Revealed: Houthi militia’s deadly ties with Al-Qaeda and Daesh

This undated photo released on October 27, 2000 by the National Security News Service shows US sailors on deck and damage to the USS Cole after a terrorist attack on 12 October. (AFP)
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Updated 02 April 2021
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Revealed: Houthi militia’s deadly ties with Al-Qaeda and Daesh

  • Terrorists set free to recruit and fight, report to UN Security Council claims

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s internationally recognized government has officially accused the Iran-backed Houthis of harboring Al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorists, with militants from both groups being set free to fight and spread terror among the Yemeni people.

In the wake of a government report revealing the full extent of links between the Houthis, Al-Qaeda and Daesh, the Arab military coalition said on Thursday it had destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile on its launchpad in Yemen, adding that the weapon was being prepared for launch toward the central Yemeni province of Marib.

The 23-page intelligence report submitted to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US permanent representative to the UN and president of the Security Council, the Yemen government said that dozens of Al-Qaeda and Daesh fighters released from prison by the Houthis had joined militia attacks on government-controlled areas, mainly in Marib province. Al-Qaeda and Daesh militants were provided with false documents and sent to government-controlled areas  to recruit fighters and militia loyalists.

In the report, released on March 29 and seen by Arab News on Thursday, the Yemeni government said that the Houthis had given other terror operatives shelter in Sanaa and other rebel-controlled areas, and later pushed them into living in liberated areas in an attempt to to discredit the government by linking it with Al-Qaeda. 

According to the report — prepared by Yemen’s two major intelligence agencies, the Central Agency for Political Security and the National Security Service — militants have released 252 terrorist prisoners from prisons in the capital and other Houthi-controlled areas in the past three years.

The most prominent Al-Qaeda operative to be freed was Jamal Mohammed Al-Badwai, suspected mastermind of the deadly attack on the US Navy destroyer USS Cole, who died in a US drone strike in Marib in January 2019. 

As part of a secret deal between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda, the militia gave Al-Badwai a forged ID and smuggled him into government-controlled Marib to undermine security in the province and stoke opposition to the government.

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The most prominent Al-Qaeda operative to be freed was Jamal Mohammed Al-Badwai, suspected mastermind of the deadly attack on the US Navy destroyer USS Cole, who died in a US drone strike in Marib in January 2019.

The Houthis also released Sami Fadhl Dayan, who was jailed for plotting to assassinate an army commander in 2012; Mayad Al-Hammadi, an Al-Qaeda figure who masterminded a deadly suicide attack that killed more than 100 soldiers during a military parade rehearsal in May 2012; and Maher Al-Ramim, a member of an Al-Qaeda cell that sought to kill the Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 2013.

At present, the report said, the Houthis are providing shelter to 55 Al-Qaeda militants who had been put on trial before the militia takeover in late 2014.

The militants include Jassim Awadh Barefaa and Hisham Bawazir, also known as Tariq Al-Hadrami. Both men faced a Yemeni court in Hadramout province in 2010 on charges of joining Al-Qaeda and are now living well-furnished flats in Sanaa. 

“This report also exposes the falsehood of allegations by these militias that seek to stigmatize those Yemeni people and the national armed forces who stand against them by accusing them of belonging to Al-Qaeda and Daesh,” it said. 

In the early days of their Marib offensive in January 2019, the Houthis struck a deal with Al-Qaeda and released five terror operatives who were allowed to advance toward government-controlled areas.

The Al-Qaeda militants later provided the militia with intelligence on a number of government locations, the report said. 

Based on intelligence information and interviews with captured militants, the report said that Al-Qaeda and Daesh militants frequently join Houthi attacks on government-controlled areas, mainly in Marib.

One Al-Qaeda fighter, Musa Nassir Ali Hassan Al-Melhani, who was captured by the Yemeni army, admitted “the presence of Al-Qaeda fighters within the Houthi militia” and said they are taking part in the mobilization of fighters in Sanaa.

“The report proves beyond any reasonable doubt the depth of the relationship between the criminal Houthi militia and the terrorist organizations (Al-Qaeda and Daesh),” the report concluded.

Yemeni army commanders and experts said that they had been aware of the Houthi links with Al-Qaeda and Daesh for the past six years.

However, they said that cooperation between the terrorist groups had intensified since early last month when the Houthis resumed their offensive to capture Marib city, the Yemeni government’s last bastion in northern Yemen.

“There is a great integration between the Houthis and the other terrorist organizations. Al-Qaeda and Daesh militants are standing side by side with the Houthis and that can be seen clearly during fighting in Al-Bayda,” Abdu Abdullah Majili, Yemen’s army spokesman, told Arab News on Thursday.


Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe

Updated 10 sec ago
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Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centers ‘genocidal’: UN probe

GENEVA: A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday that Israel carried out “genocidal” acts in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.
The UN Commission of Inquiry said Israel had “intentionally attacked and destroyed” the Palestinian territory’s main fertility center, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.
“Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations,” its mission in Geneva said in a statement.
The commission found that Israeli authorities “have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care,” it said in a statement.
It said this amounted to “two categories of genocidal acts” during Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched after the attacks by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United Nations’ genocide convention defines that crime as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
Of its five categories, the inquiry said the two implicating Israel were “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction” and “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
“These violations have not only caused severe immediate physical and mental harm and suffering to women and girls, but irreversible long-term effects on the mental health and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians as a group,” the commission’s chair Navi Pillay said in a statement.
The three-person Independent International Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged international law violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Pillay, a former UN rights chief, served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Israel accused the commission of advancing a “predetermined and biased political agenda... in a shameless attempt to incriminate the Israel Defense Forces.”


The report said maternity hospitals and wards had been systematically destroyed in Gaza, along with the Al-Basma IVF Center, the territory’s main in-vitro fertility clinic.
It said Al-Basma was shelled in December 2023, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos at a clinic that served 2,000 to 3,000 patients a month.
The commission found that the Israeli Security Forces intentionally attacked and destroyed the clinic, including all the reproductive material stored for the future conception of Palestinians.
The commission found no credible evidence that the building was used for military purposes.
It concluded that the destruction “was a measure intended to prevent births among Palestinians in Gaza, which is a genocidal act.”
Furthermore, the report said the wider harm to pregnant, lactating and new mothers in Gaza was on an “unprecedented scale,” with an irreversible impact on the reproductive prospects of Gazans.
Such underlying acts “amount to crimes against humanity” and deliberately trying to destroy the Palestinians as a group, the commission concluded.


The report came after the commission conducted public hearings in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, hearing from victims and witnesses of sexual violence.
It concluded that Israel had targeted civilian women and girls directly, “acts that constitute the crime against humanity of murder and the war crime of wilful killing.”
Women and girls have also died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to the conditions imposed by the Israeli authorities impacting access to reproductive health care, “acts that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination,” it added.
The commission added that forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault, comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ “standard operating procedures” toward Palestinians.
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Egypt appreciates Trump’s decision not to displace Gazans

Updated 2 min 47 sec ago
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Egypt appreciates Trump’s decision not to displace Gazans

  • Donald Trump had proposed a US takeover of Gaza, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced
  • Earlier in March, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians
DUBAI: Egypt said on Thursday it appreciated US President Donald Trump’s remarks on not demanding that residents of Gaza leave the enclave, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
“Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza,” Trump said on Wednesday, in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
“This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair, sustainable solutions to the Palestinian issue,” the Egyptian foreign ministry added.
Trump had proposed a US takeover of Gaza, where Israel’s military assault in the last 17 months has killed tens of thousands, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced.
Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the devastating war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas on Wednesday welcomed Trump’s apparent retreat from his proposal for the displacement of Gazans, urging him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the “extreme Zionist right.”
Earlier in March, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians to counter Trump’s vision of a “Middle East Riviera.”

Canada eases sanctions on Syrian Arab Republic, names ambassador

Updated 13 March 2025
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Canada eases sanctions on Syrian Arab Republic, names ambassador

  • Easing of sanctions would help prevent Syria from falling into chaos and instability, said Canada’s special envoy Omar Alghabra
  • Liberated from the Assad regime last December after 13 years of war, Syria is now led by former rebel leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa

OTTAWA: Canada announced plans Wednesday to ease its financial sanctions against Syria and to appoint an ambassador, as the Damascus interim government seeks international support.
Canada’s special envoy for Syria, Omar Alghabra, said: “Canada can play a meaningful role in enabling Syrians to build an inclusive country that respects all of its citizens.
“We also can help prevent Syria from falling into chaos and instability.”
A statement from Canada’s foreign ministry said sanctions would be eased “to allow funds to be sent through certain banks in the country, such as Syria’s Central Bank.”
Canada’s ambassador to Lebanon, Stefanie McCollum, will now take on a parallel role as a non-resident ambassador to neighboring Syria.
Previously, Canada — along with many other world powers — had strict sanctions in place to punish the now-ousted government of Bashar Assad.
“These sanctions had been used as a tool against the Assad regime and easing them will help to enable the stable and sustainable delivery of aid, support local redevelopment efforts, and contribute to a swift recovery for Syria,” the Canadian statement said.
Assad fled Syria late last year and opposition forces overthrew his administration in early December. An interim government under former jihadist leader President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is now in place.
Many capitals welcomed Assad’s fall, but gave only a cautious welcome to the victorious rebels.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda.
The new government has vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, but security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of Alawite civilians in recent days.
In the statement announcing sanctions relief, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joy and Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen expressed concern over the killings.
“We utterly condemn these atrocities and call on the interim authorities to take all necessary measures to end the violence,” they said.
“Civilians must be protected, the dignity and human rights of all religious and ethnic groups must be upheld, and perpetrators must be held accountable.”
 


Syria’s interim President Sharaa forms national security council

Updated 13 March 2025
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Syria’s interim President Sharaa forms national security council

CAIRO: Syrian Arab Republic’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa issued a decree on Wednesday to form the country’s national security council, according to a statement by the Syrian president’s office.
The council will take decisions related to the country’s national security and challenges facing the state.


‘Nobody is expelling any Palestinians’ from Gaza, says US President Trump

US President Donald Trump meets with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC
Updated 13 March 2025
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‘Nobody is expelling any Palestinians’ from Gaza, says US President Trump

  • Comment seems to contradict his previous plan for the US to take over the territory, relocate the Palestinian population and turn it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’
  • Arab foreign ministers say they will continue to consult with Trump’s Middle East envoy about a $53bn Egyptian plan to rebuild Gaza

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from Gaza.

His comment, in response to a question from a reporter, came during a meeting on Wednesday with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the White House.

It seemed to contradict the president’s previously suggested plan for the US to take ownership of Gaza, relocate the Palestinian population, and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

His proposal, voiced in February during the early stages of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, drew widespread international condemnation and rejection, amid concern that it reinforced long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.

Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states warned that any such plan could destabilize the entire region. In response, Arab states adopted a $53 billion Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would avoid any displacement of Palestinians.

Arab foreign ministers said on Wednesday they would continue to consult with Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, about the Egyptian plan to rebuild Gaza as an alternative to the US president’s proposed takeover of the territory.

“The Arab foreign ministers discussed the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved during the Arab League Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025. They also agreed with the US envoy to continue consultations and coordination on the plan as a foundation for the reconstruction efforts,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The talks will serve as a “basis for the reconstruction efforts” in Gaza, the ministers said in a joint statement following a meeting in Doha.