Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha Commences Mission as Head of UNMHA

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths beside Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha of India. (Twitter account of Griffiths)
United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths beside Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha of India. (Twitter account of Griffiths)
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Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha Commences Mission as Head of UNMHA

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths beside Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha of India. (Twitter account of Griffiths)
United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths beside Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha of India. (Twitter account of Griffiths)

Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha of India has commenced his mission as head of United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), announced United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths.

He will succeed Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, amid the shrinking possibility of implementing the Stockholm Agreement that goes 10 months back between the legitimate government and the Iranian-supported Houthi group.

Griffiths tweeted welcoming the Lieutenant General, saying that he looks forward to cooperating with him.

Guha is the third head of UNMHA since Stockholm Agreement, signed in December.

Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) for Yemen managed to let the two parties meet in six rounds of talks for the sake of implementing the agreement. However, it achieved no breakthrough except for the fragile truce that concurred with thousands of breaches.

The UN announced, last month, appointing Guha after the conclusion of Lollesgaard's term. There are hopes that he succeeds in resuming the agreement’s implementation, fixing the ceasefire, completing the second phase of redeployment, and achieving a breakthrough in the most complex issues such as security, resources, and local authority.

Despite Houthis' claims that they finished more than 90 percent of their obligations related to the Hodeidah agreement, the legitimate government affirmed that the withdrawal of the group from three ports of Hodeidah was fictitious.

The local authority, local security forces, and the ports’ resources are the main three topics hindering any tangible progress to implement Hodeidah agreement.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hadrami stressed earlier the government’s keenness to achieve peace based on the three references – he also affirmed to Griffiths in their most recent meeting that moving to political consultations regarding the comprehensive settlement with Houthis is hinged to the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement.

Hadrami called on the international community to pressure Houthis to implement it, saying that the government doesn’t expect those who didn’t respect earlier agreements to abide by the coming ones.



Former Regime Elements, Drug Traffickers Targeted in Western Homs and Damascus Campaigns

The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
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Former Regime Elements, Drug Traffickers Targeted in Western Homs and Damascus Campaigns

The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).
The Anti-Narcotics Department seizes a drug depot belonging to Maher al-Assad in the Sabura area in the Damascus countryside (Ministry of Interior).

The Syrian Military Operations Administration has been pressing its security campaigns aimed at disarming former regime militia remnants and combating drug traffickers across Syria.

On Tuesday, for the third time, the administration, in collaboration with the General Security Directorate, launched a large-scale operation in western rural Homs. The campaign focused on the villages of Jabbourin Rafain, Al-Haysa, Jabbourin, Qaniyat Al-Assi, Tasnin, Kafrnan, Akrad Al-Dasniya, and their surroundings. Simultaneous campaigns were conducted in Aleppo’s Nairab district, Jaramana in the Damascus countryside, and northern Daraa.

Security sources said the operation in rural Homs targets “remnants of Assad militias who refused to surrender their weapons, arms depots, drug dealers, and traffickers,” according to an official statement from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). Military reinforcements were dispatched to support the campaign in the targeted areas.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the operation in the village of Jabbourin in rural Hama marked the second such operation within a week. The observatory noted that several civilians and military personnel, including those who had reconciled with the government, were arrested. Some detainees were later released, while others remain under investigation.

Residents in rural Homs expressed significant concern about the proliferation of weapons, incidents of abductions, and the escalating fear of retribution. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, they noted a prevailing sense of unease and insecurity, as anonymous actors exploit the current chaos to fuel tensions and instability.

The General Security Directorate in Homs has urged residents in western rural Homs villages and towns to fully cooperate with its forces and the Military Operations Administration to ensure the success of the campaign’s objectives.

In Daraa, southern Syria, the Daraa 24 network reported that the General Security Directorate carried out a raid in the city of Izraa, north of Daraa. During the operation, large quantities of weapons were seized, and warnings were issued to individuals still in possession of firearms to surrender them “to preserve the region’s security and stability.”

An earlier security operation in the Lajat region, located between the Suwayda and Daraa governorates, resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals described as former regime remnants, drug traffickers, and arms dealers. The Syrian Interior Ministry also announced the arrest of “remnant elements and members of a gang involved in the theft of weapons from a warehouse in the Mazraa project area of Damascus.”

Meanwhile, the General Security Directorate released several former regime elements in Damascus after verifying their lack of involvement in violations against the Syrian people. According to local sources cited by Syrian Television, several conscripts detained in Adra Prison in Damascus were freed on Tuesday, with additional releases expected in the coming days.

Last week, the General Security Directorate released 360 detainees, including former regime officers, out of approximately 800 people arrested as part of the Homs security campaign. Following investigations, the authorities confirmed that those individuals were not in possession of weapons and had pledged not to engage in activities against the new Syrian administration.