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Clashes Erupt between Transitional Council Factions in Aden

Members of Yemen's southern separatist leaders in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
Members of Yemen's southern separatist leaders in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
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Clashes Erupt between Transitional Council Factions in Aden

Members of Yemen's southern separatist leaders in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)
Members of Yemen's southern separatist leaders in Aden, Yemen (Reuters)

Violent clashes erupted between factions of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), killing five and injuring 11 others in Crater district in Aden.

Local authorities described the events as confrontations to eliminate "terrorist groups."0

Witnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that houses, shops, and cars were damaged during the clashes.

Informed sources said that the clashes were between forces affiliated with the security forces in Aden backed by the "storm forces" against troops affiliated with Imam al-Nubi and all forces affiliated with the Transitional Council.

Sources revealed that the clashes erupted as gunmen affiliated with Nubi stormed the Crater Police Station to release one of their detained members. They also kidnapped the deputy head of the investigation department Lieutenant Awad al-Sayed to an unknown destination.

The police department issued a statement, accusing individuals affiliated with al-Nubi of closing all entrances and exits of Crater Police station with armored vehicles.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik returned to the temporary capital of Aden last week, where he resides with several ministers in the presidential palace in Crater.

The Security Committee in Aden, headed by Governor Ahmed Lamlas, issued a statement asking residents of Crater to remain in their homes.

The statement said Aden's "security and counter-terrorism forces are clearing the city from some terrorist groups and outlaws."

The Security Committee in Aden will not tolerate any party that tries to harm the city's security and its citizens, the statement said.

It also accused those groups of seeking to destabilize the country's security and stability, using heavy and medium weapons.

The statement said that the committee asserted its aim to protect private and public properties that have been subject to looting during the past days at the hands of these groups bringing chaos and sabotage into the city.

Governor Lammas said in statements carried by al-Ghad Channel that the security committee will maintain the security and stability of citizens, pointing out that "outlawed armed groups" are dealt with firmly to ensure the safety of the citizens.

He asserted that the area would be completely secured, noting that there is no need to worry.

"We hope the people of Aden will be of assistance and support to the security forces."

Observers believe that stability will not be achieved in the city until the implementation of security and military articles of the Riyadh Agreement.

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Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
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Israel’s Retaliatory Responses to Houthis Must Begin by Drawing Intelligence Plan

A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)
A person inspects damage at the site where a projectile fired from Yemen landed in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2024 (EPA)

Israel is considering options to respond to repeated attacks fired from Yemen in the past few days, the latest of which was a Houthi missile strike that injured more than a dozen people in Tel Aviv.
But military experts say Israel should first consider an intelligence plan for confronting the new front after it faced significant difficulties in both defending against and responding to the Houthi attacks.
On Saturday morning, Houthis launched a missile that triggered sirens throughout central Israel at 3:44 am. It was the second attack since Thursday.
Israel's military said the projectile landed in Tel Aviv's southern Jaffa area, adding that attempts to intercept a missile from Yemen failed.
“The incident is still being thoroughly investigated,” the army said, adding that following initial investigations by the Israeli Air Force and Home Front Command, “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, both regarding interception and early warning.”
Israeli military experts say the recent Houthi attacks have revealed serious security gaps in Israel's air defense systems.
“The pressing question now is why none of the other of Israel’s air defense layers managed to intercept the warhead,” wrote Yedioth Ahronoth's Ron Ben-Yishai. “The likely explanation is the late detection and the flat trajectory, which prevented the operation of all available defense apparatus.”
He said these incidents might expose a critical vulnerability in the army’s air defense system protecting Israel’s civilian and military home front.
According to Ben-Yishai, two main reasons might explain Saturday’s interception failure.
The first is that the missile was launched in a “flattened” ballistic trajectory, possibly from an unexpected direction.
As a result, Israeli defenses may not have identified it in time, leading to its late discovery and insufficient time for interceptors to operate.
He said the second, and more likely scenario is that Iran has developed a maneuverable warhead.
Such a warhead separates from the missile during the final third of its trajectory and maneuvers mid-flight—executing pre-programmed course changes—to hit its designated target, he wrote.
And while Israel has launched initial investigations into the failure of Israeli defense systems to intercept the missiles, it is now examining the nature, date and location of its response.
When Houthis launched their first missile attack on Israel last Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned them, saying, “The Houthis will learn the hard way.”
But Israeli political analyst Avi Ashkenazi wrote in the Maariv newspaper that Israel should look at reality with open eyes and say out loud that it cannot deal with the Houthi threat from Yemen, and has failed to face them.
Last Thursday, 14 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, alongside refuelers and spy planes, flew some 2,000 kilometers and dropped over 60 munitions on Houthi “military targets” along Yemen’s western coast and near the capital Sanaa.
The targets included fuel and oil depots, two power stations, and eight tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
But the Maariv newspaper warned about the increasing involvement of Iran in supporting the Houthi forces.
“Iran has invested more in the Houthis in recent weeks following the collapse of the Shiite axis, making the Houthi movement a leader of this axis,” the newspaper noted.
Underscoring the failures of Israel’s air defense systems, Maariv said the “Arrow” missile defense system, Israel's main line of defense against ballistic missiles, had failed four times in a row to intercept missiles, including three launched from Yemen and one from Lebanon.
Yedioth Ahronoth's Ben-Yishai also warned that the threat posed by maneuvering warheads on Iran's heavy, long-range missiles would become existential for Israel should Iran succeed in developing nuclear warheads for these missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 said that in recent months, the Middle East has changed beyond recognition.
The channel said that for the first time in more than half a century, a direct and threat-free air corridor has been opened to Iran through the Middle East. Israel will benefit from this corridor to launch almost daily attacks on the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, it said.
Channel 12 also reported that according to the Israeli military, the new threat-free corridor will help Israel launch a future attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
“From Israel's perspective, the fall of the Assad regime and the collapse of the Iranian ring of fire are changing the balance of power in the Middle East,” the report added.