Yemeni government, Houthis exchange bodies of 52 fighters killed in battle

Pro-government Yemeni fighters after clashes with Houthi militia on the Kassara front, near Marib, Yemen, June 20, 2021. (AP Photo)
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Updated 31 May 2023
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Yemeni government, Houthis exchange bodies of 52 fighters killed in battle

  • Swap comes as Iran-backed militia continues to bombard Yemeni troops
  • 3 govt soldiers killed, 4 injured in drone, ground attacks in Lahj province

AL-MUKALLA: The internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Houthis have exchanged the bodies of 52 fighters killed on the battlefield, as the Iran-backed militia escalated their drone and ground attacks on Yemeni troops.

Hadi Jumaan, a local mediator, said the exchange took place this week in the northern province of Jouf, sharing photographs of several pickup trucks transporting piles of bodies wrapped in white burial shrouds through the desert.

Tribal mediators and social dignitaries who have the trust of the warring factions have sponsored a number of similar exchanges over the past eight years.

The latest came as relatives of some of the killed fighters accused the Houthis of mutilating and executing government soldiers they had captured alive.

Abdul Basit Al-Shajea said his brother, Abdul Wahab, was executed after being captured in battle and despite being shown to be alive by the militia’s own media. The Houthis then withheld news of the death from the family for months.

“The Houthi gang executed him and his fellow prisoners, the majority of whom were injured, by shooting them and pouring acid on their bodies,” Al-Shajea said, adding that his family were barely able to recognize the fallen soldier as his features had been burned away.

“Three months ago, my family was shocked to learn of the presence of my brother’s burnt corpse at the Dhamar Hospital mortuary, and its features were only confirmed with difficulty,” he said.

The exchange of the dead took place despite a second round of prisoner swap talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, which was supposed to have started this month, being postponed as the two sides traded accusations over obstacles to visits to each other’s cities.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s army said that three government soldiers were killed and four others were injured this week as the Houthis ramped up their drone and ground attacks in the Yafae district of Lahj province.

The militia also attacked government troops on the ground and with explosive-rigged drones west and east of the besieged city of Taiz. Similar attacks have been recorded on government troops defending the energy-rich city of Marib.

Separately, Yemen’s government said on Monday evening that all of the Yemenis who had been stranded in Sudan had now been evacuated. The announcement came soon after a Yemenia Airways flight carrying 150 Yemenis from Sudan touched down in Sanaa, taking the total number of Yemenis evacuated to 2,894.

“I appreciate all of the state agencies’ efforts to conclude the evacuation of our citizens from Port Sudan,” Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed said on Twitter.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak said: “We affirm that the limited capabilities resulting from the Houthi militia’s coup, looting of the state’s capabilities and economic war against the Yemeni people will not prevent the legitimate government from utilizing all of its resources to care for its citizens and overcome all obstacles in their way.”


Iranian Revolutionary Guards officer killed in Syria, SNN reports

Updated 4 sec ago
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Iranian Revolutionary Guards officer killed in Syria, SNN reports

DUBAI: Iranian Revolutionary Guards Brig. Gen. Kioumars Pourhashemi was killed in the Syrian province of Aleppo by “terrorists” linked to Israel, Iran’s SNN news agency reported on Thursday without giving further details.
Rebels led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham on Wednesday launched an incursion into a dozen towns and villages in northwest Aleppo province controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire unlikely to hold: UK ex-spy chief

Updated 1 min 45 sec ago
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Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire unlikely to hold: UK ex-spy chief

  • Richard Dearlove: Agreement suits both parties in ‘short to medium term’
  • Deal leaves Iran ‘exposed’ as its Lebanese ally is temporarily incapacitated

LONDON: The ceasefire deal struck this week between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely to hold, a former head of MI6 has warned.

Richard Dearlove, who headed the British intelligence service from 1999 to 2004, told Sky News that the deal, which came into effect on Wednesday, is a “retreaded agreement from 2006.”

That initial deal was designed to keep Hezbollah away from the border region with Israel, overseen by the Lebanese military and the UN, but in effect it “did absolutely nothing,” he said.

This week’s deal suits both Israel and Hezbollah “in the short to medium term,” Dearlove said, adding: “The Israelis must know how much of the infrastructure of Hezbollah they’ve taken down … They haven’t taken it down completely, but maybe the Lebanese state can reassert some of its authority as the government of Lebanon and keep Hezbollah to an extent under control. We just have to wait and see what happens.”

He said the ceasefire deal will be a blow to Hezbollah’s backer Iran, leaving the latter “exposed” with one of its allies temporarily incapacitated.

But he warned that this could escalate into “direct” confrontation between Israel and Iran were the latter to launch another ballistic missile attack.


Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders

Updated 25 min 29 sec ago
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Israeli FM: ‘No justification’ for ICC to take steps against Israeli leaders

  • The foreign minister also said Israel would finish the war in Gaza when it “achieves its objectives”

PRAGUE: Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday that the ICC had “no justification” for issuing arrests warrants for Israeli leaders, in a joint press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Saar told Reuters Israel has appealed the decision and that it sets a dangerous precedent.
The foreign minister also said Israel would finish the war in Gaza when it “achieves its objectives” of returning hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza and ensuring the Iranian-backed group no longer controls the strip. Saar said Israel does not intend to control civilian life in Gaza and that he believes peace is “inevitable” but can’t be based on “illusions.”


Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025

Updated 28 November 2024
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Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025

  • The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him

ROME: Pope Francis said on Thursday he planned to visit Turkiye’s Iznik next year for the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as Iznik, is in western Anatolia, some 150km southeast of Istanbul.
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.


Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations

Updated 28 November 2024
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Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations

  • Adani Group holds a 70 percent stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country
  • US last week accused Adani Group of being part of scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure contracts, misleading US investors 

HYDERABAD, India: Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue to invest in the country, Israel’s envoy to India said on Thursday, affirming the nation’s support for the ports-to-media conglomerate whose billionaire founder is facing bribery allegations in the United States.

“We wish Adani and all Indian companies continue to invest in Israel,” Ambassador Reuven Azar said in an interview with Reuters, adding that allegations by US authorities were “not something that’s problematic” from Israel’s point of view.

The Adani Group holds a 70% stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country, including to produce military drones and plans for the manufacture of commercial semiconductors.

US authorities last week accused Gautam Adani, his nephew, and Adani Green’s managing director of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raising efforts there.

Adani Group has denied all the accusations, calling them “baseless.”

Still, shares and bonds of Adani companies were hammered last week and some partners began to review joint projects.

“I am sure Adani Group will resolve its problems,” Azar said on the sidelines of an event in the southern city of Hyderabad.