CENTCOM Forces Successfully Engage 2 Houthi UAVs

Armed Houthi fighters stand guard at the entrance to a mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Sanaa, Yemen, 10 April 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
Armed Houthi fighters stand guard at the entrance to a mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Sanaa, Yemen, 10 April 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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CENTCOM Forces Successfully Engage 2 Houthi UAVs

Armed Houthi fighters stand guard at the entrance to a mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Sanaa, Yemen, 10 April 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
Armed Houthi fighters stand guard at the entrance to a mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Sanaa, Yemen, 10 April 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday its forces successfully engaged two unmanned aerial (UAV) vehicles in areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen on April 16.

"There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships," CENTCOM said in a statement.

A Houthi spokesman said Sunday that the militias had been in direct confrontation with Israel since Oct. 7, by attacking the southern Israeli port of Eilat with missiles and drones and by preventing Israeli ships from sailing through the Red Sea.



Syria's Foreign Minister Calls for Lifting of Sanctions

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
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Syria's Foreign Minister Calls for Lifting of Sanctions

Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani attends a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Syria’s new foreign minister has called for a lifting of sanctions that were imposed on his country during former President Bashar Assad’s rule.
In an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT that aired Thursday, Asaad al-Shibani also said Syria’s new leadership wanted to “open a new page” in its diplomatic relations with countries that had cut diplomatic ties with Damascus during the Syrian civil war.
“The economic sanctions are one of the problems that the old regime left us,” al-Shibani said in the interview, which aired a day after he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials in Ankara. “We are saying that there is no longer any need for them. The old regime is gone.”
“These sanctions must be lifted in order for people to live in better economic conditions and for security and economic stability to be achieved,” he added.