5/21
Oxfam’s Scott Paul was featured on an episode of UN Dispatch podcast, explaining the impact of the Saudi-led coalition’s restrictions on shipping on people in southern Yemen.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a statement on the situation in Yemen expressing concern about escalating hostilities in the Tihamah coastal region.
5/15
UK Aid just completed the first phase of a cholera vaccination campaign in five districts around Aden. The upcoming rainy season increases the risk of cholera, but these vaccines are expected to protect 455,000 people.
A US airstrike reportedly killed three alleged al-Qaeda agents in the southern province of Shabwa.
5/8
Turki al-Maliki, Spokesperson for the Saudi-led Coalition, gave a lengthy press briefing claiming that the strike on the Yemeni Presidential Palace was aimed at taking out prominent Houthi leaders Mahdi al-Mashat and Mohammed al-Houthi. Okaz believes both of these men to be dead alongside sixty-six other Houthis. Local sources reported mainly civilian casualties from the strike.
4/16
The Prime Minister of Yemen, Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr, claimed his return to Aden will bring stability to the city because government forces will use all of their capabilities to combat threats to security. High-level government officials have been largely absent from the city that officially serves as their provisional capital.
4/9
Last week, the Houthis killed dozens of Sudanese troops in an ambush, which provoked intense fighting between the coalition and the rebel group. The coalition now claims it is close to driving the Houthis completely out of Midi, a district in Hajjah. The Coalition made this same claim in 2016.
4/2
A coalition airstrike killed 14 civilians and wounded 9 in a residential area in al-Hudaydah. The majority of the victims were women and children trying to escape the heat in their homes. The coalition said these strikes targeted a Houthi military gathering.
3/26
“If the warring sides care about Yemen, they should make concessions and save us from this plight,” says Suha Salem, a Yemeni woman, in an al-Jazeera article reporting female civilians’ experiences with the war.
A YouGov poll in France showed that 75% of French people want President Macron to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia and other countries involved in the Yemeni war.
An International Rescue Committee report found that the Saudi-led coalition is depriving civilians in Yemen of basic healthcare, killing far more than the fighting itself. According to the report, 9.3 million Yemenis are denied life-saving health services, while only half of health facilities in Yemen are operational.
3/18
Kristine Beckerle, Yemen and UAE researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post urging Congress to call out Saudi Arabia for their human rights violations while Mohammed bin Salman is in Washington.
3/12
President Hadi has reportedly offered the Chinese government the opportunity to manage the port of Aden.
WHO, UNICEF, and Yemeni organizations have immunized 2.7 million children across the country. Since it was first reported in October 2017, the disease has spread quickly, killing more than 70 people so far.
3/7
CNN highlighted the recently introduced Senate Joint Resolution 54 as a long overdue effort to end US support to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman embarked on a controversial three-day visit to the United Kingdom that was met with widespread protests over the ongoing Saudi military campaign in Yemen. During this visit, UK Prime Minister Theresa May urged the Saudis to allow full humanitarian access in Yemen.
2/28
Peter Salisbury outlined why the UN-led peace process in Yemen has been unsuccessful thus far, and what steps Martin Griffiths, a former British diplomat who takes over the post of UN special envoy at the end of this month, can take to be more successful than his predecessors.
2/21
The World Health Organization reported that 66 people have died of diphtheria in Yemen in the past several months. The diphtheria outbreak has coincided with the more widespread cholera epidemic.
Gulf News reported that the city of Marib has become an oil-rich boomtown and oasis of stability during a war that has fractured most of the rest of the country. Due to its oil and gas reserves and proximity to the Saudi border, Marib was spared from the worst of the conflict.
2/22
Fifteen people were killed after Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit three vehicles traveling along the main road linking Sa’dah and San’a.
2/24
At least 14 people were killed and 40 were injured, many of them civilians, by a suicide bomb in Aden. IS claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred outside the headquarters of a counterterrorism unit.
The Houthi leadership submitted a proposal to the United Nations. The document, titled “An Initiative to End the Tragedies Caused by the Aggression in Yemen” called for a reconciliation committee and condemned the UN Security Council’s failure to act.
2/25
According to Mareb Press, the UAE has been importing toxic fuel into Yemen which could have negative economic and environmental ramifications.
Coalition-backed Yemeni forces reportedly made gains over AQAP in their continuing campaign in Hadhramawt. Al Arabiya reported 20 suspected AQAP members were killed during the operation to take the town of Wadi al-Misini.
2/26
Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that aimed to put pressure on Iran. The British-drafted UNSC resolution condemned Iran, after the recent report by the UN’s Panel of Experts on Yemen concluded Iran had broken the arms embargo by failing to prevent weapons of Iranian origin from arriving in the possession of the Houthis. The UK’s draft made no mention of violations by the Yemeni government or the Saudi-led coalition. A Russian-drafted resolution was approved on Monday instead, which renewed the arms embargo and the Panel of Experts’ mandate, but omitted any mention of Iran’s involvement in supplying arms to the Houthis.
Transportation Minister Saleh al-Gabwani of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government accused the UAE of setting up tribal and regional armies, fragmenting the country further. “We can’t accept a continuation of the situation,” he said in a government meeting, al-Jazeera reported.
Saudi Arabia replaced several key military commanders, including the chief of staff and the head of ground and air forces, offering no explanation for the overhaul.
The UAE-backed Shabwa Elite Forces launched “Operation Decisive Sword” on Monday against suspected AQAP members in the Upper Directorate of Shabwa province.
The Saudi-led coalition has announced plans to finance and install four cranes in the ports of Aden, Mukalla, and Mokha as part of its unilateral humanitarian plan for Yemen, which has been criticized by several NGOs. The YPP pointed out the plan’s shortcomings in a recent blog post.
1/30
In a new report, Stacey Philbrick Yadav argues southern fighting is evidence that Yemen’s civil war is actually a series of mini-wars. This fracturing is not considered in formal diplomatic processes, which is a major cause of the diplomatic standstill.
1/8
The Economist published an article on the recent movements of the Yemeni National Army. The Army had previously been trapped in a year-long stalemate, but have recently started making progress toward Hudaydah, as well as making gains in al-Jawf in the north and Shabwah in the south. The Economist attributed these recent movements to the opportunities that have been created from shifting alliances since Saleh’s death in December.
Afrah Nasser asserted in an article published by openDemocracy that Yemen continues to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. One point of particular concern to Nasser is the face that the number of civilian deaths reported is inconsistent with the level of suffering that is occurring on the ground.
1/1
Al Arabiya identified four members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who have allegedly been advising the Houthis in San’a.
In the international arena, President Bashir of Sudan confirmed the Sudanese government's continued support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
1/2
The Office of the Governor in al-Mahrah issued a statement asking local customs to refuse the entry of materials such as trucks, fertilizers, pipes, and motorcycles, which could have long-term negative economic effects on farmers as well as food production.
12/18
In another sign of the collapse of the Houthi-Saleh Alliance, Critical Threats reported that forces loyal to deceased President Saleh have stopped supporting the Houthis and have begun supporting the Emirati-led offensive to retake the Red Sea coast.
12/19
The Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, released a statement claiming there were 136 verified civilian deaths caused by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes from December 6th to December 16th. These deaths took place in San’a, Sa’dah, al-Hudaydah, and Ta’iz governorates.
12/11
A pro-coalition article asserted that the United Arab Emirates is in command of the coalition/National Army/Southern Resistance offensive advancing toward Hudaydah.
Al Arabiya reported that Tehran evacuated 40 military advisors, as well as UN workers, from San’a following the death of an Iranian Missile expert who was killed last Saturday.
US Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas), senior members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are calling for new sanctions on Iran for its destabilizing activities in Yemen. They have introduced a bill they claim will hold Tehran accountable for their support of the Houthis.
12/4/2017
The US Supreme Court ruled that President Trump’s travel ban could be fully enforced while challenges to the ban proceed in lower courts. “The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, will be holding arguments on the legality of the ban this week.”
12/5
US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told reporters that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is likely to worsen following Saleh’s assassination. Mattis’ statements were vague, but signalled an increased concern among American officials for the humanitarian crisis.
11/27
The UN, after completing a delivery of 1.9 million diphtheria vaccines shortly after the Saudi-led coalition reopened Yemen’s airspace to humanitarian flights, stated that the successful delivery through the San’a airport “cannot be a one-off,” because nearly every Yemeni child is in need of further humanitarian assistance.
