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Yemen: Little Progress in Abyan’s Battles

Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
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Yemen: Little Progress in Abyan’s Battles

Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]
Caption: A tank belonging to forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists during clashes with pro-government forces for control of Zinjibar [Nabil Hasan/AFP]

Following heavy battles between Yemen’s pro-government forces and Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists in Abyan governorate, there has been no military progress on both sides.

Confrontations, in which the two sides exchanged missiles Sunday, were mainly concentrated on two fronts - the village of Sheikh Salem that leads to Zinjibar and al-Tariya, from where Yemeni legitimate forces are trying to advance towards Jaar, Abyan’s second largest city.

Both sides kept silence on the number of soldiers killed and the size of inflicted damages since early last week.

Observers said the fighting left several casualties on both sides. However, no exact number could be revealed due to the ongoing battles.

A balanced military strength has made it difficult for any part to win the Abyan battle.

The STC declared about three weeks ago a state of emergency in areas falling under its control. On May 11, government troops launched an offensive to expel the separatists from southern provinces including the port city of Aden.

Pro-STC observers said the separatists brought on Sunday military reinforcements from Aden and Lahj to advance against government forces.

On Saturday, the STC said it had captured Brig. Saif Al-Qufaish, the commander of Brigade 115 in Abyan. The next day, pro-government forces said they detained STC commander Anis al-Sabhi along with seven of his associates near al-Tariya area.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Information Minister Muamer al-Iryani warned Sunday of the serious consequences of the declaration of the so-called "self-administration of the south" by the STC.

He told the Saba news agency that the separatists’ reckless move is creating an ideal environment for terrorist activities and weapons smuggling in Yemen’s southern coast, namely the smuggling of Iranian arms to Houthi militias.

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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.