Houthis Detain Yemeni Vice President’s Son

Yemen's late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reuters
Yemen's late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reuters
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Houthis Detain Yemeni Vice President’s Son

Yemen's late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reuters
Yemen's late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Reuters

Houthi militia stormed on Friday the home of Yemeni Vice President General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and kidnapped his son Mohsen Ali Mohsen along with dozens of house guards, sources in Sana’a said.

Ahmar’s office and Houthis did not confirm or deny the news that were reported by Arabiya. Net.

On the other hand, Houthi militia released Saturday two prominent tribal leaders with a number of their followers, who were arrested on charges of participating in the uprising called for by former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on December 2, that ended up with Saleh’s death and his relatives’ injury along with hundreds of his supporters.

Observers said that Houthis might have taken this step to please “Hashid” tribe since the first leader was a communications minister in the unrecognized coup government and a leader in the Popular Congress Party; he was overthrown by Houthis after Saleh’s death and was held in one of their detention camps after being accused of supporting the uprising.

The other detainee was a tribal leader with a close relationship with the former president, and the militias blew up his house after looting it and arresting a number of his followers.

According to the Houthi version of Saba News Agency, Head of the coup Houthi Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Samad received Saturday in Amran Governorate’s elders and Hashid tribe’s sheikhs and praised their roles in standing with the group in the face of what he called “aggression.”

Samad ordered the release of Sheikh Glidan Mahmoud Glidan and Sheikh Mabkhouth al-Mashreqi.

Meanwhile, and after forty days of killing former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Houthi militia suppressed in Sana’a Saturday protests carried out by women to denounce the coup militia.

The protest, which reached to Tahrir Square in central Sana’a, called for "civil disobedience" in response to the Houthi violations.

The participants demanded that the Houthi militias hand over the corps of Saleh, of whom the houthis spread rumors that they have buried it in his hometown earlier this month.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.