I can’t imagine why the Yemeni government’s news agency decided to publish this article, unless to show the disaffected citizens of Sana’a and Aden how fortunate they are. It’s an extraordinary description of life in Jawf province, just over 100 miles from the capital, which borders Saudi...
Blog archive: Yemen
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22nd August 2009
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21st August 2009The latest issue of the Yemen Times gives a rare glimpse of daily life in the Saada war zone: In the countryside of Saada, there is no electricity or phone service and generators can be deadly. According to one resident of rural Dhahyan, her neighbours communicate by hand-written...
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18th August 2009An American congressional delegation led by former Republican presidential candidate John McCain arrived in Yemen yesterday on a summer junket touring “post-war zones and forward operating bases” which also includes Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and … er … Iceland (!). Presumably...
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16th August 2009The international dimension of Yemen’s Houthi rebellion came to the fore yesterday when Iranian media reported claims of Saudi military involvement. Yahya al-Houthi (a brother of the rebels’ dead leader) told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency that Saudi Arabia “has gone so far as...
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14th August 2009An update on events in Yemen. The governor of Saada province says Houthi rebels have kidnapped 15 Red Crescent workers – doctors, nurses and administrators – at a camp for displaced people in al-Anad district. Speaking on state-run television, he said they were blindfolded, beaten and...
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14th August 2009For a second consecutive day, Yemeni warplanes continued their bombardment of Saada province on Thursday. Various reports speak of “dozens” of casualties. The Houthi rebels issued a video said to have been recorded in Haidan on Wednesday. One scene shows smoke rising...
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13th August 2009The Yemeni authorities have declared a state of emergency throughout Saada province and imposed an evening curfew on Saada city and surrounding towns, the German Press Agency (dpa) reports. Casualties in the government’s new “iron fist” offensive are unclear but dpa and ...
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12th August 2009“Broad offensive”, “iron fist”, “all-out onslaught” … the news agencies are reporting a large-scale government attack on the Houthi rebels (Reuters and dpa) in northern Yemen. The army launched “aerial, artillery and missile strikes on the strategic heights of Matra and Dhahian,...
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11th August 2009Despite mediation efforts, the Houthi rebellion in northern Yemen shows no sign of abating. President Salih, speaking at a meeting of Yemen’s Supreme Security Committee, warned the rebels “that the continuation of their assaults and attempts to disturb public security and tranquillity...
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7th August 2009A five-sentence news item on the Islah party’s website, under the rather inconsequential headline “MP urges Yemeni president to step down”, says that the opposition member of parliament Hamid al-Ahmar has called on President Salih to hand over power to Vice-President Abdu Rabo Mansour...
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6th August 2009Official sources in Yemen said yesterday that “outlaws” planted two bombs outside government buildings in Abyan province. One exploded near a police building, blowing a hole in a fence. A larger device consisting of a mine and a timer was defused near the Central Organisation for Control and...
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5th August 2009NewsYemen says three soldiers died when Houthi rebels attacked a hospital in Sakain area on Monday and 13 rebels were killed in al-Hesama district close to the Saudi border yesterday. NewsYemen adds that farmers are suffering from the conflict. Roadblocks set up by the army and the...
