Yemeni ambassador to the United States Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said that a court in Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, controlled by the Houthi movement, sentenced the country’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and six other top government’s officials to death.
Yemeni Pro-Houthi Court Sentences Country’s President to Death
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051969048-yemen-houthi-president-death-sentence/
A court in Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, controlled by the Houthi movement, sentenced the country’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and six other top government’s officials to death, Yemeni ambassador to the United States Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said.
Houthi court in Sanaa has sentenced President Hadi and 6 of his senior assistants to death, proudly I am one of them," Mubarak wrote on Twitter late on Saturday.
According to media reports,
the president and his officials were sentenced for high treason.
Yemen's civil war between the internationally recognized Aden-based government of President Hadi and the Houthi movement backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted in March 2015. Shortly after the start of the conflict, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab countries launched Operation Decisive Storm, which has since been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.
The operation of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has created $400 million worth in damages and left dozens of teachers and pupils dead in the wake of the ongoing hostilities, according to Ismail Zaidan, the information officer at the Ministry of Education of Yemen.
Saudi-Led Coalition Destroys Over 2,300 Schools in Yemen Over Two Years
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703241051929498-yemen-coalition-schools-saudi-arabia/
The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has destroyed over 2,300 schools in Yemen since its military campaign against the opposition Houthi movement began two years ago, Ismail Zaidan, the information officer at the Ministry of Education of Yemen, told Sputnik.
The damage suffered by the education process as a result of the aggression against education institutions has reached 2,306 schools and other institutions, which were fully or partially destroyed," Zaidan said.
According to Zaidan, the operation has created $400 million worth in damages and left dozens of teachers and pupils dead in the wake of the ongoing hostilities.
Two years ago Riyadh-led coalition started carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against the rebels from Houthi movement, known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God) at the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi as part of its Operation Decisive Storm.
Saudi-Led International Coalition's Military Operation in Yemen
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051970914-saudi-led-international-coalition/
The Houthi movement, operating in Yemen since 1994, is an armed Shiite organization that had initially controlled a small area in northern Yemen. The movement's leader, Abdul-Malik Houthi, staged an anti-government rebellion in Yemen in 2004.
Supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who stepped down in 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring in exchange for immunity from political harassment and legal prosecution have sided with Houthi rebels, while army units, loyal to Hadi, and Sunni volunteers from local tribes opposed the rebels.
In February 2010, the Yemeni government and Shiite rebels signed a ceasefire agreement.
In mid-August 2014, Houthi-organized protests flared up in Yemen, and they escalated into clashes with security forces one month later.
After several unsuccessful attempts to launch dialogue with Hadi’s regime, in early 2015 the Houthis launched an all-out attack on major Yemeni cities, including the country’s capital of Sanaa and seized most of the country. Hadi was virtually ousted from power and fled from Sanaa to Aden where he set up his temporary residence. Later he was forced out of the country.
On March 22, 2015, the UN Security Council confirmed the legitimacy of Hadi's presidency and condemned the Houthis' actions. Later in the day, the Houthis established control over Yemen’s third largest city of Taiz and in early April, they entered Aden.
Saudi Arabia announced on March 23, 2015, that Persian Gulf states would act to defend the region from Houthi aggression. The initiative was supported by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan.
On March 26, 2015, the international coalition launched the Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen, carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request. The coalition’s air force started bombing Sanaa, targeting Houthi-controlled air force, air defense installations, the international airport and residential areas. Coalition forces also attacked Houthi units, their camps, military equipment and the infrastructure in Yemen.
On April 21, 2015, the coalition sources announced the successful completion of the Operation Decisive Storm and the shift to the political-military Operation Renewal of Hope. It was announced that the Houthi threat to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors had been eliminated, that ballistic missiles seized by the rebels had been destroyed, and that the new campaign would aim to resume the political process, combat terrorism and counter Houthi military activity.
A fragile truce ended in mid-May, 2015, and the coalition launched new air strikes against Houthi positions.
In June, an attempt to launch indirect UN-mediated intra-Yemeni talks failed in Geneva.
By mid-July, forces, loyal to the legitimate authorities and supported by coalition land units, had retaken Aden and several strategically important southern areas. Hadi returned to Yemen and proclaimed Aden the country’s "temporary capital."
Apart from Saudi Arabia that leads the ten-country coalition, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributed 1,000 soldiers each and Bahrain sent about 500 servicemen to ground operations.
In September 2015, media reported the deployment of 800 soldiers from Egypt. However, Cairo denied these claims. Nevertheless, Egypt was indeed involved in a naval blockade of Yemen. Other countries confined themselves to airstrikes and logistics support.
Faced with the coalition’s onslaught and losing the southern sector of the capital, the Houthis and Saleh agreed to begin talks under a plan approved by the United Nations calling for a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of the rebel units from cities and the establishment of a national-unity government. Yemeni authorities refused to negotiate.
In late September, 2015, the Houthis carried out an successful attack in south of Sanaa and also attacked Saudi forces on the border with Saudi Arabia. In November, 400 Sudanese soldiers reinforced coalition forces operating in the Taiz province. According to some estimates, 10,000 service personnel were deployed on the ground.
On December 15, 2015, direct UN-mediated intra-Yemeni talks began in Geneva. At the same time, a seven-day truce was declared in Yemen, although fighting continued in the Al Jawf, Hajjah and Taiz governorates. The coalition advanced on Sanaa once again, with the Houthis retaliating by firing ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia.
On December 20, 2015, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announced an end to the talks. Participants had only been able to coordinate prisoner exchanges and the delivery of humanitarian relief aid.
In late December, the intra-Yemeni dialogue had virtually failed, with UN representatives noting that the coalition strikes against residential areas in Yemen violated international humanitarian law. The disastrous health situation deteriorated even more after the coalition air force destroyed two hospitals belonging to the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) humanitarian medical organization.
According to UN sources, almost 9,000 people were killed in Yemen over a period of one year, including over 3,000 civilians. Coalition forces were responsible for 50 percent of the fatalities.
Civilians make up to 95 percent of fatalities during attacks on densely populated areas.
Almost 2.5 million Yemenis fled their homes due to hostilities.
Contrary to a decision to continue the intra-Yemeni talks in mid-January 2016, the UN special envoy was only able to resume preliminary consultations in February, noting several days later that the parties were unable to come to an agreement on the terms of the dialogue’s new round.
In mid-March, 2016 it was suggested that the talks take place in Kuwait or Jordan, but no date was fixed.
In this context, forces, loyal to Hadi, retook Taiz. The head of state announced that the army still had to liberate 15 percent of the country’s territory and the coalition air force continued to attack rebel-held areas.
On March 17, a Saudi Arabian spokesperson announced a gradual drawdown of the coalition’s military operations in Yemen, noting that the coalition would continue to provide air support to Yemeni forces.
This statement came after coalition warplanes hit a marketplace three times in Mustaba District of Yemen’s Hajjah province. The air strikes killed 119 people and wounded 47 more, said a spokesperson for the healthcare directorate.
On March 21, 2016,Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the parties to the Yemeni conflict had agreed to hold a new round of talks in Kuwait and had confirmed their readiness to set up a national unity government.
The media announced March 28 that the Houthis and Saudi Arabia had exchanged prisoners. A total of 100 Houthi rebels were swapped for nine Saudi Arabian prisoners.
A ceasefire agreement entered into force at midnight April 10, 2016. However, fighting continued in some parts of the country.
The United Nations brokered another round of peace talks in Kuwait that started on April 21. The talks almost failed several times because their participants accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
During the talks, the government of Yemen and its Houthi opponents agreed to exchange prisoners in the run-up to the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
On June 1, the media reported that Houthi rebels released 16 prisoners from the Abu Al-Abbas people’s militia unit seized in the Taiz province in central Yemen, in exchange for 19 of their supporters.
The parties to the Yemeni conflict also agreed to release all children who had been imprisoned.
On June 7, the media reported that the Saudi Arabian-led coalition had transferred 52 teenagers who had sided with Houthi rebels fighting government forces to the Government of Yemen.
On June 15, 2016, the UAE announced the withdrawal of the country’s servicemen from the Saudi Arabian-led Arab coalition’s operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
On June 18, the parties to the Yemeni conflict exchanged prisoners near the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen, under the mediation of local tribes. The parties exchanged about 200 people, namely, the Arab coalition released 118 people, while Houthi rebels freed another 76. According to the UAE media, this deal had nothing to do with the result of the intra-Yemeni peace talks in Kuwait.
Although intra-Yemeni talks continued for 70 days, the parties failed to reach any specific agreement, despite the UN special envoy’s attempts to persuade them to approve a road map stipulating the abolition of previously adopted decisions on running the country by Houthi rebels who had seized power. On June 29, 2016, Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the intra-Yemeni talks had been put off until the end of the celebrations marking the end of Ramadan.
Talks between the Yemeni government delegation and that of the Houthi movement opposing it resumed in Kuwait July 16, 2016.
On July 31, 2016, Hadi approved the UN-backed draft agreement on resolving the Yemeni crisis. The agreement, proposed by Ould Cheikh Ahmed, urges Houthi rebels and forces, loyal to Saleh, to lay down their weapons. The document also calls for withdrawing rebel units from Sanaa and the cities of Taiz and Al Hudaydah and establishing a military committee responsible for surrendering weapons and withdrawing insurgents from the cities. A political dialogue was set to resume 45 days after signing the draft agreement by the parties.
Hadi instructed the government delegation at the talks in Kuwait to sign the draft agreement. In turn, the government delegation officially notified the UN special envoy that it would approve the document, provided that the rebels signed it by August 7.
This round of peace talks ended August 6, with the parties failing to reach any agreement and fighting involving the Saudi Arabian-led coalition soon resumed in the country.
On October 24, 2016, the media reported that Ould Cheikh Ahmed had officially submitted a plan backed by the United Nations for comprehensively resolving the national crisis to the Yemeni government delegation and that of the Houthi rebels.
The new UN plan stipulated a number of mutual concessions. The Houthis were expected to withdraw from the capital. In response, Vice President Ali Mohsen Ahmar was supposed to resign, and Hadi’s powers were to have been seriously curtailed.
The parties to the Yemeni conflict rejected this plan.
Despite his numerous efforts, Ould Cheikh Ahmed has so far failed to persuade the warring parties to sit down at the negotiating table after three abortive rounds of talks have not helped resolve the Yemeni armed conflict sputtering on for almost two years.
As of October 2016, almost 10,000 people had been killed in Yemen, according to UN estimates. The total of 21.2 million Yemeni citizens, which is 80 percent of the country’s population, are in need of urgent assistance, while another 14 million are malnourished, and seven million are on the verge of dying from starvation. There are over three million internally displaced people, as well as over 300,000 refugees.
Most Yemenis are unable to drink clean water and use the sanitary infrastructure. The national healthcare system has been virtually paralyzed due to the destruction of the appropriate infrastructure by air strikes and a shortage of medication and other preparations. Since 2015, 10,000 children have died due to a shortage of medical services. More and more Yemenis are affected by grave diseases such as cholera, acute forms of pneumonia and measles.
It appears that the United States is doing its best to shift the blame concerning deadly Mosul airstrikes to another side, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.
Mosul Airstrikes: US Seeks to 'Shift Blame' for Civilian Casualties
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051979557-mosul-airstrikes-us-civilian-casualties/
In an interview with Sputnik, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski specifically drew attention to Washington's efforts to shift blame pertaining to deadly Mosul airstrikes to another side.
The interview came after the UN said that it is profoundly concerned by reports about hundreds of casualties in alleged coalition airstrikes against the Daesh terrorist group in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Earlier this week, media reported that around 200 civilians died in the raid in the embattled western part of the city.
Meanwhile, the US military is investigating whether it was responsible for the suspected casualties.
Officials told CNN that the Central Command is looking seriously into the matter, but does not contemplate a pause in regional military operations.
"It's undeniable that there were civilian casualties in the Mosul airstrikes and now they have to deal with it," Kwiatkowski said referring to media and social media reports confirming the civilian death toll.
According to her, the goal of the US Central Command's current probe into the Mosul strikes is to try and shift the blame.
"Again, you have to think about motivation. What motivated them to launch an investigation is certainly to shift the blame from the US. Casualties produce negative publicity and the real purpose of the military public affairs is to reduce this publicity," Kwiatkowski said.
Asked about if there will be an international independent inquiry into the western Mosul airstrikes and similar incidents, Kwiatkowski said that "it seems like that it should be and it seems that it would be the UN's and NATO's attention" on the matter.
Meanwhile, the US-led coalition has claimed that its airstrike in western Mosul was allegedly carried out against Daesh militants at the request of Iraq.
"An initial review of strike data from March 16-23 indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Coalition struck ISIS fighters and equipment, March 17, in West Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties," the statement released on Saturday said.
Iraqi airstrikes have killed six senior Daesh figures in Mosul, local media said Sunday.
Iraqi Airstrike Kills 6 Senior Daesh Figures in Mosul
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703191051746353-iraq-airstrike-mosul/
The militants, all foreigners, included a Russian national called Abdul Karim Al Rusi who was in charge of the so called Tariq ibn Ziyad Battalion, as well as French, UK, Turkish and Moroccan nationals, the Al Sumaria channel reported, citing Iraqi intelligence sources.
Iraqi troops and pro-government militias are closing in on the remaining Daesh enclave in west Mosul months after starting the operation to liberate the city from terrorists. The eastern part of the city was liberated by the Iraqi troops, backed by the US-led international coalition, in January, with the advance on west Mosul starting in February.
According to media reports, NATO Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Nicholson plans to request more troops in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming terrorist safe haven.
NATO Resolute Support Commander Calls for More Troops in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201703261051974153-nato-afghanistan-troops/
NATO Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Nicholson plans to request more troops in Afghanistan to prevent the country from becoming terrorist safe haven, local media reported Sunday.
We cannot afford to walk away from Afghanistan. This is where the war against terrorism started on 9/11. Failure here would embolden terrorists globally and there would be more members flocking to their banners. We would also see an increased number of migrants in the region coming into Europe," Nicholson, who leads US and international forces in Afghanistan, told The Sunday Times.
The request for more troops, which will be made at a NATO summit in May, is backed by US Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to the news outlet.
Nicholson said the key aim of 12,000 troops he leads in Afghanistan was to defeat the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group (banned in Russia, the United States and many other countries), adding that the Afghan government was controlling only about 75 percent of the country's territory.
Pentagon announced that a well-known al-Qaeda terrorist was killed in an airstrike conducted by the US forces in Afghanistan.
Senior al-Qaeda Terrorist Killed in US Airstrike in Afghanistan
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201703261051969772-qaeda-terrorist-killed-afghenistan/
A well-known terrorist from al-Qaeda was killed in an airstrike conducted by the US forces in Afghanistan, US Department of Defense said on Sunday.
"The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that a U.S. counter-terrorism airstrike conducted March 19 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, resulted in the death of Qari Yasin, a well-known al Qaida terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent victims, including two American service members," the statement released by the Department reads.
According to the Pentagon, among other attacks that Yasin was responsible for was the bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on September 20, 2008, which left dozens of people killed, among them two US officers.
"The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice," US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said, as cited in the statement.
A total of 8,400 US troops is currently deployed in Afghanistan, conducting counterterrorism operations and advising, assisting and training local forces to fight the Taliban.
