Houthi
Yemen rebels say their chief is unhurt
Yemeni rebels, operating in the north of the country, have posted a video of their leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, showing him in apparent good health.
Officials in Yemen had claimed Mr Houthi had been seriously injured in December and had appointed a successor.
Fighting between the rebels from the minority Shia Zaidi sect and the Yemeni government has occurred sporadically since 2004.
The rebels are also in conflict with neighboring Saudi Arabia. BBC
Iran’s president slams Saudi role in Yemen
Iran’s president lashed out at Saudi Arabia on Wednesday over its role in Yemen’s conflict with Shi’ite rebels, saying Riyadh should try to foster peace rather than use weapons against fellow Muslims.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comments were the strongest criticism yet by predominantly Shi’ite Muslim Iran of mainly Sunni Saudi Arabia over its involvement in the Yemen conflict.
Saudi Arabia has been fighting Yemen rebels since the insurgents carried out a cross-border raid last November.
“We were expecting that Saudi Arabian officials act like a mentor and make peace between brothers, not that they themselves enter the war and use bombs … and machine guns against Muslims,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech.
According to observers Iran has been arming and funding the Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen. Reuters
Saudi troops retake village occupied by Yemeni rebels
Saudi troops have regained control of a border village occupied by Yemeni Houthi rebels since November, the kingdom’s deputy defense minister has said.
Prince Khaled bin Sultan told state TV that four Saudi soldiers and “hundreds” of rebels were killed in the clashes. BBC
Yemeni forces clash with Houthi rebels, kill 11
Yemeni forces clashed with Shi’ite rebels, killing 11 in a country where Washington and Riyadh fear al Qaeda may be gaining a stronger foothold, and Yemen’s president reiterated a call to rebels to end the violence.
“Eleven terrorists were killed and others were wounded in widespread combing operations and strikes by military and security units on Thursday against gatherings of Houthi terrorists in a number of areas,” a government source told Reuters on Friday. Reuters
Yemen DM claims Houthi leader is dead
A Houthi rebel leader in north Yemen may have suffered critical injuries during an airstrike by Yemeni national forces, the government said.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry on its Web site last weekend referenced mounting claims that Abdul Malik al-Houthi was either dead or critically wounded in a recent air attack.
Iran’s al-Alam news station report Monday that a rebel spokesman denied the claims, though the Defense Ministry said he died and was buried in north Yemen, Voice of America reports.
The government in August launched a major military operation against Houthi rebels in the north of the country. Aid groups complained the government operation created a humanitarian disaster for the thousands of families displaced by the conflict. UPI
Yemeni rebels willing to withdraw from Saudi Arabia if attacks stop
Yemeni Shiite rebels are willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to cross-border attacks by the Saudi military, a rebel spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We are prepared to withdraw from sites if… Saudi Arabia does not attack any one of us from its territory,” said the spokesman, Mohammed Abdel Salam.
On Tuesday, Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan gave Yemeni rebels 24 hours to withdraw from the border village of Al-Jabiri which they are occupying.
“They have 24 hours to surrender, or we will destroy them,” he said.
According to a statement released by the Houthi rebels , Saudi fighter jets carried out on Wednesday 13 air raids on al-Raqqa, al-Sabbah regions as well as villages in close proximity to al-Malaheet in north Yemen. Agencies
Yemen rebels claim control of Saudi military post
Shiite rebels fighting the Yemeni national army and Saudi forces on Yemen’s northwest border said today they had taken control of a Saudi military post.
The rebels, known as Al Houthi after the family of its leaders, said in an e-mailed statement they also seized all the military equipment at the al-Jabir border post late yesterday.
The statement said the seizure came after the Houthis “opened a new front” in the fighting with Saudi forces along the border where the rebels control mountainous areas of the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada.
In a related development sources in the region are claiming that Saudi Arabia has captured 1805 illegal Yemeni infiltrators this month.
UN: Thousands of civilians fleeing clashes in northern Yemen
Thousands of civilians continue to steam out of northern Yemen, where the clashes between Government forces and rebels enter their fifth month, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
The situation in Sa’ada province remains tense, and the situation in Razeh district is particularly worrying, as civilians’ freedom of movement is restricted and basic services such as electricity and water are lacking, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The agency estimates that 175,000 people have been affected by conflict since 2004, including those displaced by the latest surge in fighting between the Government and Al Houthi rebels.
“Shortages of food and other commodities have pushed the prices sharply upwards and more and more people are unable to afford their basic needs,” UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva. Source: UN
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