Yemen Oil Ministry: UN Mission Biased Toward Houthi Militias

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick addresses a news conference in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick addresses a news conference in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
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Yemen Oil Ministry: UN Mission Biased Toward Houthi Militias

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick addresses a news conference in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick addresses a news conference in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters

The Ministry of Oil was surprised by the warning issued by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen about the depletion of fuel stocks, referring to the provinces that are still under control of Houthi and Saleh coup militias.

“These statements reaffirm the bias of the UN Mission in Yemen in favor of coup militias and its reliance on misleading information provided by the insurgents without referring to the legitimate government or even checking field reports or fact-finding teams on various issues, including the crisis of oil derivatives,” Saba quoted an official source as saying.

The source explained that the crisis of oil derivatives has started after Houthi militias announced the law of floating fuel prices and restricting their import process for the benefit of a number of black market dealers of the militia in the provinces under their control.

These measures led to an increase in the price of fuel to one thousand Yemeni riyals per liters, in many times, while liter of fuel is sold in the areas controlled by the legitimate government for 175 riyals.

He stressed that problems occur only in areas under Houthi control and called on the UN Humanitarian Coordinator to pay a visit to the government oil reservoirs in the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and the capital Sanaa to check out the prosperity of the black market and identify the real causes of the crisis.

It is possible to buy oil derivatives through Yemeni ports under the control of the legitimate government in Aden, Mukalla and Mokha and deport them to all Yemeni provinces, including those that are still under control of the insurgents, the source noted.

He pointed out that the Yemeni government has already approved the proposal of UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh to hand over the management of Hodeidah port to the United Nations in order to ensure ceasing the extortion practiced by the militia on merchants and break the monopoly of the process of importing and marketing and selling it to citizens at unrealistic prices.

The militias do so to profit billions of riyals, finance their futile war against the legitimate government and citizens, and threaten the security of neighbors and the safety of international navigation in the Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb, the source explained.



Syria Says Repelled Drone Attack From Iraq on US Base

In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
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Syria Says Repelled Drone Attack From Iraq on US Base

In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)
In this file photo dated Feb 7, 2026, boys along a road wave to an approaching US military mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle moving in a convoy transporting ISIS group detainees being transferred to Iraq from Syria, on the outskirts of Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province. (AFP)

Syria's assistant defense minister said Sunday that his country's forces had repelled a drone attack from neighboring Iraq targeting one of Syria's last US military bases.

"Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory," Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that "the drones were shot down without casualties".

"We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability."

The attack came a day after Syria's army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq aimed at al-Tanf, a base in the southeast which used to house US forces.

Earlier this week, the Syrian military said another base in the northeast was also targeted by a missile attack from Iraq, with an Iraqi official saying a local armed group was behind it.

Iraq has arrested four people in connection with that attack.

Iraq has been pulled into the war since it was sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, with the conflict engulfing much of the Middle East.

Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups.

In recent months, American forces have withdrawn from the al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and had begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also located in Hasakeh.


US Condemns Attack on Home of the Leader of Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
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US Condemns Attack on Home of the Leader of Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan

Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 6, 2026. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

The United States on Saturday condemned a drone attack on a residence of the leader of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, blaming Iranian militia proxies in Iraq.

"These actions by Iran and its proxies are a direct assault on Iraq's sovereignty, stability, and unity," a statement from State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

"We categorically reject the indiscriminate and cowardly terrorist acts that Iran and its terrorist proxies have unleashed in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and throughout Iraq," he added.

The Iraqi government has promised to investigate Saturday's drone attack that targeted Barzani's second home.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Barzani, on Saturday called the attack "unacceptable" and described the rise in attacks on Iraqi institutions as "worrying."

Since the launch of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran on February 28, Iraq has been drawn into a regional conflict it has sought to avoid.

Pro-Iranian groups in Iraq claim responsibility on a daily basis for drone attacks and rocket strikes targeting the US military presence, both within Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

These attacks have targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad and personnel for an international anti-extremist coalition deployed in Iraq.


Israeli Military Says Another Soldier Killed in Southern Lebanon

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israeli Military Says Another Soldier Killed in Southern Lebanon

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 25 March 2026. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

The Israeli ‌military ‌said early Sunday ‌that ⁠one of ⁠its ⁠soldiers ‌was ‌killed during ‌combat ‌in southern ‌Lebanon.

"Sergeant Moshe Yitzchak hacohen Katz, aged 22, from New Haven, Connecticut, a soldier of the 890th battalion, Paratroopers Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon," a military statement said.

Five Israeli soldiers have now been killed in fighting in south Lebanon since Hezbollah began launching rocket attacks against Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Israel’s attacks continued in Lebanon.

On Saturday, the Israeli military killed three journalists in the south, including Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib, one of the network's most prominent war correspondents, who had covered Israeli attacks on Lebanon for decades.

The Israeli military accused him of operating within Hezbollah "under the guise of a journalist."

Lebanese authorities, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, condemned the killings as war crimes.

Israel also carried out raids in southern Lebanon that killed nine paramedics, according to the health ministry.