Yemen/ Saudi/ Bahrain update 11/29/2016..”UK PM’s upcoming meeting a disregard for human rights”
Yemen’s Houthis & allies form new government
Yemenis protest against Saudi airstrikes
Commander: Saudi Mercenaries Fleeing War As Riyadh Gov’t Cuts Financial Support
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950909001245
A senior Yemeni commander disclosed that a large number of pro-Saudi mercenaries have fled the battlefield as the Saudi government has ceased its support for them. “After the Saudi government stopped its financial support for the terrorists and militias loyal to the Saudi regime, a growing wave of the terrorists are leaving the Saudi-led Arab coalition military bases,” Senior Ansarullah Commander Hossein Al-Houthi said. Al-Houthi’s remarks came as the Saudi media have resorted to censoring the news on the pro-Saudi forces’ fatalities. However, the Saudi media’s silence about fatalities of the Saudi mercenaries has not worked as the social media are covering the developments with relevant videos and photos round the clock.
On Sunday, the Yemeni army and popular forces targeted and pounded the Saudi military bases in Assir and Najran provinces with missiles, killing and injuring several Saudi army troops. The Yemeni forces pounded al-Hejleh, al-Dis and al-Makhrouq military bases in Najran in Southern Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s al-Massial military base in Assir province also came under the Yemeni forces’ attack. Several Saudi forces were killed and many more were injured in the attack on their military bases and positions in Najran and Assir provinces. Earlier on Sunday, the Yemeni army’s missile unit hit several vessels of the Saudi-led Arab coalition with Katyusha rockets in the Southwestern waters of Ta’iz province. “Five Saudi-led coalition vessels came under Yemeni rocket attacks in the coastal waters of the city of Zobab in Southwestern Ta’iz on Sunday morning,” al-Masirah news channel quoted an unnamed military source as saying.
Meantime, the Yemeni forces targeted an armored military vehicle of the Saudi mercenaries in al-Mahzar region in Ta’iz province. Military commanders announced on Saturday, the Yemeni army and popular forces have continued their advances in Ta’iz in the last four days, and inflicted 150 casualties on Saudi-backed militias in different parts of the province. “The Yemeni forces attacked the gathering centers of the pro-Saudi militias in the Southern part of the city of Zobab in Ta’iz province and killed tens of terrorists,” Senior Ansarullah Commander Ali al-Houthi said. “The pro-Saudi mercenaries targeted and destroyed people’s houses in Ta’iz province after they sustained major defeats in tough battles with the Yemeni forces in al-Shabakeh and Qashabeh regions as well as al-Hamra village on the outskirts of the city of al-Waziyeh,” al-Houthi added.
Meantime, battlefield sources said nearly 150 pro-Hadi militias and Saudi mercenaries have been killed in fierce clashes with the Yemeni forces in Ta’iz province. Also, the Arabic-language media quoted an unnamed Yemeni security commander as saying that over 60 Saudi mercenaries have been killed in clashes in Jahmalieh region of Ta’iz. Meantime, a source, close to Qatiyat Battalions terrorist group which is under the command of Adnan Zariq in Ta’iz, said that at least 80 of their militants, including several senior commanders have been killed in clashes over past three days. The source admitted that the Yemeni forces repelled the terrorist groups’ attacks on strategic heights of al-Salsal and Ja’sheh in Saleh and blocked their penetration into al-Houban region.
Also, a Yemeni military source said the Eastern side of Ta’iz city frequently comes under attack by the Saudi-backed troops as it is the gate to al-Houban region in Northern Ta’iz where the Yemen army and popular forces have gathered. “The Yemeni forces clashed with Saudi mercenaries in Saleh valley, and killed several of them despite the Saudi fighter jets air support for the militias,” the source said. Meantime, the Yemeni forces took control of the town of Saleh to the East of Ta’iz city and fortified their military positions around the town. In late August, the Yemeni army and popular forces started military operations to win back Ta’iz province. On Tuesday, the Yemeni army continued its advances in several regions in Ta’iz province, killing several militias loyal to Saudi Arabia, including senior commanders. At least 25 Saudi mercenaries and their commanders were killed in fierce clashes with the Syrian army in the city of Ta’iz. Yemen: Houthi ATGM Hit on Pro-Hadi SU-100 Tank Destroyer
Why Yemen Will Be Donald Trump’s Litmus Test
https://nworeport.me/2016/11/29/why-yemen-will-be-donald-trumps-litmus-test/
Michael Horton
Will the president-elect buy into Saudi Arabia’s and the neoconservatives’ Iran-centric view of the conflict? The civil war in Yemen—in which the United States is deeply involved—will be a litmus test for the incoming Trump administration. The most recent ceasefire in Yemen, brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry and the government of Oman, lasted no longer than previous ceasefires. The war in Yemen will continue—at least at a low level—well after Donald Trump takes office. What President-elect Trump does—or doesn’t—do about the war in Yemen will tell us a great deal about what his foreign policy in the Middle East may look like. It will also tell us which set of advisors he is most inclined to listen to: pragmatists, like incoming National Security Advisor retired Lt. General Mike Flynn, who prioritize the fight against militant Salafism, or neoconservatives who see Iranian influence as the primary threat to regional stability.
While the war in Yemen has received limited coverage, it is just as brutal as the war in Syria and just as critical to regional stability. Yemen is located along the Bab al Mandeb in the Red Sea, one of the world’s critical shipping corridors. It is also home to the most lethal and nimble branch of al-Qaeda. As befits its byzantine politics and rugged terrain, Yemen’s civil war is decidedly complex. Broadly speaking, the Houthis, a Zaidi Shi’a rebel group that controls northwest Yemen, are fighting Yemen’s government in exile nominally led by President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Yemen’s government in exile is supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Despite evidence to the contrary, Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as Iranian proxies………………..
……………………Restarting meaningful negotiations and addressing Yemen’s dire humanitarian crisis are both prerequisites for combating a resurgent AQAP. AQAP—like all militant Salafi organizations—feeds on poverty and chaos and thrives in ungoverned spaces. For nearly two years, AQAP has had an almost free hand in southern Yemen.
The Trump administration’s response to the war in Yemen will be telling. Will the president-elect buy into Saudi Arabia’s and the neoconservatives’ Iran-centric view of the conflict? And if this is the case, will he continue to embrace policies and measures that enable Saudi Arabia to continue its increasingly brutal war? Or will he be more inclined to listen to advisors like Mike Flynn who view militant Salafism as the primary threat to regional stability? If this is the case, then ending the war and stabilizing Yemen should be high on the incoming president’s list. What is certain is that how Trump responds to the war in Yemen will show the region just how capable the new president and his advisors are of addressing conflicts that demand calculated, pragmatic, and well-balanced responses. “UK PM’s upcoming meeting a disregard for human rights”
A Muslim NGO has called on British Prime Minster Theresa May to cancel a scheduled meeting with Persian Gulf Arab leaders over rights concerns. In a letter to May, the Islamic Human Rights Commission said the premier’s decision to meet officials from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council is a glaring disregard for human rights. The London-based group also said the meeting would be seen as an approval of those regimes’ ongoing violations of human rights. May is set to hold talks with GCC leaders in Bahrain early next month. The council has six members including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which are accused of widespread rights abuses. The Manama regime continues to silence dissent as part of a crackdown which followed a popular uprising in 2011.
Source: http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2016/11/yemen-saudi-bahrain-update-11292016uk.html
