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11 Yemenis Killed in Attacks, Clashes in Aden, Saudi Shaybah Oil Field Hit by Yemeni Drones

August 18, 2019 

Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters in Aden, fihgting against UAE-backed fighters in the southern city, file, August 18, 2019	Clashes between Yemenis in Aden, which is under UAE control, file, August 18, 2019

Shaybah Oil Field and Refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia, which was attacked by Yemeni drones, August 17, 2019	Neighborhoods bombed in eastern Yemeni city of Hudayida, August 17, 2019

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

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More than 27 gunmen killed and wounded in clashes between 'Joint Forces' and Houthi militia in Hodeidah

August 17, 2019, ALMASDARONLINE ١٧ أغسطس ٢٠١٩

Four members of the joint forces loyal to the coalition were killed and six were injured, and about seven others were killed and 10 others were injured in clashes and mutual shelling over the past few hours on the outskirts of the western Yemeni city of Hudayida (Hodeidah).

A military source told Al-Masdar Online that Houthi militias shelled 120-caliber and 82-caliber mortars and Howitzer  positions east of al-Saleh city, targeting soldiers with 12.7-caliber, 14.5-caliber machine guns and snipers.

The joint forces (Brigadier General Tariq Saleh's forces, giants' forces, and Al-Tuhami brigades), units formed from different-oriented resistance fighters taking part in hostilities against Houthi militias on the west coast, agreed to form a unified collective command linked to the coalition forces (UAE) And Saudi Arabia) on the west coast.

Houthi militias intensified shelling with mortars and machine guns on Saturday afternoon on the positions of joint forces loyal to the Arab coalition in the east of al-Drihimi district, adjacent to the city of Hodeidah.

On Saturday, Houthi militias also tightened their shelling with mortars, B10, RBG shells, doshka and bika cannons, the positions of the joint forces east and north of the District of Hees in the south of the province.

In a related context, the "Joint Forces" managed to repel an infiltration attempt by Houthi militias accompanied by heavy artillery shelling in the early hours of Saturday morning east of the Tahita district south of Hodeidah.

Government forces thwart Houthi attack in Hayfan, south of Taiz

August 18, 2019, ALMASDARONLINE ١٨ أغسطس ٢٠١٩

Government forces foiled a violent attack by Houthi militias in the past few hours on their positions in The Hayfan district of Taiz province in southwestern Yemen.

A military source told Al-Masdar Online that government forces foiled an attack accompanied by artillery shelling last night and dawn on their positions in Akbush, AL-Ahkoom isolation in Hayfan district.

According to the source, the Houthi attack and shelling focused on government forces positions in the upper Al-Hamra and Al-Akhadar hills and Ras al-Naqeel in Al-Akbush, which oversees the only supply line linking Taiz, Lahj and Aden.

Saudi Energy Minister acknowledged that the "Shaybah" field had been attacked by "drones" and "Attack targets world's energy supply"

August 17, 2019, Al-Masdar online- News Room ١٧ أغسطس ٢٠١٩

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih acknowledged that Aramco's Al-Shaybah oil field was attacked by a drone on Saturday morning, without naming who was behind the attack. Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Khalid Al-Falih, announced that at 6:20 a.m. today (17 August, 2019), a processing unit of Shaybah’s natural gas plant was targeted by explosive-laden drones, resulting in a limited fire. The fire was quickly controlled and extinguished resulting in minor damages and thankfully with no causalities to personnel. Saudi Arabia’s oil production and exports were not interrupted as a result of this terrorist attack.

Al-Falih also stressed that Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms this cowardly attack, and affirms that this action of sabotage is a continuation of the series of vulgar attacks targeting the global oil supply chain that including those that were recently launched against oil pipelines in the Kingdom and tankers in the Arabian Gulf amongst others. He emphasized that these attacks not only target Saudi Arabia, but also the global energy security of supply and through that the global economy, demonstrating once again the imperative for the global community to confront all terrorist entities that carry out such acts of sabotage, including the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

Al-Houthi militia on Saturday announced the targeting of two Saudi Aramco oil facilities with 10 drones.

"The air force has carried out the largest attack on the Saudi rear since the start of the war," said a spokesman for the Houthi militia.

The  spokesman for the Houthi militia forces “Suray’a” said that "Ten drone aircraft targeted Aramco's Al-Shaybah field and refinery in the east of the kingdom as part of operation Balance of Deterrence,"

"The Shaybah field and refinery has the largest strategic stockpile in the Kingdom and can accommodate more than one billion barrels," Suray’a said, adding that the operation "comes within the framework of deterrence and a legitimate response to the crimes of aggression and its siege."

At the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Tehran. Trilateral meeting between Iran, The Houthis and 4 European countries

August 17, 2019, Al-Masdar online- News Room ١٧ أغسطس ٢٠١٩

In a move described as "unconventional," Iran arranged a meeting at its Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Saturday, bringing together a Houthi delegation with the ambassadors of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as well as Iranian officials.

Iran's Fars news agency said the participants stressed the speedy cessation of the war and a political solution to the crisis, calling for an accelerated humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people.

The agency said that , Senior Assistant to the Iranian foreign minister for Political Affairs Ali Asqar Khaji headed Iran's delegation while the Yemeni and European delegations were led by Ansaruallah Spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam and the British, French, German and Italian envoys to Tehran, respectively.

During the meeting, the participants explained about their governments' views about the political, field and humanitarian situation in Yemen, expressing regret over the continued critical conditions in the country after thousands of Yemeni people were killed and wounded and different infrastructures in the country were destroyed in the Saudi-led war.

They also underscored the need for an immediate end to the war and finding of a political solution to the crisis in Yemen, and called for the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the country as soon as possible.

Meantime, the delegations participating in the meeting emphasized full implementation of the Stockholm agreements, describing it as a prelude to the final settlement of the political crisis in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed more than 20,000 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children. Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million people in need and is seeing a spike in needs, fueled by ongoing conflict, a collapsing economy and diminished social services and livelihoods. The blockade on Yemen has smothered humanitarian deliveries of food and medicine to the import-dependent state.

The UN has repeatedly criticized the Saudi-UAE-led military coalition's bombing campaign and placed it on a blacklist of child rights violators last year.

A UN panel has also compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

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

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Sayyed al-Houthi comments on the biggest operation on the Saudi depth

August 18, 2019, YemenExtra, SH.A.

Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi on Saturday said that the drones attack on Saudi Shaybah refinery was the largest operation targeting the Saudi-led aggression coalition since the beginning of the aggression on Yemen on March 26, 2015.

In a televised speech he delivered Saturday afternoon, Sayyed al-Houthi said that the Yemeni army’s operations would focus on “the milch udder” upon which Americans rely on, about Saudi oil facilities.

Sayyed al-Houthi explained that the targeted Saudi Shaybah refinery, which is located in an oil field near the Kingdom’s border with the UAE at a distance of 1100 km from the nearest border point with Yemen, is one of the largest Saudi oil refineries with huge oil reserves.

“In the fifth year, the aggression coalition receives the biggest blows, strong slaps, and fatal punches as a result of its continual brutal aggressive,” Sayyed al-Houthi said.

He pointed out that the operation launched earlier in the day by 10 drones at the Shaybah refinery on the Saudi border with the UAE and called “Deterrence Balancing Operation”, carried a lot of message to the aggression forces. “It is considered a common lesson for both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have led the aggression on Yemen over five years.”

Yemeni Air Force Conducts Largest Attack in Saudi Depth Since War on Yemen Began

Aug 17, 2019, YemenExtra, M.A.

Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier Yahya Sare’e said, on Saturday, that the Air Force in the Army and Popular Committees conducted the largest attack on the Saudi depth since the start of the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Brigadier Sare’e said in a statement that ten Yemeni drones have targeted Aramco’s Shaybah Oil Field and Refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia.

“The attack comes as the first operation to establish a Deterrence Balance,” he added.

He also pointed out that Shaybah Oil Field and Refinery have the largest strategic oil reserve in the Saudi Kingdom and can accommodate more than one billion barrels.

“Our Bank of targets expand daily and the next attacks will be more painful to the enemy,” Sare’e stressed, pointing out that the First Operation of Deterrence Balance comes as part of a deterrent and legitimate response to the crimes and siege against the Yemeni people.

The spokesman of the Armed Forces warned the Saudi regime and the forces of the US-backed coalition with more and  attacks if the aggression continues.

He pointed out that the forces of aggression have no choice but to stop the war and lift the siege on the Yemeni people.

Brigadier Sare’e conveyed the greetings of the Yemeni Armed Forces to all honorable and free people who contributed to the success of the Shaybah Oil Field operation.

“We renew call for all companies and civilians to stay away from all vital sites and targets in the Kingdom, as they have become legitimate targets and can be hit at any time,” he concluded. 

Saudi-led coalition storms hospitals in Yemen

Aug 18, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

Southern Transmittal Council’ paid fighters backed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) stormed on Sunday a hospital of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders in the southern city of Aden, under the control of UAE.

According to sources, the attack on the hospital in Moar al-Mukhtar quarter came to arrest three paid fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed resigned Hadi’s authorities.

In April 2019, the MSF decided to close the hospital after it was stormed by gunmen and kidnapped a patient.

In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started  a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and  prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.

Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

What is the Legacy infighting embodiment of the Saudi-led coalition in southern Yemen?

Aug 18, 2019, YemenExtra, Y.A

A Yemeni activist and political commentator says the recent infighting between Emirati- and Saudi-backed paid fighters in the southern port city of Aden is the embodiment of the UK’s “legacy of divide and conquer.”

Hussain al-Bukhaiti made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned that the regimes in Riyadh and Abu Dahabi — which have been leading a military campaign against Yemen — are after partitioning the country.

It came after Yemen’s port city of Aden,  which bases the ex-government, has been rocked by deadly clashes between Emirati-backed separatists and Saudi-backed paid fighters, amid a widening rift in the Riyadh-led military coalition waging war on the Arabian Peninsula state.According to reports, the infighting broke out Wednesday after the southern separatists attended a funeral for dozens of fellows, including a senior paid fighter commander, who were killed in last week’s retaliatory missile attack.

The United Nations (UN) says at least 40 people have been killed and 260 others wounded in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden during infighting between groups of paid fighters receiving support from either Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Political experts say the recent armed clashes between Saudi-backed paid fighters and Emirati-backed separatists in southern Yemen indicate how the war against the impoverished country has ended up in a deadlock.

In March 2015, the US -backed –Saudi-led coalition started  a war against Yemen with the declared aim of crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, who had taken over from the staunch Riyadh ally and fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, while also seeking to secure the Saudi border with its southern neighbor. Three years and over 600,000 dead and injured Yemeni people and  prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country, the war has yielded little to that effect.

Despite the coalition claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

Saudi American War Crimes on Friday, August 16th, 2019: Record

Aug 17, 2019, YemenExtra, M.A.

The Saudi-led coalition and its mercenaries, on Friday, continued to target Hodeidah, injuring 2 civilians and causing material damage to public and private property.

In Hodeidah, US-Saudi mercenaries targeted Ad-Durayhimi district with artillery shells, injuring two civilians.

The mercenaries also targeted civilians’ houses and properties in Kilo-16 with heavy and medium machineguns.

The US-Saudi forces also targeted several areas of the city using 12 artillery shells.

Report: Saudi Arabia Covered Up Unlawful War Crimes in Yemen

Aug 17, 2019, YemenExtra, M.A.

An international law group has submitted a new report to the British government providing evidence that the Saudi-led coalition has been covering up its unlawful airstrikes on civilian targets and its war crimes in the war on Yemen.

Researchers from the independent Yemeni rights group Mwatana, seen as impartial by the UN, have collected the evidence which was submitted to the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, by the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and UK law firm Bindmans.

The 288-page report said the Saudi attacks violate international humanitarian law by “targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

It contains witness testimony as well as crater and bomb-fragment analysis from scores of strikes carried out by the coalition and added that the Riyadh covered up evidence of war crimes in subsequent investigations into bloody attacks.

“The coalition has continued to carry out apparently unlawful attacks throughout the course of the conflict, failed to credibly investigate, and whitewashed significant civilian harm,” the two organizations said in a statement.

GLAN’s director Gearóid Ó Cuinn said, “The UK government can either rely on discredited Saudi assurances or listen to those who have documented painstakingly the constant civilian deaths caused by coalition airstrikes.”

The new report will put Britain under more pressure as the government is legally not allowed to license arms exports if there is a “clear risk” that they might be used to deliberately or recklessly kill civilians.

The UK Court of Appeal ruled in June that the country’s extensive arms deals with Saudi Arabia are unlawful because the weapons are being used in the kingdom’s deadly war against the people of Yemen.

Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton, Lord Justice Irwin and Lord Justice Singh ruled that London’s arms sales to Riyadh were “irrational and therefore unlawful” and the trade secretary should not issue weapons exports licenses without considering the Riyadh regime’s human rights record.

It came after a damning parliamentary report, issued by British House of Lords International Relations Committee, said in February that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia since the start of the Riyadh-led war on Yemen have been causing “significant civilian casualties” in the country.

The UK has licensed over £4.7 billion worth of arms exports, including missiles and fighter jets, to Riyadh since the beginning of the deadly conflict. Britain has also been providing combat intelligence and target data to Saudi Arabia over the course of the war, which has killed thousands of Yemeni civilians and put millions more on the verge of famine.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015. The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.

The US-Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

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