Yemen: Houthis Accused of Planting Mines in Northern Hodeidah

Yemeni pro-government forces man a barricade in the area of al-Fazah in Yemen's Hodeidah province on June 16, 2018. (AFP)
Yemeni pro-government forces man a barricade in the area of al-Fazah in Yemen's Hodeidah province on June 16, 2018. (AFP)
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Yemen: Houthis Accused of Planting Mines in Northern Hodeidah

Yemeni pro-government forces man a barricade in the area of al-Fazah in Yemen's Hodeidah province on June 16, 2018. (AFP)
Yemeni pro-government forces man a barricade in the area of al-Fazah in Yemen's Hodeidah province on June 16, 2018. (AFP)

The legitimate Yemeni forces accused the Iran-backed Houthi militias of planting mines at the entrance of villages in the northern Hodeidah province.

The national army reported witnesses as saying that the militias planted the mines at the al-Kadan intersection in the al-Doha district villages.

The Houthi actions are in violation of the truce agreement reached with the legitimate government in Sweden last week.

Moreover, the army accused the militias of shelling military positions in Hodeidah, leaving casualties among the forces.

The army’s Amaleeqa Brigades announced that four of its forces were killed and 16 injured in Houthi attacks in Hodeidah city. The Brigades have meanwhile, respected the truce.

“This commitment to the ceasefire will not last if the United Nations does not put a stop to ongoing Houthi violations,” warned the Brigades.

Field and medical sources said that six civilians have been wounded in the militia attacks in Hodeidah since Thursday.

The truce went into effect on Tuesday.

The sources revealed that the Houthis had opened fire at a wedding convoy in Hays in southern Hodeidah, wounding several people. They also attacked a man and his wife, who were riding on a motorcycle in al-Jah region in the South. The women has incurred severe burns.

Local forces in Hodeidah city said that the militias had deployed Thursday three tanks in the Zayed and Sanaa streets.

The UN-brokered agreement in Sweden calls for a ceasefire in Hodeidah and withdrawal of legitimate forces and Houthis from the province.

On Friday, the Security Council approved a resolution that calls for the deployment of a UN team that would oversee the implementation of the truce.



Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad ’s cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad’s uncle departed the day before.

Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case.

They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.

Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad's father Hafez Assad, Syria's former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”

Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.

Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when insurgent forces entered Damascus.

The Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian Army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s security forces were arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they attempted to sell their weapons.

Lebanon’s public prosecution office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously told Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with the Interpol request to arrest al-Hassan.