Houthis Scale up Assaults despite Washington’s Decision to Revoke Their Terrorist Designation

Houthi militants ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Houthi militants ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
TT
20

Houthis Scale up Assaults despite Washington’s Decision to Revoke Their Terrorist Designation

Houthi militants ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Houthi militants ride on the back of a patrol truck as they secure the site of a pro-Houthi tribal gathering in a rural area near Sanaa, Yemen July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The Biden administration’s decision to revoke the terrorist designation of Iran-backed Houthi militias was met by the latter stepping up assaults against Yemen’s Marib, al-Jawf and Taiz governorates.

The criticism leveled by the internationally recognized Yemeni government against Washington’s decision included warnings of the move emboldening Houthis and consequentially harming peace efforts.

At least three people were killed on Sunday when a ballistic missile launched by Houthi militias struck a family house on the western outskirts of Marib city, medics and residents said.

Three others were wounded in the attack which destroyed the house and damaged several neighboring homes, they added.

The missile attack came simultaneously with the other attack of a Houthi drone that the government forces intercepted in the sky of Marib, confirmed official sources, adding that those injured in the attack were transported to the closest area hospital for treatment.

The assaults came two days after the administration of US President Joe Biden said it would revoke the terrorist designation of Houthis by the previous administration.

More so, Houthi militias have increased their deployment to Marib’s west and southern fronts over the last two days, field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Houthis did not only attack in Marib, they also staged hits in neighboring al-Jawf governorate.

Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar al-Eryani, for his part, warned that Washington’s decision to revoke the Houthi terrorist designation will strengthen Iran’s subversive policies in the region and threaten international interests.

Eryani said that hinting at the possibility of Washington reversing the designation of the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization sends the wrong signals to the Houthis, and Iran, to continue their escalatory approach and their crimes and violations against civilians.

It will also encourage policies of spreading chaos and terrorism in the region and challenging the will of the international community in ending the war and bringing about a just and comprehensive peace.

The information minister also explained that “parties and international organizations pressed to stop the military operations to liberate the city of Hodeidah under the pretext of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, and the government responded to affirm its concern for peace, and participated in the Stockholm negotiations that resulted in an agreement to remove the Houthi militia from Hodeidah, exchange all prisoners and kidnappers and lift the siege on Taiz Governorate.”

“After two years of the agreement, nothing was achieved. Al Houthi militia continued to target civilians, villages, homes and farms with missiles and snipers, planting mines and improvised explosive devices, and disrupted negotiations to open relief crossings, exchanging all prisoners and kidnappers, escalated their military operations, and the humanitarian situation worsened,” Eryani added.

He pointed out that “the same thing happened when the National Army approached the capital, Sanaa, on the two fronts of Nihm and Sirwah, and the international community intervened to stop the army’s advance and pledged to hold talks to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution. It turned out that the matter was nothing but a Houthi-Iranian maneuver to gain time and re-arrange their ranks and escalate their military operations again.”

Eryani expressed his regret, “for such trends, while the scenes of Iranian Houthi missiles targeting Aden airport are still fresh in minds, and they are still falling on the heads of civilians in Marib and Taiz, and their shells and snipers are claiming the lives of women and children, and hundreds of politicians and activists are absent in their detention centers, and their drones are attacking neighboring countries.”

“These facts confirm that canceling the classification will contribute to complicating the Yemeni crisis, prolonging the coup, and exacerbate the human suffering resulting from the war triggered by Houthis, and make peace out of the reach of the Yemenis, and it will represent a free gift to the Tehran regime, strengthening its subversive policies in the region and threatening international interests.”

He affirmed that the issuance of a decision in this direction “would represent a great disappointment to the Yemeni people.”



Coalition Bases in Northeast Syria on High Alert Amid Fears of Militia Attacks

US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
TT
20

Coalition Bases in Northeast Syria on High Alert Amid Fears of Militia Attacks

US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.

US-led coalition forces in northeastern Syria were placed on high alert Friday following Israel’s military strikes against Iran, amid concerns that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may retaliate with cross-border attacks.

Military sources reported that coalition bases in al-Hasakah province raised their alert level. Coalition aircraft conducted aerial patrols over the bases and along the Syrian-Iraqi border, anticipating potential attacks from factions aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The precautionary measures come on the heels of Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion,” which targeted senior IRGC figures in Tehran in what Israeli officials described as a preemptive strike. In response, the Iraqi militia Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada warned it could dispatch dozens of suicide bombers to strike US interests if the conflict escalates.

Witnesses in northeastern Syria reported heavy aerial activity over al-Malikiyah and toward the Simelka-Faysh Khabur border crossing with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region early Friday. Troop movements were also observed within coalition bases.

According to local sources, over 100 trucks crossed from Iraq into Syria Thursday night via the al-Waleed border crossing. The convoy reportedly delivered military equipment, vehicles, weapons, fuel, and supplies to coalition bases in Kharab al-Jir, the Rmelan oil field, Kasrak (on the Qamishli-Tel Tamr road), and al-Shaddadi in southern Hasakah.

The heightened readiness follows a recent US decision to reduce its military presence in Syria, including the closure of three coalition facilities in Deir Ezzor province, among them the al-Omar oil field and the Conoco gas plant.

Despite the drawdown, sources say the coalition continues to receive weekly resupply shipments from its bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, maintaining its operations against ISIS cells and sustaining patrols in the region.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a joint operation with coalition forces targeting a suspected ISIS sleeper cell in the town of al-Mansoura, west of Raqqa. Three suspects were arrested, including two senior figures allegedly involved in bomb-making operations. A full curfew was imposed on the area during the raid.

The SDF confirmed it seized weapons, explosive devices, and documents, and vowed to continue its counterterrorism efforts in partnership with the international coalition.