Yemen to Improve Border Security Through Electronic Visa System

Ships are unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
Ships are unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
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Yemen to Improve Border Security Through Electronic Visa System

Ships are unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
Ships are unloaded at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo

Yemen, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been examining the use of the electronic visa system at all its ports with an aim to enhance border security.

The Interior Ministry's Undersecretary for Police Services, Major General Mohammed al-Amir, said the project will represent a paradigm shift in the ministry’s work and will contribute to the improvement of security at the country’s entry points and borders.

During a meeting on Saturday with IOM representatives in the city of Seiyun, al-Amir said the project will help save time and effort to complete the required work for security measures, and entry and exit controls implemented at the ports.

It will also facilitate communication between the Department of Passports, Immigration and Nationality and its branches in Yemen, and at the diplomatic missions and embassies abroad.

He continued that the project will also limit and combat counterfeiting and forgery.

According to the official Yemeni news agency, Saba, the meeting between al-Amir and the IOM representatives also tackled the mechanism of the project and the identification of the parties that will participate in its implementation, with joint cooperation between the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, and with the support of the IOM in Yemen.

Major General Abdul Majed al-Amiri, Undersecretary of the Yemeni Interior Ministry for the Civil Service Sector, announced that the ministry is ready to provide assistance and contribute to advance the implementation of the project, which would provide services to Arabs and foreigners arriving to and leaving Yemen.

Dr. Firas Badiri, senior coordinator at the IMO, said that the project will reinforce Yemen's capabilities, in addition to reinforcing security at the Yemeni border ports.



Libya Says UK to Analyze Black Box from Crash That Killed General

Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
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Libya Says UK to Analyze Black Box from Crash That Killed General

Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Military personnel carry portraits of the Libyan chief of staff, General Mohamed al-Haddad (2-R), and his four advisers, who were killed in a plane crash in Türkiye, during an official repatriation ceremony at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tripoli, Libya, 27 December 2025. (EPA)

Libya said on Thursday that Britain had agreed to analyze the black box from a plane crash in Türkiye on December 23 that killed a Libyan military delegation, including the head of its army.

General Mohammed al-Haddad and four aides died after a visit to Ankara, with Turkish officials saying an electrical failure caused their Falcon 50 jet to crash shortly after takeoff.

Three crew members, two of them French, were also killed.

The aircraft's black box flight recorder was found on farmland near the crash site.

"We coordinated directly with Britain for the analysis" of the black box, Mohamed al-Chahoubi, transport minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), said at a press conference in Tripoli.

Haddad was very popular in Libya despite deep divisions between west and east.

Haddad was chief of staff for the Tripoli-based GNU.

Chahoubi told AFP a request for the analysis was "made to Germany, which demanded France's assistance" to examine the aircraft's flight recorders.

"However, the Chicago Convention stipulates that the country analyzing the black box must be neutral," he said.

"Since France is a manufacturer of the aircraft and the crew was French, it is not qualified to participate. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, was accepted by Libya and Turkey."

After meeting the British ambassador to Tripoli on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Taher al-Baour said a joint request had been submitted by Libya and Türkiye to Britain "to obtain technical and legal support for the analysis of the black box".

Chahoubi told Thursday's press briefing that Britain "announced its agreement, in coordination with the Libyan Ministry of Transport and the Turkish authorities".

He said it was not yet possible to say how long it would take to retrieve the flight data, as this depended on the state of the black box.

"The findings will be made public once they are known," Chahoubi said, warning against "false information" and urging the public not to pay attention to rumors.


STC Says Handing over Positions to National Shield Forces in Yemen's Hadhramaut, Mahra

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
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STC Says Handing over Positions to National Shield Forces in Yemen's Hadhramaut, Mahra

National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)
National Shield forces in Hadhramaut. (National Shield forces)

Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in Yemen began on Thursday handing over military positions to the government’s National Shield forces in the Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces in eastern Yemen.

Local sources in Hadhramaut confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the handover kicked off after meetings were held between the two sides.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the National Shield commanders met with STC leaderships to discuss future arrangements. The sourced did not elaborate, but they confirmed that Emirati armored vehicles, which had entered Balhaf port in Shabwah were seen departing on a UAE vessel, in line with a Yemeni government request.

The National Shield is overseen by Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi.

A Yemeni official described Thursday’s developments as “positive” step towards uniting ranks and legitimacy against a common enemy – the Houthi groups.

The official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, underscored to Asharq Al-Awsat the importance of “partnership between components of the legitimacy and of dialogue to resolve any future differences.”

Meanwhile, on the ground, Yemeni military sources revealed that some STC forces had refused to quit their positions, prompting the forces to dispatch an official to Hadhramaut’s Seiyun city to negotiate the situation.


One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
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One Dead as Israeli Forces Open Fire on West Bank Stone-Throwers

Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)
Israeli troops during a military operation in the Palestinian village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 27 December 2025. (EPA)

The Israeli military said its forces killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank in the early hours on Thursday as they opened fire on people who were throwing stones at soldiers.

Two other people were hit on a main ‌road near the ‌village of Luban ‌al-Sharqiya ⁠in Nablus, ‌the military statement added. It described the people as militants and said the stone-throwing was part of an ambush.

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank said ⁠a 26-year-old man they named as ‌Khattab Al Sarhan was ‍killed and ‍another person wounded.

Israeli forces had ‍closed the main entrance to the village of Luban al-Sharqiya, in Nablus, and blocked several secondary roads on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported.

More ⁠than a thousand Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between October 2023 and October 2025, mostly in operations by security forces and some by settler violence, the UN has said.

Over the same period, 57 Israelis were killed ‌in Palestinian attacks.