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yehbru

Opinion: Trump is considering a move that would prolong Yemen's misery - CNN - 0 views

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Trump Yemen Civil War Politics United Nations Funding Supplies Terrorism

shared by yehbru on 02 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • In one of its final foreign policy acts before leaving office, the Trump administration is considering designating Yemen's Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization.
  • The move is part of President Donald Trump's and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's campaign to impose more sanctions on Iran and its allies in the Middle East—and to create new hurdles that would make it difficult for the incoming Joe Biden administration to resume negotiations with Tehran.
  • this designation could prolong Yemen's brutal civil war and drive millions of Yemenis into starvation
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  • Yemen is already facing what UNICEF calls the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with around 80% of the population—more than 24 million people—needing food and other aid.
  • United Nations Secretary General António Guterres warned that Yemen was "in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades." He added, "In the absence of immediate action, millions of lives may be lost."
  • If the Trump administration goes ahead with designating the Houthi rebels as terrorists, the UN and many international humanitarian groups likely would stop delivering aid to Houthi-held territory in Yemen for fear of running afoul of the United States
  • By March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of Washington's closest allies in the Arab world, intervened in the war with massive air strikes and a blockade of Houthi-controlled areas.
  • Since taking office in 2017, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he wants to end US involvement in foreign wars, especially in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Trump and his advisers blamed the war on Iran and its support for the Houthis, ignoring war crimes by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which could implicate US officials who continued to sell weapons to the two allies.
  • Despite international criticism and growing evidence of war crimes, Trump continued to support Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is a major proponent of the Yemen war. In 2019, Trump used his veto power four times to prevent Congress from ending weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies.
  • Designating the Houthis as a terrorist organization is likely to make the group more intransigent and to drive it closer to Iran.
  • Because of constraints imposed by the Houthis on humanitarian work, Washington has already cut nearly half of its assistance to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen this year. In 2019, US aid amounted to more than $700 million.
  • The UN also decreased its food rations to millions of Yemenis because of reduced aid from the US and other donors. If the terrorism designation is finalized, Washington would immediately stop its remaining aid to Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen.
  • A terrorist designation would also have a ripple effect beyond hampering the work of UN and humanitarian groups: it would dissuade insurance, commercial shipping and trade firms from operating in Yemen because they would be afraid of violating US laws.
  • As a result, it would become far more difficult and expensive to ship crucial supplies into Yemen, which is almost entirely reliant on imported food. The threat of sanctions or US prosecution could also devastate shipments of medical aid and other supplies intended to shore up a healthcare system that has been devastated by years of war and, more recently, the coronavirus pandemic.
  • It's also unlikely to be a top priority of the new administration, which could be worried about being portrayed as "soft" on terrorism.
  • The full scope of suffering in Yemen has gone partly unnoticed because of an unreliable death toll.
katherineharron

American weapons ended up in the wrong hands in Yemen. Now they're being turned on the ... - 0 views

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miltary

shared by katherineharron on 20 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • Fresh evidence shows that military hardware that was supplied to US allies has been distributed in contravention of arms deals to militia groups, including UAE-backed separatists. They are now using it to fight the Saudi-supported forces of the internationally recognized government, who are also armed with US weapons.
  • These new findings follow an exclusive investigation by CNN in February which traced US-made equipment that was sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The weapons were being passed to non-state fighters on the ground in Yemen, including al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the report found, in violation of arms sales law.
  • Saudi Arabia has led a coalition, in close partnership with the UAE and including various militia groups, to fight Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015. But, in a clear break with its Saudi partners, the UAE said in July that it was reducing its forces in the country, and fighting escalated between separatists and government forces on the ground in August. The UAE has since thrown its support behind the separatist movement.
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  • Saudi-backed forces have since regained control of Aden and talks are under way to end the power struggle over the city, news agencies report.
  • US lawmakers have reacted with outrage to CNN's new findings. One of them, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a frontrunner to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2020, said: "One report of US military equipment ending up in the hands of our enemies is troubling. Two reports is deeply disturbing."
  • It, like several other pieces of weaponry that CNN identified, can be traced back to a $2.5 billion arms sale contract between the US and the UAE in 2014. Like all arms deals, this contract was bound by an end user agreement which certifies the recipient -- in this case the UAE -- as the final user of the weaponry. From this evidence, it is clear that this agreement has been broken.
  • When asked whether it knew if its technology was ending up in the wrong hands in Yemen, Real Time Laboratories told CNN they had supplied the product to BAE Systems in 2010 under a US government subcontract, but "cannot comment on what the US Government may have eventually done with this vehicle."
  • One of the most prominent is a group known as Alwiyat al Amalqa or "Giants Brigade" -- a predominantly Salafi, or ultra-conservative Sunni -- militia supported by the UAE. One of their videos shows a US-made MaxxPro MRAP vehicle, purportedly being driven in convoy to join the separatists' battle against government forces in the south.
  • Not only is US weaponry being used directly against America's allies in Yemen, but its presence also plays into Iranian propaganda in the region. The latest example of this saw footage being broadcast on a pro-Iranian Lebanese channel that showed US-made armored vehicles being unloaded into a Yemeni port off UAE ships. It turned out this footage was not recent, but the broadcast indicates the presence of US hardware in Yemen continues to be a card played by America's enemies.
  • With the conflict spiraling and the role of US weapons in its deterioration becoming clearer, all while the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, the Pentagon has pledged to investigate how its military hardware ended up in the wrong hands.
  • Senator Chris Murphy authored an amendment to the annual US defense spending bill, which is currently being debated in Washington, that would cut off support for the Saudi-led coalition until the Secretary of Defense could certify that both the Saudis and Emiratis have stopped transferring US weapons to third parties in Yemen. It's just one of recent bipartisan efforts in the US Congress to address US military involvement in Yemen.
  • Sen. Murphy responded to CNN's latest findings, saying: "For years, US-made weapons have been fueling the conflict in Yemen and it's no surprise they are now ending up in the hands of private militias."
  • A UN-commissioned panel of experts recommended that the US, UK and France "refrain from providing arms to parties to the conflict" because of "the prevailing risk that such arms will be used by parties to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law."
Megan Flanagan

US strikes Yemen after missiles launched on warship - CNNPolitics.com - 0 views

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US yemen strikes warship

shared by Megan Flanagan on 13 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • American destroyer struck three sites in Yemen on Thursday
  • USS Mason
  • a minority Shia group that has taken control of swathes of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa
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  • two missiles were launched within 60 minutes of each other, but in both incidents they missed the ship and landed in the water.
  • US warship was conducting routine operations in international waters off the Yemen coast when it was targeted Wednesday,
  • Pentagon said its destroyer USS Nitze launched Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting the coastal radar sites controlled by the Houthi group in "self defense."
  • all three targets were destroyed
  • strikes were in remote areas with little risk of civilian casualties or collateral damage
  • Those who threaten our forces should know that US commanders retain the right to defend their ships, and we will respond to this threat at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner,"
  • the accusations were aimed at covering up a "heinous" Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a funeral service Saturday in Sanaa
  • "there is no truth to these allegations"
  • increased pressure over its support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen,
  • Hadi himself is believed to be in exile in Saudi Arabia, as are several senior members of his administration.
  • "The United States, United Kingdom, and other governments should immediately suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia."
  • calling the attack an "apparent war crime.
  • could further drag the US into the war in Yemen and contribute to the worsening humanitarian crisis.
  • . The crisis quickly escalated into a war that allowed al Qaeda and ISIS -- other enemies of the Houthis -- to thrive amid the chaos
  • conflict has killed about 10,000 Yemenis and left millions in need of aid
ethanshilling

U.S. to Declare Yemen's Houthis a Terrorist Group, Raising Fears of Fueling a Famine - ... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...n-houthis-terrorist-group.html

Politics terrorist crisis

shared by ethanshilling on 11 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will designate the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization
  • It is not clear how the terrorist designation will inhibit the Houthi rebels, who have been at war with the Saudi-backed government in Yemen for nearly six years but, some analysts say, pose no direct threat to the United States.
  • Mr. Pompeo will announce the designation in his last full week as secretary of state, and more than a month after meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who began a military intervention with Arab allies against the Houthis in 2015.
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  • The Houthis’ inclusion on the department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations means that fighters within the relatively decentralized movement will be cut off from financial support and other material resources that are routed through U.S. banks or other American institutions.
  • But the Houthis’ main patron is Iran, which continues to send support despite being hobbled by severe U.S. economic sanctions
  • Experts said it would chill humanitarian efforts to donate food and medicine to Houthi-controlled areas in northern and western Yemen
  • The United Nations estimates that about 80 percent of Yemenis depend on food assistance, and nearly half of all children suffer stunted growth because of malnutrition.
  • “I urge all those with influence to act urgently on these issues to stave off catastrophe, and I also request that everyone avoids taking any action that could make the already dire situation even worse,” Mr. Guterres said then.
  • The United States accuses the Houthi rebels of being proxy fighters for Iran
  • In October, the rebels released two American hostages and the remains of a third in a prisoner swap that also allowed about 240 Houthis to return to Yemen from Oman.
  • Beyond the looming famine, the terrorist designation could also seal the fate of an immense rusting oil tanker moored off Yemen’s western coast.
  • “If we do not want to cause Yemen to lose an entire generation,” Mr. Ralby said, “we need to back off this designation.”
sarahbalick

Yemen: ISIS says it killed governor, 6 bodyguards - CNN.com - 0 views

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yemen governor killed bombing

shared by sarahbalick on 14 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • he governor of the major Yemeni city of Aden and six bodyguards were killed in a car bombing Sunday -- an attack ISIS said it committed.
  • ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement attributed to the group circulated on social media.
  • Aden became Yemen's de-facto capital after Houthi rebels ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from the capital, Sanaa, in March.
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  • A Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing Houthi-held areas since March, trying to support Yemeni government fighters.
  • Al Qaeda already controls of much of southern Yemen. But the rival terror group ISIS has been trying to gain more territory and influence in the country.
  • And civilians have suffered tremendously in the impoverished nation, which has turned into a haven for Islamic terrorists.
tsainten

Yemen: Famine has arrived and Saudi ships blocking fuel aren't helping - CNN - 0 views

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yemen

shared by tsainten on 12 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • ,500 metric tons of oil sits empty at the port. It lets off
  • he rapidly deteriorating situation is the result mostly of funding cuts that have battered activities by agencies like the World Food Programme, which is struggling now to meet the most basic of needs for millions of Yemenis, particularly in the country's north.
  • The UN has previously accused the Houthis of siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel taxes earmarked to pay civil servants
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  • Saudi Arabia has been targeting Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen since 2015, with the support of the US and other Western allies.
  • The Saudi-backed Yemeni government has repeatedly denied CNN visas to enter the country's north after coverage last year that exposed Saudi Arabia's dramatic drop in humanitarian funding for the war.
  • US President Joe Biden announced a new Yemen strategy, giving momentum to the search for a ceasefire and eventual political solution.
  • "Dealing with Yemen as a country by itself that has its own problems, and cutting it away from the problems of Saudi-Iranian problems ... is very important to lead to peace."
  • The Obama administration was supportive of Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen in 2015 and offered the Kingdom arms deals worth more than $115 billion total, more than any other US administration in the history of US-Saudi relations, according to a report by the Center for International Policy.
  • "First of all, President Biden was a partner of President Obama, and during that time they declared that they would join the coalition against our country. They also agreed about and gave the green light for the coalition to continue perpetuating the killing in our country," he said.
  • 2.3 million children under the age of 5 in Yemen are projected to suffer acute malnutrition this year, up 16% from 2020.
katherineharron

Elizabeth Warren demands answers from US government after CNN's Yemen investigation - C... - 0 views

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election

shared by katherineharron on 23 Oct 19 - No Cached
  • US Sen. Elizabeth Warren has written to US government agencies demanding answers after a CNN investigation revealed that American-made weapons in Yemen are being turned on the internationally recognized and US-backed government.
  • "These unauthorized diversions of American military hardware to armed groups ... undermine US national security objectives in securing a political settlement to the conflict in Yemen, which has no military solution and remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises," reads Warren's letter, which was sent Monday and is addressed to US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
  • This is the second time that Warren, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has written to the US agencies about arms transfers in Yemen following CNN reporting.
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  • Responding to the latest evidence published by CNN last week, a UAE official said: "There were no instances when US-made equipment was used without direct UAE oversight. Except for four vehicles that were captured by the enemy." The Saudi government has not responded to CNN's requests for comment on this issue.
  • Saudi Arabia has led a coalition, in close partnership with the UAE and including various militia groups, to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015. But, in a clear break with its Saudi partners, the UAE said in July that it was reducing its forces in the country, and fighting escalated between separatists and government forces on the ground in August. The UAE has since thrown its support behind the separatist movement.
  • In June 2019 the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) reported that the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen is more than 91,000 since 2015.
tsainten

War Crimes Risk Grows for U.S. Over Saudi Strikes in Yemen - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...crimes-yemen-saudi-arabia.html

politics us history crisis trump yemen

shared by tsainten on 15 Sep 20 - No Cached
  • the White House ceremony will also serve as tacit recognition of Mr. Trump’s embrace of arms sales as a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
  • The president sweetened the Middle East deal with a secret commitment to sell advanced fighter jets and lethal drones to the Emirates
  • stemming from U.S. support for Saudi Arabia and the Emirates as they have waged a disastrous war in Yemen, using American equipment in attacks that have killed thousands of civilians
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  • the United States has provided material support over five years for actions that have caused the continuous killing of civilians.
  • prosecutors in a foreign court could charge American officials based on them knowing of the pattern of indiscriminate killing
  • chief prosecutor could open an investigation into the actions of American forces in the Afghanistan war — the first time the court has authorized a case against the United States. The Trump administration this month imposed sanctions on that prosecutor and another of the court’s lawyers, a sign of how seriously the administration takes the possibility of prosecution.
  • When an internal investigation this year revealed that the department had failed to address the legal risks of selling bombs to the Saudis and their partners, top agency officials found ways to hide this.
  • it had put in place a strategy to lessen civilian casualties before the last major arms sale to the Saudi-led coalition, in May 2019.
  • About $800 million in orders is now pending, held up in the same congressional review process that had frustrated Mr. Pompeo and the White House.
  • he would end U.S. support for the war.
  • “I have a very good relationship with them,” Mr. Trump said during an interview in February. “They buy billions and billions and billions of dollars of product from us. They buy tens of billions of dollars of military equipment.”
  • But over three months, officials eager to push through the weapons deals pared back the guidelines.
  • That August, a coalition jet dropped an American-made bomb on a Yemeni school bus, killing 54 people, including 44 children, in an attack that Mr. Trump would later call “a horror show.”
  • senior State Department political appointees were discussing a rarely invoked tactic to force through $8.1 billion in weapons sales without congressional approval: declaring an emergency over Iran.
  • From that position, Mr. String tried to pressure Steve A. Linick, the inspector general, to drop his investigation, Mr. Linick, who was fired in May, said in congressional testimony in June. Mr. String’s office also handled the redacting of the report.
  • $8.1 billion in weapons and equipment in 22 batches, including $3.8 billion in precision-guided bombs and bomb parts made by Raytheon Company, to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
  • From July to early August this year, at least three airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in northern Yemen killed civilians, including a total of nearly two dozen children, according to the United Nations, aid workers and Houthi rebels.
anonymous

Yemen: Saudi Arabia Proposes A Peace Deal, But Houthis Say It's Not Enough : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...but-houthis-say-its-not-enough

shared by anonymous on 22 Mar 21 - No Cached
  • Saudi Arabia has proposed a peace deal to end the nearly six-year war in Yemen, if the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels agree.The Saudi proposal calls for a nationwide ceasefire and reopening the airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
  • "The initiative aims to end the human suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, and affirms the Kingdom's support for efforts to reach a comprehensive political resolution," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
  • The war has been a quagmire for the Saudis and they are apparently looking for a way out.
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  • "We expected that Saudi Arabia would announce an end to the blockade of ports and airports and an initiative to allow in 14 ships that are held by the coalition," the Houthis' chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam,
  • The United States and the U.N. have been trying to end what they call the world's worst humanitarian disaster. President Biden has pledged to use diplomacy to end the war and to allow more refugees to come to the U.S.
  • In a briefing, U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said he welcomed the Saudi proposals, and that U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths has been working toward these goals. Asked about the Houthis' rejection of the Saudi offer, Haq said Griffiths would be in touch with all parties to discuss moving forward with Saudi Arabia's proposal.Peter Salisbury, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, says the Saudi proposal is essentially a new take on an idea that was put forth a year ago.
  • Salisbury says he believes the Saudi proposal is likely aimed at pressuring the Houthis. For now, he predicts more talks, more air strikes, and more fighting on the ground
  • The conflict has become a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Years of fighting have left 80% of Yemen's population reliant on aid and millions are on the brink of starvation.
  • The war in Yemen began in 2014, when Houthi militants supported by Iran overthrew the unpopular Saudi-backed government in Yemen's capital. A coalition of Gulf states — led by Saudi Arabia and with support from the U.S., France and the U.K. — responded with airstrikes, beginning in 2015.While the Biden administration has been critical of the way the Saudis have waged the war, it has also raised alarms about recent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia.
  • The State Department said that in a call with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "reiterated our commitment to supporting the defense of Saudi Arabia and strongly condemned recent attacks against Saudi territory from Iranian-aligned groups in the region."
  • The two officials reportedly expressed support for diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Yemen, "starting with the need for all parties to commit to a ceasefire and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid."State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said the proposal is "one step in the right direction," calling on all of the parties to negotiate under the auspices of the U.N.
chrispink7

Yemen attack: 80 soldiers killed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels - CNN - 0 views

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shared by chrispink7 on 20 Jan 20 - No Cached
  • At least 80 Yemeni soldiers attending prayers at a mosque were killed and 130 others injured in ballistic missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen reported Sunday
  • Yemen has been embroiled in a yearslong civil war that has pitted a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
  • Yemen's Ministry of Defense said the attack was "to avenge the killing of the Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani," who died in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3. The ministry offered no evidence to show how it might know the rebels' motive.Read MoreThe attack does come, however, as several nations in the Middle East ready themselves for retaliatory attacks by Iranian-backed militias.Yemen's Defense Ministry said "the armed forces will remain the solid rock that breaks the ambitions" of Iran's goal of destabilizing security in Yemen and the wider region, according to a statement carried by Yemeni state news agency Saba.The Houthis did not make any immediate claim of responsibility.
clairemann

Yemen: Saudi-led coalition denies targeting detention center after airstrikes kill doze... - 0 views

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politics crisis war world

shared by clairemann on 22 Jan 22 - No Cached
  • (CNN)The coalition led by Saudi Arabia fighting in Yemen denied that it deliberately targeted a detention center in airstrikes on Friday that killed dozens and caused a nationwide internet blackout.
  • At least 82 people were killed and 266 injured in the attack, the majority of whom are in critical condition, according to Houthi Health Minister Taha Al-Mitwakel. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) earlier said 70 people were killed and 130 were wounded.
  • Another airstrike early Friday hit a telecommunications building in the strategic port city of Hodeidah, causing a nationwide internet blackout, according to NetBlocks, an organization that tracks network disruptions.
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  • The coalition launched an offensive in 2015 to restore Yemen's internationally recognized government after it was ousted by the Houthis. The coalition has intensified its attacks in the wake of a deadly Houthi missile and drone strike in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi earlier this week.
  • The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday it was "deeply concerned about the intensification of hostilities" and "deplores the human toll this escalation has caused." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called for deescalation.
  • "The escalation in fighting only exacerbates a dire humanitarian crisis and the suffering of the Yemeni people,
  • "From what I hear from my colleague in Sa'ada there are many bodies still at the scene of the airstrike, many missing people," said Ahmad Mahat, head of the MSF mission in Yemen. "It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence."
Alex Trudel

'Don't bury me': Yemen's forgotten war - CNN.com - 0 views

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politics US culture economic education Obama

shared by Alex Trudel on 27 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • "Don't bury me." 6-year-old Fareed Shawky cries as doctors treat his many shrapnel wounds.
  • six months of war in his country, Yemen, had taught him the bitter realities of conflict.
  • "I was trying to calm him down and at the same time my tears are falling, but I did not want him to feel it," al-Thamry Shawky says, "I told him, 'Don't be afraid, my son. You will get better.'"
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  • " The father told Basha through tears, "I stood far away as they put him in the ground."
  • t was quickly picked up by social media at a time when little else on Yemen's war seems to gain much attention.
  • quickly
  • Two rival factions are vying for power in Yemen: the Shiite Houthi rebel movement and the backers of ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
  • Fareed
  • The battle for control triggered the formation of an Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, to intervene on behalf of the Hadi's internationally recognized government.
  • "human catastrophe" that had killed or wounded more than 27,000 people as of midsummer, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and has left 80%
  • Four out of every five Yemenis are lacking the most basic things, including water, food, adequate medical care, and shelter, according to OCHA.
  • For all this suffering, that doesn't mean Yemenis have given up.
  • "Fareed saw burial of neighbor kid killed by Houthi shell & was traumatized. Hence pleaded #DontBuryMe .. #Yemen" Hishal al-Omeisy, a prominent Yemeni activist, posted on Twitter. The hashtag originally started in Arabic, but as the story spread, more users began using the English version."A child in #taiz told his father after he was injured: do not bury me. Sadly, the father could not [fulfill] his son's call.#Dontburyme" Kawkab Ahmed, a Turkish observer, said on the microblogging site
lenaurick

Al Qaeda denies link to attack that killed nuns in Yemen - CNN.com - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...yemen-attack-qaeda-denies-link

al qaeda yemen policy crisis

shared by lenaurick on 06 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • Pope Francis prayed Sunday for the victims of a brutal attack that killed 16 people at a home for the elderly in Yemen founded by Mother Teresa.
  • The attack at the facility run by Catholic missionaries in the port city of Aden left four nuns dead, the Vatican reported.
  • The nuns were part of a group founded by soon-to-be-sainted Mother Teresa. Two were from Rwanda, one was from India and the fourth one was from Kenya. Read More
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  • Ansar al-Sharia, an umbrella group for al Qaeda militants in Yemen, said it is not responsible for the attacks. It warned journalists to avoid reporting that it is responsible.
  • "Our honorable people of Aden, we Ansar al-Sharia deny any connection or relation to the operation that targeted the elders' house," the group said in a statement Sunday. "This is not our operation and it's not our way of fight."
  • The impoverished Muslim nation has faced violence for years, some of it tied to al Qaeda elements that call it home
  • The latest round of unrest started in 2014 amid angry protests
  • The Houthi rebels seized the presidential palace in January last year, forcing out President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi on the way to taking over Sanaa, the capital city, and other areas.
  • In January, he reported over 8,100 casualties, including 2,800 deaths. That number is expected to go up when new numbers are released.
knudsenlu

The Guardian view on Saudi Arabia and Yemen: Britain's shame, Britain's duty | Opinion ... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...n-britains-shame-britains-duty

saudi arabia yemen britain duty humanitarian

shared by knudsenlu on 12 Mar 18 - No Cached
  • The visit by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has highlighted UK responsiblities in the devastating war
  • wo announcements marked the end of the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the UK on Friday. First came a £100m aid deal, promptly branded a “national disgrace”. While DfID says it will pool expertise to boost infrastructure in poor countries, critics say that it is meant to whitewash the reputation of Saudi Arabia, which needs such PR thanks to its leading role in the war in Yemen.
  • The UN says that 8.5 million Yemenis are at risk of famine. Its humanitarian chief describes conditions as “catastrophic”. The shattered health system battles diphtheria and cholera. The country’s new special envoy, former British diplomat Martin Griffiths, must try to revive the moribund attempts to find a political exit. Whatever the hopes of the Saudi crown prince, there is not a military solution
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  • A successful peace initiative will need to involve them all, as complex as that will be; a simple deal bearing no relation to realities cannot hold. It will also require persuading Riyadh to be clearer and more realistic about its aims. Britain’s shameful role in Yemen gives it an extra duty to press that case. But for now it seems more focused on security and promoting Typhoon sales.
anonymous

War in Yemen gives women more responsibility but not empowerment - CNN - 0 views

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women politics yemen equality rights policy

shared by anonymous on 22 Jan 18 - No Cached
  • War in Yemen gives women more responsibility but not empowerment
  • It was an all-female gathering after a funeral for a family mourning their son, killed in Yemen's on-going civil war.
  • It's not just a fear for their lives or economic insecurity that has placed so many Yemeni women in this situation. It is also the lack of routine, such as children not knowing whether they can or should go to school, parents not knowing whether they have a source of income or how to put food on the table and sick people not having access to healthcare. The list of basic needs goes on.
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  • The conflict, which started in 2014, has claimed the lives of many Yemenis directly through combat or through disease and hunger. UN statistics said that up until September 2017, over 5,000 people had been killed in the war -- 20% of which were children.But the war has also had a much longer-term impact on Yemeni society: it has changed the country forever -- especially for women.
  • The situation for Yemeni women differs depending on which side they happen to be on. For example, Yemeni women of the Shiite Zaidi north find themselves sucked into an ideological battle, giving away their men and young sons as feed to a political fire that will eventually consume them.Houthi women find themselves in strange new roles, such as the newly created women militants who carry arms and kill opponents.
  • The story of a Yemeni woman living in the unstable Yemen of today has many dimensions and facets. But all the women of Yemen share their amazing resilience that pushes them forward. And when tragedy strikes, they all grieve their loved ones the same way.
Megan Flanagan

War on ISIS: Why Arab states aren't doing more - CNN.com - 0 views

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shared by Megan Flanagan on 10 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • sending Special Forces. British jets have joined French warplanes over the skies of Syria. Even Germany, whose post-World War II constitution puts restrictions on fighting battles on foreign soil, is becoming increasingly involved.
  • Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are down to about one mission against ISIS targets each month, a U.S. official told CNN on Monday. Bahrain stopped in the autumn, the official says, and Jordan stopped in August.
  • Yemen -- not ISIS -- is the priority for most Arab countries
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • Yemen is at the center of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region's biggest powers.
  • Iran is majority Shia Muslim and non-Arab. Most of the other countries in the region -- including, and led by, Saudi Arabia -- are majority Sunni Arab, and are suspicious of Iran's motives.
  • ou're talking about a major 24/7 war. The Saudis and the Emiratis -- the two countries with the most capacity in terms of air power -- are flying fighter jets over the skies of Yemen,
  • "The Arab states, including Jordan -- after the incident with the pilot [burned to death by ISIS when his plane crashed in Syria] -- are laying low,"
  • "ISIS doesn't just exist in Syria and Iraq -- it has major constituency supporters in almost all Arab countries, including Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan.
  • They're not just fighters, they play leadership roles -- and ISIS has carried out major attacks in Saudi, both against Shiite mosques and against (other) Saudi targets.
  • They say Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are also less inclined to carry out strikes against ISIS targets if doing so helps Iran's allies in Damascus and Baghdad.
  • "It is important for any intervening army to have the backing of the central government, or at least the army in the country," Sary says, "(including) the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who everyone will see as impossible to work with."
  • Even Germany, whose post-World War II constitution puts restrictions on fighting battles on foreign soil, is becoming increasingly involved.
  • appears that the involvement of the U.S.-led coalition's Arab members -- all of them much closer geographically to the terror group than their Western partners -- is drawing down.
  • Analysts say Yemen is at the center of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region's biggest powers.
  • Religion and ethnicity are at the heart of the longstanding hostility
  • The critical shift was the coalition in Yemen,
  • ISIS doesn't just exist in Syria and Iraq -- it has major constituency supporters in almost all Arab countries, including Saudi, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan
  • Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are also less inclined to carry out strikes against ISIS targets if doing so helps Iran's allies in Damascus and Baghda
  • There's been the idea that ISIS is a bigger challenge for Iran and its allies than it is for the Arab states, even though this feeling is changing now."
  • no individual country is likely to risk it, and no nation has a mandate to act on behalf of everyone else.
  • the over-involvement by the army in the internal affairs of the state has become acceptable, but when it comes to foreign intervention, it becomes problematic
jongardner04

Al Qaeda denies link to attack that killed nuns in Yemen - CNN.com - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html

al qaeda

shared by jongardner04 on 07 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • Pope Francis prayed Sunday for the victims of a brutal attack that killed 16 people at a home for the elderly in Yemen founded by Mother Teresa.
  • The attack at the facility run by Catholic missionaries in the port city of Aden left four nuns dead, the Vatican reported.
  • The impoverished Muslim nation has faced violence for years, some of it tied to al Qaeda elements that call it home.
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  • The Houthi rebels seized the presidential palace in January last year, forcing out President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi on the way to taking over Sanaa, the capital city, and other areas.
cdavistinnell

Former Yemeni President to Saudis: Let's 'turn the page' - CNN - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html

Yemen vs. Saudi Arabia peace warfare

shared by cdavistinnell on 04 Dec 17 - No Cached
  • Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh -- whose supporters are now in a shaky alliance with the Houthi rebels in the fight against the Saudi-led coalition -- tossed an olive branch on Saturday to Riyadh, saying he is open to talks with the coalition and ready to "turn the page."
  • Saleh's message did not sit well with the Houthis, whose spokesman called his remarks "a coup against our alliance and partnership." The reaction is another sign of a developing rift among rebel groups in the Yemen civil war
  • The Houthis, a Shiite tribal militia from northwest Yemen, have been at war with the central government for the better part of a decade. Saudi Arabia and its allies claim that Iran backs and funds the rebels, something the rebels deny.
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  • "The coalition calls all honorable Yemeni people to get rid of the Iranian allied militants and end the era of oppression and threats from the militants allied with Iran." The Saudi Press Agency published the reaction.
draneka

US launches first military action in Yemen since Navy SEAL Ryan Owens killed | Fox News - 0 views

www.foxnews.com/...vy-seal-ryan-owens-killed.html

shared by draneka on 02 Mar 17 - No Cached
  • The U.S. on Thursday engaged in its first military action in Yemen since the raid that killed Navy SEAL Ryan Owens in January, three U.S. defense officials confirmed to Fox News.
  • The early-morning airstrikes -- more than 20 in all -- targeted Al Qaeda fighters, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said. The strikes hit three south-central provinces suspected to have terrorist activity: Abyan, Shabwa and Bayda.
  • Three other Americans were wounded in the operation and a $75 million aircraft was destroyed after it crash-landed bringing in reinforcements offshore.
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  • Throughout the years, the U.S. has depended on drone strikes in hunting down Al Qaeda's top leaders and operatives. In 2015, the group's leader was killed in a drone strike in the southern city of Mukalla, the provincial capital of Yemen's largest province of Hadramawt, and which fell into the hands of the group for a year.
Javier E

Obama's Leadership in War on Al Qaeda - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html

foreign policy assassination presidency leadership

shared by Javier E on 09 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • They describe a paradoxical leader who shunned the legislative deal-making required to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, but approves lethal action without hand-wringing. While he was adamant about narrowing the fight and improving relations with the Muslim world, he has followed the metastasizing enemy into new and dangerous lands.
  • When he applies his lawyering skills to counterterrorism, it is usually to enable, not constrain, his ferocious campaign against Al Qaeda — even when it comes to killing an American cleric in Yemen, a decision that Mr. Obama told colleagues was “an easy one.”
  • A few sharp-eyed observers inside and outside the government understood what the public did not. Without showing his hand, Mr. Obama had preserved three major policies — rendition, military commissions and indefinite detention — that have been targets of human rights groups since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
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  • Though President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate, had supported closing the Guantánamo prison, Republicans in Congress had reversed course and discovered they could use the issue to portray Mr. Obama as soft on terrorism. Walking out of the Archives, the president turned to his national security adviser at the time, Gen. James L. Jones, and admitted that he had never devised a plan to persuade Congress to shut down the prison. “We’re never going to make that mistake again,” Mr. Obama told the retired Marine general.
  • When the administration floated a plan to transfer from Guantánamo to Northern Virginia two Uighurs, members of a largely Muslim ethnic minority from China who are considered no threat to the United States, Virginia Republicans led by Representative Frank R. Wolf denounced the idea. The administration backed down. That show of weakness doomed the effort to close Guantánamo, the same administration official said. “Lyndon Johnson would have steamrolled the guy,” he said. “That’s not what happened. It’s like a boxing match where a cut opens over a guy’s eye.”
  • Mr. Obama has several reasons for becoming so immersed in lethal counterterrorism operations. A student of writings on war by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, he believes that he should take moral responsibility for such actions. And he knows that bad strikes can tarnish America’s image and derail diplomacy.
  • “The president accepts as a fact that a certain amount of screw-ups are going to happen, and to him, that calls for a more judicious process.”
  • But the control he exercises also appears to reflect Mr. Obama’s striking self-confidence: he believes, according to several people who have worked closely with him, that his own judgment should be brought to bear on strikes.
  • “He’s a president who is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of the United States.”
  • Mr. Obama has done exactly what he had promised, coming quickly to rely on the judgment of Mr. Brennan. Mr. Brennan, a son of Irish immigrants, is a grizzled 25-year veteran of the C.I.A. whose work as a top agency official during the brutal interrogations of the Bush administration made him a target of fierce criticism from the left. He had been forced, under fire, to withdraw his name from consideration to lead the C.I.A. under Mr. Obama, becoming counterterrorism chief instead.
  • “If John Brennan is the last guy in the room with the president, I’m comfortable, because Brennan is a person of genuine moral rectitude,” Mr. Koh said. “It’s as though you had a priest with extremely strong moral values who was suddenly charged with leading a war.
  • he wants to make sure that we go through a rigorous checklist: The infeasibility of capture, the certainty of the intelligence base, the imminence of the threat, all of these things.”
  • Today, the Defense Department can target suspects in Yemen whose names they do not know. Officials say the criteria are tighter than those for signature strikes, requiring evidence of a threat to the United States, and they have even given them a new name — TADS, for Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes. But the details are a closely guarded secret — part of a pattern for a president who came into office promising transparency
  • “Once it’s your pop stand, you look at things a little differently,” said Mr. Rizzo, the C.I.A.’s former general counsel. Mr. Hayden, the former C.I.A. director and now an adviser to Mr. Obama’s Republican challenger, Mr. Romney, commended the president’s aggressive counterterrorism record, which he said had a “Nixon to China” quality. But, he said, “secrecy has its costs” and Mr. Obama should open the strike strategy up to public scrutiny. “This program rests on the personal legitimacy of the president, and that’s not sustainable,”
  • His focus on strikes has made it impossible to forge, for now, the new relationship with the Muslim world that he had envisioned. Both Pakistan and Yemen are arguably less stable and more hostile to the United States than when Mr. Obama became president.
  • Justly or not, drones have become a provocative symbol of American power, running roughshod over national sovereignty and killing innocents. With China and Russia watching, the United States has set an international precedent for sending drones over borders to kill enemies. Mr. Blair, the former director of national intelligence, said the strike campaign was dangerously seductive. “It is the politically advantageous thing to do — low cost, no U.S. casualties, gives the appearance of toughness,” he said. “It plays well domestically, and it is unpopular only in other countries. Any damage it does to the national interest only shows up over the long term.”
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