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Yemen Civil War
An Indian national who had been stranded on Socotra Island in Yemen for the past few weeks has been successfully evacuated and returned to India, according to India's mission in Yemen."Indian national Ms. Rakki Kishan Gopal, who was stranded on Socotra Island in Yemen for the past few weeks, was successfully evacuated on a special Yemenia flight to Jeddah on Jan 7. She was received by officials of the @CGIJeddah & subsequently returned to India this morning," the Indian mission in Yemen said in a post on X.The evacuation comes amid heightened political and military tensions in Yemen, which have disrupted air travel and stranded civilians and foreign nationals in several parts of the country.Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have recently completed the transfer of control over all military sites in the eastern governorates of Hadramout and al-Mahra after reclaiming them from the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), Yemeni media reported, .
Yemen's separatist movement on Friday announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south and demanded other factions in the war-torn country accept the move in an escalation of a confrontation that has pitted Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against each other. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council depicted the announcement as a declaration of independence for the south. But it was not immediately clear if the move could be implemented or was largely symbolic. Last month, STC-linked fighters seized control of two southern provinces from Saudi-backed forces and took over the Presidential Palace in the south's main city, Aden. Members of the internationally recognized government which had been based in Aden fled to the Saudi-capital Riyadh. On Friday, Saudi warplanes bombed camps and military positions held by the STC in Hadramout province as Saudi-backed fighters tried to seize the facilities, a separatist official said. It was the lates
Yemen's separatist movement on Friday announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south and demanded other factions in the war-torn country accept the move in an escalation of a confrontation that has pitted Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against each other. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council depicted the announcement as a declaration of independence for the south. But it was not immediately clear if the move could be implemented or was largely symbolic. Last month, STC-linked fighters seized control of two southern provinces from Saudi-backed forces and took over the Presidential Palace in the south's main city, Aden. Members of the internationally recognized government which had been based in Aden fled to the Saudi-capital Riyadh. On Friday, Saudi warplanes bombed camps and military positions held by the STC in Hadramout province as Saudi-backed fighters tried to seize the facilities, a separatist official said. It was the late
Houthi rebels detained two additional United Nations staff members and raided the homes of several others in Yemen over the last 48 hours, the latest in a series of events now forcing the world body to reassess how it operates in the war-torn country. The detainment of two staffers was confirmed by Farhan Haqq, the deputy U.N. spokesperson, on Friday. Three officials with the World Food Program confirmed the raids on the homes of Yemeni staff and the U.N. facility took place on Thursday and Friday. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Since 2021, the de facto authorities have taken a number of steps that have made it increasingly difficult for the UN to provide assistance to Yemenis," Haqq told reporters. "These actions are forcing us to reassess the way in which we work in areas controlled by the Houthis. The detainment marks the latest in a series of escalations by the armed group against both national and ...
Yemen's Houthi rebels unilaterally freed 153 war detainees Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Previous prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jumpstart talks over permanently ending Yemen's decade-long war, which began when the Houthis seized the country's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. However, the Houthis' release comes just after they detained another seven Yemeni workers from the United Nations, sparking anger from the world body. Those released previously had been visited by Red Cross staff in Sanaa and received medical checks and other assistance, the organization said while announcing the release. The Houthis had signalled on Friday night they planned a release of prisoners. The Red Cross said it welcomes this unilateral release as another positive step towards reviving negotiations". This operation has brought much-needed rel
Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing and a UN delegation was waiting to leave, the UN's top humanitarian official in Yemen said Friday. Julien Harneis told UN reporters that the most frightening thing about the two airstrikes on Thursday wasn't their effect on him and about 15 others in the VIP lounge at the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, including the head of the UN World Health Organisation. Rather, it was the destruction of the airport control tower as a Yemenia Airways plane was taxiing in after touching down. Fortunately, that plane was able to land safely and the passengers were able to disembark, but it could have been far, far worse, said Harneis, who was with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the lounge. He said one airstrike landed approximately 300 metres (330 yards) south of the VIP lounge and another about 300 metres to the north around 4:45 pm, while abo
The US military on Tuesday said it bombed a Houthi military facility in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, the latest US-led attack on the Iranian-backed rebels. The Houthi media office said the strike hit part of the sprawling complex that houses the rebels' Defence Ministry. There were no immediate reports of casualties. US Central Command said the strike late Monday targeted a key command and control facility that was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, including attacks on US Navy and merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started in October last year. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign, which has killed four sailors. The rebels have maintained that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the
Yemen's Houthi rebels could free a political leader with ties to the internationally recognised government who has been detained for nearly a decade, under a preliminary prisoner swap deal announced by the United Nations on Monday. Mohamed Qahtan is the leader of the Sunni Islamist Islah party, which is aligned with the Saudi Arabia-backed government, and he has been held incommunicado by the Iranian-backed Houthis since 2015, the United Nations said. The office of UN special envoy Hans Grundberg convened a meeting in Oman with the International Committee of the Red Cross over the weekend to facilitate talks centred on a prisoner exchange, in accordance with the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The two Yemeni sides agreed to meet to discuss the final list of who will be released and the details of Qahtan's release, Dujarric said, without providing details on the potential agreement. Qahtan's release has been a point of contention for years, Dujarric ..
The heads of six UN agencies and three international humanitarian organisations issued a joint appeal Thursday to Yemen's Houthi rebels for the immediate release of 17 members of their staff who were recently detained along with many others also being held by the Iranian-backed group. Their appeal was echoed by a statement from several dozen nations and the European Union ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Yemen where UN special envoy Hans Grundberg said the Houthis were holding all those detained in the crackdown incommunicado. The Houthis said Monday they had arrested members of an American-Israeli spy network, days after detaining the staffers from the UN and aid organisations. Major General Abdulhakim al-Khayewani, head of the Houthis' intelligence agency, announced the arrests, saying the spy network had first operated out of the US Embassy in the capital Sanaa. After it was closed in 2015 following the Houthi takeover of Sanaa and northern Yemen, he said, they continued
Eleven Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained by Yemen's Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a US-led coalition. Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken. The detentions come as the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But while gaining more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down at dissent at home, including recently sentencing 44 people to death. Regional officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to brief journalists, initially confirmed at least nine UN detentions. Those held include staff from the UN human rights agency, its development programme, the World Food ...
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia's state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about surprises they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters. On Thursday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis' secretive supreme leader, said the rebels will start hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope in Africa's southern tip. Until now, the rebels have largely .
The longer the war in Gaza goes on and Yemen's Houthi rebels keep attacking ships in the Red Sea the greater the risk that Yemen could be propelled back into war, the UN special envoy for the poorest Arab nation warned on Thursday. Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council it has been impossible to shield his promising efforts to restore peace to Yemen because the reality is, what happens regionally impacts Yemen and what happens in Yemen can impact the region. Since November, the Iranian-backed Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea to demand a cease-fire in Israel's offensive in Gaza. It began after Gaza's Hamas rulers launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and led to about 250 others being taken captive. Israel's ongoing military operation has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The Houthi attacks targeting vessels since November, however, have increasingly had little or no connecti
A ship travelling through the southern Red Sea was attacked by a suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drone early Tuesday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign targeting vessels over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack happened west of Hodeida, Yemen, and the projectile caused slight damage to the vessel's windows on the bridge, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added. The private security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship. No one was hurt onboard the vessel, which suffered minor damage, the firm said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicions immediately fell on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel's offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with
Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile Friday at a US warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile, the US military said Friday. The attack on the destroyer USS Carney marked a further escalation in the biggest confrontation at sea the US Navy has seen in the Middle East in decades, as Houthi missile fire set another commercial vessel ablaze Friday night. The Carney attack represents the first time the Houthis directly targeted a U.S. warship since the rebels began their assaults on shipping in October, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because no authorization had been given to discuss the incident. That contradicted a statement by the US military's Central Command, which said the Houthis fired "toward" the Carney. As it has in previous strikes, the Pentagon said it was difficult to determine what exactly the Houthis were trying to hit. Ever since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, the U.S. has tried to temper its descriptions of the ...