The conflict in Arhab, Sanaa began after the Taiz massacre in May when the tribesmen locked down the Republican Guard base near Nehm to prevent further civilian slaughter. The Salehs responded by shelling villages and its been ongoing ever since. The state’s bombing of villages in Arhab is occurring at the same time as long term, near continual bombing in Radfan, ongoing clashes in al Jawf between the Houthis and Islahis, a long stretch of violence in Zinjibar, Abyan and increasing violence in Taiz including indiscriminate bombing. Violence against protesters in the squares is common, and ten were injured in Hodeidah yesterday.
These escalating cycles of violence across the country bear the same characteristics as the Saada War and the targeting of the Southern Movement: indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, blatant propaganda along with increased attacks on journalists, and collective punishment including denial of medical treatment. For more on the earlier conflicts, and how the state’s random violence bolstered the insurgencies, see my Sept.2010 article at Gloria.
SANA, Yemen (AP) — Fighting between Yemeni soldiers and armed tribesmen in a mountainous region north of Sana, the capital, killed at least 40 people on Thursday, a military official said.
The clashes in the Arhab region were part of a wider collapse in security across Yemen since the outbreak of an uprising six months ago that seeks to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Armed tribesmen are battling security forces in Arhab, the southern city of Taiz and elsewhere, while militants believed to be linked to Al Qaeda have overrun towns in the country’s south.
The fighting on Thursday began when tribesmen attacked a base belonging to the Republican Guard, said Sheik Hamid Assem of the Arhab tribe. The military responded by shelling and bombing tribal positions, Mr. Assem said. A military official in Arhab said 17 soldiers had been killed in the fighting and that troops had seen the bodies of at least 23 dead tribesmen.
This BS from DOD that there’s no proof that US trained, equipped and funded Yemeni CT units have been diverted to regime protection is just that: total BS. The Republican Guard is involved in nearly every massacre and the CT forces certainly aren’t countering al Qaeda. Current US policy of “hear no evil, see no evil” is seriously endangering the US as well as encouraging the slaughter of unarmed Yemeni citizens standing for equal rights. The US policy of giving the Saleh immunity for murder is the worst of all possible strategies in terms of US national security, and I don’t say that lightly or because I’m rooting for the protesters. When coupled with US drone strikes which frequently have “collateral damage,” the policy also demonstrates a blatant disregard for Yemeni life.
al Sahwa: Sahwa Net- A US-trained Yemeni counterterrorism unit has been dispatched to fight tribesmen in Arhab , outskirt of the Yemeni capital , Sana’a, military sources said.
Forces of the Republican Guards have killed more than 40 tribesmen, wounded dozens and displaced thousands of civilians in Arhab.
The Yemeni regime had used US-trained counter-terrorism units in fighting against the followers of a tribal leader in Sana’a which continued for two weeks lately of May.
Many Yemeni politicians raise questions about the use US-trained forces participation in combating tribesmen and not engagement in the war against Al-Qaeda terrorist in Abyan.
Update: a campaign was launched to boycott US and Saudi products, and for the first time in six month, US flags burnt in Taiz-due to the Obama administration’s weak approach to Saleh’s brutality and the US’s unwillingness to support the protesters, their goal (regime change) and their right to life.
This all began months ago when the villagers locked down the RG camp as forces were deploying to attack some protesters. The villagers also captured and burned three helicopters in Nehm. The Saleh forces began randomly bombing residential areas and infrastructure in retaliation, a standard tactic. Arhab was also the site of the December 2009 US air strike and al Zindani is around there somewhere.
Yemen Post: A citizen was killed and three others injured when the republican guard continued shelling the district of Arhab on the outskirts of Yemen’s capital Sana’a on Saturday.
Local sources said the republican guard brigade 61 heavily shelled the village of Al-Obowa with artilleries and Katyusha rockets leading to the casualties and destroying homes and properties. (Read on …)
If Saleh goes to the ICC, his actions in Saada will be proved to constitute collective punishment of a civilian population, on a broader scale than is even going on today. The US, knowing CT aid was being diverted, did nothing about it or to aid the Yemeni citizens over the six years of the war beyond issue an irregular weak statement. It will be proved that Saleh deployed and supported al Qaeda (real al Qaeda like Ammar al Waeli) against the civilians in a near jihad, as the conflict was framed in religious terms by the government. The abu Jarabah al Qaeda training camp was known well before I wrote about it. The Saudis had a greater interest in destroying the Houthis than fighting al Qaeda. The Saudis refouled refugees, blocked aid and bombed the hell out of Saada for months, causing many civilian casualties.
Obama also deemed an internal affair the years long targeting of activists, protesters and media in the south, during which over 600 were killed by security forces and thousands arrested and tortured. Of course the kowtowing to Saleh and blindness to his slaughters began under G.W. Bush, or Bill Clinton if we count the Cole.
If the international community and media paid the slightest attention to the massive crimes against humanity in Saada, and to the repetitive slaughter of protesters in the south, they would recognize the same tactics today all across Yemen. Saleh is a predictable man: he bombs, he shoots, targets doctors and children, he lies and lies and then pulls al Qaeda out of the smoke.
The WFP feeding 416,000 starving people in Saada is good news. Some of these children have never seen a doctor or even a school.
YP: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its partner Islamic Relief in Yemen have resumed food distributions this week to the war-affected people of the northern governorate of Sa’ada.
Distribution was suspended in March due to the deteriorating security situation in Sa’ada city. WFP and Islamic Relief are now able to work again in Sa’ada city and Al Malaheet, as well as – for the first time — in the northern districts of Qatabir and Baqim, providing food mainly for internally displaced persons and returnees.
“This is a real breakthrough for humanitarian operations in Sa’ada governorate,” said Gian Carlo Cirri, WFP Representative and Country Director in Yemen. “Most of the new caseload that we are reaching out to now have been cut off from aid since the very beginning of the conflict in 2004. Our plan is to further increase our support to other districts and to reach, in the short term, a total number of 416,000 beneficiaries. We hope that it will stabilize a dire humanitarian situation,” he said.
WFP launched an emergency operation in northern Yemen in 2007 that has provided food assistance to more than 300,000 internally displaced persons including 60,000 children under the age of 5 across Sa’ada, Hajjah, Sana’a, Amran and Al Jawf governorates. With the addition of people in the districts the UN food agency has so far been unable to reach, numbers will increase by around 116,000.
Over 250 at least were killed in Taiz, Yemen over the past four days. On May 29th, at 3 am, forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked Freedom Square in Taiz.
Water cannons filled with gasoline sprayed tents where protesters were sleeping. Thousands of protesters were camping in the Square since February demanding Saleh’s immediate resignation. The tents were set ablaze and fleeing citizens shot by roof top snipers as they ran. Many were unable to escape the fires including the disabled and children as indicated by the photos linked below. The massive protest site was cleared after hours of carnage, with bulldozers scraping up the remains of tents and persons by the morning.
The protesters attempted to retake the square over the next days only to be shot point blank causing over one hundred additional fatalities.
MASS GRAVES
Reports are emerging that Saleh’s forces again kidnapped severely wounded protesters and took corpses. The practice of body snatching was first reported in Aden February 25th.
Protesters killed by security forces were buried in a mass grave in Aden on February 27 a ranking Yemeni official confirmed today.
The grave site is on the eastern edge of the Salahu Deen military camp, near little Aden, and was first reported last week.
The official said 15 protesters were buried together in an unmarked single grave about eight meters long, speaking anonymously due to the high risk of government reprisal.
In May, Saleh’s henchmen again captured critically wounded and the dead bodies dumping them in a mass grave chopped up in garbage barrels:
Sahwa Net, Sana’a- Medical sources at the Military Hospital in Sana’a have revealed that dozens of corpses of protesters who were killed by security forces were hidden by the Yemeni authorities in unknown places in an attempt to conceal evidence of crimes committed against peaceful demonstrators.
The sources affirmed that the Central Security and the Republican Guard kidnapped dozens of the killed and wounded persons and escaped them.
Security sources affirmed that the corpses of protesters were transferred from the Military Hospital’s mortuary in framework of a security campaign to conceal evidence of murder crimes committed by security forces against peaceful protests…
A Yemeni human rights organization, Hood, revealed that dozens of protesters’ bodies were taken into a cemetery at Artel area of the capital, Sana’a.
Hood further said that it received statements from medical sources saying that dozens of protesters corpses were taken to graves after the mid night on a Hilux, affirming that some residents of Artel area informed it, just after 12 hours of receiving those statements, that they found out a mass grave in which 15 bodies were buried.
HOOD, a leading and well respected human rights organization, reported that body parts were found in trash barrels in May likely of protesters disappeared in April:
Hood confirmed that it received information and testimonies written and documented about the central security forces and gunmen in civilian clothes attacking the demonstrators with live bullets, sharp weapons and poison gas on Saturday night 04/09/2011 in Zubairy Street and Ring Road, which led to the downfall of a number of dead and wounded.
Hood quoted witnesses saying that “Nearly 20 people were pulled to some personnel carriers and government vehicles transferred to an unknown destination and their injuries were at the head, neck, chest, abdomen and some of them had died.” Also, confirmed that it had received “certificates for a mass graves in the area of “ Bait Boss”, body parts were found in trash barrels in that area, it is believed it belong to protesters who were arrested during the massacre of Kentucky Round in Sana’a. Attorney General has received a notification of this.”
The Saleh regime simultaneously engages in mass arrests as it steals corpses and kidnaps the wounded. Family members hope their missing relatives are “disappeared” in the dungeons of Yemeni prisons, as thousands are. Current reports indicate at least 500 were taken the night of May 30th, and it is unknown how many are dead in a mass grave.
US RESPONSE
The US is continuing to urge Saleh to accept a proposal to resign with a promise of immunity for his crimes, which he reneged on three times already. Yemen’s opposition parties and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which sponsored the negotiations, have both withdrawn support for the deal. The US strongly supported Saleh since protests began as an important partner in counter-terror, and President Obama called Saleh a friend in a major speech on the Middle East in May. However Saleh’s duplicity in dealing with al Qaeda is unparalleled, well documented and a clear threat to US national security.
Opposition parties and the protesters coalition have both pledged to continue cooperation with the United States in fighting al Qaeda after the fall of Saleh. Nonetheless, the policy and statements of the Obama administration remain limp and muted in the face of continuous atrocities, an inexplicable response to the millions in Yemen seeking a civil, democratic state. It is the divisions containing US trained CT units, headed by Saleh’s relatives, that are engaging in horrific crimes against Yemeni citizens, often with US supplied equipment including tear gas and vehicles.
PHOTOS
A large protest in Taiz February 21st rattled the Saleh regime. Thousands camped out in Freedom Square continuously until May 30 when the square was cleared by fire and bullets.
A protest march in Taiz May 6 affirmed solidarity with protesters in southern Yemen
This video shows Saleh’s thugs shooting straight into the crowd on May 29th, hours before the square was assaulted, but doesn’t show anybody being hit:
The international community is concerned about a power vacuum resulting in violence after Saleh’s departure, but a more immediate concern is the continuing slaughter of citizen protesters. It should be clear to all concerned that there can be no immunity for Saleh.
Update: Estimates from the field hospital are that 190 wounded were seized by security and over 400 protesters arrested.
Yemen Post
At least 50 protesters were killed in Taiz today in continuous attacks by government security forces, medical sources in Taiz confirmed. Bushra Maktati, a leading human rights activist in Taiz said that freedom square has basically disappeared after bulldozers took down all the tents and burnt everything down.
She added that over half a million Protesters were always at freedom square and now it is empty. “More than 52 have been killed among them 15 burnt alive while the were sleeping in thier burning tents,” said Maktari. (Read on …)
The city of Zinjibar in the Province of Abyan in Yemen is under heavy bombardment that includes large bombs and rockets, fired on them by the Government forces of the Yemeni Regime. Various reports indicate that there are dozens of civilians are under the rubber of their homes and bodies scattered in the streets of the city. The residents of the city are calling for immediate help to stop the atrocities against them which are being carried out in the pretext of fighting “AlQadia”. They need, on urgent bases humanitarian aid of food & medical assistance and most of all protection from the madness of the regime.
Saleh creates the chaos and then bombs it. Typical.
Bombing Arhab now: the 101 brigade is bombarding Arhub area, attempting to rescue the Rep. Guards 26 Brigade, Mareb Press Update: Zindani’s house bombed.
Colonel Ali Ali Shaddadi Ahdillat commander in the Republican Guard issues an important message to his brothers and his colleagues, Republican Guard officers and members of the Republican Guard units, and says Saleh is a butcher and a killer and not to follow his orders anymore. Link
This may be the straw that broke the camels back. Its quite significant. The Republican Guards are the unit headed by Saleh’s son Prince Ahmed. Coupled with the earlier tribal excommunication, I’m nearly optimistic for a quick resolution. Tick tock.
What is that noise? The creaking groaning dying throes of the Saleh regime. The military sent out a text message; tomorrow’s pro-Saleh demonstration in Sanaa should be rather quiet. Update: tomorrows pro-Saleh demo canceled.
I’m hoping this is another false story planted to discredit the opposition media. Update: I am increasingly skeptical as no one saw it and after 24 hours the family hasn’t come forward. There was another fake two months ago where a female student leader was supposedly arrested in Hodiedah. HOOD announced and retracted a notice about a boy raped to death in Sanaa. False stories planted by the regime are designed to undermine the opposition media. The photo accompanying the story is of a Saudi women and a different news story.
SOS: Human Rights Activists seek the International Community’s support
A statement issued by Sister Arab Forum
Today, a female protest activists in Yemen , Ghania Alaraaj was burned to death by the pro-regime tugs in Sana’a, who were spread in the southern part of the capital Sana’a , and cut roads in the morning in Sana’a.
We call upon the International Community to help activist from such brutal acts by Saleh regime.
I’m reposting my article from March 3 on this topic below the fold because I couldn’t remember where the first mass grave was: on the eastern edge of the Salahu Deen military camp near little Aden. Apparently the government of Yemen is repeating the practice in Sanaa, stealing corpses in an effort to reduce the known number of fatalities. The following is an article published today at al Sahwa:
Sahwa Net, Sana’a – Medical sources at the Military Hospital in Sana’a have revealed that dozens of corpses of protesters who were killed by security forces were hidden by the Yemeni authorities in unknown places in an attempt to conceal evidence of crimes committed against peaceful demonstrators.
The sources affirmed that the Central Security and the Republican Guard kidnapped dozens of the killed and wounded persons and escaped them. (Read on …)
According to the protesters, 16 were killed around the country yesterday and 300 injured. Another three were killed in Taiz. The WaPo is reporting two dead in al Baydah and the takeover of the Oil Ministry in Taiz. Its just so depressing.
SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni police trying to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in two cities Thursday killed two and wounded at least 47, some by gunfire, according to witnesses. In one of the cities, protesters overran a government building.
Gunmen fired at protesters in the central city of Bayda from the roof of a building belonging to the ruling party, killing two people and injuring seven, activist Ghazi al-Amiri said. In the southern city of Taiz, police fired live ammunition and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators there, injuring 40 people, said field doctor Sadeq al-Shujah…Taiz has been a hotbed of anti-government protests. Activist Nouh al-Wafi said crowds seized control of the Oil Ministry building and hung a banner over the entrance on Thursday that said “Closed until further notice by order of the youth revolution.”
And some typical meaningless statement from the State Department that few in Yemen are even aware was issued. Saleh is intent on retaining power and the violence will continue. Nothing has changed since day one except people stopped hoping on Obama or believing the US has any commitment to democratic values.
On Thursday the U.S. State Department offered its support for the deal and demanded that in the meantime, Yemen’s government stop firing on protesters.
“We call on the Yemeni security forces to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from violence and respect the rights of the Yemeni people to freely and peacefully assemble and express their views,” spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
“We call on the parties to sign and implement the terms of the (GCC) agreement now to ensure an orderly, peaceful transition of power,” Toner said. “This transition must begin immediately.”
Protesters killed by security forces were buried in a mass grave in Aden on February 27, a ranking Yemeni official confirmed today.
The grave site is on the eastern edge of the Salahu Deen military camp, near little Aden, and was first reported here last week.
The official said 15 protesters were buried together in an unmarked single grave about eight meters long, speaking anonymously due to the high risk of government reprisal.
On Friday, February 25 Yemeni security forces launched a broad assault in Aden resulting in twenty-two fatalities among residents who have been identified, a number likely to rise. Over 100 demonstrators were also wounded by gunfire. The deaths occurred in several locations across Aden in what appears a pre-planned onslaught of state violence in the governorate which had seen increasing numbers of anti-government protesters.
The official death toll is four. The state blamed opposition parties for the deaths.
Residents reported homes were strafed, and police shot directly into crowds, Human Rights Watch reported. Many protesters were arrested, some pulled from hospitals by security forces. Ambulances were blocked and the dead, dying and injured on the streets were pinned down by gun fire.
In an apparent effort to mask the death toll, Yemeni security forces raided hospital morgues in Aden and transported corpses to the Basuhaib military hospital in Tawahi. Medical sources at Basuhaib hospital confirmed the protesters bodies were later taken away by the military.
The burial took place in the early morning, Sunday, February 27 after the bodies arrived from Taqahi in two military trucks.
The state continues to withhold information from families regarding the identities of arrested protesters.
Rights groups have urged Yemen to halt assaults on peaceful protesters.
Dozens of reporters were beaten and harassed during the protests.
Tens of thousands gathered Friday, March 4, in a massive funeral march for Hael Waleed Hael, 18, that began in Mallah, Aden and ended at the Alqatee cemetery in Crater City. Mr. Hael was shot to death on Mallah’s main road during the assault on Aden.
On any day, the Houthis are more credible than al Qaeda. But if al Qaeda killed Badr al Din al Houthi, a widely respected scholar by many Yemenis, then Abdelmalik al Houthi–who already defeated two national armies–is going to decimate AQAP or at least entirely expel them from Saada and the surrounding regions under his control. Regardless of what anyone thinks of their goals or ideology, there is no denying the Houthis have already won (by not losing) against two national armies and well stocked air forces. They held out for six years and six wars and Operation Scorched Earth. The Houthis inflicted substantial defeats against the military forces of Ali Mohsen al Ahmar including capturing important territory, large amounts of weapons and numbers of soldiers. Why AQAP would think its strategically a good move now to declare war on the Houthis is a mystery. One explanation is somebody is trying to reignite the war, and AQAP is the last card in the deck. The twist is now both groups are calling each other American agents. But as is very clear by now, the Houthis are not beholden to any foreign power and are not mercenaries-for-hire like AQAP.
Hindustan Times: Al-Qaeda said on Friday the aging spiritual guide of northern Yemen’s Shiite rebels was among those killed in a suicide bombing in November, dismissing accounts that Badreddin al-Huthi died of natural causes. Huthi was among the dead on November 24 when Al-Qaeda bomber Abu Aisha al-Sanaani al-Hashemi struck a Shiite procession in Al-Jawf, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said in a statement on an Islamist website.
The rebels, observing an uneasy truce with Sanaa since February, said a suicide car bombing killed 23 fighters or backers at the religious procession, but that Huthi, an asthma sufferer, died a natural death a day later. (Read on …)
The Houthis are doing their own investigation of the suicide attacks which they say points to sheiks in Amran, recently visited and paid by the new US Ambassador. It shows how isolated and out of touch the Houthis are–many have never been out of Saada, much less Yemen. They are out of touch with reality as well as the broader world.After years of chanting “Death to America,” the movement seems more immature, paranoid and conspiracy minded than ever, not ready for prime time at all. Its thoroughly reckless to charge the US Ambassador with paying tribal sheiks to murder worshipers and mourners. “Dismayed” is one of those words the US State Department uses when it is really bothered.
CRI
The U.S. embassy in Yemen on Sunday denied allegations that the U.S. government was behind last week’s twin bomb attacks on the Houthi-led Shiite rebel followers in north Yemen, which left dozens of people killed and injured.
“The Houthi media office claimed that the U.S. government planned one or both of these events, which took place on Nov. 24 and 26,” the embassy said in a press release posted Sunday on its website.
“The U.S. embassy was dismayed to learn that the Houthi media office made such ridiculous and baseless allegations. These claims dishonor the families in north Yemen who lost their family members and friends in the twin suicide bomber attacks,” it said. (Read on …)
Sabri Ahmed Mohsen Suhaibi, three years old, was arrested along with his father on Saturday in the city of Habilayn, Lahj. Aden FM reports his fifty year old father pleaded, “Take me and leave him.”
Local reports indicate “Habilayn was bombed with light and heavy weapons and aircraft flying in the sky of the city today after a protest against the arrest of one of the citizens named Mohsen Suhaibi, a citizen 50 years and his son, child 3 years old. Mohsen Suhaibi does not recognize the authority of the occupation regime.”
For God’s sake, get this child out of jail. Furthermore, it was a perfectly legitimate protest. Who wouldn’t protest the arrest of a three year old? And in response to the demonstration, the military attacks the city, instead of releasing the kid. Next they will call him al Qaeda. Beyond the immorality and inhumanity of arresting a child to torture the parent, the act is surely against international law.
Update: The Yemen Post reports on the arrests and ensuing clashes:
Fierce clashes erupted between the military camp stationing in downtown Al-Habilain in Lahj Province and gunmen in which light and medium weapons were used…The fighting started after soldiers arrested a separatist activist, Muhsen Al-Suhaibi, 43, from Yafi’a, the sources said, adding that the arrest took place while on his way back after he drove his kids to school.
Also lets take a look at this, the PSO torturing imprisoned democracy activists with electric batons in Hadramout:
Local sources said on Friday that the Yemeni occupation forces proceeded to torture ثلاثة من نشطاء الحراك الجنوبي السلمي في وادي حضرموت خلال احتجازهم Three of the southern movement of peaceful activists in Wadi Hadhramaut during their detention بسجن الامن السياسي بسيؤن. Political Security Prison Bsiwn. (Read on …)
Mareb Press reports that a Marib Sheik, Mubarack Saleh Al-Mashan, was at the scene of both al Qaeda suicide car bombings (the al Ghadeer day procession from Marib to Saada and the convoy going to pay respects in Dhayan, Sa’ada to the al Houthi family). The Sheik survived both attacks. Al Mashan is also an adviser to the Ministry of the Interior and recently became a supporter of the Houthis.
Update: Al Mashan blames the US in an interview with Ansar al Allah: after the incident and met with Sheikh Almcn and we had a brief conversation with him which he said…Regarding the incident, the car bomb which we were today, he is a U.S. plan unveiled aimed at the disintegration of Yemen using pretexts and flimsy so-called al Qaeda, and that the beneficiary of and behind this are the Jews, and that the purpose behind all these criminal acts is to turn Yemen into the case like Iraq and Afghanistan. And it didn’t occur to him that he may have been the target? The list of potential puppet masters of the attacks is long.
Update 2: Below is an earlier interview with al Mashan explains why he chose to join the Houthis.
I am glad to see the US State Dept recognizes there are substantial war crimes committed by the Yemeni government in its conduct of the Saada War, and the UK recognizes that as well apparently. These crimes really need to be factored into the overall equation going forward.
MTP: A year ago, Saudi Arabia was fighting a nasty border war against the Houthi rebels across its frontier with Yemen. The Saudis began bombing Houthi targets inside Yemen on Nov. 5, 2009, but the airstrikes were inaccurate, and there were reports of civilian casualties. (Read on …)
Human Rights violation during the sixth war at the north of Yemen:
The case of Al’adi Massacre
Written by: Abdalah Sharafadin
Yemen, a country located in the western south of the Arabian Peninsula, has witnessed six violent wars in the north, in Saada governorate and Harf Sufian district between the Yemeni government and insurgents called Houthis. Houthis claim that they suffered a severe marginalization by the government which subsequently escalated into a war waged by the government in 2004. They claim that they had no chance but confront the war and defend themselves against the absolute death threats by the government. Each round of war is marked by a wider war zone and more violence than the former one. The first war ended with the killing of the founder of the rebels who is called Hussein Al-Houthi in which the group was named after. The tension after each war devolved into a new war and this happened six times. (Read on …)
This is one version of the story but the town is still under siege. Armed tribal mercenaries under the command of Sheikh Hussein Al-Ahmar attacked Hashimite families in the town of Hooth, Amran, two weeks ago. The villagers were Hasimites, not Houthi supporters, giving rise to the charge of ethnic cleansing.
On Saturday August 21st, a tribal mercenary of the Hashid murdered an unarmed Hashemite youth, Mohammed Zaid Al-Hoothi, in Hooth. The murderer had brother who was killed in the sixth war in Sa’adah. The murderer escaped to Hussain Al-Ahmar’s house in Hooth. The Hoothi family asked Hussain to submit the murderer to justice. Hussain refused and sent two messengers to the Hoothi family telling them that they can not ask that because their son was in Sa’adah and thus not entitled to redress if he is killed. (His blood has no value in the tribal concepts). The Hoothi family said to the messengers that they do not accept that and they consider it an insult.
The Hoothi family buried the body Sunday evening. When receiving the guests, as all the Yemenis do, some tribal mercenaries started attacking them under the pretense that it was Hussain al Ahmar’s tribal committee searching for weapons in the Hashemite houses. Some clashes broke out Sunday evening at one house the al Ahmar loyalists. By Monday morning, thousands were attacking the city; bombing, shooting. About 80 people were kidnapped and remain in al Ahmar’s tribal prison as well as some state prisons. The Yemeni army cut Sana’a-to-Sa’adah road and a siege is in place around Hooth. As we know, the Saudis are unhappy with the Doha agreement and Hussain is financed by the Saudis.
al Wasat: يسود منطقة حوث التابعة لمحافظة عمران توتر حاد منذ مطلع الأسبوع الجاري إثر اندلاع مواجهات بين قبائل العصيمات وأبناء منطقة حوث والتي أسفرت عن مقتل وجرح العشرات من الطرفين في ظل غياب أي دور للسلطات في احتواء الموقف المتصاعد. Region there is Hot in the province of Amran tension sharply since early this week following the outbreak of clashes between tribes living in a region Alasemat Hot, which resulted in the killing and injury of dozens of parties in the absence of any role for the authorities to contain the escalating situation. ولاتزال قبائل العصيمات المسلحة تفرض حصاراً على منطقة حوث التابعة لها في حين احتجزت ما يقارب 67 مواطناً من المنتمين للمذهب الهاشمي. The tribes still Alasemat armed siege on the area’s Hot in when they detained about 67 citizens of belonging to the doctrine of Hashemi. وبدأ انفجار الأحداث على خلفية مقتل محمد مطهر زيد الحوثي من أبناء حوث قبل ثلاثة (Read on …)
Al Qaeda using civilians as human shields would only make sense if the Yemeni government or al Qaeda had any respect for civilian immunity, which neither does. How did they “escape” Lauder? Supposedly the Saudi, Battarfi, ordered the attacks on Yemeni security forces in Abyan. All these Saudis should go home and fight their war on Saudi soil not in Yemen.
Saudi named new leader of Al-Qaeda in Arab Peninsula Saudi Gazette
RIYADH – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen and using it as a launching pad for targeting the Kingdom, has appointed a Saudi of Yemeni origin, Khaled Battarfi, as the leader of the organization in Abyan Governorate, a Yemeni government official disclosed to Okaz/Saudi Gazette.
The move follows the killing of the former leader Jameel Al-Anbari in an air strike on March 14 that targeted the organization’s members in Moudiah city, said Ahmad Ali Al-Qufaishi, director general of Lodar Province, which is located in southern Yemen. Speaking by telephone, he said Battarfi, 35, who is also known as Abu Miqdad Al-Kindi, is the “Shariah-in-charge” in the terrorist organization in Yemen. (Read on …)
Armies of Liberation website was banned by Yemeni authorities in 2007 and remains blocked by government censors despite a partial regime change in 2012.
Committee to Protect JournalistsAccess to U.S. journalist Jane Novak’s Web site, Armiesofliberation, which is frequently critical of the Yemeni government, was repeatedly blocked inside Yemen.
Yemen Observer 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.
The New York Times Ms. Novak’s perpetual harping on these themes appears to infuriate the Yemeni authorities.
Yemen Times Jane Novak, an American researcher, interviewed Hashid, addressing issues related to human rights, freedom, prisons, and inmates in Yemen. The interview was downloaded onto many news websites, enraging a lot of people.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Swiss For the Yemeni government, she has become something like enemy of the state number one.
Expresso, Portugal But thousands of miles away in a land where ever was, all readers of newspapers know who Jane is. In Yemen, Jane has become a nightmare for the regime.
Annabelle, Switzerland She re-checks the information, fitting all these pieces together into an overall picture puzzle that results in an extremely precise view of the mysterious interior of Yemen.
Aden News Agency Jane Novak is a name that has become coupled with Yemen, not Yemen that is known as it is known by those who doesn't know it, but Yemen as it known by its people.
Gary Swenchonis Sr. Jane was instrumental in helping my wife and myself in many of our successes that we have had since attempting to hold our own government responsible for the promises that they all made to the murdered sailors and the surviving crew of the USS Cole. She helped us achieve a small measure of justice.
Deutsche Welle International Blog Awards, Finalist 2008 “Best Press Freedom Blog”
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Original work: copyright 2012 by Jane Novak
