Yemen - Civil War

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Emarati F-16 Block 60

 

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I miss you all. How are things going with you?
I hope you had a great Eid ^_^

 

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Yemeni forces capture Houthi strongholds

Backed by land and air support from the coalition, the Yemeni army managed to move its positions near Marib dam (Reuters)

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Pro-government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition on Monday captured “balaq” mountain and “Marbat Al-Dam" two of the Houthi rebel’s remaining strongholds in Yemen’s Marib Province, opening the path to a key highway leading to Sanaa.

Backed by land and air support from the coalition, the Yemeni army managed to move its positions near Marib dam in a offensive to retake it,”.

Marib Dam, a reservoir south-west of Marib city is strategically important for the coalition, and the roads around it were usually used by the Houthis to bring in reinforcements to hold the remaining parts of Marib Province under their control.

Many members from Houthi and Saleh’s militias were killed and injured, according to Yemeni and coalition’s sources.

President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi on Sunday urged Houthi militias to lay down their arms and resume dialogue to end Yemen’s conflict, as he left for the U.N. General Assembly.


The embattled leader, who returned Wednesday to the southern city of Aden after a nearly six-month exile, headed to New York where he is to address the General Assembly.

Last Update: Tuesday, 29 September 2015 KSA 11:26 - GMT 08:26
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/09/29/Yemeni-forces-capture-Houthi-strongholds-.html

 

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Photos of Saudi Special Forces in Aden,Yemen

By Dylan Vosman - Sep 29, 2015

(c) Reuters

Read more at: Photos of Saudi Special Forces in Aden,Yemen | Defence blog

 

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Arab coalition foils Iranian bid to smuggle arms

The Arab coalition forces also announced the arrest of 14 sailors on board the ship. (Al Arabiya)

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News
Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Arab coalition forces have announced on Wednesday the capture of an Iranian boat carrying weapons last Saturday near southeast of Oman’s Salalah coast, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

When the boat was first inspected and seized, a number of rockets and missiles were found on board intended for Houthi forces, a coalition statement said.

Among other arms, 18 armor-piercing shells, 54 anti-tank missiles, 15 battery kits designed for military projectiles and weapons guidance systems were found.

The Arab coalition forces also announced the arrest of 14 sailors on board the ship. The boat was seized on the third day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Saudi Ministry of Defense official spokesperson Gen. Maj. Ahmed Asiri said the attempt to smuggle weapons illustrates Tehran’s frustration and confusion over the conflict in Yemen.

The weapons convoy is the largest shipment intercepted since a naval blockade was imposed in March, Asiri told Al Arabiya’s sister channel Al Hadath.



Documents sezied from the boat showed that the vessel was registered under an Iranian citizen's name. (Al Arabiya)

Documents sezied from the boat showed that the vessel was registered under an Iranian citizen's name. The documents also showed that the boat was set up for fishing purposes.

Speaking to Al Arabiya's sister channel Al Hadath, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri, the coalition's spokesman, said: "The type of weapons that were recovered on Saturday confirms Iran's desire and intention to interfere in the war in Yemen."


The boat was seized on the third day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. (Al Arabiya)



Iranian ‘destruction’
Yemen's President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi on Tuesday accused Iran of pursuing the destruction of his country.

Speaking at the United Nations, Hadi thanked Saudi King Salman for acting with "utter determination" by leading the coalition air campaign by Gulf states against the Iranian-backed Houthi militias, who seized the capital, Sanaa, last year.

"We find ourselves mixed in this battle, this fight for the country and the legitimacy of the state to ensure that the country not fall into the hands of Iran, which would like to see the destruction of the country," Hadi told the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

Hadi also blamed the Houthis for the humanitarian crisis.

"You are aware of the human tragedy of our people, and this is due to the blockade imposed by the militias," he said.

Last Update: Wednesday, 30 September 2015 KSA 15:13 - GMT 12:13

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/09/30/Arab-coalition-seizes-Iranian-boat-carrying-weapons-in-the-Arabian-Sea.html

 

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Yemeni govt, Saudi-led forces retake strategic Red Sea strait

A tribal fighter loyal to Yemen's government gestures as he stands at the frontline of fighting against Houthi militants in the central province of Marib. (File: Reuters)

By Noah Browning | Dubai, Reuters
Thursday, 1 October 2015

Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces seized the Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden from Houthi militants, reasserting control over the strategic sea lane, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Residents reported air strikes and shelling by warships in support of a ground push toward the area but could not immediately confirm that the strait had fallen.

“In a large-scale military operation launched today, Yemeni government, resistance and coalition forces liberated the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Mayun island with the goal of safeguarding this key sea route,” Rajeh Badi told Reuters by telephone from the southern port city of Aden.

Six months of war in Yemen has raised concern over the security of oil supplies through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a main thoroughfare for vessels heading for the United States and Europe from the Gulf and from Asia.

More than 3.4 million barrels of oil per day passed through the strait in 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in Yemen in late March to restore its exiled government, forced out by the Iranian-allied Houthis, and contain what Gulf Arab states see as Tehran’s growing influence in their backyard.

The Houthi movement denies any support from Iran and described its seizure of the capital Sanaa in September last year and the Bab al-Mandab Strait along with other parts of the country as a nationwide revolution against corrupt officials in the thrall of the West.

The coalition has made some gains in the fighting against the Houthis, capturing Aden in July and making some advance in the oil-producing Marib province, east of Sanaa.

The Yemeni government has returned to Aden after local fighters, backed by the Saudi-led coalition drove the Houthis out of the city.

Last Update: Thursday, 1 October 2015 KSA 17:48 - GMT 14:48
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/01/Yemeni-govt-Saudi-led-forces-retake-strategic-Red-Sea-strait.html

 

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Yemeni loyalists control all of key strait

Militants loyal to Yemen's government ride on a tank as they leave to go to the frontline to fight against Houthi militants in control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in Yemen's southern port city of Aden. (Reuters)

By AFP, Aden
Friday, 2 October 2015

Government forces in Yemen now control the key Bab al-Mandab Strait through which much of the world’s maritime traffic passes after retaking it from Shiite rebels, a general said Friday.

“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is now under the total control of our troops,” General Turki Ahmed told AFP.

Ahmed was one of the commanders of an offensive that Thursday seized the island of Mayyun (Perim) between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

The narrow waterway, which separates Yemen from Djibouti only some 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, funnels shipping to and from the Suez Canal, which lies at the north end of the Red Sea.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his government returned to Aden last month following six months in exile, after loyalist forces regained control of the port city and four other southern provinces from militias.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia group still controls the capital and northern provinces near the border with Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition seized Bab al-Mandab and Dhubab in the southern province of Taez near the strait, loyalist military official Abedrabbo al-Mihwali told AFP.

The strait had been in the hands of Houthis and their allies, units still loyal to ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, since March.

Bab al-Mandab was “brought under our control with the help of coalition forces, who provided ground, naval and air support,” General Ahmed said.

“The Houthis and their allies retreated to Mokha,” a Red Sea port some 20 kilometers (12 miles) further north.

“We are awaiting orders from the political leadership and President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi for the next move in the offensive,” Ahmed added.

The attack took place “in response to rebel troop movements” towards Aden and the four other recaptured southern provinces, one source said.

Yemen’s temporary capital Aden “was targeted on Thursday by a Scud missile which hit a suburb west of the city,” a source said.
The Houthis had admitted losing control of the strategic strait.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, self-described “president of the High Committee of the Revolution,” sent a message to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon expressing “surprise” at Thursday’s attack “on Mayyun island and areas close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait.”

He viewed the assault as “a grave and irresponsible escalation,” and said it threatened “the security of international maritime navigation,” according to the text of the message released by the rebel-controlled Saba news agency.

In Aden, government spokesman Rajedh Badi outlined to AFP what could happen next.

“The next step for our forces will be to retake all of the coast along the Red Sea, including Mokha and Hodeida,” he said.

Last Update: Friday, 2 October 2015 KSA 20:02 - GMT 17:02
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/02/Saudi-led-coalition-recaptures-Yemen-s-Bab-al-Mandab-.html

 

[Redheart]

Yemen severs diplomatic ties with Iran: state media| Reuters

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Iran, state media reported.

State news agency Saba, citing an unidentified person at the Yemeni presidency, said Yemen "has taken the decision to expel the Iranian ambassador to Yemen, withdraw the Yemeni envoy to Tehran and close down its diplomatic mission in Iran."

The source told Saba that the move was a protest against Iran's "continued interference in the internal affairs of Yemen and violation of its national sovereignty," citing a recent detention of an Iranian ship loaded with weapons.

Saudi-led coalition forces, which have been battling the Houthis for the past six months to try to restore Hadi to power, said on Wednesday they had seized an Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons intended for the Houthis.

Iran is an ally of the Houthi fighters who seized control of the country last year and forced the government of Hadi into exile.

Earlier on Friday state-owned Aden TV reported that the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has decided to break off diplomatic relations with Tehran, without elaborating or giving a source for its report.

Commenting on the Aden TV report, Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi later said the cabinet had not decided yet to sever relations with Iran.

Bahrain, a member of the coalition, recalled its ambassador from Iran on Thursday, a day after it said its security forces discovered a large bomb-making factory and arrested a number of suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Six months of civil war and hundreds of coalition air strikes have killed more than 5,400 people in Yemen, according to the United Nations, and exacerbated widespread hunger and suffering.

Rights groups have accused both sides in the war of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on residential areas. The Saudi-led coalition denies abuses and says it will acknowledge mistakes if and when it makes them.

The United Nations backed a Saudi-led resolution on Friday to support Yemen in setting up a national inquiry into human rights violations, having ditched an attempt led by the Netherlands to mandate an independent U.N. investigation.

 

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