Yemeni Army Artillery Destroys 16 Houthi Units in Nihm District

A health worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a market amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus, in Sanaa, Yemen April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A health worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a market amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus, in Sanaa, Yemen April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
TT

Yemeni Army Artillery Destroys 16 Houthi Units in Nihm District

A health worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a market amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus, in Sanaa, Yemen April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A health worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a market amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus, in Sanaa, Yemen April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Yemeni artillery destroyed 16 Houthi militant units that were deployed to join militia formations in Nihm district, east of Sanaa.

This coincided with Arab Coalition fighter jets taking out Houthi reinforcements and military equipment in the Najd al-Atiq area of the same district.

Houthi militant units are usually made up of a vehicle transporting six militiamen in addition to the driver and two front seat passengers.

Meanwhile, Yemeni army forces, backed by the Arab Coalition, succeeded in liberating a number of positions east of al-Hazim district in the northern al-Jawf governorate, military sources reported.

Sources said that Yemeni army units launched a wide-ranging attack in al-Jawf governorate on Friday and have succeeded in regaining a number of positions at the Jadafer and Aqshaa frontlines in al-Hazim district.

“Dozens of Houthis were killed and injured during the confrontations, while the Arab Coalition fighter jets targeted Houthi heavy military equipment and reinforcements,” sources said.

The Sixth Military Area Spokesman Rabee al-Qurashi, for his part, confirmed the capture of a number of Houthi leaderships during al-Jawf battles.

“Convoys are filled with dozens of corpses. Over twenty Houthis, among whom were top-tier leaders, were captured,” Qurashi said in a tweet on Saturday.

In Nihm district, Yemeni troops, backed by pro-government popular forces, launched a sweeping attack on Saturday that targeted Houthi locations in Najd al-Atiq.

“The heroes of the national army and the resistance fought against the coup militias from the early morning hours until Saturday noon,” an official military source said, stressing that Houthis incurred heavy losses both in lives and equipment.

The source added that the attack was accompanied by Arab Coalition airstrikes that targeted militia positions and reinforcements in Najd al-Atiq. Airstrikes destroyed a truck and a number of Houthi military equipment.



Guterres Establishes Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria

19 December 2024, US, New York: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference, ahead of a Security Council meeting. Photo: Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
19 December 2024, US, New York: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference, ahead of a Security Council meeting. Photo: Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT

Guterres Establishes Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria

19 December 2024, US, New York: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference, ahead of a Security Council meeting. Photo: Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
19 December 2024, US, New York: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference, ahead of a Security Council meeting. Photo: Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed on Thursday Karla Quintana of Mexico as Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria.

“Indeed, all international mechanisms to advance the protection of human rights in Syria and accountability for crimes committed – must have what they need to carry out their vital work,” he said.

The International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague separately said it had received data indicating there may be as many as 66, as yet unverified, mass grave sites in Syria.

More than 150,000 people are considered missing, according to international and Syrian organizations, including the United Nations and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, it said.

Ahead of a UN Security Council meeting chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Guterres underlined that Israel's widespread strikes on Syrian military infrastructure were “violations” of the country's sovereignty and called for them to cease, AFP reported.

Israeli warplanes have carried out hundreds of attacks across the country, including in the capital, Damascus.

Israeli officials said the strikes across Syria were aimed at destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure to prevent them being used by rebel groups that drove President Bashar Assad from power this month.

Ahead of the Security Council meeting, Guterres called for the full restoration of Syria’s sovereignty, territorial unity, and an end to all fighting.

He condemned Israel for pushing its forces into a UN-run buffer zone on its border with Syria following the fall of Assad.

“Let me be clear, there should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers -- period,” he said.

“Those peacekeepers must have freedom of movement to undertake their important work. Israel and Syria must uphold the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement which remains fully in force.”

Guterres then stressed that the UN is working to facilitate a peaceful political transition in Syria, adding that adequate funding for humanitarian and recovery response is critical.

He said there is “a real risk that progress could unravel,” without an “inclusive, credible and peaceful” political transition that is Syrian led, on behalf of all its citizens.

“This is a decisive moment – a moment of hope and history, but also one of great uncertainty,” the UN chief said.

“Some will try to exploit the situation for their own narrow ends. But it is the obligation of the international community to stand with the people of Syria who have suffered so much,” he added.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrians protested Thursday in central Damascus calling for democracy and women’s rights, more than a week after the opposition coalition ousted Assad.

“We want a democracy, not a religious state,” men and women demonstrators chanted in central Damascus’s Ummayad Square, as well as “Free, civil Syria” and “the Syrian people are one”, while some protesters held signs including “No free nation without free women.”

The protest came more than 10 days after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning offensive from their northwest Syria bastion, sweeping swathes of territory from government control and taking the capital on December 8, toppling Assad.