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  • Yemen army advances in Shabwa as coalition pounds Houthi targets


Yemen army advances in Shabwa as coalition pounds Houthi targets

Yemen government forces liberated a large swathe of land in the southern province of Shabwa after heavy clashes with the Iran-backed Houthis. (AFP/File)
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Updated 02 December 2021
Saeed Al-Batati
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Yemen army advances in Shabwa as coalition pounds Houthi targets

  • The Yemeni army troops have mounted many attacks on the Houthis in Bayhan, Ousylan and Ain since September
Updated 02 December 2021
Saeed Al-Batati

AL-MUKALLA: Yemen government forces liberated a large swathe of land in the southern province of Shabwa after heavy clashes with the Iran-backed Houthis as the Arab coalition struck more militia sites across Yemen.

Backed by air cover from the Arab coalition, government troops pushed deeper into Houthi-controlled Bayhan and Ousylan districts, expelling militia fighters from wide areas and taking control of a strategic road that connects the two districts, a military official told Arab News on Thursday.

The official said that at least 60 Houthis were killed in the fighting and government troops are pressing ahead with their attacks on the Houthis in the two districts.

The Yemeni army troops have mounted many attacks on the Houthis in Bayhan, Ousylan and Ain since September, when the Houthis seized control of the three districts and rolled into government-controlled areas in the neighboring Marib province.

In addition, government forces pushed to cut off key supply routes to the Houthis south of Marib, thereby alleviating the militia’s pressure on the central city of Marib.

At least 35 Houthis were killed in heavy fighting with government troops west and south of Marib city amid intensifying airstrikes by the Arab coalition warplanes, the military source said.

The heaviest battles occurred in Al-Amud and Abu Resh, where government forces repelled Houthi attacks. Less intensive fighting broke out in Mashjah and Al-Kasara, west of Marib, and the Houthis were forced to retreat after failing to make headway.

The Arab coalition announced on Thursday that it carried out precision airstrikes on targets in Sanaa, Saada and Marib that killed more than 45 Houthis.

The coalition said that early on Thursday its warplanes struck major weapon and supply warehouses and two sites under construction for military use in Sanaa and destroyed workshops for assembling drone and ballistic missiles in Saada, the Houthi heartland.

Hundreds of Houthi fighters have been killed in Marib province since last month when the Arab coalition intensified its air raids, paving the way for government forces on the ground to push back Houthi attacks.

Topics: yemeni army Shabwa Houthis

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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

Updated 5 sec ago
AFP
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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

  • Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus
Updated 5 sec ago
AFP
Tehran: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.

Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

Updated 42 sec ago
AFP
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Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

  • Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’
Updated 42 sec ago
AFP
TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.

Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader

Updated 17 min 7 sec ago
AFP
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Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader

  • It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Bashar Assad’s fall
Updated 17 min 7 sec ago
AFP

AMMAN: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, Amman said, the latest high-profile visit since Bashar Assad’s ouster.

Images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showed Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands, without offering further details about their meeting.

A foreign ministry statement earlier said that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader as well as with “several Syrian officials.”

It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad’s fall.

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Amman “sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people,” stressing the close ties between the two nations.

Momani said the kingdom would like to see security and stability restored in Syria, and supported “the unity of its territories.”

Stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan’s interests, Momani said, and would “ensure security on its borders.”

Some Syrians who had fled the war since 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.

The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.

According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it in Jordan.

Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometer border with Syria.

One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.

Topics: Fall of Assad Jordan Syria Ayman Safadi

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Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

Updated 29 min 55 sec ago
AP
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Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

  • Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry till date
Updated 29 min 55 sec ago
AP

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children. That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Topics: War on Gaza Israel Gaza Hamas

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South Sudan overwhelmed by refugee influx: MSF

Updated 23 December 2024
AFP
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South Sudan overwhelmed by refugee influx: MSF

  • Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies since conflict broke out in April 2023
Updated 23 December 2024
AFP

NAIROBI: The situation on South Sudan’s border was “completely overwhelming” as thousands flee war-torn Sudan each day, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Monday.
The medical charity said up to 5,000 people were crossing the border every day. The United Nations recently put it even higher at 7-10,000 daily.
Sudan is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies since conflict broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced.
An MSF emergency coordinator in Renk town, near a transit center holding some 17,000 people according to the UN, said they were working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide care.
“But the situation is completely overwhelming and it’s not enough,” said Emanuele Montobbio.
Facilities had been expanded to accommodate the arrival of war wounded, he said, but they were unable to treat everyone.
“Over 100 wounded patients, many with serious injuries, still await surgery,” Montobbio said.
Bashir Ismail, from Mosmon in Blue Nile state, was recovering in hospital in Renk after an air raid.
“Something hit me in the chest — it was the most painful experience of my life,” he said.
“I was so disoriented that it felt like I had lost my memory.”
MSF South Sudan’s deputy medical coordinator Roselyn Morales said thousands who had crossed faced “critical shortages of food and shelter, clean water, shelter and health care.”
South Sudan is ill-equipped to handle the arrival of thousands seeking shelter from war, with the young country itself battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.
Alhida Hammed fled to Renk after his village was attacked and he was shot in Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
“The houses were blazing, and everyone was running in different directions,” he said.
He now has no shelter and is living under a tree, but does not want to return to Sudan.
“Home is no longer a home — it is filled with bad memories.”

Topics: South Sudan

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