Yemen: Houthi Tank Rams 12 Citizens in Baidaa

Fighters of the Southern Popular Resistance stand on a tank in Yemen's southern port city of Aden May 10, 2015. (File Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
Fighters of the Southern Popular Resistance stand on a tank in Yemen's southern port city of Aden May 10, 2015. (File Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
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Yemen: Houthi Tank Rams 12 Citizens in Baidaa

Fighters of the Southern Popular Resistance stand on a tank in Yemen's southern port city of Aden May 10, 2015. (File Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
Fighters of the Southern Popular Resistance stand on a tank in Yemen's southern port city of Aden May 10, 2015. (File Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)

Houthi insurgents have committed a new crime in Yemen’s Baydaa province where a BMP tank ran over a vehicle carrying 12 people, killing seven passengers.

"The vehicle of Saif Mohammed Ali al-Arabji was run over on Thursday by the Houthi militias’ BMP tank at Ahram point in Radaa,” the media center of resistance in Baydaa said in a brief statement.

The statement published on Facebook named the seven dead passengers as Saif Mohammed Ali al-Arabji, Latf Saif Mohammed Ali al-Arabji, Mabkhout al-Qishani al-Arabji, Saeq Mohammed Waseea, Saleh Mohammed Waseea, Moeen Ali al-Makroum and Mirdas Mohammad Ali al-Arabji.

The center also reported the injury of "five other citizens who remain in critical condition."

In other news, National Army website “SeptemberNet” reported that 17 Houthi militants, including one field commander known as Ismael al-Washali, were killed and 20 others wounded during an Arab coalition air raid waged successfully on a training camp in Dhamar province.

Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a number of militants were killed during air raids of the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy on several insurgent sites in Nahm, east of Sana’a. In addition, Coalition fighter jets raided several militant positions in Saada, the Houthi stronghold, including military sites and targets in Haidan district.

Over the past 48 hours, the raids were concentrated on Saada province, and the National Army shelled several Houthi sites in the Muthab district of al-Safra governorate. According to the source, Houthi militants were killed and injured during clashes that lasted several hours in various areas of Serwah, Maerib.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, spokesman of legitimate forces in the Karsh and al-Shurijiyya fronts Antar al-Subaihi said heavy clashes pitted Houthi militias against the national army and the southern resistance forces, which continued the liberation of al-Rahida area’s al-Sahi village.

“The forces have fully controlled the strategic sites north of liberated al-Shreijah, north of Lahj, in addition, they liberated the remainder of the Shivan, Qarduf and al-Taweelah mountain range in al-Aloob north of al-Shreijah, under the command of Colonel Mohammed Farid Hassan and Lt. Fadl Hasan,” said Subaihi.

He reiterated that they will not stop until al-Rahida area is fully secured and liberated.

He explained that National Army and the Popular Resistance forces launched a sudden attack on several Houthi sites from several axes, giving them an advantage, with Houthis not being able to respond, escaping the area and leaving behind many bodies, weapons, and ammunition.

"A number of Houthi militias were killed and others injured, in addition to the capture of eight militants,” Subaihi added.  



US Condemns Continued Houthi Detention of International Staff

A number of European Union ambassadors during their meeting with the Chairman of the Yemeni Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, on a previous visit to Aden (Saba)
A number of European Union ambassadors during their meeting with the Chairman of the Yemeni Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, on a previous visit to Aden (Saba)
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US Condemns Continued Houthi Detention of International Staff

A number of European Union ambassadors during their meeting with the Chairman of the Yemeni Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, on a previous visit to Aden (Saba)
A number of European Union ambassadors during their meeting with the Chairman of the Yemeni Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, on a previous visit to Aden (Saba)

US Ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin has condemned the continued detention by the Houthis of employees from the UN, non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions.

Fagin issued a statement Friday on the 90th day in Houthi detention for the innocent employees.

“Today marks the 90th day in Houthi detention for innocent employees of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and diplomatic missions; and more than 1,000 days of unlawful detention at the hands of this same terrorist group for twelve current and former employees of the US Mission to Yemen,” he said.

“That the Houthis have committed these extreme actions against fellow Yemenis is profoundly shortsighted, callous, and inhumane,” the statement added.

The Ambassador said that “Houthis have ripped people from their families and their homes based on fanciful and absurd accusations that are not in line with the real lives these people were living – that of commitment to family, to Yemen, and its future.”

He added that Houthi “actions also may exacerbate the suffering of Yemenis living under Houthi control, by jeopardizing critical humanitarian assistance.”

“We will not rest until our Yemeni colleagues are safely returned to their families, and we call on the Houthis to release all detainees immediately.”

The Houthi militias have, since early June, arrested and forcibly disappeared dozens of people, including at least 13 UN staff and many employees of nongovernmental organizations operating in their controlled territories.

The militia has expanded its campaign to include more than 70 employees of international and local organizations in areas under its control in northern and western Yemen, and has accused them of spying for foreign parties.

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani has condemned the Houthis’ use of torture to extract confessions from staff working for the UN and international organizations.

He said such practices are due to the international community's leniency towards the violations committed by the Iranian-backed group.

The European Union Heads of Mission to Yemen have also expressed deep concern over the Houthis’ detention and disappearance for over three months of dozens of staff working for the UN, international and local organizations, calling for their unconditional release.