Tag: Armed Conflict

Yemen: Saudi’s React To World’s Plea To End Attacks With Blatant Killing Spree

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) received 63 casualties in a hospital it supports in Hajjah, following a series of night-time airstrikes by the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition on a wedding party that took place in a remote, impoverished village in Bani Qays district in Yemen, on Sunday 22 April. 

The bombing was one of at least four deadly airstrikes reported in Yemen since the weekend.

On Saturday 21 April, at least 30 civilians were killed when coalition fighter jets bombed a bus carrying commuters in western Yemen, near the city of Taiz. An additional attack on Sunday night hit a house elsewhere in Hajja, killing an entire family of five, according to al-Nadhri.

On Thursday 25 April, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike killed the top civilian leader in the Houthi movement. Saleh Al-Sammad, president of the Supreme Political Council that runs Yemen’s capital of Sana’a, is also the second in command of the Houthi army. Al-Sammad is reported as the most senior official to be killed by the Western-backed alliance in the three-year-old war.

“Attacks on civilians are a serious violation of international humanitarian law. What happened in Bani Qays is appalling; among the 63 wounded our teams have treated, 13 are children.

These people arrived at the hospital in garlands traditionally worn to celebrate marriage. None were armed or arrived in military uniform,” said João Martins, MSF head of mission in Yemen.

The wounded were initially carried away from the scene by donkeys, as the only two cars in the village were damaged in the strikes. The first responders and two ambulances from the MSF-supported hospital eventually arrived in the village, but were severely delayed because the aircrafts circling overhead raised the spectre of more strikes.

“I was inside the tent when I heard the airstrikes. After that I fell down and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I saw people running away from the tent. I had been inside with my brother and the groom is my friend. One of my cousins died in this attack,” said 12-year-old Kamal.

Darees, who had also attended the wedding, left 20 minutes before the attack. When he returned he was confronted with a chaotic scene and dismembered bodies on the ground, covered in blood.

Children, he said, were frantically searching for their parents.


Warning: This video shows a young boy clinging to the body of his dead father following the wedding bombing.

“Some of the dead bodies were children. Children were playing outside while their parents attended the wedding inside the tent. That’s when the attack happened,” he said.

The injured had mainly lost limbs and suffered shrapnel wounds. At least three patients required amputation, including two brothers, who each lost a foot. By early morning, many residents of Hajjah had come to the hospital to donate blood. In two hours, 150 bags were collected to treat the wounded.

“One woman arrived at the hospital in panic, searching for her son. He was attending the wedding and she doesn’t know what happened to him. Many other women and children in the village are traumatised and don’t know what happened to their loved ones,” said Sally Thomas, MSF project coordinator in Hajjah.

“Warring parties to the conflict must respect the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution: it is prohibited to launch such attacks which may be expected to harm civilians. The rules of war have constantly been violated in Yemen. All warring parties must commit to protecting civilians, and all parties fueling the conflict by selling arms should uphold their responsibility to ensure that international laws established to protect civilians are respected,” Martins added. [01]

To date, the Saudi-led coalition has declined to comment on the strikes.

The footage of civilian casualties emerges following the United Nations plea to end the fighting, and the U.S. Senate grilling officials over lack of U.S. accountability for arming and refueling Saudi Coalition war planes, while the Saudis continue to blatantly disregard the rules of war, of human decency and human rights; including the Yemenis right to life, and self-governance as a sovereign nation.

The following video is first in a playlist of the most recent United Nations and U.S. Senate hearings regarding policy and humanitarian aid in the Republic of Yemen.

Apparently “The House Of Saud” prefers to act like violent and ignorant wild dogs with one primal instinct – to kill the weak and dominate the pack. 

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YEMEN: Urgent Aid Needed As Cholera Outbreak Kills Thousands

Before the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen in March 2015, the country was already a protracted crisis characterized by widespread poverty, conflict, poor governance and weak rule of law.

Today, and after almost 27 months of the war on Yemen, the economy is near collapse, public and private services have all but disappeared, and Yemenis have lost most of their livelihoods and depleted most of their saving.

All photos in this video were taken by Mona Relief volunteers.

The war in Yemen has devastated the lives of millions of people in all different sectors and a result of the war health sector was affected badly as the other sectors in the country. According to the UN statistics regarding the health sector there is nearly half of all health facilities are non-functional – An estimated 14.8 million people lack access to basic healthcare, including 8.8 million living in severely under-served areas. Medicine and medical supplies and materials are in chronically short supply.

Not only that but also infectious diseases started appearing everywhere in the country, We have noticed lately that cholera epidemic starting spreading very fast in the country, deteriorating the lives of millions of Yemenis, who started suffering due to the lack of health services in the their country.

The war in Yemen has devastated the lives of millions of people in all different sectors and a result of the war health sector was affected badly as the other sectors in the country. According to the UN statistics regarding the health sector there is nearly half of all health facilities are non-functional - An estimated 14.8 million people lack access to basic healthcare, including 8.8 million living in severely under-served areas. Medicine and medical supplies and materials are in chronically short supply.
Click on photo to donate on Mona Relief Fundraising campaign.

Cholera outbreak for first time was confirmed in Yemen in October 2016 in the capital Sana’a but in May 2017 new cases were being diagnosed at a rate three times higher than the initial estimates.

The Cholera outbreak was spreading, with almost one person an hour dying from the water-borne infection according to World Health Organization (WHO) – and a quarter of the dead so far are children along with 5000 new diagnoses a day.

Not only that but also infectious diseases started appearing everywhere in the country, We have noticed lately that cholera epidemic starting spreading very fast in the country, deteriorating the lives of millions of Yemenis, who started suffering due to the lack of health services in the their country.

Now the number of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) suspected cholera cases has increased dramatically, and the Cholera outbreak expanded to 22  out of 23 governorates.

According to Yemen Health Ministry’s report about the cholera situation in Yemen from April 27 to July 6, 2017, the total number of suspected cholera cases is 291,554, and half of the sick are children.

According to Yemen Health Ministry’s report about the cholera situation in Yemen from April 27 to July 6, 2017, the total number of suspected cholera cases is 291,554, and half of the sick are children.

The number of deaths is 1678 that have been reported in 95.6% (22 / 23) of Yemen governorates and 86.5% (288/333) of the districts.

According to WHO the total number of confirmed cases of cholera is 391. The four most affected  governorates in Yemen are Amanat al-Asimah, Hodeidah, Hajjeh and Amran with 47.4% of reported cases.

The situation is extremely serious as the epidemic threatens almost all Yemeni people if the international community continues to ignore that Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

 You can also watch the narrated version of this of this report on Mona Relief’s YouTube Channel.

By Fatik al-Rodaini, Mona Relief founder.

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SYRIA: Russia Claims Their Airstrikes Have Killed Several ISIS Leaders

The Russian Defense Ministry claims that according to their information, the leader of the Islamic State, Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed on May 28, 2017, as a result of airstrikes conducted by the Russian warplanes on a southern suburb of the Syrian city of Raqqa.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Oleg Syromolotov, confirmed to the Sputnik News that although the information is still being verified through various channels but he is almost certain that al-Baghdadi had been killed in the airstrikes.

The strikes targeted a meeting of high-ranking Islamic State leaders where al-Baghdadi had reportedly been present. The meeting had been gathered to plan routes for the exit of militants from Raqqa through the so-called “southern corridor.”

Among 30 field commanders and up to 300 militants who were killed in the strike were Emir of Raqqa Abu al-Haji al-Masri, Emir Ibrahim al-Naef al-Hajj who controlled the district from the city of Raqqa to the settlement of es-Sohne and the Islamic State’s head of security Suleiman al-Sawah.

Although al-Baghdadi has not publicly appointed a successor but two of the closest aides who have emerged as his likely successors over the years are Iyad al-Obaidi, his defense minister, and Ayad al-Jumaili, the in charge of security. The latter had already reportedly been killed in an airstrike in April in al-Qaim region on Iraq’s border with Syria.

Thus, the most likely successor of al-Baghdadi would be al-Obaidi. Both al-Jumaili and al-Obaidi had previously served as security officers in Iraq’s Baathist army under Saddam Hussein, and al-Obaidi is known to be the de facto deputy of al-Baghdadi.

It should be noted, however, that the US State Department and the Pentagon have neither confirmed the death of al-Jumaili nor al-Baghdadi. The mainstream media is bending over backwards to prove that al-Baghdadi is still alive and has been hiding in the desert between Raqqa and Mosul with only two of his bodyguards in a pickup truck.

It is not in Washington’s interests right now to confirm the deaths of the Islamic State’s top leaders even if it has received credible reports of their deaths because the US troops and the allied local militias have mounted offensives against the Islamic State’s strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa which have caused colossal loss of human lives.

Conventional munitions and white phosphorous are being used in large quantities against the residents of both cities, and public opinion is swiftly turning against the ill-conceived intervention in Iraq and the illegitimate US interference in Syria on the pretext of waging a war against terrorism.

According to the Russian and regional media, the US Air Force has been showering Raqqa with white phosphorous, and at the same time, the US has provided a safe exit to jihadists to escape through the “southern corridor” to the oil-rich governorate of Deir al-Zor which has been contested between the Syrian government troops, the Islamic State and the US-backed so-called “moderate” militants.According to the Russian and regional media, the US Air Force has been showering Raqqa with white phosphorous, and at the same time, the US has provided a safe exit to jihadists to escape through the “southern corridor” to the oil-rich governorate of Deir al-Zor which has been contested between the Syrian government troops, the Islamic State and the US-backed so-called “moderate” militants.

Thus, rather than a genuine war to eliminate terrorism, the US-led war against the Islamic State is turning out to be a scramble for territory in order to Balkanize Syria between the Kurds in the north, the Syrian government in the west along the Mediterranean coast and the US-backed Sunni Arab militants in the energy-rich east.

Therefore, it is not in Washington’s interests to verify the elimination of the Islamic State’s top leadership even if it has received credible reports to the effect because the bogey of al-Baghdadi must be kept alive until the US achieves its strategic objectives in Syria and Iraq.

Excluding al-Baghdadi and some of his hardline Islamist aides, the rest of Islamic State’s top leadership is comprised of Saddam era military and intelligence officials. According to an informative Associated Press report, hundreds of ex-Baathists constitute the top and mid-tier command structure of the Islamic State who plan all the operations and direct its military strategy.

Thus, apart from training and arms that have been provided to the Sunni Arab militants in the training camps located in the Turkish and Jordanian border regions adjacent to Syria by the CIA in collaboration with Turkish, Jordanian and Saudi intelligence agencies, the only other factor which has contributed to the astounding success of the Islamic State in 2013-14 is that its top cadres are comprised of professional military and intelligence officers from the Saddam era.

Notwithstanding, in order to create a semblance of objectivity and fairness, the American policymakers and analysts are always willing to accept the blame for the mistakes of the distant past that have no bearing on the present, however, any fact that impinges on their present policy is conveniently brushed aside.

In the case of the creation of the Islamic State, for instance, the US policy analysts are willing to concede that invading Iraq back in 2003 was a mistake that radicalized the Iraqi society, exacerbated sectarian divisions and gave birth to an unrelenting Sunni insurgency against the heavy handed and discriminatory policies of the Shi’a-dominated Iraqi government.

Similarly, the war on terror era political commentators also “generously” accept the fact that the Cold War era policy of nurturing al-Qaeda and myriads of Afghan so-called “freedom fighters” against the erstwhile Soviet Union was a mistake, because all those fait accompli have no bearing on their present policy.

The corporate media’s spin-doctors conveniently forget, however, that the creation of the Islamic State and myriads of other Sunni Arab jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq has as much to do with the unilateral invasion of Iraq back in 2003 under the Bush Administration as it has been the legacy of the Obama Administration’s policy of funding, arming, training and internationally legitimizing the Sunni Arab militants against the secular Syrian government since 2011-onward in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East region.

In fact, the proximate cause behind the rise of the Islamic State, al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and numerous other Sunni Arab militant groups in Syria and Iraq has been the Obama Administration’s policy of intervention through proxies in Syria.

The border between Syria and Iraq is highly porous and poorly guarded. The Obama Administration’s policy of nurturing militants against the Assad regime in Syria was bound to have its blowback in Iraq, sooner or later. Therefore, as soon as the Islamic State consolidated its gains in Syria, it overran Mosul and Anbar in Iraq in early 2014 from where, the US had withdrawn its troops only a couple of years ago in December 2011.

And now, the wretched inhabitants of those regions are once again in the line of fire from the Islamic State’s suicide blasts and car bombings, on the one hand, and the US-backed artillery shelling, aerial bombardment and white phosphorous, on the other. [01]

Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based attorney, columnist and geopolitical analyst focused on the politics of Af-Pak and Middle East regions, neocolonialism and petroimperialism.

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YEMEN: Genocide By Starvation – Even Russia Calls A Spade A Spade!

Spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

On the 13th of this month, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova spoke out on the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, while pointing out that Western apathy and U.S. involvement in Yemen is an hypocrisy of both their values and accusations of war crimes in Aleppo – when they are killing civilians and bombing hospitals in Northern Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

I have to agree with her. The following is her press release. 

Once again, we must return to the humanitarian situation in Yemen. The situation there has become even more catastrophic following the latest escalation in combat. These alarming conclusions have been  backed up at the briefing by United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’ Brien at the UN Security Council on March 10. He painted a shocking picture of the state of affairs, characterising Yemen as the “largest humanitarian crisis in the world.”

Combat between the sides of the conflict in Yemen, with direct involvement by the Saudi-led coalition,

  • have already killed at least 7,500 people since March 2015, according to the most conservative estimates,
  • with more than 40,000 wounded.
  • Around 19 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.
  • More than 7 million people, mostly children, are malnourished.
  • Two million Yemenis have been internally displaced, 62,000 of them in just the last six weeks.
  • Many of these people are unable to find shelter and are living in the open.
  • This does not include the tens of thousands of refugees.
  • More than 48,000 people from the coastal town of Mocha have fled in just the last two months since coalition forces began their offensive.   

Coalition aircraft caused another bloody episode when, on March 10, they were reported to have bombed a market in the town of Khokha, killing dozens and wounding dozens more.

Plans to launch an offensive against Yemen’s biggest port, Hodeida, are especially worrying. Combat in this region will not only cause mass flight of the population, but will essentially cut the capital, Sana’a, off from food and humanitarian aid supply routes. There is no need to say what disastrous consequences this would have.

Airstrikes continue causing tremendous damage to Yemen’s civilian infrastructure. Schools, hospitals and transport facilities have been destroyed.  Arbitrary air blockades and obstacles to shipping make it extremely difficult to get food and fuel supplies into the country. Medicines are in acutely short supply, which means that many Yemenis are dying of what are curable diseases today. The north of the country is in a catastrophic situation, with no cash supply. Public sector workers have not been paid in more than six months.

Terrorists from ISIS and Al-Qaeda are capitalising on this chaos, bolstering their strongholds in Yemen, mostly in the south of the country, and even further complicating the humanitarian situation.

But Western media and NGOs pay little attention to this situation, and indeed pass it over in silence. The West shows no interest in it within its various international forums, in strong contrast to its hyper-active position on Syria. 

The Russian Embassy in Sana’a is making active efforts to facilitate the work of the UN humanitarian team in Yemen, headed by Jamie McGoldrick. It was with our effort that a secretariat was set up to ensure coordination between the UN personnel and the de-facto authorities in the capital, above all in the interests of ensuring the population’s unhindered access to humanitarian aid.

We call for an immediate cessation of all use of force, no matter the justifications for combat. It is our firm belief that the Yemeni conflict cannot be resolved by military means. The parties must return to the negotiating table, with the aid of UN Special Envoy Ismail Ahmed, with the aim of reaching a lasting ceasefire and finding a political solution to the conflict. [01]

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SYRIA: 7th Time Russia And China Veto UNSC Resolution To Protect Civilians

With ‘no’ votes from permanent members Russia and China, the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a resolution that would, according to press reports, have imposed sanctions against parties using chemical weapons in war-torn Syria.

While nine of the Council’s members voted in favour, Bolivia joined Russia and China in rejecting the text, as Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained. A negative vote – or veto – from just one of the Council’s five permanent members means a resolution cannot be adopted.

Media reports suggest that the draft resolution would have established a sanctions regime, a committee and an expert panel to hold accountable those using and producing chemical weapons in Syria.

The text would also have imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and entities linked to the use of chemical weapons in cases where responsibility was established by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).

The Council came together on the 19th December in 2016 to unanimously adopt a resolution demanding that all parties to the Syrian conflict ensure immediate and unhindered access for the monitoring of evacuations from eastern Aleppo.

But today’s decision also follows two other recent attempts where the Council was unable to take action on Syria: on 8th October 2016, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have called for an end to military flights over Aleppo; and on 5th December 2016, a measure calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the beleaguered city failed to pass after negative votes by both China and Russia.

In the past five years, Russia has vetoed seven Council texts on the Syrian conflict, while China has vetoed six of those seven.

As the Syria Crisis enters its sixth year, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a conflict marked by unparalleled suffering, destruction and disregard for human life. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 13.5 million people require humanitarian assistance. Moreover, some 6.3 million have been internally displaced by violence.

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura has been facilitating the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva, which started on 23rd February 2017. The discussions are guided by Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), focusing on matters of governance, including a new constitution for Syria and the holding of elections. [01]

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AR News Channel: CJTF War On Terror Updates Via Baghdad

Get your news straight from the source. This playlist contains Pentagon press briefings from U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve via teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq. Military spokesperson provides updates on their active operations to defeat terrorist occupation in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. 

The window will open to the latest video, and play through to the last. You can always fast forward and rewind. Each video varies in length from 30:00 min up to 1:30 hours. 

Alistair Reign News Channel: CJTF-OIR Pentagon Press Briefings.

Alistair Reign Playlists bring you the news from the source. Watch, listen, learn and stay informed.

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Documentary: Wanted For War Crimes In Yemen – Saudi Royals

An Alistair Reign video report that takes a look at the war raging in Yemen – an attack on the Middle East’s poorest country – by the wealthiest, influential country of Saudi Arabia. Includes news coverage on the funeral bombing in Sana’a on October 8, 2016, witness accounts, interview with Human Rights Watch, and highlights from Dr. RS Karim, Co-founder of Mona Relief, a Yemen-based charity, in his sit-down interview with Sputnik news.

Read the accompanying article KSA: Saudi “So-Called” Royals Are Still Killing Yemen’s Children in our news section.

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KSA: Saudi “So-Called” Royals Are Still Killing Yemen’s Children

And now - a country with more than 10,000 people killed in the ensuing violence, over 10,000 more died of starvation under the blockade of humanitarian aid and supplies - the Middle East’s poorest nation, Yemen is reduced to the brink of famine.
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

This report takes a look at how 20 months of the Saudi-led airstrikes, relentlessly bombing Yemen, has reduced a country to rubble, and forever destroyed the lives of the people who survive these deadly airstrikes on civilians.

The attacking Saudi-coalition has been fighting to restore Saudi-backed President Mansour Hadi to power since March of last year, after the Houthi gained control of their county’s capital Sana’a, and Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia, where he remains in exile.

And now – a country with more than 10,000 people killed in the ensuing violence, over 10,000 more died of starvation under the blockade of humanitarian aid and supplies –  the Middle East’s poorest nation, Yemen is reduced to the brink of famine.

Over 7.4 million children are suffering the brunt of the conflict in myriad ways; including chronic diseases. malnutrition, loss of home and parents, loss of education; then there is resulting infliction’s of trauma caused by the violence thrust upon them at such a young age; and tens of thousands more maimed and disabled for life – in a country with no means to care for them. Adding to their hardship are the groups recruiting children to fight as soldiers.

Over 7.4 million children are suffering the brunt of the conflict in myriad ways; including chronic malnutrition, loss of home and parents, loss of education; then there is resulting infliction's of trauma caused by the violence thrust upon them at such a young age; and tens of thousands more maimed and disabled for life - in a country with no means to care for them. Adding to their hardship are the groups recruiting children to fight as soldiers.
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

Human rights groups have accused the Saudi-led coalition of indiscriminately bombing civilians and systematically committing human rights violations, which Riyadh has denied. To no avail, activists and lawmakers have urged the United States and other Western countries to stop supplying fighter jets, bombs and other weaponry to Saudi Arabia.

Last month the world temporarily expressed outrage at the Saudi's when over one hundred and forty (140) men, women and children were killed, and at least 525 others injured, some critically, and according to several reports, the death toll has risen, after their air force targeted a funeral hall in Sana'a.
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

Last month the world temporarily expressed outrage at the Saudi’s when over one hundred and forty (140) men, women and children were killed, and at least 525 others injured, some critically, and according to several reports, the death toll has risen, after their air force targeted a funeral hall in Sana’a. Watch our report.

ITV News was at the scene and shown remnants of a bomb, which a Yemeni military official has claimed was from a US-made Mark 82.

The Yemen government claimed the Saudi-led coalition had dropped rockets on mourners who had gathered to honour the father of the government's interior minister, who died on Friday - but the coalition air command initially denied any involvement. In his report, Paul Tyson said "important tribal leaders" were reportedly among the dead and injured. Since then the Saudis have released a statement claiming it was the actions of one person - who will "fall on his sword".
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

Senior News Editor Paul Tyson, who is also in Sana’a, said a morgue attendant told him they have “no room for bodies“, and that he saw body parts being removed from the ruins of the funeral hall.

The Yemen government claimed the Saudi-led coalition had dropped rockets on mourners who had gathered to honour the father of the government’s interior minister, who died on Friday – but the coalition air command initially denied any involvement. In his report, Paul Tyson said “important tribal leaders” were reportedly among the dead and injured.

Since then the Saudis have released a statement claiming it was the actions of one person – who will “fall on his sword“.

Human rights groups have requested an independent investigation be carried out, but the Saudi Royals have refused.

The U.S. said it will review its support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson.

“US security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check,” said NSC spokesman Ned Price in a statement. “In light of this and other recent incidents, we have initiated an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led Coalition.”

About sixty-percent (60%) of the children killed in Yemen since March 15, 2015, were the victims of airstrikes. So I ask again, how many more dead children will it take to put the Saudi Royals back on the United Nations’ Blacklist for killing children?

Back in June of this year - the same day UN Nations informed the Saudi's they had been placed on a blacklist for maiming and killing children in Yemen - ten children were killed, and 28 more children were injured in a Saudi-coalition airstrike that targeted a school.
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

Back in June of this year – the same day UN Nations informed the Saudi’s they had been placed on a blacklist for maiming and killing children in Yemen – ten children were killed, and 28 more children were injured in a Saudi-coalition airstrike that targeted a school. 

The children were taking exams inside their classrooms in Haydan, an enclave of the city of Saada. Gruesome images of their burnt and dismembered bodies immediately emerged on social-media sites. [01]

It is yet to be seen if the U.S. will proceed with its sale of $1.5 billion more in weapons and military advisory support to Saudi Arabia.

The conflict began early last year, when President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned and fled to the southern city of Aden after Houthi consolidated their hold on Sana'a. So the Saudis and their allies decided to attack Yemen and restore their choice for Yemen's president - Hadi to power.
Click photo to enlarge. (Photo Credit: Yemen Post Newspaper @yemenpostnews)

Yet, even in light of such an unthinkable act of violence toward children, when the Saudi Royals threw a temper tantrum and threatened to withdraw critical funding from UN programs – the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon released a statement saying he had remove them from the blacklist after “undue pressure.”

The conflict began early last year, when President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned and fled to the southern city of Aden after Houthi consolidated their hold on Sana’a. So the Saudis and their allies decided to attack Yemen and restore their choice for Yemen’s president – Hadi to power.

The Houthis are currently fighting for the return of their former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Saudi invasion of Yemen - under the pretense of restoring their government, and fighting terrorists - it is a despicable hoax, and in my opinion, the Saudi "Royals" are reprehensible beasts who have no place in decent society.
May 10, 2015: Former Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh addresses the nation from the ruins of his home. (Photo: The Telegraph).

The Houthis are currently fighting for the return of their former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Saudi invasion of Yemen – under the pretense of restoring their government, and fighting terrorists – it is a despicable hoax, and in my opinion, the Saudi “Royals” are reprehensible beasts who have no place in decent society.

According to The Telegraph, “Army units still loyal to Mr Saleh have backed the Houthi offensive after Mr Saleh switched sides and turned on the internationally recognised Saudi-backed government that replaced him three years ago.” [02]

However, former president Saleh remains a powerful presence in his country, and maintains military and political muscle.

As for the Saudis, they have revealed their deep disregard for international law and human life, and their disrespect towards the United Nations, and like wolves in sheep’s clothing, they are devouring anyone in their path to satisfy their instinct to dominate.

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Let The Truth Be Known – Houthis ARE Yemen – Saudis ARE Invaders!

I have been researching and trying to piece together an article that would send out the message that the Houthi ARE NOT the enemy of Yemen – Saudi Arabia is the enemy. Then I read the following piece by my dear friend Catherine, and knew I had found the perfect article to alert our blog readers to this twisted spin media has put on the Saudi-led attack – that has amounted to no less than genocide and ethic cleansing.

Why do you think the Saudi royals are having their forces target children?

And the ones they can’t kill with bombs, they will starve to death with blockades.

It is time to end this confusion that has been deliberately created by the leader’s benefiting from the arms sales to Saudi Arabia – leaving the average person to believe that the Houthis are the enemy – of their own country!

No! The ruling Saudi regime, the al-Saud’s are the TRUE enemy – as they have proven over and over – with the death of every single innocent Yemeni soul.

Catherine Shakdam’s article:

As Yemen International Conference in the Support of Yemen was in full swing in the British capital, London, Yemenis came in their hundreds of thousands to pledge their support to the Resistance movement this August 20, 2016 – yet another popular show of force, yet another grand display of sovereign political will in the face of foreign diktat.

To the sounds of explosions, and flying Saudi war planes it is Yemen which came to defy its invaders; a proud nation under unprecedented duress, a land united under the banner of its resistance.

“We won’t bow down to the House of Saud” chanted the crowd.

“We will never bow down to the criminal House of Saud,” millions repeated in unison.

If Yemen remains in the throes of a brutal war of attrition for it dared ambition to live free under its skies, its people are quite determined to weather whatever storm Saudi Arabia will throw, so that their right to self-govern and resist oppression could be affirmed – never to be questioned again.

However one chooses to look at Yemen’s war, it would be foolish to deny still that those brave souls corporate media still label as “rebels” are in fact the carrier of a nation’s will; the very expression of a people’s inherent right to carve its own political future, regardless of what anyone else might think.

Let me be brutally honest here – Yemen neither needs foreign approval, nor does it require foreign vetting. Yemenis want what they want because they can! It is really that simple.

Yemen needs no liberating from the Houthis, for the Houthis are Yemen.

Yemen is not being overrun by Shiites, Yemen is Zaidi country. There is no Iranian agenda at play either, only a desire to disappear the suffocating influence of the House of Saud.

Standing in opposition of the most violent, radical and reactionary theocracy ever to grace the pages of our history does not make Yemen an “Iranian agent”, it makes Yemen an expectant independent nation.

Media coverage of Yemen so far has been criminal at best, misleading always.

The public has been conned into a narrative which is devoid of all humanity, and democratic courtesy. The simple fact that media feel entitle to slap derogatory adjectives before the Houthis as to direct their readers’ self-righteous sense of political morality is despicable.

I read the terms “Iran-backed Shia Houthis rebels” too many times not take offense. How dare you define a people whom you know nothing about? How dare you speak over and at an entire nation for their will does align with yours?

Let’s play the adjective game shall we?

When have you ever read the following statement: Wahhabi-back-Western-sold-out- twice-resigned-once-runaway-child-killer-Sunni President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi?

Likely never … why?

Because Saudi Arabia and its allies are still hiding behind this pale figure of a man to legitimize their odious genocidal military intervention against Yemen.

Let me tell you of this so-called legitimate political figure the West has canonised as Yemen’s forever president.

Hadi is a fraud and a traitor.

Not only did he allow for the killing of his countrymen, he actually actively pursued their annihilation in the name of a chair he never truly was appointed to. Hadi was elected in a one-man election in 2012 for the duration of a 2-year’s mandate – not exactly what you call democratic.

Hadi was never the choice of the people, he was Riyadh’s choice through the GCC-brokered transition of power agreement (2011).

How can anyone speak of democracy and refuse Yemenis their own?

How can anyone still read corporate media and not deplore the stench of their abominable hypocrisy and bias?

Do not tell Yemen what it wants, but hear what it is telling you.

Hear what an entire nation is screaming from the top of its glorious lungs, and witness the rise of a Resistance which breadth will maybe crumble al-Saud tyranny.

“We won’t bow down to the House of Saud … We will never bow down to the criminal House of Saud!”

Can you hear them now?

Can you not respect that a nation simply cannot bring itself to live the abomination which is Wahhabism?

Can you not recognise that Yemen is the last line of defense for all free folks in Arabia?

Who will speak for democracy and political self-determination when radicalism will have nations at the mercy of their guns? Can you not see that what you refuse Yemen – free will, is exactly what you demand for yourself?

Do not tell me of the will of a people when under bombs millions have rallied before their appointed leaders.

Yemen is free today by the strength of its Resistance movement.

Yemen is dignified today for one man rose from the oppression of religious repression to reclaim pluralism his own coat of arms. Sheikh Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, one of the sons of Hamdan, Yemen’s very own legacy offered Yemen its Freedom to keep none for himself.

Sheikh al-Houthi liberated Yemen from al-Saud never to demand a seat at power’s table.

Do not speak of what you don’t know Mr corporate media. Do not define with your adjectives the nature of a land for which you have no respect for.

Yemen might be poor and battered but it is a grand and noble land.

Of course Saudi Arabia would want you to believe that Yemen’s political ambitions are illegitimate, unlawful and nefarious.

Have you ever bothered asking why?

Have you even given the infamous “Houthis” the time of day before dismissing them under misapprehension?

I think not. What the public did is assume.

What the public did is read those adjectives media associated ad nauseam to Yemen resistance movement, and automatically accept those labels as truths. Adjectives those days have become dangerous weapons of mass-destruction.

Adjectives have cost Yemen its freedom!

Yemenis this August 20, 2016 came to publicly offer their support to the new highest political council – and still Riyadh has cried foul play.

Millions took to the streets knowing full well that Saudi Arabia warplanes were up above to offer their voice and their arms to the Resistance, and still Western capitals have called for Hadi’s “restoration.”

What will it take for you to wake up?

Yemen has bled, burnt, exploded, pleaded, negotiated, mourned, cried and starved while you turned your nose up in disgust arguing what future a people should have instead of the one they want for themselves.

If you like the idea of a life spent in the shadow of Wahhabism why not book a ticket to Saudi Arabia and experience first-hand the type of democracy al-Saud have in mind for Yemen, you might find new respect then for the Houthis of Yemen.

One more thing before I go: no one said you had to love the Houthis, only that you respect that Yemenis do.

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First appeared in New Eastern Outlook: Saudi Arabia Cries Foul Play in Yemen.

Catherine Shakdam.Catherine Shakdam is a political analyst and commentator for the Middle East with a special focus on Yemen and radical movements. She is the Director of Programs for the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies in the UK, and serves as Special Adviser for the Middle East for Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan. She also sits as the Executive Director of PASI (Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan Institute for Peace and Reconstruction) She is the author of Arabia’s Rising – Under The Banner Of The First Imam. Her writings have appeared on RT, Press TV, Mehr News, The Foreign Policy Journal, The Duran, MintPress, the American Herald Tribune, Open Democracy, the Age of Reflection and many others. She’s the director and founder of Veritas-Consulting.

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Yemen: The Sound Of Your Silence – A People’s Future Forfeited

Today silence has become more than a war crime. Today silence has become more than just the manifestation of our egocentrism and selfishness. Today silence has enabled, empowered and shielded oppressors and tyrants.

Today I’m hoping that silence at last will be broken.

Before I begin telling you what your silence bought, I would very much like you to take a breath, and appreciate the severity of the situation in Yemen.

I urge you to remember that as officials, politicians and other bodies debate Yemen, and the suffering which has befallen this impoverished nation of southern Arabia, lives are being lost, communities are being obliterated, and a people is being starved.

Those are the crimes, and the heinous barbaric atrocities we have all failed to stop for we lack political courage. Not only have we lacked political courage, but we have failed in our humanity to acknowledge the abomination which Yemen has had to battle against since March 2015.

Before I begin to speak to you about Yemen humanitarian crisis, allow me to teach you Yemen’s pain. Allow me to open a window into the hell we have all collectively contributed to, for we have lacked courage, determination, and humanity.

A people was made to starve, and you, we, all of us, argued legal technicalities and realpolitik.

As bombs have rained and poisonous chemical filled the air, you, we, all of us, have turned away to avoid the shame of our collective apathy!

We cannot look away anymore. Looking away today equates to the most despicable of war crimes since it offers immunity to the very brutes we ought to cast out!

Yemen let it be known has suffered the intolerable cruelty NOT of Saudi Arabia, but the diseased regime which sits on its throne.

Yemen let it be known is being murdered in cold blood by the ignominy of Wahhabism for a people chose to uphold religious and political pluralism as the cornerstone of its democratic dream.

Yemen let it be known has risen a Resistance in multicolour for such is the nature, and make-up of its Society. Yemen cannot be reduced any longer to one tribal faction. It is NOT a political or a religious statement to resist Riyadh’s invasion – it is Yemen’s right to stand free and rise independent in the face of imperialism.

The continued aggression of Saudi Arabia against civilians in Yemen and the use of cluster munitions in violation of the UN Convention highlight the relations among human rights, arms control, and conflict resolution through good-faith negotiations. After a very short humanitarian ceasefire and proposed negotiations in Geneva aborted, the geopolitical situation in and around Yemen is largely unchanged.
The continued aggression of Saudi Arabia against civilians in Yemen and the use of cluster munitions in violation of the UN Convention highlight the relations among human rights, arms control, and conflict resolution.

It is Yemen’s right to exercise self-defense!

It is Yemen’s right to exercise Resistance!

Will you deny Yemen what you have chosen for yourself?

Will you deny Yemen’s life and dignity, when you demand both for yourself?

Will you turn away as humanity cry out? I, will not!

I stand here before you ashamed of our collective impotence to shine a light in the face of the most vicious of darkness.

I stand here before you ashamed for I do not know how best to convey the pain of a people I have learn to cherish, respect and admire.

Yemen has taught us a lesson in resistance I pray you will heed.

Too few have thus far answered Yemen’s call – too few still have not realized that Yemen is only the first domino to fall to Saudi Arabia’s military pursuit.

I now must apologise for I’m about to reveal a few truths you will likely find difficult to acknowledge, let alone stomach.

For the past 18 months the world has played deaf to the tears of a nation over 10,300 lives have been forfeited, 3,000 children were slain, and 6 million souls were displaced. Those numbers are not official and yet they reflect a reality you have denied for it speaks of your shame.

Tens of thousands lie now injured, thousands in agony still …

2 million children face imminent death as famine ravages them. Mothers have watched helpless as death encircles their children, fathers have stood powerless as their loved ones have fallen to the canons of al-Saud for their prayers rose in rejection of Wahhabism.

As poisonous gas still fills Yemen’s lungs can you not hear the sound of your silence?

As cluster bombs explodes over communities, perverse and sinister, can you not hear your resounding shame?

Your silence is Yemen’s tombstone.

Your silence has many names, all of which were once Yemen’s sons and daughters.

Learn their names for their lives you sold out to war capitalism. Learn their names, and mourn for we have allowed tyranny to reign again.

A Mother in Yemen Weeps Over Her Dead Child, who was killed in an airstrike in her village.
A Mother in Yemen Weeps Over Her Dead Child, who was killed in a Saudi airstrike in her village.

Never again you said and still you turned away!

Never again you said and still you walked away!

Never again we say, and here with Yemen we shall stay!

Yemen’s civil infrastructures have been obliterated.

Yemen’s civil institutions have been set fire to.

Yemen’s political right to self-determination has been labelled a rebellion.

Yemen’s life has been forfeited.

Yemen’s honour has been denied and its many faiths called to be surrendered to the repression of Wahhabism.

Yes, before Brutality Yemen has risen a tide, and in its sons and daughters entrusted its future.

Yemen’s future is its own to forge, it is our duty to defend it.

Will you break your silence now?

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Catherine Shakdam.Catherine Shakdam is a political analyst and commentator for the Middle East with a special focus on Yemen and radical movements. She is the Director of Programs for the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies in the UK, and serves as Special Adviser for the Middle East for Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan. She also sits as the Executive Director of PASI (Prince Ali Seraj of Afghanistan Institute for Peace and Reconstruction) She is the author of Arabia’s Rising – Under The Banner Of The First Imam. Her writings have appeared on RT, Press TV, Mehr News, The Foreign Policy Journal, The Duran, MintPress, the American Herald Tribune, Open Democracy, the Age of Reflection and many others. She’s the director and founder of Veritas-Consulting.

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(18+) Yemen: World Watches As UN Allows Saudi Arabia To Commit Genocide

Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed. UN Photo Elma Ocik
Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed. (Photo: Elma Ocik).

The United Nations envoy facilitating peace talks on Yemen announced that as the discussions wind down for a one-month break, the process will enter a “new phase,” during which “the focus will be on working with each side separately to crystalize precise technical details.”

“We depart Kuwait today but the Yemen peace talks continue. The structure and mechanism will change during the coming weeks so that we give the parties space to consult with their leaderships,” UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said of the talks, which have been hosted by Kuwait for the past three months, between a Yemeni Government delegation and a delegation of the General People’s Congress and Ansar Allah.

Meanwhile in Yemen

“We will work with each party separately to crystalize the precise technical details. I once again repeat that a lasting solution is one which is worked upon with care, study and consideration. Every rushed solution comes truncated and incomplete,” he added.

Meanwhile in Yemen

He stressed that the solution for the economic crisis depends on the political solution: “The economic situation has seen a serious decline and the economic indicators are disconcerting if not dangerous. I am sounding a warning for those involved in the internal affairs of Yemen. The alarm is being sounded strongly for the economy and this is a direct result of the war. There will be no economic solution except through a lasting political solution,” he explained.

Meanwhile in Yemen

In his closing statement, he cited to the most significant compromises arising from the meetings of the previous weeks, touching on the following points:

  • Renewal of their commitment to the terms and conditions of the Cessation of Hostilities, and to urgently activate the mechanisms for its implementation;
  • Activation of the De-escalation and Coordination Committee in Dhahran al-Janoub and Local Security Committees in order to strengthen respect for the Cessation of Hostilities;
  • Facilitation of the adoption of urgent measures to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian aid and basic goods and to address the economic situation;
  • Facilitation of the urgent release of all political prisoners, and all individuals under house arrest or arbitrarily detained including those mentioned in UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015);
  • Abstention from any acts, escalation or decisions likely to undermine the prospects of finalizing these negotiations and reaching an agreement;
  • Conducting a series of consultations between the delegations and their respective leaderships in the coming phase on the ideas, which were discussed during the talks and study them in detail;
  • Continuation of consultations and resumption of direct talks within one month from the submission of this statement at a place to be agreed upon;
  • Reaffirming the continued positive spirit in engaging with any and all matters, which may facilitate reaching a complete, comprehensive and permanent solution to the conflict in Yemen; and
  • To that end, addition to the delegations, to the next round of talks, military experts in order to provide technical support and advice in their area of expertise.

Meanwhile in Yemen

“We must continue to urge the parties to initiate a series of confidence-building measures and it is their duty to continue the releases of detainees and refrain from adopting unilateral measures,”  he said.

Noting the difficult situation in the country, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed raised the alarm regarding the faltering economy, and called on the two sides to unify their efforts to ease the increasing burden of suffering on the Yemeni people.

Meanwhile in Yemen

On Saturday fighting was reported on the Yemeni-Saudi border, where a Saudi border guard was killed by fire directed from the Yemeni side, the Saudi state news agency SPA said citing a security spokesman.

Meanwhile in Yemen

https://twitter.com/YemenPostNews/status/762343914191937536

Wrapping it up with a tidy bow, Special Envoy noted preparations for another round of direct talks at a time and place to be announced. [01]

Meanwhile in Yemen

Jamila Hanan, an advocate and hardworking activist for the Yemeni people, has a few words of wisdom for Special Envoy Ahmed.

The world must raise their voices louder to save the Yemenis – because the United Nations’ leaders are very hard of hearing, and they are also blind, and apparently have forgotten their responsibility to protect the vulnerable nations – and this is the case worldwide, not just in Yemen.

It is time for the average person to pay more attention to what the United Nations is doing, and not doing. Personally, I feel abandoned by the United Nations, by the fact that I am now living during a time in history that our UN leaders are corrupt, weak and greedy – to the extent of turning their backs on the deaths and suffering of millions of children in the small, impoverished country of Yemen – suffering and deaths that could be stopped – but instead are accepted with impunity.

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Send inquiries and request to re-blog article to Alistair.Reign@Gmail.com, thank you.

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INDIA: Security Forces Killed 3 People And Injured 150 In Kashmir Clashes

In Kashmir, three young men were killed, and around 150 people were injured as fast-spreading protests and clashes convulsed large parts of the Kashmir Valley, and the Muslim belts of the Jammu region where Internet was blocked again on Friday. The fresh incidence of violence in Kashmir, incidentally, comes on a day when the Union Government gave assurance to the Supreme Court that law and order was returning towards normalcy in the valley.

jammu kashmirThe deceased in today’s attack have been identified as 23-year-old Zahoor Ahmed and 27-year-old Mohammad Maqbool.

Anti-government rallies were taken out in around 45 places in the Valley’s 10 districts after Friday prayers. Two civilians were killed in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, indicating a further escalation as the deaths took place in a relatively less volatile district.

One student was killed in Baramulla’s Sopore area in clashes.

In another incident, three youth were critically injured in action by security forces against violent mob at Khansahib area of Budgam district, the official said.

He said the injured were taken to SMHS hospital here where one of them was declared “brought dead” by the doctors.

The death of the youth led to protests within the hospital and some youth started pelting stones on the nearby Karan Nagar police station.

The death toll (in the region) has risen to fifty-five (55) since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an operation on July 8 (2016), that triggered a massive public backlash.

An injured civilian being shifted to SMHS hospital after clashes at Beerwah in Srinagar on Friday. Two more protesters were killed and dozens injured in fresh firing during clashes in valley. (Photo PTI).
An injured civilian being shifted to SMHS hospital after clashes at Beerwah in Srinagar on Friday. Two more protesters were killed and dozens injured in fresh firing during clashes in valley. (Photo PTI).

Police sources said fierce clashes broke out in south Kashmir’s volatile districts of Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama, leaving scores of protesters injured.

In north Kashmir’s Kupwara and Baramulla districts, medical emergencies were declared in hospitals to manage the rush of injured protesters. Scores were wounded in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts after rallies turned violent when the security forces disallowed the marches.

Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital confirmed receiving protesters who sustained pellet and bullet injuries. The hospital also witnessed clashes as the dead were being ferried to their respective areas.

Protesters run away as a policeman fires tear gas during a protest in Srinagar on August 5, 2016. (Photo: Reuters).
Protesters run away as a policeman fires tear gas during a protest in Srinagar on August 5, 2016. (Photo: Reuters).

According to official figures, more than 4,600 people, including security personnel, have been injured in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir.

In Srinagar, separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani were arrested in an attempt to foil their march towards the Hazratbal Shrine.

Curfew has been imposed in the entire Srinagar district – also in Ganderbal, Budgam, Anantnag town, Awantipora, Kulgam town, Baramulla district excluding Sopore, Shopian town, Kaloosa in Bandipora and parts of Handwara, a police official said.

He said restrictions were also clamped on assembly of four or more persons in rest of the Valley as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.

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References The Hindu: 3 killed, 150 injured in Kashmir clashes, and India.com: Kashmir unrest: Fresh firing in Budgam – 3 dead, over 150 injured, and Indian Express: Violence continues to rage in Kashmir, three more killed taking death toll to 53.

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