Yemeni official among 13 abducted by Houthis in Ibb over revolution celebrations

Special Yemeni official among 13 abducted by Houthis in Ibb over revolution celebrations
Houthi supporters shout slogans during a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the war in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Updated 07 October 2024
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Yemeni official among 13 abducted by Houthis in Ibb over revolution celebrations

Yemeni official among 13 abducted by Houthis in Ibb over revolution celebrations
  • The militia has targeted hundreds of people who celebrate the anniversary of the Sept. 26, 1962, revolution or encourage others to do so
  • Meanwhile, relatives of detained Yemeni humanitarian workers renew appeal to the Houthis to release them or at least allow visitors

AL-MUKALLA: A local government official was among 13 Yemenis abducted by the Houthis in Ibb province over the past two days, local media reported on Monday, as the militia continues to crack down on people who commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the 1962 revolution in the country.

Al-Masdar Online said Khaled Al-Kerizi, the deputy head of the provincial office of the Ministry of Culture, was taken from his home in Al-Mashannah District.

The Houthis also reportedly snatched eight people in Yarim District and four in Al-Udayn District and the countryside, increasing the number of people abducted in province in the past week to 48.

The Houthi crackdown in areas of northern Yemen under their control has targeted hundreds of people who celebrated the anniversary of the revolution or encouraged others to do so. The revolution, which began on Sept. 26, 1962, toppled the Zaidi imamates that had controlled northern Yemen for centuries and limited the right to rule to Hashemites. Much of their ideology is shared by the Houthis.

In an attempt to suppress pro-revolution celebrations in Sanaa, the Houthis have deployed military forces and vehicles, as well as undercover operatives in civilian clothing armed with batons, who have abducted people from the streets and their homes.

Some of those taken were pictured in videos dancing to a nationalist song commemorating the revolution. Others posted messages on social media platforms praising the revolution or encouraging others to celebrate it.

HuMENA, a human rights organization based in Brussels, strongly condemned the arbitrary Houthi raids on homes and abductions. It said members of the militia have detained about 500 people since Sept. 20, including about 40 journalists and writers, as well as teachers, university professors and students, lawyers, and members of the former ruling party, the General People’s Congress.

“We call on the international community and humanitarian organizations to take a firm stance against these violations, pressuring the Houthi group to end this repressive campaign and immediately release all detainees, ensuring the protection of citizens’ rights and freedom of expression,” HuMENA said.

Meanwhile, relatives of abducted Yemeni employees of international aid and human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions, renewed their appeals to the Houthis to release the detainees or at least allow visitors.

“Today marks four months since my father Ahmed’s detention in Yemen, without hearing from him or checking on his condition; months of anxiety, fear and sadness that consumes our hearts at all times,” Khaled Al-Yemeni, the son of an aid worker abducted by the Houthis on June 6, wrote in a message posted on Facebook on Sunday.

“We appeal to Ansar Allah’s leadership and all concerned parties to take action on my father’s case and release him as soon as possible. Our family is in constant pain, and we hope for relief soon.”

Ansar Allah is the official name of the Houthis. Since May, militia members have abducted dozens of Yemenis working for UN agencies, international aid and human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions in Sanaa and other parts of Yemen under their control, accusing them of using humanitarian work as a cover to spy for the US and Israel.

The UN and other organizations have strongly condemned the Houthis for their actions. They deny the allegations against their employees and demand the militia release the detainees and stop harassing humanitarian workers.

The Houthis said they buried 126 “unidentified” bodies in Hodeidah and Saada provinces in the past few days. The Houthi Yemeni Security Media reported on Sunday that in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the militia buried 66 bodies that had been stored at Al-Thawra Hospital in Hodeidah province.

On Thursday, the same media office said the Houthi Public Prosecution buried 60 unidentified bodies, some of which were those of African migrants, that had been stored at Al-Jamhuri Hospital in Saada province.


West faces ‘reckoning’ over Middle East radicalization: UK spy chief

West faces ‘reckoning’ over Middle East radicalization: UK spy chief
Updated 11 sec ago
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West faces ‘reckoning’ over Middle East radicalization: UK spy chief

West faces ‘reckoning’ over Middle East radicalization: UK spy chief
  • MI6 head Richard Moore cites ‘terrible loss of innocent life’
  • ‘In 37 years in the intelligence profession, I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state’

LONDON: The West has “yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalizing impact of the fighting, the terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East and the horrors of Oct. 7,” the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 has warned.

Richard Moore made the comments in a speech delivered to the British Embassy in Paris, and was joined by his French counterpart Nicolas Lerner.

Moore said: “In 37 years in the intelligence profession, I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious.”

Daesh is expanding its reach and staging deadly attacks in Iran and Russia despite suffering significant territorial setbacks, he added, warning that “the menace of terrorism has not gone away.”

In October last year, Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5, said his agency was monitoring for increased terror risks in the UK due to the Gaza war. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in over a year of fighting.

In Lebanon, a 60-day truce agreed this week between Hezbollah and Israel brought an end to a conflict that has killed thousands of Lebanese civilians.


Israel military strikes kill 32 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Israel military strikes kill 32 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
Updated 32 min 35 sec ago
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Israel military strikes kill 32 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say

Israel military strikes kill 32 Palestinians in Gaza, medics say
  • Among the 32 killed, at least seven died in an Israeli strike on a house in central Gaza City

The Israeli military said it killed a Palestinian it accused of involvement in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in a vehicle strike in Gaza, and is investigating claims that the individual was an employee of aid group World Central Kitchen.
At least 32 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across Gaza overnight and into Saturday, with most casualties reported in northern areas, medics told Reuters.
Later on Saturday medics said seven people were killed when an Israeli air strike targeted a vehicle near a gathering of Palestinians receiving aid in the southern area of Khan Younis south of the enclave.
According to residents and a Hamas source, the vehicle targeted near a crowd receiving flour belonged to security personnel responsible for overseeing the delivery of aid shipments into Gaza.
Among the 32 killed, at least seven died in an Israeli strike on a house in central Gaza City, according to a statement from the Gaza Civil Defense and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA early on Saturday.
The Gaza Civil Defense also reported that one of its officers was killed in attacks in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, bringing the total number of civil defense workers killed since October 7, 2023, to 88.
Earlier on Saturday, WAFA reported that three employees of the World Central Kitchen, a US-based, non-governmental humanitarian agency, were killed when a civilian vehicle was targeted in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
The World Central Kitchen has not yet commented on the incident.


Syria’s military ‘temporarily’ withdraws from Aleppo to prepare for counteroffensive

Syria’s military ‘temporarily’ withdraws from Aleppo to prepare for counteroffensive
Updated 30 November 2024
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Syria’s military ‘temporarily’ withdraws from Aleppo to prepare for counteroffensive

Syria’s military ‘temporarily’ withdraws from Aleppo to prepare for counteroffensive
  • Syrian military confirms militantss enter Aleppo, says dozens of soldiers killed

AMMAN: The Syrian military said on Saturday that dozens of its troops had been killed during an militant attack in northwestern Syria and that militants had managed to enter large parts of Aleppo city, forcing the army to redeploy.

The Syrian military statement was the first public acknowledgement by the army that insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham had entered the government-held city of Aleppo in a surprise attack that began earlier this week.

“The large numbers of terrorists and the multiplicity of battlefronts prompted our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defense lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack,” the army said.

The insurgent attack marks the most significant challenge in years to President Bashar Assad, jolting the frontlines of the Syrian civil war that have largely been frozen since 2020.

The Syrian military statement said that the insurgents had not been able to establish fixed positions in Aleppo city due to the army’s continued bombardment of their positions.

Two Syrian military sources said earlier that Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted insurgents in an Aleppo suburb on Saturday. Russia deployed its air force to Syria in 2015 to aid Assad in the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011.

The insurgent force began its surprise offensive earlier this week, sweeping through government-held towns and reaching Aleppo nearly a decade after government forces backed by Russia and Iran drove militants from the city.

Speaking on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regarded the militant attack as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty. “We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” he said.


Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire

Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire
Updated 30 November 2024
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Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire

Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites in Syria, testing a fragile ceasefire
  • ‘Military infrastructure’ at the Syria-Lebanon border being used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling

TEL AVIV: Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria’s border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said Saturday, testing a fragile, days-old ceasefire that halted months of fighting between the sides but has seen continued sporadic fire.
The military said it struck sites that had been used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect, which the military said was a violation of its terms. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or activists monitoring the conflict in that country. Hezbollah also did not immediately comment.
The Israeli strike, the latest of several since the ceasefire began on Wednesday, came as unrest spread to other areas of the Middle East, with Syrian insurgents breaching the country’s largest city, Aleppo, in a shock offensive that added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.
The truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants are to withdraw north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.
The repeated bursts of violence — with no reports of serious casualties — reflected the uneasy nature of the ceasefire that otherwise appeared to hold. While Israel has accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire, Lebanon has also accused Israel of the same in the days since it took effect.
Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced in the conflict, were streaming south to their homes, despite warnings by the Israeli and Lebanese militaries to stay away from certain areas.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone attacked a car in the southern village of Majdal Zoun. The agency said there had been casualties but gave no further details. Majdal Zoun, near the Mediterranean Sea, is close to where Israeli troops still have a presence.
The military said earlier Saturday that its forces, who remain in southern Lebanon until they withdraw gradually over the 60-day period, had been operating to distance “suspects” in the region, without elaborating, and said troops had located and seized weapons found hidden in a mosque.
Israel says it reserves the right under the ceasefire to strike against any perceived violations. Israel has made returning the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis home the goal of the war with Hezbollah but Israelis, concerned Hezbollah was not deterred and could still attack northern communities, have been apprehensive about returning home.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and its assault on southern Israel the day before. Israel and Hezbollah kept up a low-level conflict of cross-border fire for nearly a year, until Israel escalated its fight with a sophisticated attack that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters. It followed that up with an intense aerial bombardment campaign against Hezbollah assets, killing many of its top leaders including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, and it launched a ground invasion in early October.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.


Militants control ‘most of’ Aleppo city, Syria war monitor says

Militants control ‘most of’ Aleppo city, Syria war monitor says
Updated 30 November 2024
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Militants control ‘most of’ Aleppo city, Syria war monitor says

Militants control ‘most of’ Aleppo city, Syria war monitor says
  • Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city on Saturday

BEIRUT: A monitor of Syria’s war said Saturday militants now controlled a majority of Aleppo city, reporting Russian air strikes on parts of Syria’s second city for the first time since 2016.

“Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions... took control of most of the city and government centers and prisons,” said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that overnight, Russian “warplanes launched raids on areas of Aleppo city for the first time since 2016.”

Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city on Saturday, three military sources said, as militants opposed to President Bashar Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo.

The opposition fighters, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, carried out a surprise sweep through government-held towns this week and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after having been forced out by Assad and his allies.

Russia, one of Assad’s key allies, has promised Damascus extra military aid to thwart the militants, two military sources said, adding new hardware would start arriving in the next 72 hours.

The Syrian army has been told to follow “safe withdrawal” orders from the main areas of the city that the militants have entered, three army sources said.

The militants began their incursion on Wednesday and by late Friday an operations room representing the offensive said they were sweeping through various neighborhoods of Aleppo.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Militants opposed to Assad return to city after nearly a decade

• Aleppo airport has been closed, military sources say

• Damascus expects Russian hardware to arrive soon, sources say

They are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and regional Shiite militias retook it, with the insurgents agreeing to withdraw after months of bombardment and siege.

Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish Al-Izza militant brigade, said their speedy advance this week had been helped by a lack of Iran-backed manpower in the broader Aleppo province. Iran’s allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war has expanded through the Middle East.

The opposition fighters have said the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in militant-held Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army.

Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkiye, which supports the militants, had given a green light to the offensive.

But Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said on Friday that Turkiye sought to avoid greater instability in the region and had warned recent attacks undermined de-escalation agreements.

The attack is the biggest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkiye agreed to a deal to de-escalate the conflict.

CIVILIANS KILLED IN FIGHTING

On Friday, Syrian state television denied militants had reached the city and said Russia was providing Syria’s military with air support.

The Syrian military said it was fighting back against the attack and had inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.

David Carden, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said: “We’re deeply alarmed by the situation unfolding in northwest Syria.”

“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as 8 years old.”

Syrian state news agency SANA said four civilians including two students were killed on Friday in Aleppo by insurgent shelling of university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow regarded the militant attack as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

“We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible,” he said.