Over 39 individuals from the Horn of Africa have lost their lives after their boat capsized off the coast of Yemen, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and local officials.
Survivors informed rescuers that the vessel, carrying 260 migrants, sank on Monday amidst strong winds.
Efforts are underway to locate the whereabouts of 150 individuals who remain missing.
The IOM has confirmed that it is offering assistance to 71 survivors.
Local authorities in Rudum, located east of Aden, stated that the individuals aboard the boat were migrants, primarily from Ethiopia, who use Yemen as a transit point to access Gulf states.
Hadi al-Khurma, the director of Rudum district, informed Reuters news agency that the boat sank before reaching the shore.
Fishermen and local residents managed to rescue survivors, who disclosed that additional migrants were unaccounted for from the same vessel, Mr. al-Khurma added.
“The search is still ongoing and the United Nations has been informed of the incident,” he said.
Last year, 97,000 migrants made their way to Yemen from the Horn of Africa, as reported by the UN.
This surge in arrivals has occurred despite the ongoing conflict in Yemen and recent attacks by Houthi forces on ships in the Red Sea.
The one-sided release happened over a year after both sides in Yemen’s war let go of over 800 prisoners in a big trade in the country in April of last year.
On Sunday morning, the Red Cross said that 113 prisoners were set free in the city of Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthi group. The Red Cross helped these prisoners while they were held in Sanaa.
“We hope that this will lead to more releases, giving comfort to families who are eagerly waiting to be reunited with their loved ones,” said Daphnee Maret, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yemen.
The ICRC said that one of the detainees who was sick was taken by ambulance to his hometown in Yemen. They did not give any more details.
Abdul-Qader al-Murtaza, a Houthi official, said that the release was postponed for a day because of logistical issues.
“We are ready to help release, transfer, and send detainees back to their home countries as a neutral middleman,” they said.
Yemen was thrown into a terrible fight when the Houthis came from the north and took control of Sanaa and a lot of northern Yemen, making the government leave the country.
A group of countries led by Saudi Arabia and including the United Arab Emirates got involved in 2015 to help the recognized government of the country. In recent years, the fighting has become like a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with both countries supporting different sides in the conflict. Over 150,000 people, including soldiers and regular people, have died in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
The blast hit a military truck in a hilly area in the Modiyah district of southern Abyan province, as it was passing by. The information was provided by Mohamed al-Naqib, who is a spokesperson for the Southern Armed Forces, which is the military part of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council.
Eleven more soldiers got hurt, he said.
The council supported by the UAE has power over many areas in the southern part of Yemen. They don’t get along with the government that most countries accept, but they work together against the rebels in Yemen. The rebels are supported by Iran and they control the north and the capital Sanaa.
Al-Naqib said that AQAP was responsible for the attack.
It is working in many parts of Yemen and taking advantage of the country’s civil war to make its position stronger in the nation at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen’s destructive civil war started in 2014 when the Houthis took over the capital city of Sanaa and parts of northern Yemen. They also made the government leave the country.
A boat in the Gulf of Aden was attacked on Thursday. Officials believe it was done by Yemen’s Houthi rebels because of the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack happened after the US military said on Thursday that a friendly warship destroyed a missile aimed at a ship the day before in the same area. The Houthis said they were responsible for the attack on Wednesday. This comes after there were not many rebel attacks on ships in the area because of Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in Gaza.
On Thursday, a ship was attacked about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Aden, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.
Ambrey, a private security company, also reported the attack.
The Houthis did not admit to the attack right away, but they usually take hours to do so. The European Union’s forces shot down a drone from Houthi territory on Thursday, according to Gen Robert Brieger.
The Houthis have attacked ships more than 50 times, took one ship, and made another one sink since November, the US Maritime Administration says.
Houthi attacks are happening less often because the rebels are being attacked by the US and other countries in Yemen. Also, shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has decreased because of the danger. Officials in America think that the rebels might not have many weapons left because of the attacks by the US and the constant use of drones and missiles in recent months.
However, the attack on Wednesday was the first one from rebels in a while. An explosion happened about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden, according to the UKMTO.
Central Command said that no one got hurt or things broken on US, coalition, or commercial ships.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, who speaks for the Houthi military, said they were responsible for the attack. However, he had no proof that their missile actually hit the Yorktown. Saree said the Houthis attacked another ship in the Indian Ocean, but didn’t show any proof. The Houthis have often said things that weren’t true during their war in Yemen.
The Houthis will keep attacking until Israel stops fighting in Gaza, where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed. The fighting started when the group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and killed 1,200 people. They also took about 250 people as hostages.
The ships attacked by the Houthis mostly have nothing to do with Israel, the US, or other countries in the war. The rebels tried to shoot missiles at Israel, but most of the missiles didn’t reach or were stopped.
The group from Iran said it attacked an American ship called Maersk Yorktown and an Israeli ship called MSC Veracruz in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The spokesman, Yahya Sarea, talked about this on TV.
Yemen’s Houthis are attacking ships in the Red Sea to show support for Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza. This has been going on since November.
“The Yemeni military says they will keep stopping Israeli ships or any ships going to ports in occupied Palestine in the Red and Arabian Seas, and also in the Indian Ocean,” Sarea stated on Wednesday.
The ship said there was a big boom in the water, about 72 nautical miles from Djibouti, according to a new warning from Ambrey.
Houthi attacks are causing problems for global shipping in the Suez Canal. Companies have to take longer and more costly routes around southern Africa because of this. The United States and Britain attacked Houthi targets in Yemen.
A group of rebels from Yemen called the Houthi attacked a ship in the Gulf of Aden with a missile. This attack killed three people on the ship and made the rest of the crew leave the ship. The army said. It was the first deadly attack in a series of strikes carried out by a group supported by Iran against Israel’s fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The True Confidence, a ship from Barbados and owned by Liberia, was attacked. This makes the conflict on a very important route for ships between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe even worse. This conflict has caused problems for shipping around the world. since November, the Houthis have started to attack the U. S In January, they started launching attacks from the air, but it hasn’t stopped their attacks yet.
Meanwhile, Iran said that it will take away $50 million worth of Kuwaiti oil from Chevron Corp, an American energy company. on a tanker it took control of almost a year ago. This is the newest development in a long conflict happening in the Middle East’s waterways, even before the Houthi attacks started.
The US released two pictures taken from the air. The military set fire to the ship’s control room and the cargo on board.
Central Command said that the Houthis have caused a lot of problems by attacking ships and hurting the people who work on them. These people have really tough jobs that are important for keeping the world running smoothly.
The ship was attacked after it was contacted by men who said they were from the Yemeni military, according to officials. The Houthis are using the radio to call ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Analysts think the rebels want to take control of the ships.
After the missile hit, the crew left the ship and used lifeboats. The United States The Indian navy’s warship was there, trying to help with the rescue.
The people in charge of the ship and the people who own it said that there are 20 people working on the ship. One person is from India, 15 are from the Philippines, and four are from Vietnam. The ship had three armed guards, two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal. The boat was taking steel from China to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The United Nations asked the Houthis to stop attacking ships in the Red Sea. Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said he is very worried about the ongoing attacks. There was a recent incident where the crew’s safety is not known.
Dujarric said the attacks are putting property, life, and the environment in the area in danger.
At the State Department in Washington, spokesman Matthew Miller criticized the attack. “We are still seeing these dangerous attacks that don’t care about the safety of innocent people traveling through the Red Sea. ” “Now they have killed innocent people,” he told the reporters sadly.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said: “The U. S Clearly, they will keep on doing something.
Brig means a high-ranking officer in the military. Gen means a shorter way of saying the word general. Yahya Saree, a spokesperson for the Houthi military, said in a recorded message that they attacked the ship and set it on fire with their missiles. He said the rebels will only stop their attacks when the Palestinian people in Gaza are no longer trapped and suffering.
The rebels have attacked ships in the Red Sea and nearby waters during the Israel-Hamas war, but they hadn’t killed any crew members until Wednesday. The ships have cargo going to Iran and a ship bringing aid to areas controlled by the Houthis.
Even though the U.S has been bombing for over a month and a half, the Houthi rebels can still carry out big attacks. Last month, a cargo ship called the Rubymar carrying fertilizer was attacked and sank after drifting for a few days. An expensive American drone was also shot down.
It wasn’t clear why the Houthis attacked the True Confidence. However, it was once owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a company in Los Angeles that funds boats through payments over time. Oaktree did not want to say anything.
At the same time, the Houthi attacked the USS Carney, which is a type of ship called an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The USS Carney has been part of the American effort to fight against the rebels. The Carney destroyed drones that were carrying bombs and also shot down a missile, according to Central Command. Saree also recognized that attack.
The United States Central Command said that they later carried out an attack from the air, destroying three missiles and three drone boats that were carrying bombs.
The Houthis have not said how much damage they have had from the American-led strikes that started in January, but they have mentioned that at least 22 of their fighters have died. One non-military person has supposedly been murdered.
The United States The government put new penalties on a person who gives money to a group called the Houthis and on a group from Iran that helps the rebels by giving them weapons.
The Houthis have been in control of Yemen’s capital city, Sanaa, since 2014. They have been fighting against a coalition led by Saudi Arabia since 2015 in a long and unresolved war there.
At the same time, the Indian navy shared a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata putting out a fire on the MSC Sky II, which was attacked by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. A company from Switzerland called the Mediterranean Shipping Co. said that a missile hit their ship while it was going from Singapore to Djibouti. No one got hurt.
Iran said they took the crude oil from the Advantage Sweet in an announcement on the state-run Mizan news agency. Iran claimed that the .
The attack on Tuesday was aimed at the USS Carney, a type of warship called an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. This ship has been helping the United States in their fight against rebels who are fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi attack used drones with bombs and one missile against a ship, according to the U. SThe military’s Central Command stated.
The United States of America Later, they used an airstrike to destroy three missiles meant for attacking ships and three drone boats carrying bombs, according to Central Command.
Brig – person with a high rank in the military. Decode this text. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, admitted the attack, but said their forces aimed at two American warships without giving more details.
Saree did not recognize the U. SAirplanes dropping bombs on targets. The Houthis have not said how much damage the American-led strikes have caused them since January, but they have mentioned that at least 22 of their fighters have died.
Since November, the rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and nearby waters because of the Israel-Hamas war. Some ships have carried things to Iran and the Houthis, and one ship carried aid to an area controlled by the Houthis.
Even though the United States and its allies have been bombing for over a month and a half, the Houthi rebels are still able to carry out big attacks. Last month, a cargo ship called the Rubymar sank after being attacked and a drone worth a lot of money was also shot down.
At the same time, the Indian navy shared a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata battling a fire on the MSC Sky II ship. The ship was attacked by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke came out of a container on the ship, and there were burn marks from a missile hit by the Houthi.
The Mediterranean Shipping Co. , a company from Switzerland, said a missile hit the ship while it was going from Singapore to Djibouti.
The missile started a small fire, but it has been put out and no one was hurt, the company explained.
A spokesperson for the Houthi military said that the ship Rubymar could sink because it was hit by missiles.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a ship was left empty near Yemen after it was damaged by an explosion.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence said that the ship Rubymar was attacked by two missiles.
The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones since mid-November. They say they are doing this to support the Palestinians in the fight between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The attacks made many shipping companies stop using the important waterway, which is responsible for about 12% of global sea trade.
The US and British military started bombing areas in western Yemen that are controlled by the Houthi rebel group. This was done in retaliation for previous attacks.
On Sunday night, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) got a report from a ship about an incident that happened about 35 nautical miles (65km) south of the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mocha.
The owner said there was an explosion near the boat that caused damage at around 11:00 pm local time.
On Monday, the agency said that the military reported the crew left the ship after it was attacked.
“The boat is parked and all the crew are okay,” it said. “The military is still there to help. ”
A company called Ambrey said that a cargo ship from Belize, registered in Britain and operated by Lebanon, was attacked in the Bab al-Mandab Strait while sailing northwards on Sunday.
“The ship slowed down from 10 to six knots for a short time, changed direction, and called the Djiboutian Navy. Then it went back to its original speed and course,” the report stated.
Ambrey also said that the ship’s crew had been taken off by another merchant ship, and this matches with the actions of a Singaporean-flagged container ship.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which provides information about ships, said that the Rubymar was hit by two missiles and got badly damaged.
According to MarineTraffic, the Rubymar ship was traveling from Saudi Arabia to Bulgaria before the tracking signal was last received on Sunday.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Monday morning that their naval forces shot missiles at a British ship called Rubymar in the Gulf of Aden.
The ship was badly damaged and completely stopped, but he didn’t show any proof.
“Because the ship was badly damaged, it might sink in the Gulf of Aden. ” “We made sure the ship’s crew got off the ship safely during the operation. ”
Ambrey knew that a cargo ship from Greece, owned by the US, asked for help from the military after a missile attack about 100 miles east of the southern port of Aden in Yemen.
UKMTO said there was an attack in the same place. The boss said there was an explosion near a ship, but the ship and crew are safe.
Mr Sarea also said Houthi air defenses in the Red Sea province of Hudaydah had shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone “while it was attacking our country on behalf of Israel”.
The US military did not make a comment right away.
The US Central Command attacked and destroyed five enemy weapons in Yemen on Saturday to protect U. S ships and merchant boats in the area.
This was the first time that US forces found a submarine drone being used by the Houthis since the attacks started.
A military source said there were 11 attacks in the Red Sea area of Hudaydah. Eight were at a port called Ras Isa, and three were further inland in al-Zaidiya.
Four more attacks happened in the eastern Saada province, which is an important area for the Houthis in the north.
Al-Masirah said that there was no harm or injuries reported.
The US military in a recent statement said it attacked a Houthi land attack cruise missile and four anti-ship cruise missiles, but did not give any details about where the missiles were.
Saturday night, the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said that the US and UK had done 48 attacks in the areas of Sanaa, Hudaydah, Bayda, Taiz and Lahij.
Centcom stated that the US attacked a missile on land and four anti-ship missiles that were about to be launched at ships in the Red Sea.
The most recent move happened after the US and UK attacked Houthi targets together.
The US has said it will do more to stop groups supported by Iran in Iraq and Syria.
On Friday, the US attacked targets connected to a group in Iran in Iraq and Syria. This was in response to three US soldiers being killed in a drone attack on a military base in Jordan on January 28th.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to the Middle East. He will visit Israel, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the West Bank.
Mr Sullivan said the most important thing for Mr Blinken would be to make a deal between Israel and Hamas. This deal would involve releasing hostages in exchange for stopping the fighting in Gaza.
“We will keep pushing for it without stopping,” Mr. But now it’s up to Hamas to make a decision.
Israel’s attack on Hamas has caused the deaths of over 26,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry controlled by Hamas in the area. Hamas attacked southern Israel and about 1,300 people were killed.
Egypt made almost half the money it usually does from the Suez Canal in January. The amount of ships using the canal also dropped by more than a third.
On Saturday, the US and UK launched attacks in the southern part of Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a. A human rights activist and local resident said houses were shaking because of the strikes.
Houthi officials talked back and said they will fight back against the US-led strikes.
In response to the attacks on Saturday, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, wrote on X: “These attacks will not stop us from supporting the strong Palestinian people in Gaza. We will not ignore or let the attacks go without consequences. ”
Before, the White House said that it’s air strikes on Iran-supported targets in Iraq and Syria are just the start of its response to Iran, not the end.
Iran says it did not attack the US base in Jordan with a drone. A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is connected to Iran, says it is responsible.
But the US says that Tehran was involved in the attack and claims that the drone was made in Iran.
President Biden wrote to the US Congress and said that the strikes on Friday were aimed at buildings used by Iran’s military and their associated groups.
Iran’s IRGC has supported and trained the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Mr Biden said that the places they attacked were used for commanding, storing weapons, training, getting supplies, and other things.
He said that the strikes were meant to stop these groups from attacking again, and were done carefully to avoid making the situation worse or hurting innocent people.
He also said he would take more action against the IRGC and people and places connected to them if needed.
Other countries in the region, like Iraq and Syria, are getting more and more upset about the American attack.
“No one told us there would be a strike, not during the strike or that night,” Farhad Alaaldin, who helps the leader of Iraq, said on the BBC’s Newshour show about the strikes that happened on Friday.
He said that whether a warning is given or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Iraq is a independent country.
A large group of people came together in Baghdad on Sunday to show their sadness for 17 militia members who were killed in the US air strikes.
The group shouted that America is very bad and evil, and they held up pictures of the people who had been hurt as they walked behind the ambulances carrying their bodies.
The foreign minister of Oman said that he is very worried about the ongoing increase in tension in the area. This information was shared with the Oman News Agency.
Badr Albusaidi is asking if the US attacks are really helping. He thinks they might make the region less safe and stable, and might make it harder to deal with problems like violence and extremism.
Washington thinks that the attacks have “weakened the militia’s abilities” and have been effective, according to Mr. Sullivan’s statement on Sunday.
He said the US doesn’t want to keep fighting in the Middle East for a long time, but is ready to handle any threats from any group.
He refused to say if the US had decided not to do attacks in Iran.
After the attacks in Iraq and Syria on Friday, American forces were also attacked, a US defense official told the media.
The attack targeted American forces stationed at Euphrates in Syria by shooting rockets at them. The person in charge said that nobody got hurt and nothing got broken.
In the second day of significant U.S. operations against Iran-linked groups following an attack on American troops, the United States and Britain conducted strikes on 36 Houthi targets in Yemen.
The strikes targeted buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems, launchers, and other capabilities used by the Houthis to attack Red Sea shipping.
The Pentagon stated that 13 locations across Yemen were targeted in the strikes, which aimed to address the Houthis’ threat to maritime security.
This action is part of the broader U.S. campaign against Iran-linked groups in response to recent attacks on American soldiers.
Jake Sullivan, who is in charge of keeping the US safe, said that the decision to cancel the removal of the militants’ designation was because they keep attacking ships in the area.
The Houthis started attacking ships that were carrying goods in November because they said it was in response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Since then, the group has attacked many commercial ships in the Red Sea, which is a very busy shipping route.
In reply, the US and UK attacked many Houthi targets with air strikes on January 11th. The attacks started because Houthi forces did not stop their attacks even after they were told to. Australia, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Canada supported the strikes.
Wednesday’s attacks on Houthi targets came after more attacks on commercial ships. A few hours before, the group attacked a boat owned and run by the US for the second time in the past week.
The rebels used a one-way drone to attack the M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden, according to Centcom. The ship was hurt, but no one on the crew got hurt during the attack.
On Monday, the Houthis launched a missile at a US ship. It was the first time they successfully attacked an American ship since their campaign started.
US officials said that the strikes on Wednesday were done to stop an attack before it happened. They destroyed weapons that the militants were going to use very soon.
“The missiles on launch rails posed a serious danger to merchant ships and US Navy boats in the area. They could have been fired at any moment, so US forces had to defend themselves,” said Centcom in a statement.
These attacks, plus other things we have done, will weaken the Houthi’s ability to keep carrying out dangerous attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden, the statement said.
The UK’s military department said to the BBC that it didn’t take part in the recent attacks.
Gen Micheal Kurilla, who is in charge of Centcom, said that the US will keep fighting the Houthis because they are putting international sailors in danger and causing problems for shipping in the Southern Red Sea and nearby areas.
Yemen has been greatly damaged by a civil war that started in 2015. The Houthis took over parts of the country from the official government and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia got involved to try to take back control.
The fighting has caused over 160,000 people to die and has led to a major humanitarian crisis. About 21 million people, which is two thirds of the population, need help in some way.
Iraq expressed disapproval of the attacks, saying they broke its rules.
The Israeli government has not said anything about the claims from Iran.
In another news, Kurdistan officials said they had used guns to bring down three drones with weapons, that were flying over Irbil airport where US and international forces are stationed, Reuters reported. Officials did not tell us about any harm or injuries.
The Iranian attacks happened when things were already tense in the region because of the war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which is supported by Iran. The war started on 7 October in the Gaza Strip.
“We will keep checking the situation, but it looks like these strikes were reckless and not accurate,” said Adrienne Watson, who speaks for the White House National Security Council.
“She said the United States is on Iraq’s side and wants them to be free and safe. No US people or buildings were attacked. ”
The Revolutionary Guards of Iran said that they destroyed a main spying base of Mossad in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq using ballistic missiles.
A comment was made in reaction to the recent terrible actions of the Zionist government.
Iran has launched missile attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, aiming at places where they believe Iranian separatist groups and Israeli agents are located.
The leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, criticized the recent attack on Irbil as a “bad thing for the Kurdish people”.
A well-known businessman named Peshraw Dizayee was one of four civilians who were killed, according to Mr. Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party.
The Revolutionary Guards said they attacked Islamic State (IS) group areas in Syria on Monday night.
Loud blasts were heard in the city of Aleppo and the surrounding area in north-western Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least four missiles came from the Mediterranean Sea and landed there.
The Revolutionary Guards attacked in Syria because of a suicide bombing that happened this month. It was done in revenge for the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by the US.
The attack in Kerman, in southern Iran, killed at least 94 people and hurt many others.
The missile that was shot at the USS Laboon in the Red Sea was destroyed by a US fighter plane near the coast of Hudaydah.
No one got hurt or things broken in the accident on Sunday afternoon.
After the US and UK attacked the Houthis to weaken their military power because they have been attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The US and UK attacked almost 30 places in Yemen on Friday. They targeted places where weapons are stored, places where supplies are kept, and defense systems.
On Saturday, the US attacked a Houthi radar site again.
President Joe Biden said he will not hesitate to take more steps to protect our people and the flow of international trade if needed.
Likewise, the UK is ready to take more steps against the Houthis.
Hussain Al-Bukhaiti, a strong supporter of the Houthi group, told the BBC that fighters will attack US and UK warships if the airstrikes on Yemen keep happening.
The Houthis are a powerful group that controls a big area of Yemen, including the main city. They are important friends of Hamas and are believed to get weapons from Iran, which is Israel’s biggest enemy.
Since November 19th, they have attacked cargo ships in the Red Sea at least 27 times. The Red Sea is a very important route for ships that travel around the world.
The group said they were aiming at ships going to Israel or owned by Israel, to show support for the people of Gaza. However, some of the ships they have attacked are not clearly linked to Israel.
The attacks made big shipping companies change the path of their ships so they don’t go through the Red Sea. Instead, they take a longer way around the southern tip of Africa.
This has affected the world economy already, with the big shipping company Maersk saying it’s being felt by the people who buy the products.
Tesla and Volvo have stopped making some cars, Tesco said some prices might go up, and Ikea said there could be fewer supplies.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the Houthi attacks are causing big problems for an important trade route and making things more expensive.
The group’s attacks, along with the UK-US strikes in Yemen, are making people worry that the conflict in Gaza is spreading to the rest of the Middle East.
Rishi Sunak will talk to members of Parliament for the first time since the UK joined US attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The government will consider more strikes against the armed group if they keep attacking ships in the Red Sea, the Defence Secretary said on BBC News.
Mr Shapps said the UK does not want to get involved in a long-term plan in the Red Sea.
“We just want to be able to ship things to other countries. ”
The defense secretary told BBC Breakfast that if the Houthis don’t stop, there may be more attacks.
We really hope they will learn from this and stop bothering ships.
He also supported the government’s choice to attack the Houthis without discussing it or holding a vote in parliament first.
The prime minister is in trouble because he ordered the strikes without talking to other politicians first. He said the strikes were for self-protection.
Mr Shapps said that giving too much information to the Houthis would not have been a good idea.
“We had to do something. ” Actually, we did that after talking to parliament a lot. With the person speaking, the leader of the other party, and others.
He said the strikes, which hit 16 Houthi rebel sites, were a small but fair action. He hopes it shows that thugs can’t disrupt international shipping like that.
He said that the strikes were meant to show Iran a message because he believes they are helping the Houthis, a group that controls the north of Yemen and its capital Sanaa.
He also said no to the Houthi’s claim that they were only attacking ships connected to Israel. He explained that ships from 50 different countries have been attacked.
After the attacks, the US said it stopped a missile that was shot at one of its warships from a Houthi area in Yemen on Sunday. Nobody got hurt.
The group’s attacks on cargo ships have made big shipping companies change their routes and go around southern Africa instead of through the Red Sea. Some ships that are attacked don’t seem to have any connection to Israel.
Mr Sunak will talk about the strikes on Houthi places in the House of Commons today.
This is the first time Mr. Sunak has chosen to join the military in action since becoming prime minister in October 2022, which is an important moment in his political career.
He will probably be asked today if the UK will join in more attacks and what the government is doing to prevent a bigger conflict in the area.
Conservative MPs have mostly approved of Mr Sunak’s decision this weekend.
Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, was told about the strikes before they happened. He said he agreed with the strikes and wants Parliament to talk about it.
He said that keeping the country safe is the most important thing. “Sometimes there are emergencies where Parliament can’t be asked before making a decision. ”
But Layla Moran from the Liberal Democrats said that Parliament should be able to talk about and decide on military action. And Jeremy Corbyn, who used to be the leader of the Labour Party, said it’s very wrong that Parliament wasn’t even asked for their opinion.
The government doesn’t have to ask for permission from Parliament before using the military. However, in the recent years, it has become a tradition for the Commons to usually be able to talk about sending military forces before it happens.
Speaking about the criticism, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I don’t think it was right to have a discussion and a vote before taking this action, because it’s important for security reasons to take action first and then talk about it in Parliament later. “
The Houthis are attacking ships in the Red Sea that belong to Israel or are going to Israel, to show they support Hamas in Gaza. Hamas, just like the Houthis, have support from Iran.
In Gaza, Palestinians were attacked again by Israel last night. There were reports of bombs being dropped all over the area.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed a tunnel with explosives in it and killed some “terrorists” in Khan Younis in the morning.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said that there were attacks on Gaza City in the north, and 20 people were reported to have been killed.
Many people were said to have been killed in the Al-Dawa neighborhood in Gaza. The IDF found and destroyed two places where rockets are shot in central Gaza.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israel in the West Bank. Israel says they were terrorists who attacked an Israeli settlement.
Friday night, rockets were shot into the southern part of Israel from Gaza.
Israeli army says there was shooting at the border with Lebanon on Saturday morning. The Israeli air force destroyed buildings and equipment used by terrorists.
The UK and US bombed military sites during the night.
Mr Sunak said that the UK took action against a group that is supported by Iran and poses a threat to UK ships. He said this action was taken to protect themselves.
In return, Houthi leaders have said that the UK and US will face severe consequences.
The US and its allies bombed the Houthi group for the first time because they have been attacking ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis are in charge of a lot of Yemen and have said that they are helping Hamas by attacking ships going to Israel.
The US Air Force hit over 60 targets at 16 places in Yemen that were being used by Houthi rebels.
On Friday morning, Mr. Sunak said that the Houthi rebels are causing problems for UK and international ships and disrupting trade routes.
The prime minister said that, even though the international community has warned them many times, the Houthis keep attacking ships in the Red Sea, including those from the UK and US.
“This is not acceptable. ” The UK will always support the right for ships to travel wherever they want and for trade to happen freely.
He said the UK took some action to defend itself with help from the United States, Netherlands, Canada, and Bahrain.
MrSunak said the action was done to weaken the Houthi military and to protect ships around the world.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Royal Air Force typhoons did two very accurate attacks on Houthi sites. One was an airfield used to launch drones and missiles over the Red Sea and the other site was used to launch attack drones.
“The MoD is still looking at the results of the strikes, but it looks like the Houthis may not be able to attack merchant ships as easily anymore. ”
‘Not a lot of’. needed
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that there are no more air strikes planned for now.
“We believed that the small and necessary attacks last night were important to stop the Houthis from being able to attack our warships in the Red Sea,” he said on BBC Breakfast.
MrHeappey said it was just self-defence and that the government’s legal position was strong.
The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, supports the strikes after being briefed by the government on Thursday night.
“He said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast show that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea need to be stopped. They are attacking commercial ships and important trade routes, and putting civilian lives in danger. We support taking action against them. ”
Retired leader of the British Army Lord Dannatt said on the BBC that the UK and US, who are permanent members of the UN Security Council, have a duty to protect global trade.
We should hope that this is a careful and smart plan that will quickly make it safe for ships to use the Red Sea instead of the expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope.
Lord Ricketts said that attacking the Houthi sites was going to happen because the rebel group didn’t listen to warnings and attacked US and UK naval ships.
“They just couldn’t let this go on,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today show. “I believe the US-led group made their efforts big to send a strong message, but also made it clear that it’s only aimed at stopping attacks on ships, not starting a war with the Houthis. ”
In response to the attacks, a Houthi leader warned that the US and UK will soon understand that the strikes on Yemen were a big mistake.
The group says they will keep on attacking ships in the Red Sea that are going to Israel or connected to Israel.
“We say there is no reason for attacking Yemen because they were not a threat to ships in the Red and Arabian Seas,” said spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.
“The attacks will keep happening on Israeli ships or ones going to the ports of occupied Palestine.
The United States says that two cargo ships in the Red Sea were attacked by missiles from Yemen.
One person was attacked by a drone and another by missiles from a region in Yemen controlled by the Houthis, a rebel group supported by Iran.
They were attacked in a narrow strait of water called Bab El Mandab, which is very important for world trade.
There was another attack on foreign ships in the area during the Israel-Hamas war.
The Houthis, who took control nine years ago, have said they back Hamas and are attacking ships heading to Israel.
A person from the US military said that they know something from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels hit a ship and caused damage, and there was also a fire reported.
The large ship, named Al Jasrah, is owned by a German company called Hapag-Lloyd and registered in Liberia.
A Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson told AFP that the ship was traveling to Singapore from a port in Greece called Piraeus. No one got hurt and the ship is moving towards where it needs to go. Second boat was attacked.
On Friday, a US defense official said a ballistic missile hit another ship flying the flag of Liberia in the Bab El Mandab. The missile started a fire and a US Navy ship was on the way to stop it.
Israel wants the US to take action against the attacks, but the US is worried that doing so could make the situation with Israel and Hamas worse and lead to Iran fighting back.
Instead, there would probably be a group of different countries’ ships working together to protect ships and take down any missiles or drones that come their way.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is visiting the Middle East, said the Houthis are a big threat to shipping and trade in the area.
He said Iran is mostly to blame for the attacks. He said that even though the Houthis are carrying out the attacks, Iran is the one giving them the weapons to do it.
“Iran needs to stop these attacks on its own because they are a big problem for international law and peace. ”
More things happened in the area on Friday. There was a report about another ship being taken over in a different place.
The UK’s maritime trade agency got a report that a ship’s crew lost control of the ship and it’s now going towards Somalia in the Arabian Sea.
“At the moment, the UKMTO said that all crew members are safe. ”
On Friday, Ambrey, a company that protects ships at sea, said that a ship called MSC ALANYA, registered in Liberia, was approached by a small boat with Houthi members who told the ship to go in a different direction.
No one has admitted to causing the incidents.
The recent attacks are happening after a few attacks in the southern Red Sea. This is making insurance more expensive for ships and some might have to take a longer route around South Africa to avoid the Red Sea.
The Houthis are in a war with the government of Yemen that is supported by Saudi Arabia. They say they are part of a group of countries that oppose Israel, the US, and the West, and are connected to Iran.
This month, they attacked many commercial ships. A US warship had to step in. In November, they stole a cargo ship.
Warships from the US, France, and Britain are watching over the Red Sea and have used missiles to shoot down several flying objects.
The Bab El Mandeb Strait is a 20-mile wide pathway that divides Eritrea and Djibouti from Yemen.
Around 17,000 boats and 10% of all the world’s trading pass through it each year. Every ship that goes to or from the Indian Ocean has to pass through the Suez Canal.
Oil from a “floating time bomb” oil ship that was abandoned at sea in the Red Sea has been successfully removed, according to the UN.
After a battle broke out in Yemen in 2015, the ship was abandoned there with more than a million barrels of oil still inside.
The failing FSO Safer was anticipated to explode or disintegrate, resulting in a significant leak.
The UN declared that an environmental catastrophe had been avoided, but it is unclear how the sale of the oil will be agreed upon by the warring parties.
The international community, according to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, “defused a floating time bomb and prevented a potentially enormous environmental and health disaster.”
To secure the rotting ship and purchase another tanker to transport the recovered oil, the UN organised a $120 million (£95 million) fundraising effort.
The relocation in a body of water where naval mines were rumoured to be present took 18 days to complete.
When it was abandoned at sea in 1976, the FSO Safer was carrying more oil than was lost in the Exxon Valdez catastrophe of 1989.
It is anchored close to the Ras Isa oil port, which is under the opposition Houthi movement’s control in Yemen.
The gang is still engaged in combat with a Saudi-led coalition in a war that has left much of the nation in ruins.
The onerous work of decontaminating and scrapping the vessel is about to start, but it may be even more difficult to decide what will happen to the recovered oil, which is mostly controlled by the Yemeni state business SEPOC.
There is no agreement on how the proceeds from the sale of the oil will be distributed among the combatants.
Administrator of the UN’s development project Achim Steiner stated: “The best resolution to the story will be when that oil truly gets sold and completely departs the region.
The United Nations said Friday that five staff members who were kidnapped in Yemen 18 months ago have been released.
In a brief statement, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said all “available information suggests that all five colleagues are in good health.”
Haq named the freed men as Akm Sufiul Anam, Mazen Bawazir, Bakeel al-Mahdi, Mohammed al-Mulaiki and Khaled Mokhtar Sheikh. All worked for the U.N. Department of Security and Safety, he said
“The secretary-general reiterates that kidnapping is an inhumane and unjustifiable crime, and calls for the perpetrators to be held accountable,” Haq said. The identity of the kidnappers was not revealed, and no details were provided about what led to the captives’ release.
In February 2022, suspected al-Qaida militants abducted five U.N. workers in southern Yemen’s Abyan province, Yemeni officials told the Associated Press at the time.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has been active in southern Yemen for years. It is considered one of the global network’s most dangerous branches and has attempted to carry out attacks on the U.S. mainland.
Kidnappings are frequent in Yemen, an impoverished nation where armed tribesmen and militants take hostages to swap for prisoners or cash.
Yemen has been ravaged by war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the country’s capital, and much of the north, and forced the government into exile.
A Saudi-led coalition that included the United Arab Emirates intervened the following year to try to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government to power.
Al-Qaida has since exploited the conflict to cement its presence in the country.
The CEO of the Minerals Commission, Martin Ayisi has disclosed that on Monday, May 1, the small-scale mining task force in Oda arrested three Yemenis in the area.
He said that the Commission has involved the police to undertake the necessary procedures to prosecute the perpetrators.
“Just this Monday, the holiday, the small scale task force and the Minerals Commission office in Oda arrested three Yemenis and then impounded two excavators, which are now parked at the police station.”
However, Mr Ayisi further indicated that upon the arrest, the Chief of the area visited the office of the task force and claimed ownership of the mining site that was being used by the Yemenis.
He told the host of Newsfile, Samson Lardey Anyenini, “Then a chief showed up, says, ‘ɛha yɛ medeɛ —this is my site.’
“So quickly, the police arrested them. The locals who were working fled. They’ve been arrested. We got the authorities involved. I think they’ve been granted a police inquiry bill.”
Mr Ayisi then emphasised that the fight against galamsey seemed unprogressive because influential people in society were involved in the operation, explaining that if persons such as the chief are not prosecuted and subjected to the full rigours of the law, they will be viewed by citizens as having impunity.
This perception, he pointed out, would make citizens also believe that if they engage in galamsey, they can get away with their crime.
Although he asserted that the penalties and the sanction regimes were punitive, he emphasised that they should be biting to be effective.
Mr Ayisi suggested that if the perpetrators involved in galamsey— especially the influential people— are arrested, they should be publicised and imprisoned so as to deter other citizens from engaging in the act.
“So, for instance, this chief, if he’s convicted by the court in Oda and is put in jail and is well publicised … then you are sending a strong signal to everybody that, hey, you can go to jail,” he stressed.
Yemen’s Houthi Prime Minister Abdulaziz Bin Habtour has been engaging survivors of the recent crush in Sanaa’s Al Thawra hospital.
He was accompanied by other officials including Health Minister Taha Al-Mutawakel.
Bin Habtour said: “We are firstly checking on the injured and those who died.
“The interior and health minister, members of the public prosecution, the head of the Supreme Judicial Council and all other relevant officials, have proceeded with their legal duties to examine this unfortunate event and to find a serious solution for this to never happen again.
“We are experiencing a great tragedy, a large number of our citizens have died during this stampede.”
It is reported that at least 78 individuals have died in a crowd at a school in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, while receiving donations for Ramadan.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: At least 78 people were killed in a stampede in Sanaa, Yemen, as hundreds gathered in a school to receive charitable donations, witnesses and Houthi media said https://t.co/2mbUWIzikgpic.twitter.com/O1OM8s6JLc
Hundreds of people packed inside the school to accept donations totaling roughly $9 (£7) per individual, according to Reuters. The incident took place in the closing days of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that is distinguished by a period of fasting.
The individuals in charge of allocating the funds have been detained, and an investigation is ongoing, according to the interior ministry.
Authorities in Yemen’s capital Sanaa said that a crush during the distribution of Ramadan charity killed at least 78 people.
Social media videos of the incident’s aftermath in the city’s Bab-al-Yemen neighbourhood depict chaotic scenes.
According to the Reuters news agency, hundreds of people poured into the school to accept gifts, which averaged about $9 (£7) per individual.
Since ousting the government in 2015, Houthi rebels have been in control of the city.
Those responsible for the distribution have been detained and an investigation is under way, the interior ministry said.
A spokesman for the ministry blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without co-ordination with local officials.
Many people were also injured with 13 in a critical situation, a health official in Sanaa said.
“Women and children were among the dead,” a Houthi security official told AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
The Associated Press news agency quotes two eyewitnesses who said Houthi fighters had fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire which resulted in an explosion. This caused panic that led to the crush, they added.
Last week a major prisoner swap between warring sides in Yemen started, seen as part of stepped-up efforts to end the devastating eight-year conflict.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme evolutionary committee, blamed Wednesday’s crush on the country’s humanitarian crisis.
“We hold the countries of aggression responsible for what happened and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade,” he said on Twitter.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported that a plane carrying rebel prisoners of war has departed Saudi Arabia heading for Yemen while Saudi inmates are scheduled to be released later in the day.
The flights on Saturday are a part of a massive, multi-day exchange involving up to 900 prisoners that takes place in the midst of peace talks that have raised expectations for an end to Yemen’s eight-year-old war between the Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran, and a Saudi-led coalition.
Before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr the following week, 318 inmates were moved on four planes on Friday between the rebel-held city of Sanaa and the government-controlled Aden.
120 Houthi rebel captives were on board Saturday’s aircraft from the southern Saudi city of Abha, which took off around 9am (06:00 GMT) and was bound for Sanaa, according to ICRC public affairs and media adviser Jessica Moussan.
Mohammed al-Darwi, a Houthi prisoner freed in the swap, said to Al Jazeera while standing on the tarmac at Sanaa International Airport: “We are happy to return to Sanaa after we were in the prisons of the enemy.”
📢 Day 2 of release operation update: Our first plane carrying 120 former detainees has taken off from #Abha#SaudiArabia and is en route to #Sanaa, accompanied by @ICRC teams. Stay tuned for more updates! pic.twitter.com/JK8v8R6KW3
— ICRC for the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (@ICRC_kw) April 15, 2023
At least three buses brought the prisoners onto the tarmac at Abha airport, which has previously come under attack from Houthi drones and missiles.
Wheelchairs were positioned near the buses to take some of the prisoners to the plane.
Sixteen Saudis and three Sudanese were expected to be transferred from Sanaa to Riyadh later on Saturday.
Sudan is part of the Saudi-led coalition and has provided ground troops for the fighting.
In addition, 100 Houthis were to be flown on three flights to Sanaa from al-Makha (Mocha) on the Red Sea coast, a town held by the coalition-backed government.
The prisoner exchange is a confidence-building measure coinciding with an intense diplomatic push to end Yemen’s war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead from the fighting as well as knock-on effects such as food shortages and lack of access to healthcare.
Path to peace?
Analysts say eight years after mobilising a coalition to crush the Houthis, the Saudis have come to terms with the fact this goal will not be met and are looking to wind down their military engagement.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was a 29-year-old defence minister when the war began, has since become the kingdom’s de facto ruler and is keen to focus on his sweeping “Vision 2030” domestic reform agenda.
The Saudi exit strategy appears to have taken new impetus from a landmark rapprochement deal announced with Iran last month.
“This [the prisoner swap] is the first concrete result of not only the Omani mediation, but also the Iran-Saudi agreement which is beginning to bear fruit in Yemen and elsewhere in the region,” Nabil Khoury, former US deputy chief of mission in Yemen, told Al Jazeera.
The China-brokered agreement calls for the Middle East heavyweights to fully restore diplomatic ties following a seven-year rupture, and has the potential to remake regional ties.
Saudi Arabia is also pushing for the reintegration into the Arab League of Iran ally Syria, more than a decade after its suspension over President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
On Friday, the kingdom, which once openly championed al-Assad’s removal, hosted top diplomats from eight other Arab countries in the Red Sea city of Jeddah for talks on Syria. It issued a statement highlighting the “importance of having an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis”.
Returned Houthi prisoners pray on the tarmac upon arrival at Sanaa International Airport [Mohammed Huwais/AFP]
In Yemen, active combat has reduced over the past year following a United Nations-brokered truce that officially lapsed in October but has largely held.
A week ago, a Saudi delegation travelled to Sanaa, held by the Houthis since 2014, for talks aimed at reviving the truce and laying the groundwork for a more durable ceasefire.
The delegation, led by Ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber, left Sanaa late on Thursday without a finalised truce but with plans for more talks, according to Houthi and Yemeni government sources.
Even if Saudi Arabia manages to negotiate a way out of the war, fighting could flare up again among the different Yemeni factions.
“Saudi Arabia has been struggling to draw down its military involvement in Yemen and … seeks a long-term sustainable peace that will allow it to focus on its economic priorities,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
“Yet, despite its intention, it will be the longtime broker, investor and conflict guarantor of Yemen.”
Speaking from Washington, DC, former Yemeni detainee Hisham al-Omeisy agreed while the average Yemeni is desperate for peace, a real end to the war may be a long way still.
“A lot of people think that the end of the war will happen in a few weeks or months. I would caution against that,” he told Al Jazeera.
“It [peace] will take at least a year or two because the conflict is not just between the Houthis and the Saudis. It’s protracted and polarised with many parties and factions inside Yemen that need to be brought into an inclusive, holistic, and comprehensive [peace] process.”
After being rescued from her earthquake-damaged home in Turkey ten hours earlier, a Yemeni mother who had escaped the war in her homeland gave birth to a baby girl.
When the quake struck Faten Al Yousifi’s flat in Malatya, Turkey, just after 4 a.m. on Monday, she was 39 weeks pregnant, had decorated her baby’s nursery, and was prepared to give birth.
She was extracted from the wreckage by a family friend named Hisham and rescue workers after 10 hours of squatting, when she was bewildered, dehydrated, and worried about the safety of her unborn child.
“I did not believe I was still alive,” Faten told the BBC via WhatsApp on Thursday.
She was rushed to the hospital where the doctors carried out a Caesarean section to deliver her baby girl Loujain, meaning “silver” in Arabic.
But then came tragedy. Hisham returned to rescue Faten’s husband, and was shocked to see a nearby building had collapsed on top of their flats.
Faten’s husband, 29-year-old Burhan Al Alimi, had died. His body was recovered three days later. He was in his final year of chemical engineering studies at Inonu University in Malatya.
Like any new mother, Faten is sleep deprived and trying to adjust to her newborn’s feeding and sleep routines.
“The beginning was very difficult, especially with the circumstances,” she said.
Yemeni doctor Mohammed Al-Ara’awi, who arrived Turkey before the war, said he lost his wife, 16-year-old son and young daughter.
When the quake hit, he was in Adana city, but his family were in Hatay. After desperately trying to reach neighbours, he travelled to Hatay and was devastated to learn about his family trapped under the rubble.
“Waiting on the rubble was like the Yemeni war that people lived through,” he said from Istanbul.
Idris Aqlan, a 25-year-old student at Gaziantep University, was visiting Istanbul when the earthquake hit. He told the BBC that two Turkish friends died.
“I lived through many difficult situations in Yemen because of the war, but this one was much more difficult,” he said.
The sudden nature of the earthquake did not give people time to prepare, he explained. In war, he said, at least there is time to hide in cellars, in the desert, or in the mountains.
Fighting has not worsened despite a six-month UN-mediated truce coming to an end in October, raising the possibility that it might be extended again.
According to the UN special envoy for Yemen, as regional and international diplomatic efforts to end the eight-year conflict in the country increase, the chances of a new cease-fire in Yemen have increased.
More than three months after the initial cease-fire agreement expired, Hans Grundberg stated at a UN Security Council briefing on Monday that there had been “a potential step change” in the conflict’s trajectory, despite the fact that the situation remained “complex and fluid”.
In order to bring peace to the most impoverished country in the Arab world, Grundberg, a Swedish diplomat who has held his position since 2021, urged the warring parties to work toward “a shared vision” with practical steps.
A UN-backed truce initially took effect in April 2022 and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting, but it ended on October 2 after just six months, after the Houthi rebels, who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, refused to agree to a further extension.
Along with a stop to the fighting, last year’s truce deal allowed some fuel shipments into Houthi-held Hodeidah port and commercial flights from Sanaa, but it did not lift a partial Houthi blockade on the central city of Taiz, a primary goal for the government.
Despite the absence of a truce extension, fighting has not escalated.
“The overall military situation in Yemen has remained stable,” Grundberg told the UNSC. “There has been no major escalation nor changes in the disposition on the front lines.”
“However we continue to see some military activity in particular along the front lines … these military activities have regrettably, also resulted in civilian casualties.”
The UN is now pushing for an extended and broader deal encompassing a mechanism to pay public sector wages.
The Iran-allied Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government disagree on who should be paid however, with the government saying that payments should only be made to those in Houthi-controlled areas serving as civil servants before the Houthi takeover. The Houthis want the payments to be made according to the payrolls they have updated.
The Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in 2014, eventually forcing the government into exile.
The war has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people over the past eight years [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]
A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, militarily intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government to power, launching an air strike campaign.
More than 150,000 people have been killed, including 14,500 civilians.
No ‘piecemeal approach’
Grundberg, speaking from Sanaa where he is meeting the Houthi leadership, thanked Saudi Arabia and Oman for their diplomacy and said discussions in the past month have developed “options for mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding issues”.
However, he advised against a “piecemeal approach” focused on individual needs, saying talks on short-term steps should be part of a broader approach towards a sustainable resolution of a multifaceted conflict in which several parties are vying for power.
The UN envoy said “escalatory political and economic measures” could reignite violence.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, who was Grundberg’s predecessor as envoy to Yemen, was also present at the meeting, and echoed his successor, saying the new year “brings a genuine opportunity to move the political process forward”.
But Griffiths said he feared 2023 would be “another extremely difficult year” with an estimated 21.6 million Yemenis needing humanitarian assistance “as the country’s economy continues to weaken and basic services hang by an ever-thinning thread”.
Griffiths called on the international community to support the UN’s humanitarian appeal and to redouble efforts to boost Yemen’s economy.
The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said in remarks on Houthi-run media on Monday that talks with an Omani negotiating team were positive and, departing from past rhetoric, stressed the movement’s desire for regional stability.
Houthi authorities in Sanaa have detained three of Yemen’s most well-knownYouTube stars in recent weeks after the rebel group’s criticism of their posts.
Ahmed Hajar’s YouTube channel, which has nearly 250,000 subscribers and millions of views, last uploaded something on December 22.
Hajar was forced into a bus that same day in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, in broad daylight on a busy street. According to witnesses, he was kidnapped by armed individuals who are thought to be Houthi rebels in charge of the city.
A 10-minute video titled “The Sanaa Government loots the wealth of Yemen and Yemenis” that criticised corruption in the Houthi-controlled regions of northern Yemen may help to explain why Hajar was abducted.
The number of independent media outlets has shrunk in Yemen as a result of the country’s war, which began in 2014. That is particularly the case in Houthi-controlled parts of the country.
YouTube has become a rare space for independent voices who, while careful not to cross any red lines, had expressed dissent towards some Houthi officials, and criticised corruption.
Despite these YouTubers making efforts to criticise the Saudi-led coalition, which backs the Yemeni government warring with the Houthis, the Iran-backed rebel group appears to have decided to further crack down on freedom of expression.
Hajar was not the only one caught in the latest wave of arrests. Mustafa al-Mawmari and Ahmed Allaw, two other prominent Yemeni YouTubers, were also arrested after they posted videos expressing solidarity with Hajar.
Local media outlets reported on Tuesday that all three of the men had their cases referred to a court in Sanaa for investigation.
Khalil al-Omari, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Yemen news website, told Al Jazeera that the arrests were a continuation of the Houthis’ zero-tolerance approach to opposition voices.
“They want you to speak or write in a specific way that does not oppose them, dispute their rule or control,” said al-Omari. “So, the recent detention of YouTubers is a cruel message to anyone who thinks of crossing the lines drawn by them.”
“They simply talked about high prices, exorbitant taxes, widespread poverty, unpaid salaries, and they called for peace. For the Houthis, talking about these issues is a red line and should not be crossed.”
The Houthis have not commented publicly on the arrests, but have repeatedly argued that they are defending Yemen against attacks from the Saudi-led coalition.
One pro-Houthi voice, Sanaa-based lawyer Abdulwahab Alkhail, argued that the content shared by the YouTubers had been used to justify the Saudi-led coalition’s involvement in the war in Yemen.
“The three YouTubers intentionally presented inaccurate media content that distorts the image of the Sanaa government,” Alkhail said in a tweet shared on January 2.
Independent media retreat
The Houthi takeover of much of northern Yemen in 2014, including the most populous parts of the country, followed by a devastating war, has ushered in a bleak era for independent media outlets in the country, after a brief period where freedom of speech had expanded following Yemen’s 2011 uprising.
Between 2014 and 2022, parties to the conflict in Yemen, including the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, killed 45 Yemeni journalists, according to the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS).
Human rights groups have also criticised all sides in the conflict for the continued harassment and prosecution of journalists.
“An independent journalist in Sanaa or any other Yemeni province is constantly at risk,” said Mohammed, a journalist in Sanaa, who did not want to have his full name published for security reasons. “Gone are the days when I used to take pride in my profession and introduce myself as a reporter without fear.”
Mohammed contributes to several news websites in Yemen and tries not to cover issues that anger the Houthis.
Mohammed says a 2020 court case in which four Yemeni journalists were sentenced to death by a Houthi-run court in Sanaa is always in the back of his mind whenever he writes.
“Neither I nor any other media professional dare to speak frankly about the Houthis in a way similar to what Hajar did,” Mohammed told Al Jazeera. “We understand the consequences: detention, incarceration, or death.”
It was as a result of that fear from the traditional media, both in Houthi and government-controlled parts of Yemen, that space opened up for YouTubers to attract followers.
Some, like al-Mawmari, have proven to be immensely popular. He has more than two million subscribers on YouTube, and large crowds attended his wedding in Sanaa after he issued an open invite to his fans.
“The YouTubers have been focusing on social issues, but are different to the traditional media,” said al-Omari. “Their distinct characteristic is their simple language, spontaneous speech and down-to-earth approach that sympathises with the suffering of civilians.”
Slam the Houthis and the Saudis
The arrest of the YouTubers may yet backfire on the Houthis, with many Yemenis in Houthi-controlled areas angry at the mounting crackdown on one of the few, albeit limited, spaces for freedom of expression.
Izadeen Abdu, a 24-year-old university student in Sanaa, is a subscriber of Hajar’s social media accounts. He says Hajar and his fellow YouTubers have been arrested because their words are “bullets to the ears of the warlords in Yemen”.
“They [YouTube influencers] have slammed the Houthi group and the Saudi-led coalition alike,” said Abdu. “The two warring sides are responsible for taking Yemen to where it is today. That is why we appreciate their videos and follow their accounts. They are bold speakers, not a**-lickers,” said Abdu.
While the parties to the conflict in Yemen have displayed hostility to independent media outlets, they have simultaneously established dozens of news websites over the years of the war and hired journalists.
From September 2014 to April 2021, 143 Yemeni news websites were launched, according to a report by Khuyut, an independent news outlet in Yemen. About 90 percent of the content published on those websites is biased, one-sided, politically motivated, and does not meet professional standards, according to Khuyut.
“The Houthis havehired journalists and launched news websites. But they cannot attract all the social media activists and YouTubers,” said al-Omari. “When they cannot tempt their critics, they punish them.”
A six-month truce set the tone for 2022, with Yemen’s warring parties largely avoiding direct conflict. With that deal falling apart, what will 2023 bring?
When 2022 began, and with war raging in his home country Yemen, Abdu felt that there was only one way for him to make money and help his family.
The 25-year-old packed his bags, left the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and headed north.
“Out of despair, I decided at the start of the year to travel to Saudi Arabia to find work,” Abdu said, with a deep sigh as he remembered his trip to the kingdom, Yemen’s richer neighbour, which had also spent several years conducting air attacks across Yemen in support of the government.
Abdu did not apply for a work visa because he could not afford it. Like many others, he instead turned to smugglers to reach his destination, the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, 12 hours away.
“I arrived there in the second week of January [2022]. I found a job as a shepherd. And I started receiving 1,500 Saudi riyals ($399) monthly,” Abdu told Al Jazeera.
But only three months after Abdu’s arrival in Saudi Arabia, his own expectations for how the year would pan out for Yemen were upended.
In April, the Iran-allied Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa and other major population centres in Yemen’s north, and the Yemeni government agreed to a United Nations-sponsored truce. Saudi air attacks also stopped. The war largely receded, frozen and temporarily out of sight. Life, to a relative degree, improved.
The truce held for six months, despite repeated violations. Fuel ships arriving at the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port quadrupled. Commercial flights to and from Sanaa International Airport resumed for the first time since 2016, enabling thousands of passengers, mainly patients and students, to fly abroad, or return home.
According to Save the Children, conflict-attributable child fatalities dropped by 34 percent and displacement was roughly halved.
It meant that Abdu was able to think of the previously unthinkable – the possibility that he might be able to prosper financially in Yemen.
“I called my father after I heard the news of the ceasefire, and he was glad that fuel ships were going to arrive and that air attacks would stop,” Abdu recalled, explaining that for his father, a bus driver, the prospect of lower fuel prices and a more plentiful supply meant the chance to finally make more money.
And so, with 12,000 Saudi Riyals ($3,191) from his work in Saudi Arabia in his back pocket, Abdu has returned to Yemen. His plan is to buy a minibus and stay in Sanaa, joining his father as a bus driver.
Truce falls through
So far, Abdu has no regrets. He feels the situation in Sanaa is better than when he left; the fighting remains largely stopped and fuel is available.
Nonetheless, he still worries about a possible renewed outbreak of violence or a new fuel crisis.
That possibility is not far-fetched.
In October, UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg failed to get the Houthis to agree to renew the truce, despite agreement from the Yemeni government, and there was no extension.
While there has not been a return to all-out war, the Houthis have conducted drone attacks on the al-Dhabba oil terminal in the government-controlled Hadramout governorate, raising alarm and drawing a rebuke from the UN.
Ultimately, according to the Yemeni political researcher and author Adel Dashela, long-term stability in Yemen remains unattainable.
As the new year begins, he predicts three scenarios for Yemen.
“The regional powers may unanimously push Yemen’s warring sides to negotiate a lasting peaceful solution. But such a scenario is far-fetched given the Houthi stubbornness and the southern separatists’ inflexibility,” Dashela said, referring to the Southern Transitional Council, which, while officially part of the Saudi-led coalition that backs the government, has fought against government forces in the past and is in de facto control of the port city of Aden.
The second scenario is the perpetuation of the status quo, with the Houthi group ruling the north while the government and the secessionists control the south. “This seems less violent,” Dashela said. “However, it will expand and tighten the influence of the militant groups in the country.”
The breakout of an all-out war is the third scenario. “This is the most dangerous direction and will further devastate Yemen,” believes Dashela. “All indicators show that peace will not be fulfilled easily given the conflict’s complexity and the regional players’ hegemony.”
It is a scenario that leaves the lives of millions of Yemenis hanging in the balance.
For now, Abdu still believes that he made the right decision to come back to Yemen.
“The warlords can keep negotiating for months or years,” he said. “I don’t mind, I would just hate to see a war or fuel crisis.”
“2022, the good year, is over,” he added. “We don’t know what 2023 holds.”
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Yemen has reported its first coronavirus case – in the eastern province of Hadramout.
Aid groups have been warning the spread of the disease could have a catastrophic impact in the war-torn country.
Yesterday, a unilateral two-week ceasefire called by the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Houthi rebels in Yemen came into effect.
The five-year conflict has devastated Yemen, reportedly killed more than 100,000 people, and triggered what the UN considers the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
![More than 2,500 schools are unusable, according to UNICEF, as they have been destroyed, converted for military purposes, or used to shelter the displaced [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com03/2015-04-07T000000Z_977788139_GF10000051524_RTRMADP_3_YEMEN-SECURITY.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
