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Human Rights Network Documents 18,000 Houthi Abuses in Yemen’s Dhamar

A home destroyed by the Houthis in Yemen's Dhamar. (Social media)
A home destroyed by the Houthis in Yemen's Dhamar. (Social media)
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Human Rights Network Documents 18,000 Houthi Abuses in Yemen’s Dhamar

A home destroyed by the Houthis in Yemen's Dhamar. (Social media)
A home destroyed by the Houthis in Yemen's Dhamar. (Social media)

A Yemeni human rights report revealed on Tuesday that the Iran-backed Houthi militias have committed over 18,000 violations against civilians in the Dhamar governorate during seven years.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said that from December 1, 2014 to October 30, 2021, it documented 18,413 grave Houthi violations ranging from killings, physical assaults, kidnappings, raids, looting of public and private funds and other crimes.

Dhamar is located 100 kilometers south of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The Network stated that during the past seven years, the Houthis committed 474 extrajudicial killings and injured 218 people in the governorate.

It documented 19 assassinations, 1,183 kidnappings, 72 enforced disappearances, 614 arbitrary arrests of travelers, 315 threats and exclusion from public office, nine cases of rape and forced prostitution, 274 cases of physical and psychological torture and 105 physical assaults of civilians.

It accused the militias of carrying out 48 bombings that affected houses, shops and places of worship, in addition to carrying out 1,459 raids and looting and burning of homes, 69 cases of confiscation and looting of private and public property, and 80 cases of appropriation of private lands and sale of state property.

In addition, the report documented 237 Houthi attacks on places of worship and educational and health facilities, and 24 cases of looting of party headquarters and charities.

“The Houthi militias forced more than 2,143 families to flee and they recruited 5,481 child soldiers in Dhamar, mainly orphans,” the Network report revealed, adding that the mentioned violations do not represent all the crimes that were committed by the Houthis in Dhamar.

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Arab World

EU Warns Israel Suspending Gaza NGOs Would Block 'Life-Saving Aid'

Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
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EU Warns Israel Suspending Gaza NGOs Would Block 'Life-Saving Aid'

Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk along streets past tent camps for displaced people in Gaza City, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP)

The EU warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in Gaza under new registration rules would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population.

"The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law can not be implemented in its current form," EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X, after Israel said several groups would be barred from January 1 for failing to comply with rules concerning the listing of their Palestinian employees.

"IHL (international humanitarian law) leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need," Lahbib wrote.

Arab World

Hadhramaut Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: UAE Has Started Withdrawing its Forces, Door Still Open to STC

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Hadhramaut Governor to Asharq Al-Awsat: UAE Has Started Withdrawing its Forces, Door Still Open to STC

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Hadhramaut Governor Salem Ahmed al-Khanbashi called on Wednesday inhabitants of the governorate who are involved with the Southern Transitional Council to "return home" and join their "brothers in the National Shield Forces".

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he pledged that they will be welcomed in the ranks and that their "affairs will be arranged."

He also confirmed that the United Arab Emirates has started withdrawing its forces from all positions they were stationed at, including Hadhramaut and al-Shabwah.

He said they pulled out from the al-Rayan airport and Balhaf in Shabwah.

The forces had a limited presence in the al-Rabwa and al-Dabba areas in Hadhramaut . Their role was limited to supervising the STC's security support forces, he explained.

Sources confirmed that the UAE started pulling out its forces from Shabwah on Tuesday at the request of Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi.

Al-Khanbashi stressed that the only way to resolve the current crisis lies in the withdrawal of the STC from Hadhramaut and Mahra.

"The door is still open and we hope our brothers in the STC will seize the opportunity to avert the eruption of any fighting in Hadhramaut and the rest of the country," he added.

"They should return to where they came from and then we can kick of political dialogue about any future formations without resorting to imposing a status quo by force," he stressed.

Moreover, he underlined the readiness of the National Shield Forces, which are overseen by al-Alimi, to deploy in Hadhramaut and Mahra, in line with the state of emergency that he declared on Tuesday.

An additional 3,000 Hadhramaut residents, who have military experience, are also prepared to support their brothers in the National Shield Forces, al-Khanbashi revealed.

He said that coordination with Saudi Arabia was at its highest levels.

The Kingdom views Hadhramaut and Mahra as part of its "strategic security depth," he went on to say. "Our shared borders stretch over 700 kms, so the security and stability of the two provinces are part of the Kingdom's strategic security."

Saudi Arabia does not want Hadhramaut and Mahra to turn into dangerous hubs that can threaten it, he continued.

Al-Khanbashi added that al-Alimi's orders on Tuesday came at the right time to prevent saboteurs from trying to undermine the situation.

Arab World

Nearly 25 ISIS Fighters Killed or Captured in Syria, US Military Says

A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
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Nearly 25 ISIS Fighters Killed or Captured in Syria, US Military Says

A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)
A US military patrol is seen in northeastern Syria. (Reuters file)

The US military said Tuesday that nearly 25 operatives of the ISIS group were killed or captured in Syria this month following an ambush that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter.

The US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement on X that 11 missions were carried out over the past 10 days and followed initial strikes against ISIS weapons sites and infrastructure on Dec. 19, which hit 70 targets across central Syria.

In the operations since, the US military and other forces from the region, including Syria, killed at least seven ISIS members, captured others and eliminated four weapons caches, US Central Command said.

“We will not relent,” Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the command, said in the statement. “We are steadfast in commitment to working with regional partners to root out the ISIS threat posed to US and regional security.”

Targets ranged from senior ISIS members who were being closely monitored by military officials to lower-level foot soldiers, according to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The official said a growing collaboration between the United States and Syria's relatively new government meant that US forces were able to attack ISIS in areas of the country where they previously did not operate. Syrian forces were the driving force behind some of the missions against the militant group this year, the official added.

The official compared the growing cooperation to that between the US and Iraq in fighting ISIS a decade ago and said the goal, like in Iraq, is to ultimately hand over the effort fully to the Syrians.

The latest operations followed a Dec. 13 ambush that occurred near the ancient city of Palmyra while American and Syrian security officials had gathered for a meeting over lunch. Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter from Michigan were killed, while three other US troops and members of Syria’s security forces were wounded.

The gunman, who was killed, had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard and recently had been reassigned because of suspicions he might be affiliated with ISIS, Syrian officials said.

The initial retaliatory strike on ISIS targets in Syria, which included fighter jets from Jordan, was a major test for the warming ties between the US and Syria since last year's ouster of autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad.

President Donald Trump said Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack."