Vessel Awaits 23 Days to Unload Cargo in Hodeidah

Smoke rises in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
Smoke rises in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
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Vessel Awaits 23 Days to Unload Cargo in Hodeidah

Smoke rises in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
Smoke rises in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters

The Saudi-led coalition announced Friday that Houthi militias have prevented Bahia Damas vessel, which has been waiting in Hodeidah port for 23 days, to unload its diesel cargo.

The coalition stressed that it has issued seven permits to ships heading to Yemeni ports carrying food and oil derivatives, pointing that four ships docked in the port of Hodeidah on Friday and five others were waiting to enter the port.

Meanwhile, Yemeni forces backed by the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen have made progress on various fronts in Saada at a time when coalition fighter jets eliminated four insurgent commanders east of Sanaa.

The joint forces in the West Coast also sent new military reinforcements to take part in the battle with the Houthi militias.

The Joint Yemeni Resistance Forces also combed all the farms and liberated areas in the vicinity of Tahita directorate and the remaining insurgent pockets south-west of the directorate.

Forces also advanced towards the historic Zabid directorate which the militias have turned into a military barracks.

Saudi-led coalition forces pushed ahead in the operation against the Houthis in their stronghold in Saada governorate and liberated new areas in Kitaf, north of the city, few hours after besieging militias in Baqam district, north of Saada.

Battles continued in the east and southwest fronts in Taiz, and four prominent Houthi leaders were killed in Nahm Front, the eastern gate of Sanaa.

Moreover, Saudi-led coalition jets raided a meeting of field militia commanders in Nahm front, east of Sanaa.

The Yemeni national army said in a statement that the air raid killed Yasser Abdullah Amer and three other Houthi leaders and their associates from Saada governorate, according to Al Arabiya.

The army statement confirmed that Amer is an influential militia figure in Nahm front whereas the other slain commanders have recently arrived from Saada to supervise over the front.



US to Eventually Reduce Military Bases in Syria to One, Says US Envoy

A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
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US to Eventually Reduce Military Bases in Syria to One, Says US Envoy

A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)
A US patrol in Qamishli’s countryside in Hasakah on April 20, 2022. (AFP)

The United States has begun reducing its military presence in Syria with a view to eventually closing all but one of its bases there, the US envoy for the country has said in an interview.

Six months after the ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the United States is steadily drawing down its presence as part of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), a military task force launched in 2014 to fight the ISIS.

"The reduction of our OIR engagement on a military basis is happening," the US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said in an interview with Türkiye's NTV late on Monday.

"We've gone from eight bases to five to three. We'll eventually go to one."

But he admitted Syria still faced major security challenges under interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose coalition toppled Assad in December.

Assad's ouster brought an end to Syria's bloody 14-year civil war, but the new authorities have struggled to contain recent bouts of sectarian violence.

Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, called for the "integration" of the country's ethnic and religious groups.

"It's very tribal still. It's very difficult to bring it together," he said.

But "I think that will happen," he added.

The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would halve its troops in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, saying the ISIS presence had been reduced to "remnants".