Page 6 - Yemen

Yemen's Houthi rebels unilaterally release 153 war detainees: Red Cross

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

Will target only Israel-linked vessels after Gaza ceasefire: Yemen's Houthi

The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023 and sunk two vessels

Fifteen killed in explosion, fire at gas station in central Yemen

An explosion at a gas station triggered a massive fire in central Yemen, killing at least 15 people, health officials said on Sunday. The explosion occurred Saturday at the Zaher district in the province of Bayda, the Houthi rebel-run Health Ministry said in a statement. At least 67 others were injured, including 40 in critical condition. The ministry said rescue teams were searching for those reported missing. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the explosion. Footage circulated online showing a massive fire that sent columns of smoke into the sky and left vehicles charred and burning. Bayda is controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have been at war with Yemen's internationally recognised government for more than a decade. Yemen's civil war began in 2014, when the rebels took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north, forcing the government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed at

Indian nurse's death sentence not ratified by President: Yemeni embassy

The capital punishment handed to Indian nurse Nimisha Priya by a Yemeni court has not been ratified by President Rashad al-Alimi, the West Asian nation's embassy said on Monday. The embassy issued the clarification to a media outlet following its report on the case. The Yemeni government emphasises that the entire case has been handled by the Houthi militias, and therefore, Rashad Al-Alimi, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen has not ratified this judgment, the mission said. Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, has been found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen in July, 2017. The 37-year-old nurse is presently lodged in a jail in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis. According to reports, Priya was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 while Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023. Last week, India said it is closely following the developments in the

Israel struggles to deter escalating attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels

The rockets from Gaza have mostly fallen silent. A ceasefire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has taken hold. But repeated fire from Yemen's Houthi rebels, a faraway foe, is proving a stubborn threat for Israel. The Iran-backed Houthis are stepping up their missile attacks, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis scrambling for shelter in the middle of the night, scaring away foreign airlines and keeping up what could be the last major front in the Middle East wars. It's like musical chairs, said Yoni Yovel, 31, who left the northern Israeli city of Haifa late last year to avoid rocket fire from Hezbollah only to see his apartment in Tel Aviv's Jaffa neighborhood heavily damaged by a Houthi missile. Israel has repeatedly bombarded ports, oil infrastructure and the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away. Israeli leaders have threatened to kill central Houthi figures and have tried to galvanize the world against the threat. But the ...

Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya’s Case: What Happened?

Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kollengode, Kerala has recently made it to the news for her death sentencing in Yemen. What is the case all about and what is the Indian government doing about it.

Centre, state govt need to take initiative: Kerala LoP on Nimisha Priya

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier in the day confirmed its awareness of the death sentence handed to Nimisha Priya and assured that the government is providing all possible assistance

Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya on death sentence in Yemen: All we know

Nimisha Priya's death sentence was approved by the Yemeni President on December 30 and her execution is scheduled to take place within a month

Govt providing help after Kerala nurse sentenced to death in Yemen: MEA

Nimisha Priya, who is sentenced to death in Yemen, is a trained nurse and has worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen airport as jet was landing: UN official

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

Israel announces new strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital

Houthi rebels in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, following several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel. The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports at Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib along with power stations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Wednesday that the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad's regime and others learned. The Iran-backed Houthis' media outlet reported the strikes in a Telegram post, but gave no immediate details. The US military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. The United Nations has noted that the ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid. Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, call

Israel intercepts projectile launched from Yemen, former hostage dies

A septuagenarian Israeli woman who was taken hostage during Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 0ctober 7, 2023 has died. She was among the 250 hostages the Palestinian militant group took back into Gaza following the surprise attack that left about 1,200 people dead. Israel's subsequent bombardment and ground invasion have killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Tuesday it intercepted a projectile launched from Yemen. Here's the latest: A former Israeli hostage dies at 78 Tel Aviv Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78. The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death on Tuesday but did not disclose the cause. Her daughter, Carmit P

2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident

Two US Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent friendly fire incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels at the time of the friendly fire incident, though the US military's Central Command did not elaborate on what the pilots' mission was and did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On December 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had .

Rocket fired from Yemen hit Tel Aviv, 16 injured: Israeli military

A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians. A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 am Saturday, the military said. The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify. The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israe

Israeli fighter jets strike Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation: IDF

According to the IDF statement, the Houthis "with Iran's guidance and funding" have acted together with Iran-backed militias over the past year to target Israel

US army says it bombed Houthi military facility in Yemen's capital

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

Suspected attack by Houthi rebels targets commercial ship in Red Sea

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship late on Sunday night travelling through the southern reaches of the Red Sea, though it caused no damage nor injuries, authorities said. The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees USD 1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. A ship's captain saw that "a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel" as it travelled near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said in an alert. The attack happened some 48 kilometres west of Yemen port city of Mocha. "The vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to its next port of call," the UKMTO added. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their

Houthi rebels launch drones, missiles at US warships, no damage reported

Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted two US Navy warships with multiple drones and missiles as they were travelling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful, the Defense Department said Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the Iranian-backed Houthis launched at least eight drones, five anti-ship ballistic missiles and three anti-ship cruise missiles at the USS Stockdale and the USS Spruance, both Navy destroyers, on Monday. He said there was no damage and no one was injured. The strait is a narrow waterway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which typically sees USD 1 trillion in goods pass through it a year. The rebels have been targeting shipping through the strait for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region. Meanwhile, a UN panel of expert

Explosions near ship in Red Sea suspected to be 'Houthi rebel' attack

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels saw multiple explosions strike near a vessel travelling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, though no damage was immediately reported by the ship, authorities said. The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region. A vessel in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, reported the attack, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. No one was wounded on board in the blasts, and the ship was continuing on its journey, the UKMTO added. The Houthis didn't immediately claim the attack. Howeve

Soldier with Yemen's exiled govt opens fire on Saudi troops killing two men

A soldier for Yemen's exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom's nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday. The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders. Meanwhile, US warplanes carried out new strikes targeting Houthi positions that lasted into early Sunday morning, the American military said. The strikes come after the militants likely shot down yet-another American reconnaissance drone over the country. The attack on the Saudi troops took place Friday night in Seiyun, a city some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east o