| THE HANDSTAND | DECEMBER2009 |
YEMEN REPORTS
UPDATED:
Dec 18th:
US air raids kill 63 civilians in SE Yemen Fri, 18 Dec 2009
Yemen's Houthi fighters say scores of civilians,
including many children, have been killed in US air-raids
in the southeast of the war-stricken Arab country. The
Shia fighters on Friday reported the deaths of 63 people,
including some 28 children, in the southeastern province
of Abyan. Almost 90 people were also injured in the
attacks by US warplanes in the village of Bakazam, they
added.
Yemen's southern provinces have recently been the scene
of US airstrikes which Washington claims to be aimed at
uprooting an al-Qaeda cell operative in the Persian Gulf
state. But the residents of the area dismiss the claims
that al-Qaeda members are being targeted in the US
attacks, while a Yemeni lawmaker has also called for an
investigation into the raids. The US operation in
southern Yemen comes on top of a joint Saudi-Yemeni
military campaign in the country's war-weary north where
Sana'a and Riyadh forces are engaged in a fierce fighting
against the Houthi fighters.
The Houthis, who accuse the Sunni-dominated Sana'a
government of discrimination and repression against Yemen's
Shia minority, were the target of the army's off and on
attacks before the central government launched an all-out
fighting against them in early August. Saudi Arabia
joined the operation later following alleged clashes
between its border guards and the Houthis, carrying out
regular airstrikes and ground incursions against the
fighters.
On Friday, the Houthis said over 160 missiles hit regions
along the border with the neighboring kingdom, which they
accuse of pounding civilians in villages within the
Yemeni territory. The Saudis have conducted more than 70
air raids in less than 24 hours.
MRS/AKMPress TV
Yemen rebels say air raid kills 120, accuse U.S.
Yesterday, 09:26 pm
Yemeni Shi'ite rebels accused the U.S. air force Tuesday of joining attacks against them, and killing at least 120 people in a raid in the north of the poor Arab state. "The savage crime committed by the U.S. air force shows the real face of the United States," said the northern rebels, who often report attacks by the Yemeni and Saudi fighter planes, on their website. There was no immediate report of U.S. comment on the alleged incident. The rebels, who are fighting the Yemeni army and forces of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, posted videos on the Internet that appeared to show people trying to clear rubble covering human bodies. Sunday, the rebels said at least 70 people had been killed in a Saudi air raid on a market in the northern town of Razeh. The reports could not be verified as aid workers and media have limited access to the conflict zones.
U.S.-allied Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, fears the growing instability in neighbouring Yemen could turn into a major security threat for the kingdom by allowing al Qaeda to gain a stronger foothold there.
In Geneva, a U.N. official said U.N. agencies had appealed for $177 million (108.7 million pounds) to help people affected by the conflict. "The humanitarian situation is deteriorating, notably for 200,000 people displaced by successive conflicts since 2004," Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva. "We demand full and unlimited access to these displaced populations as well as a halt to attacks on humanitarian convoys," Byrs said.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Yemeni security forces of widespread abuses and the killing of at least 11 protesters in response to calls for secession in southern Yemen. "Yemeni authorities are violating basic rights in the name of maintaining national unity," said Joe Stork, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Middle East division. "Southern Yemenis should have the right to peacefully assemble and express their opinions, even on critical issues like secession," he said. "On six occasions during 2008 and 2009 ... security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters, often without warning and aiming at them from short range. At least 11 people were killed and dozens were wounded," HRW said in a report on Yemen.
Activists, some of whom belong to the Southern Movement, have stepped up demonstrations in the past year, complaining that the government and northerners exploit and discriminate against the south, which holds most of Yemen's oil facilities. Yemen's state news agency Saba said Information Minister Hasan al-Lawzi met an HRW delegation Tuesday in Sanaa and said, "Yemen is a democratic country which supports press freedom and respects human rights."
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, additional reporting
by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; writing by
Firouz Sedarat)
Confirmation from another source......................
The US military continues its air raids on Yemen's
northern beleaguered regions, which have already been the
target of joint Saudi-Yemen offensive against the Houthi
fighters. The US warplanes have launched air-strikes on
the northern Yemeni regions for the third day on Tuesday,
Houthi fighters said in a statement on Tuesday. Based on
the report, the air-raids targeted two mosques. Citing US
officials, The Daily Telegraph reported earlier
that Washington has deployed its special forces to
“train Yemeni army forces.” Houthi fighters
however reported of at least 28 attacks which launched by
"US modern fighter jets" on the northwestern
province of Sa'ada on Monday. The US military
intervention in Yemen comes as Saudi Arabia is also
lending full support to the Yemeni government's crackdown
on the Houthi fighters. Saudi Arabia began its offensive
more than two months after the Yemeni government launched
its “Operation Scotched Earth” to crush the
fighters in the mountainous north. The offensive has so
far killed scores of civilians and left thousands
displaced from their homes.
SB/AKM PressTV
******************************************************
jordan
& morocco aid saudis against houthis
rowan.berkeley@googlemail.com
Morocco and Jordan send elite troops
to assist humiliated Saudis in Yemen
Informatron,
Iraq-war.ru, Dec 6 2009
One would think that the Houthis are a ’superpower’, not just a small group of Yemeni citizens defending themselves against three mighty armies: their own tyrannic government, reinforced by Jordan, and now Morocco special forces. According to the Houthi web site, reliable sources confirm that a Jordanian detachment of special forces arrived in Saudi Arabia on Nov 22 2009, to reinforce the beleagered and humiliated Saudi ground forces in their invasion of N. Yemen which began Nov 3 2009. Saudis additionally requested pilots and operations officers. This Jordanian contingent has been confirmed by the press elsewhere, for example here.
Yemeni Government forces ended the latest of five ceasefires with the Houthis in August when they launched ‘Operation Scorched Earth,’ a name suggestive of the kinds of tactics that have been used, against the Houthis, seriously aggravating a humanitarian crisis that has seen over 175,000 displaced from their homes since 2004. Houthis defeated government forces and captured considerable troops and weapons. Humiliated Yemen sought and obtained support from Saudi Arabia, but Saudi forces too have been defeated. Now Saudi forces are bombing indiscriminately North Yemen towns and villages using F15’s and phosphorous and cluster bombs, just like Israel used on Gaza. Amnesty International has urged Saudi Arabian authorities to investigate reported indiscriminate killing of civilians in Yemen.
Al Quds Al Arabi online newspaper reports, quoting Spanish news sources, that following their humiliation at the border by Houthi fighters, Saudi Arabia requested reinforcements from Morocco’s special forces to join the Saudi-Jordanian forces in their aggression on the people of North Yemen. This is the Al Quds Al Arabi source: “Marruecos y Jordania envían tropas de élite para ayudar a los saudíes en Yemen” Morocco and Jordan sent elite troops to assist the Saudis in Yemen. The Spanish newspaper, ‘exposes’ behind-the-war scenes. Yemeni Pres. Saleh is facing a ferocious losing battle without any support from the West, the newspaper said. The West has accused Saleh of complacency in the fight against al Qaeda terrorists who killed seven Spanish tourists in July 2007. This right-wing newspaper, known for its sources in the military, reported that Saleh, faced with this situation, was forced to request assistance of the Sunni Arab world, especially Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Northern neighbor. According to the news report, Saudi Arabia fears Iran’s strategy to create hotbeds of tension and armed pro-Iran movements such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
As for Iran, no one has come up with concrete evidence that the Houthis are fighting with Iranian arms and ammunition. In fact, the Houthis are fighting with Saudi captured weapons as Houthi videos show, including captured Saudi tanks and artillery. The Saudis find it imperative to call this war a regional war, the Houthis being smeared as proxies to Iran. This of course is a failed Zionist plot to divide the Moslem world into Shia and Sunni, a myth that the Spanish newspaper perpetuates in the Western press. The quoted Spanish gazette ‘El Imparcial’, which means ‘The Impartial’, states that Saudi Arabia has the best modern military machine in the Arab world but lacks adequate training for its soldiers to combat the guerrilla warfare waged by the Houthis. To address this deficiency, Saudi Arabia resorted to asking for military assistance from some Sunni Arab countries including Jordan and Morocco. The paper affirms that Moroccan King Mohammed VI met the request of his counterpart King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and dispatched commando paratroopers to conduct operations behind the enemy lines. This information was attributed to Western intelligence sources. This report has been iterated here. and here.
The Moroccan army is experienced by virtue of the Moroccan desert war, and is trained in guerrilla warfare, adds the Gazette, which also noted the existing tension in relations between Tehran and Rabat. Morocco cut ties with Iran, and launched a campaign against followers of the Shiite sect in Moroccan cities over the past months. So now in the Sa’ada war we have the Yemeni army and air force supported (if not led) by Saudi troops and air strikes, plus Jordanian and Moroccan special forces on the side of the Yemeni government. And, contrary to what the Spanish ‘Imparcial’ says: all these military forces, Yemeni, Jordanian, and Moroccan, have previously received much US aid and training. And again, contrary to the Spanish ‘Imparcial’ report, everyone knows about Western support for Yemeni Pres. Saleh, that irrational, brutal, anti-democratic dictator who utilizes al Qaeda when convenient. Saleh’s primary goal does not seem to be a healthy economically sound Yemen, as seems clear, but instead unbridled power at all costs. He’s been in power for thirty years. Saleh has been fighting a war against his people in Southern Yemen as well. And to make things simple for the reader, al Qaeda in Yemen are in fact Officers in the Yemeni Security Forces.
One Response to “jordan & morocco aid saudis against houthis”
'Saudi jets pour
toxic materials on Yemeni civilians'
Mon, 30 Nov 2009
Houthi fighters say Saudi forces have intensified
their attacks on northern Yemen, using unconventional
weapons against civilians in residential areas.
According to the fighters, Saudis use toxic materials
including white phosphorous bombs against civilians in
north Yemen, Arabic-language Sa'ada Online
reported on Monday.
They said Saudi warplanes carried out at least 16 air
strikes on Sunday, killing several civilians in the
northern province of Sa'ada.
In a first-step to protect the civilian population from
the raging war in Yemen, Amnesty International sent a
letter to Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister this month,
asking whether phosphorus bombs were used in the attacks.
The organization demanded Riyadh's explanation about the
manner in which the bombs were used and what precautions
were taken to ensure that civilians were not put at risk.
The London-based rights group, however, has received no
response from Saudi officials who denied targeting
civilians in beleaguered north Yemen.
SB/MMNPressTV
December 9, 2009 at 12:07 am
President Saleh is a talented chess player he knows that the Houthi’s are practically unbeatable in their native terrain (mountains not desert). The house of Saud fomented the civil strife in Yemen in the early part of the last century in order to keep Yemeni progressive forces at bay. It was President Saleh who cunningly manoeuvred the Houthi’s into conflict with the Saudi’s. At the same time President Assad has made diplomatic moves to convince Saudi Arabia of the positive benefits of allowing Yemen to join the Gulf Council something Saudi’s have rejected until now.