Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

24 Yemenis Killed in US-Saudi Air Strike and Fighting, 25 Ethiopian Refugees Missing in the Sea

February 10, 2018 

Site of house rubble after a Saudi air strike on Al-Jawf, Yemen, file, February 10, 2018	Shabwa, Yemen, a view from the sea, file, February 10, 2018

Yemeni fighter in Taez, file, February 10, 2018	Yemeni Tushka missile, file, February 7, 2018

***

The following news stories are from the Yemeni independent website Al-Masdar ( http://www.almasdaronline.com/category/42  ):

*** 

US drone kills two al Qaeda members in al Bayda

ALMASDARONLINE , February 10, 2018

Two members of al Qaeda organization were killed on Thursday evening in an air strike by a US drone in al Soma'a district southeastern al Bayda province, central Yemen, a local source said. The source told Almasderonline that the air strike targeted a motorcycle belonging to the organization near the Industrial Technical Institute in the district center, which led to the immediate death of the two members.

The dead are Abu Taher, who is from al Bayda province, and the other one named al Derbi, who is from Loder district of Abyan province, southeastern Yemen, according to the source.

Saudi-Led Coalition raids kill two women and Houthis southern Taiz

ALMASDARONLINE,  February 10, 2018

Two women were killed and a third wounded, as well as the killing of a number of Houthi militants in air raids launched by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition aircrafts in Naqil al Selw southern Taiz province, southwestern Taiz province, local residents said on Thursday. Residents told Almasdaronline that the aircrafts launched several air raids on the Houthis-controlled area, resulting in deaths and injuries.

They reported that a raid targeted Saelat Mawqah area, two on al Minshar area, and other raids on Houthi reinforcements in Khadair district. One of the raids targeted the home of Mohammed Saeed Mughalis, killing his wife and daughter, and wounding him, according to the residents.  

Government forces: 12 Houthis killed in Taiz

ALMASDARONLINE, February 8, 2018

Government forces announced late Wednesday that 12 militants of the Houthi group were killed in clashes between the two sides in Maqbanah district western Taiz province southwestern Yemen. The government news agency ''SABA'' said that fierce fighting broke out between the forces of the 17th Brigade of the government forces on the one hand, and the Houthi militants on the other, in a number of sites, after an attack by the Houthis. According to a military source, the battles broke out on Grimm mountain, al Qahifah district and Qahban mountain perimeter.

The source said that the Houthis launched the attack with machine guns and heavy guns on positions southern the district, which is mostly controlled by them, but the government forces were able to repel the attack. However, the source did not mention the government forces losses.

Sirwah: Houthis casualties by Government Forces and Coalition shelling

ALMASDARONLINE, February 8, 2018

The government forces shelled on Wednesday the Houthis sites in Sirwah district western Marib province, eastern the capital Sana'a, killing and wounding many of them. The government forces' media center said in Twitter that the national army forces backed by the Arab coalition aircraft targeted the Houthis sites and gatherings in Sirwah front leading to heavy losses of lives and equipment, without giving further details about the incident.

It is worth noting that the confrontations in Sirwah district happen almost every day between the government forces and the Houthis, and last week the Houthis launched an attack on the government forces, killing seven soldiers, including a senior officer.

Saudi's air defense forces intercepts Houthis ballistic missile

ALMASDARONLINE February 6, 2018

The Saudi Arabia's air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis from Yemen over Khamis Mushait city, southern Saudi Arabia, Saudi media reported on Monday, without giving further details. The so-called "rocket force" of the Houthi group announced the launch of a ballistic missile on a military base in Khamis Mushait city, close to the Yemeni border.

"The bombing of the King Faisal military base in Khamis Mushait in Asir province with a short-range ballistic missile" Al-Masirah channel quoted a source. ''The ballistic missile hit the military target in Asir accurately,'' the source confirmed.

***

The following news stories are from the pro-Houthi website Yemen Extra (http://www.yemenextra.net/):

***

Report: 8 Yemeni civilians killed in 43+ Saudi airstrikes over Thursday

Feb 9, 2018, YemenExtra, M.A.

Eight Yemeni civilians were killed when the Saudi-led coalition waged more than 43 air strikes on several governorates of Yemen over Thursday, according to summarized reports on Friday.

In Jawf governorate, a seven member family was killed in airstrike that targeted their home in Salaba area based in Khub-washaaf district.

To continue with Khub-washaaf district, the warplanes of the US-backed coalition launched 12 raids on Utemah area and one on Ghail district.

In the Red Sea port city of Hudayda, a photographer of Sahat channel, Abdullah al-Montaser, was killed in airstrikes that hit Hais district.

Moreover in Hudayda, the warplanes launched an air strike that targeted a poultry truck on the road of Jarahi and Zabid districts.

In Saada governorate, two air strikes were waged on Mandaba area in Baqem district, one hit a school in Aal-Ali area of Razeh district, while two air strikes were launched on Malahidh area located in Dhahir district.

Meanwhile, artillery and missile force of the Saudi enemy shelled several areas of Razeh bordering district, damaging civilians’ farms.

In Hajjah governorate, the Saudi-led warplanes launched ten strikes on Haradh and Medi districts.

In Amran governorate, some 50 km away from the capital Sana’a, six air strikes hit Harf-Sufian district.

In Taiz governorate, the fighter jets launched three strikes east of Saber district.

In the Saudi bordering district of Jizan, two air strike were waged on Jarah valley

In Saudi Asir bordering governorate, the US-backed Saudi-led coalition launch an air strike on Majaza.

 

Yemen announces the destruction of the coalition’s defense system “PAC3”

Feb 10, 2018 , YemenExtra, SH.A.

Yemeni Missile Force and Air Defense Committees announced ,on Friday, the implementation of a joint military operation in which they destroyed the air defense system of the invasion and occupation forces in the western coast of Yemen.

A military source confirmed the implementation of a joint military operation hit the Patriot PAC 3 defense system of the invaders.

The military source also confirmed the success of the qualitative operation of the missile force and air defenses in the destruction of the third-generation Patriot system of the invaders in Yemen’s West Coast.

Brigadier Aziz Rashed, the deputy spokesman for the army, told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the Friday attack completely destroyed the American-made MIM-104F (PAC-3) missile system installed near the port city of Mokha.

He further said that the missile launched by Yemeni forces hit the target with high precision and totally destroyed the advanced air shield.

He added that the attack had paved the way for a larger operation to clean Yemen’s western coast of the presence of the Saudi-led forces.

“PAC 3” is the latest Patriot missiles with advanced capability, as this missile is an advanced leap of air defense systems have the ability to accurately hit the targets and the destructive ability of high ballistic missiles, and the head of the bombing is smaller than the head in the old Patriot The missile is part of a defensive system consisting of: 

1- The missile: – Whether the PAC-2 or PAC-3.

2-Launch pad: The launcher carries launchers of 16 missiles connected to each launcher with a fiber-optic or wireless control system. The launcher carries a hydraulic arm that loads a new rocket immediately after each launch .

3 – Radar system: – Each platform contains a radar up to a range of 100 kilometers can detect missiles in this range and the speed and trajectory.

4 – Control system: – It is a computer connected to the radar of the launch platform, which is equipped with control systems and guidance and often put the system in the case of automatic control and the electronic system is the medium between the launch platform and radar.

25 Ethiopian refugees missing after forced into Yemen sea

Feb 10, 2018, YemenExtra 

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 25 Ethiopian refugees have gone missing after being forced into the sea as they approached the coast of Yemen.

The men were on one of the four boats that ferried Ethiopians to Yemen on Thursday, Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies at the UN migration agency, tweeted on Friday.

Abdiker further said that the people on the boat were dumped into the sea and “forced to swim to shore” as they approached Yemen’s Shabwa province from Somalia.

No bodies have been recovered.

IOM spokesman Joel Millman said nearly 600 Ethiopian refugees, men and women, were aboard the ships. The figure is an unusually large number of refugees to arrive off the Yemeni province at one time.

According to International Organization for Migration figures, some 87,000 people risked their lives trying to reach Yemen from the Horn of Africa by boat in 2017.

At least 30 African refugees drowned when their boat capsized off the coast of war-torn Yemen last month with reports that their smugglers opened fire on those on board.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a bloody military campaign early in 2015 and have, ever since, been ceaselessly pounding the country in an attempt to reinstall Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s former president and a staunch ally of Riyadh, and to crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement. The Saudi-led coalition has also maintained an embargo on the country where, so far, at least 13,600 civilians have been reportedly killed.

Yemen’s lawless southern regions, which are mostly controlled by militants loyal to Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, have become a fertile ground for smugglers who vow to transfer refugees from the region to wealthier Arab states in the Persian Gulf.

However, most of those smugglers leave refugees at sea as they fear being arrested by militants or Saudi Arabia’s military forces.

85,000 displaced in 10 weeks as violence rages in Yemen: UN

Feb 9, 2018, YemenExtra,Y.A

The United Nations has expressed deep concern over surging violence across Yemen, warning that the worsening situation has pushed some 85,000 people from their homes over the past 10 weeks.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday that more than 70 percent of those displaced since December 1 last year had escaped clashes between Houthi Ansarullah fighters and Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Yemen’s resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in Yemen’s western coastal provinces of Hudaydah and Ta’izz.

The UN refugee agency also cautioned against the dire condition of displaced people, who are caught in areas close to hostilities in the two provinces.

“Most of those displaced in the governorates of Hudaydah and Ta’izz remain hosted by relatives or friends, trapped inside homes or in caves as ground clashes, aerial bombardment and sniper fire rage around them,” UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told reporters in the Swiss city of Geneva.

She noted that the UN is witnessing an upsurge in new displacements from other parts of Yemen, including the northern provinces of al-Jawf and Hajjah, as well as the oil-rich eastern province of Shabwa.

“The main needs of the displaced and other conflict-affected populations continue to be access to shelter, health, food and water and sanitation,” Pouilly said.

She warned that Yemen is “seeing a spike in needs, fueled by ongoing conflict, a collapsing economy and diminishing social services and livelihoods.”

Last month, the UN appealed for nearly $3 billion (2.45 billion euros) to combat imminent famine as well as cholera and diphtheria outbreaks in Yemen this year.

At least 13,600 people have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen in 2015. Much of the country’s infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The Saudi-led war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic across Yemen.

According to the World Health Organization’s latest tally, the cholera outbreak has killed 2,167 people since the end of April 2017 and is suspected to have infected 841,906.

In November 2017, the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said more than 11 million children in Yemen were in acute need of aid, stressing that it was estimated that every 10 minutes a child died of a preventable disease there.

Additionally, the UN has described the current level of hunger in Yemen as “unprecedented,” emphasizing that 17 million people were food insecure in the country.

The world body says that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, do not have enough food and rely entirely on external assistance.

***

Share the link of this article with your facebook friends