Arab Coalition Raids Kill Over 100 Houthi Fighters in Yemen’s Abdiya

Arab Coalition fighter jets (AFP)
Arab Coalition fighter jets (AFP)
TT

Arab Coalition Raids Kill Over 100 Houthi Fighters in Yemen’s Abdiya

Arab Coalition fighter jets (AFP)
Arab Coalition fighter jets (AFP)

The Arab Coalition announced on Wednesday 19 operations targeting Iran-backed Houthi militia targets and elements in Yemen’s Abdiya in the past 24 hours.

The Coalition said it had destroyed 12 military vehicles belonging to the Houthis in Abdiya, south of Marib governorate, adding that more than 108 militia members were killed.

On Tuesday, the Arab Coalition announced carrying out several airstrikes in Abdiya. The raids killed 300 Houthis within the last 24 hours of the announcement.

“We targeted nine military vehicles of the Houthi militia in Abdiya, and their losses exceeded 134 members,” said a statement carried by official Saudi media.

Hundreds of Houthi militias and military personnel have died since fighting for the strategically vital city flared anew last month.

The Coalition also accused the Houthis of obstructing the delivery of medication, food, and other life-saving supplies to more than 35,000 civilians trapped in the district.

Local authorities in Marib have issued a fresh appeal to international aid organizations and rights groups to rescue thousands of civilians trapped inside the Houthi-besieged district of Abdiya.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms revealed that 2,451 crimes, violations, and human and material damages were suffered by the civilian population and public and private properties in the besieged district from September 23 to October 13.

More so, the Arab Coalition destroyed two explosive-laden boats used by the Houthis.

“The Houthis continue to threaten shipping lines and international trade in the Bab al-Mandab strait and the southern Red Sea,” the Coalition said.

It added that the Houthis violated the Stockholm Agreement “by launching attacks from the Hodeidah governorate.”



PKK Would Leave Syria if Kurdish Forces Keep Leadership Role, Official Says

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
TT

PKK Would Leave Syria if Kurdish Forces Keep Leadership Role, Official Says

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters are pictured in Sinjar, northwest Iraq, on March 11, 2015. Asmaa Waguih/Reuters

An official with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Thursday the militant group would agree to leave northeastern Syria if the US-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) maintains a significant joint leadership role there.
"Any initiative resulting in the governance of northeastern Syria under the control of the SDF, or in which they have a significant role in joint leadership, will lead us to agree to leave the region," the official at the group's political office in northern Iraq said.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and Europe. It has fought a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
After the ousting of president Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus last month, Ankara has threatened to crush the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which is a part of the SDF that it says is an extension of the PKK.
Ankara has said the SDF must be disbanded and all senior PKK members ousted from Syria or it will strike, prompting negotiations over the future of the SDF, which is the main US ally in the fight against ISIS in northeastern Syria.
Washington has called for a "managed transition" for its Kurdish allies and the SDF commander has said any PKK members would leave Syria if Türkiye agrees a ceasefire.
In a written statement, the PKK official said that if the group leaves Syria it would continue monitoring from afar and will act against Turkish forces or moves as needed.
"The future of Syria will be determined after the 20th of this month, once Trump assumes power," the official said, referring to US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday.