Al-Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate, considered the jihadist group’s most potent and dangerous branch, has confirmed that its chief was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week, according to several news reports.
The Pentagon announced Saturday that six Guantánamo Bay detainees, all Yemenis, had been transferred out of the military facility and into Oman, bordering their native country. Among the group were two men believed to have served as bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden.
A 22-year-old Yemeni rapper, who has become the first high-profile female artist of her kind in the troubled Arab nation, is receiving threats. Amani Yahya fled to Saudi Arabia due to the civil war engulfing Yemen and has dedicated her artistic career to shining a light on the suffering of Yemeni women and defying cultural norms for women in the devout Muslim nation.
Contents: Saudi Arabia shoots down Scud missile from Houthis in Yemen; Who’s causing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen?; Europeans rescue 3,000 migrants on Saturday, fear hundreds of thousands more
Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are benefiting from the global focus on the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), quietly capturing territory and expanding their influence amid the turmoil in the war-ravaged countries, reports The Washington Post.
(Reuters) Saudi-led air strikes killed a group of around 20 Houthi fighters outside the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday and also shook the capital Sanaa in the north, militiamen opposed to the Houthis said.
According to the Yemeni government-in-exile, United States diplomats are in discussions with Yemen’s Houthis, a Shiite rebel group which seized control of the Gulf country earlier this year.
The Houthis, Iran-backed rebels who overthrew the government of Yemen, have released one of four Americans held captive, according to CNN, relaying a report from Oman’s official news agency.
“Saudi-led airstrikes killed at least 80 people near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia and in the capital Sanaa Wednesday, residents said, the deadliest day of bombing in over two months of war in Yemen,” writes Reuters.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the nation had already begun sending “humanitarian aid” relief packages to refugees fleeing the war-torn nation of Yemen, and that it was preparing to continue sending food and medicine to the region. It marks the first Turkish presence in a war in which Iran and Saudi Arabia are both backing opposite sides of a civil war.
Reuters reports that Sunni militia units have driven Iran-backed Shiite Houthi insurgents from the southern Yemeni city of Dalea, dealing the Houthis their “first significant setback” in two months of hot civil war.
CNN reports that Houthi insurgents in Yemen claim to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet near the capital city of Sanaa. The Saudis have refused to comment on the report, while the Yemeni government has flatly denied it.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set up camps in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, to care for the thousands of Yemenis fleeing the civil war. The agency needs more help, but now Iranian state media claim Djibouti turned away humanitarian aid.
Contents: Indonesia and Malaysia back down and accept stranded Rohingya migrants; Iran backs down and allows inspection of aid ship to Yemen;
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gave a genial interview to Der Spiegel this week, with the German magazine describing him as “relaxed and cheerful” throughout. In his relaxed and cheerful way, Zarif continued Iran’s practice of making the Obama administration look foolish, rewriting the so-called “nuclear deal” on the fly and scoffing at the administration’s talking points.
Contents: Iranian, American, Saudi military head for confrontation off Yemen; In repeat of Mosul disaster, Iraqi army abandoned US weapons in Ramadi; Report: Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons from Pakistan
A showdown at sea between the U.S. and Iran is brewing off the coast of Yemen.
Fighter jets belonging to a Saudi-led coalition launched strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen on Tuesday, just one day after a five-day truce between the two parties expired.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies were reportedly targeted by Saudi-led airstrikes after a five-day humanitarian cease-fire expired on Sunday night.
NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel said “I don’t think we have a really very rosy picture of the Middle East right now” on Friday’s broadcast of “The Rundown with Jose Diaz-Balart” on MSNBC. Engel stated, “Well, I think
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The five-day cease-fire in Yemen, which appeared to be holding up despite some violations, has facilitated the delivery of some humanitarian assistance for the residents of the war-ravaged nation, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Thursday.
Iran has deployed a “humanitarian aid” ship carrying 2,500 tons of unknown supplies to Yemen, setting up a situation where Tehran is attempting to openly defy a U.S. order not to dock its ships in the country’s ports.
Ken Roth, the director of Human Rights Watch, spoke exclusively with the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) network earlier this week about the ongoing conflict in Yemen, blaming the United States for Saudi Arabia’s alleged use of cluster munitions.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Monday that they shot down a Moroccan F-16 fighter jet that was participating in the Saudi-led coalition against them and their allies.
SANAA, Yemen (AP)– Islamic militant websites say four leading members of Yemen’s Al-Qaeda branch have been killed in a suspected U.S.drone strike the previous day in an eastern Yemen province.
Saudis and Houthis escalate Yemen war further, prior to ‘ceasefire’; EU seeks approval of military action in Libya against migrant traffickers
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Alan Eyre gave an exclusive interview on Monday to Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency, according to the Tehran-based outlet.
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen reportedly said on Sunday that they had accepted a five-day cease-fire proposed by Saudi Arabia earlier last week.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News at the South Carolina Freedom Summit this weekend, former New York Governor George Pataki provided a taste of what a Pataki presidency would look like, should he decide to formally enter the increasingly crowded race.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states hit the Obama White House with a stunning vote of no confidence on Monday, as Saudi King Salman and three other regional leaders announced they would skip President Obama’s Camp David summit, scheduled for later this week.
Rohingya ‘death camps’ and ‘slave camps’ found in southern Thailand; Yemen war sharply intensifies, as ‘truce’ is offered.
Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, a top-level commander in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and former confidant of Osama bin Laden, has been killed by a U.S. drone strike, according to a message released by the terror entity.
Saudi Arabia has proposed a five-day humanitarian cease-fire in Yemen as long as the Houthis also refrain from the fighting.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pushed for a suspension of hostilities in Yemen as he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, citing an escalating humanitarian crisis.
In a surprise, Senegal joins a beleaguered Saudi coalition in Yemen; Pakistan and Saudi Arabia appear to reconcile over Yemen; ‘Saudi troops’ landing in Aden were really Yemeni troops
Senegal announced on Monday that it will send 2,100 to support the Saudi Arabia-led campaign against Iran-backed Houthis rebels and their allies in Yemen, according to various media reports.
The emergence of a mysterious new pro-government Arab force in the Yemeni port city of Aden is fueling speculation that ground troops from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have been deployed to combat the Iran-backed Shiite rebels and their allies, according to some news outlets.
Jimmy Carter blames Netanyahu for failure of Mideast peace negotiations; European Union in disarray over big surge in migrants this weekend; Saudi Arabia denies reports of Saudi ground troops in Yemen
The Saudi-led air campaign and escalating battles on the ground in Yemen have left many Yemenis without access to food and fuel needed to power water pumps and generators for hospitals, reports The New York Times (NYT).
Predominantly Sunni Turkey and Shia powerhouse Iran have decided to join forces towards finding a peaceful solution to the chaos in Yemen, reports Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah, quoting the Iranian envoy to Turkey.
