani Hushaish area last night as an indication of an uninterrupted war.

Even without reading between the lines, its a tragic report. Access is impossible. Theres no news. The regime wont stop bombing to let the medical teams in. The number of injured in unknown. The government’s bombing of Dhayan was severe and sustained. Many injured civilians died when the ambulances were forced to turn back.

Doctors Without Borders One month ago, war returned yet again to the governorate of Saada, with numerous clashes involving heavy weaponry. For the time being, access is impossible, but there is reason to suspect the area contains injured people.

On Tuesday, June 17, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams working in the governorate of Saada were evacuated to Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. The decision to suspend activities in this region of North Yemen comes at a time of heavy fighting. Since May 10, MSF had been unable to deploy assistance in satisfactory conditions, whether for treating injured or assisting displaced persons.

It is difficult to know precisely what is happening in the areas of fighting, or areas controlled by the rebellion: access is prohibited for security reasons; there are no independent observers present; and most communication networks are severed. No numbers are available concerning dead or injured. However, the use of heavy weapons, aerial bombardment of villages, and information from other sources all leads to concern for civilian casualties.

Yet, most civilians have no access to adequate care structures. Civilians cannot always get to a hospital, either on account of the danger of travelling through the fighting, or because they fear being accused of supporting the rebellion, and therefore of being arrested. Even for medical staff, access to hospitals and health centers is complicated, sometimes impossible.

Difficult field conditions
Over the month between May 10 and June 8, only 56 injured, including 36 civilians, were treated in hospitals assisted by MSF, often in difficult conditions.

At Haydan, which received the majority of the injured cases treated by MSF (49 patients, including 31 civilians), members of the MSF team who were not Yemeni as well as those from other regions of Yemen had to evacuate to safety. The local staff continued to provide care, but with limited means and in perilous conditions. On May 27, these staff also had to abandon the hospital, managing nonetheless to take with them a limited quantity of equipment to allow improvising a treatment room in a shop in the village. Since June 9, the only staff left at Haydan have been a medical assistant and two nurses, of whom there is no news; the most qualified staff managed to reach Saada.

Furthermore, where MSF did receive precise information concerning injury victims requiring treatment, it was impossible to bring them in. This was notably the case at Dahyan, a village under rebel control, located a ten-minute drive from Al Tahl, which lies in the government zone. Before the war restarted, MSF gave consultations six days a week in the village. On May 11, the MSF team treated 25 women and children there who had been injured in shelling. Since their condition demanded evacuation, two ambulances left Al Tahl to pick them up after obtaining permission from the authorities. However, on account of heavy firing in the vicinity, the team was unable to evacuate them. The injured were aware that the ambulance had gone back. MSF later learned that seven of these patients died over the next 24 hours. Since then, there has been no news of the situation in Dahyan.

Several displaced-persons camps
Another consequence of the war, the most visible so far, is the number of people streaming out towards Saada or Al Malaheed, another town in the west of the governorate. These movements took place once tensions started rising in the region, or in the first days of the war.

In Saada and the surroundings, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Yemeni Red Crescent estimate the number of IDPs at over 35,000. Some have rented houses or are staying with relations; others are installed in six camps around the town. Additionally, in the vicinity of Al Malaheed, MSF has recorded just over 1,000 families, dispersed in small groups. MSF has also received information concerning movements towards the north of the governorate, but cannot travel to that area.

Where MSF teams have been able to assess the situation, at Al Malaheed and Saada, it was unable to provide assistance to IDPs, for safety reasons and because discussions with the authorities and other aid agencies were not successful.

Given the context — war, and the impossibility of deploying suitable aid to meet the needs of injured and IDPs — MSF therefore took the decision to temporarily withdraw the non-Yemeni and non-local team members in North Yemen. At Haydan, the local team has been scaled back heavily, and there is no more information, while at Razeh and Al Tahl, the local staff continues to provide medical care for patients managing to reach the respective hospitals. MSF continues to negotiate with all sides to obtain access to areas where there is reason to believe there are injured people. Discussions with military leaders and all other authorities in Saada have not so far produced results, and other talks continue at the highest level in Sanaa.

NY

SANA’A, NewsYemen, The independent weekly al-Ghad reported in its edition on Tuesday that security sources said that Yemeni security authorities arrested dozens of military personnel allegedly involved in al-Houthi rebellion in Sa’ada.

The sources were quoted as saying that investigations with those military personnel are ongoing and that they are as they are accused of leaking military and security information to rebels.

On the other hand, Yahya al-Houthi, brother of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi was quoted by Marepress.net as calling upon all Sheikhs who were sent by President Saleh to Sa’ada for a new mediation to stop their mediation efforts.

Al-Houthi said that he will refuse any mediators to be selected by President Saleh alone. He said there is no mediation after the latest Qatari one.

NY

Yemeni security authorities have arrested non-Yemeni nationalities involved in clashes against the government forces in their battles with rebels in Sa’ada, security source said.

The source said most of the arrested are Somalis and that initial investigations revealed that they joined al-Houthis for $100 for each.

Several recent articles discuss the Sa’ada war and bring up religious demographics and explore if there is a sectarian dimension to the war. First of all, lets note that there are several sects of Zaidism and the residents of Sa’ada are largely Jarudis, to distinguish them from other Zaydis (the Batriya, the Salihiya and Sulaymaniya).

As Global Security notes, Zaidis are “moderate” in that “The Zaidis do not believe in the infallibility of the Imams, nor that they receive divine guidance. Zaidis…believe it can be held by any descendant of Ali. They also reject the Twelver notion of a hidden Imam, and like the Ismailis believe in a living ima