Yemen

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could designate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization this week, Al-Arabiya TV reported, citing the Washington Post. US National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien said earlier that the US had options to deal with the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. O’Brien added that Washington …

Twenty-nine arms control and human rights organizations have signed a letter opposing the sale of $23 billion worth of missiles, fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates and asking the U.S. Congress to block the deal. “The hope is to stop these sales altogether,” said Seth Binder, advocacy …

A missile fired by Houthi militants in Yemen sparked an  explosion and fire at a fuel distribution site near Jeddah on Monday. The blast took place at 3.50 a.m. and causing a fire in a fuel tank at the petroleum products distribution station, north of the city, Saudi Arabia’s energy …

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group on Monday said it fired a missile at a distribution station operated by the Saudi Aramco oil company in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah and struck it. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim made by the group’s military spokesman, who warned …

Humanitarian agencies say a possible U.S. designation of Yemen’s Houthi group as a foreign terrorist organisation would prevent life-saving aid to the conflict-riven country, where fears of famine are rising. Washington sees the group, which controls northern Yemen and its most populated areas, as an extension of Iranian influence in …

Saudi Arabia has told Yemen’s Houthis in high-level back channel talks it would sign a UN proposal for a nationwide ceasefire if the Iran-aligned group agrees to a buffer zone along the kingdom’s borders, three sources familiar with the matter said. If a deal is struck, it would mark the …

Millions of men, women and children in war-torn Yemen are facing famine – again, top United Nations officials warned on Wednesday as they appealed for more money to prevent it – again. “We are on a countdown right now to a catastrophe,” U.N. food chief David Beasley told the U.N. …

Two U.S. nationals held by Houthi rebels in Yemen have been released, Omani state media said on Wednesday, in what may have been part of a prisoner swap, with Oman sending flights to Sanaa to return 250 Yemenis from the Gulf state and abroad. “Under the directions of Sultan Haitham …

The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam) in Yemen dismantled 1 antipersonnel mine, 417 anti-tank mines, and 1,439 unexploded ordnance — totaling 1,857 mines — during the first week of October. A total of 191,054 mines have been extracted since the beginning of the project. More than 1.1 million mines …

Yemeni security forces, backed by the Arab coalition, killed three Al-Qaeda militants and captured two others in a raid on their hideout on Friday in Al-Ghaydah city, the capital of the western province of Mahra, local media and residents said. Large explosions rocked many districts in the city of Al-Ghaydah …

Saudi Arabia warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday that an “oil spot” had been seen in a shipping transit area 31 miles (50 km) west of a decaying tanker that is threatening to spill 1.1 million barrels of crude oil off the coast of Yemen. The Safer tanker has …

The US on Tuesday called on Houthi militants in Yemen to stop launching attacks on Saudi Arabia. The State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the Iran-backed group’s aggression, including attacks on Marib city. The statement comes after the militants have increased drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia …

At the center of Yemen’s capital Sanaa, a city battered by years of war and months of pandemic, a row of young girls in red, white and black white uniforms pummel punching bags and practice self defense. In the corner a mother looks on in pride as a female instructor …

It is necessary to implement a unified Arab policy towards Turkey’s destructive actions in the Arab region, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Wednesday during his Arab League ministerial committee meeting. Shoukry said Turkey’s practices and interference in multiple Arab countries’ internal affairs shape threats against the Arab national security. …

The Houthi administration in Yemen has suspended all United Nations and humanitarian flights to the capital Sanaa as its Saudi-led coalition foe blocks commercial vessels in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The Iran-aligned Houthis took over Sanaa and most cities in 2014 after ousting the Saudi-backed government of Abd-Rabbu …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said early on Wednesday it intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis towards Saudi Arabia’s southern area, state news agency (SPA) reported. For their part Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis targeted and hit military and sensitive objects in Saudi Arabia’s Abha international airport …

A military spokesman for Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said that the group targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with a number of drones. Yahya Sarea wrote on Twitter “the continuous attack of the drones on Abha International Airport led to disabling it for several hours”. In related developments a Yemeni court in …

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sacked two royals and referred them along with four military officers for investigation into corruption at the defence ministry in a royal decree issued early on Tuesday and carried by state media. The decree said Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud would be removed …

Saudi Arabia has presented a framework to expedite a stalled November deal in Yemen’s south designed to end a standoff between nominal allies under a Saudi-led coalition, Saudi state news agency SPA said on Wednesday. Riyadh is seeking to unite separatist and government forces in Yemen’s south to concentrate their …

Locust swarms have swept over farms in central, southern and eastern parts of Yemen, ravaging crops and stoking fears of food insecurity. Residents and farmers in the provinces of Marib, Hadramout, Mahra and Abyan said that billions of locusts had invaded farms, cities and villages, devouring important seasonal crops such …

Yemen’s Saudi-Led coalition said on Monday it intercepted and destroyed four missiles and six explosive drones launched overnight by Houthi forces towards the kingdom. Cross-border attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement have escalated since late May when a truce prompted by the novel coronavirus expired. In late June, missiles reached …

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said it destroyed two explosive-laden boats in the Red Sea, Saudi state TV reported on Thursday. The two remotely controlled boats were threatening navigation, the coalition said. They were destroyed south of the Yemeni port of Salif, it added. …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that U.S. and partner forces seized a boat in June carrying Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen as he renewed his call for the U.N. Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran. “The Security Council must extend the …

A Saudi-led coalition has started a military operation against Yemen’s Houthi movement after it stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, Saudi state television reported on Wednesday. In Yemen, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported air strikes on the capital Sanaa, Marib, al-Jouf, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Saada provinces …

The number of malnourished children in Yemen could rise to 2.4 million by the end of the year due to a big shortfall in humanitarian funding, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said on Friday. A UNICEF report warned of a rise of 20% in the number of malnourished chidren …

Southern separatists have seized control of Yemen’s island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, deposing its governor and driving out forces of the Saudi-backed government which condemned the action as coup. The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self rule in the south in April, complicating U.N. efforts to forge a …

Saudi Arabia has proposed a framework to end the latest standoff in southern Yemen between nominal allies under a Saudi-led coalition, three sources said, as violence escalates with the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the north of the country. Previous clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), …

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition fighting in Yemen asked the United Nations on Tuesday to share details of its accusations that the coalition was responsible for 222 child deaths or injuries last year so it could investigate. In a statement, the coalition also said it welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ …

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday removed a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition from a United Nations blacklist, several years after it was first named and shamed for killing and injuring children in Yemen. The coalition killed or injured 222 children in Yemen last year, Guterres wrote in his annual report …

Southern separatists in Yemen seized a consignment of billions of riyals intended for the central bank in Aden on Saturday, in a further attempt to wrench control from the Saudi-backed government since declaring self rule in the south in April. Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which declared …

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Saturday it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile targeting the Saudi Arabian border city of Najran. In a statement issued via the Saudi Arabian state news agency, the coalition said that the missile was fired from the Yemeni city of Saada, …

Saudi Arabian police in Assir, a region close to the Yemeni border, are investigating after a shooting incident in which six citizens died on Tuesday, state-run news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. Three Saudis were also injured and taken to hospital, it said, giving no details on the nature of …

The U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday its work in Yemen was near a “potential breaking point” as coronavirus spreads in the war-damaged country, with rising numbers of families resorting to begging, child labour and marrying of children. Around 80 percent of Yemen’s malnourished population relies on humanitarian assistance, making …

Turkey accused the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday of bringing chaos to the Middle East through its interventions in Libya and Yemen, allegations which are likely to inflame tensions between the regional rivals. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was responding to criticism of Turkey’s role in the Libyan conflict, where it …

Yemeni authorities declared Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, an “infested” city on Monday after the number of coronavirus cases there jumped and clashes erupted elsewhere in the south between separatists and government forces. A five-year war has shattered Yemen’s health system, pushed millions to the brink of famine …

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced that the terrorist Iran-backed Houthi militias fired on Tuesday morning two ballistic missiles from Yemen’s Sanaa province. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said Tuesday the Houthis launched the missiles from residential areas. One rocket crashed 121 kilometers away, in the Amran province, and the second, …

Yemen reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday as aid groups try to prepare for an outbreak in a country where war has shattered the health system and spread hunger and disease. The news came after a nationwide ceasefire prompted by the virus pandemic began on Thursday. …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday it was halting military operations nationwide in support of U.N. efforts to end a five-year war that has killed over 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease. The move aims to facilitate talks sponsored by U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths …

The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) launched a program late March aimed at beautification, environmental sanitation and cleaning of the Yemini city of Aden. The 3-month initiative, called ‘Beautiful Aden’, will be carried out in cooperation with the Cleaning and Improvement Fund in Aden (CIFA). By Emad …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several air strikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa, witnesses said. A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, a military school and an air base close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard …

Ballistic missiles were intercepted on Saturday in the sky above Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and the southern city of Jazan, state media reported, citing its own sources and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts around 2320 (2020 GMT), followed by emergency vehicle sirens in …

Yemen’s warring parties welcomed a U.N. call for an immediate truce on Thursday as the country entered its sixth year of a conflict that has unleashed a humanitarian crisis, rendering it more vulnerable to any coronavirus outbreak. A Saudi-led military coalition said late on Wednesday that it backed the Yemeni …

Forces from Yemen’s Houthi movement on Tuesday blocked a U.N.-chartered ship carrying representatives of the internationally recognized government from leaving Hodeidah port, the government and a source familiar with the matter said. The ship was prevented from leaving for a second time by Houthi forces, government-run SABA news agency said. …

The Saudi-Led coalition fighting in Yemen carried out an operation against Iran-aligned Houthi targets in Yemen’s port district, Salif, Saudi state TV reported late on Saturday, citing the coalition. The coalition said it destroyed sites used to assemble and launch explosives-laden boats and drones that pose a threat to maritime …