Yemen Coverage

AL-JAWF, YEMEN — As the world’s focus turns to the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic, Yemenis are reeling from their own brewing tragedy, contending with the thousands of cluster bombs, landmines and other exploded munitions that now litter their homeland. Just yesterday, a young child was killed and another was injured in the al-Ghail district of al-Jawf when a landmine left by the Saudi military exploded, witnesses told MintPress.

AL-MAHRAH, YEMEN — Saudi Arabia’s continued efforts to occupy Yemen’s province of al-Mahrah, which lies on the country’s border with Oman, appear only to have emboldened al-Mahrah tribes, who have resorted to using military tactics to drive out Saudi forces from their province. The tribes are fueled by a collective social desire for sovereignty stemming from their long history as an independent region and a local culture that remains wary of foreign forces.

Yemen’s Houthis have accused the United States of intentionally destroying the country’s air defense systems during the reign of former Yemeni president the late Ali Abdullah Saleh in preparation for Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the country that was launched in 2015. 

Al-JAWF, YEMEN — Yemen’s Houthi-allied armed forces launched an attack on vital facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco inside the Kingdom’s western province of Madinah, situated about 165 kilometers west of the city of Medina. The attack took place on Friday and involved the launching of both missiles ballistic missiles and drones. It came in retaliation for deadly Saudi attacks against the al-Jawf Province in Yemen last Friday. 

AbdulKhaliq Abbas was overjoyed when he heard the much-hyped news that the Saudi-led coalition was finally going to allow humanitarian flights to take off from Yemen’s Sana’a Airport. Finally, he hoped, his five-year-old daughter Rua’a could travel aboard a long-promised UN flight to get medical care abroad. Today, Abbas is back to square one, frustrated that the long-awaited flights have not proceeded as promised.

MARIB, YEMEN — An escalating campaign of U.S. drone strikes in Yemen has sparked anger from residents and tribal leaders. The drone strikes, according to the victims’ relatives, not only killed suspected members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) but also killed and injured a number of civilians.

MARIB, YEMEN — The Saudi-led Coalition escalated its military operations in Yemen over the weekend, targeting Nihm, Jawf, Marib and Bayda with a barrage of indiscriminate airstrikes that left tens of civilians dead and caused a new wave of displacement.

As tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, there are indications that Donald Trump’s administration is planning to carry out assassination operations against high-ranking Houthi officials inside of Yemen similar to the U.S. assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard General, Qassem Soleimani, a move likely to open the door for further escalation in the region.

SANA’A, SADAA, YEMEN — As the ongoing war and blockade against their country enters its sixth year, Yemenis are commemorating the annual Martyr Week amid an increasing feeling of hatred and resentment towards the United States, a feeling never seen at this level in the war-torn country.

HODEIDA, YEMEN — For many around the world, there are reasons to be optimistic heading into 2020, but the reality on the ground is dashing Yemeni hopes that the new year will bring about an end to Saudi Arabia’s nearly five-year-long war on their country as Western support for oil-rich kingdom continues, particularly from the United States.