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Houthi Attack Repelled in Yemen's Hajjah

Yemeni tribesmen hold positions during fighting against the Houthis in Marib city on June 27, 2016. (Getty Images)
Yemeni tribesmen hold positions during fighting against the Houthis in Marib city on June 27, 2016. (Getty Images)
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Houthi Attack Repelled in Yemen's Hajjah

Yemeni tribesmen hold positions during fighting against the Houthis in Marib city on June 27, 2016. (Getty Images)
Yemeni tribesmen hold positions during fighting against the Houthis in Marib city on June 27, 2016. (Getty Images)

The Yemeni military declared on Thursday that it has repelled an attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militias on the Abs front in the northwestern Hajjah province.

Several Iran-made armed drones were downed during the fighting, it added.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition offered air support during the operation. It carried out 15 raids in the Marib and Hajjah provinces in the past 24 hours, destroying eleven Houthi military vehicles.

On Wednesday, the coalition said it carried out 17 strikes against the Houthis in the same provinces, destroying 14 of their vehicles and leaving dozens of casualties among their ranks.

Yemeni sources said the Houthis in Hajjah were trying to regroup and recapture lost territories in the Abs district. They even forced hundreds of civilians to take up arms.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani slammed the militias for forcing civilians to join the fighting and "leading them to their death in suicide missions on various fronts."

"This is the systematic murder and genocide of the people of those regions," he added, saying it was yet another crime that can be added to the Houthis' long list of atrocities against the Yemeni people.

He accused the terrorist Houthis of exploiting the "poverty and ignorance" of some communities to further their agenda and violations in the country, including the looting of salaries and humanitarian aid, driving students out of school and recruiting children to their ranks.

The minister called on the international community to condemn the Houthis, designate them as terrorist and put their leaders on trial for war crimes.

Meanwhile, the military said it was sweeping recently liberated areas in the al-Safra district in Saada for mines planted by the Houthis.

The northern Saada province is the main Houthi stronghold in Yemen.

On Wednesday, the army announced that its forces had liberated new positions in the Safra district.

The Saba news agency reported that the military liberated the positions of Sharqan, Tibab al-Azabi and al-Hadiby in a rapid attack that left several Houthis dead and injured.

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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.