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Yemen: Wedding party death toll jumps to 131

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Many women and children among the dead in attack initially reported as a ‘mistake’

Monday's accidental attack on a Yemeni wedding party drew references to the United States' December 2013 drone bombing of another wedding party in Yemen, which resulted in the death of the 15 people. (Photo: AFP)

Monday’s accidental attack on a Yemeni wedding party drew references to the United States’ December 2013 drone bombing of another wedding party in Yemen, which resulted in the death of the 15 people. (Photo: AFP)

by Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams

The death toll from the bombing of a Yemeni wedding party on Monday has jumped to 131 people, “making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Yemen’s war,” Reutersreports.

Initially reported as a “mistaken” air strike by the Saudi-led coalition, the U.S. backed group is now denying its role in the civilian tragedy as a coalition spokesperson “suggested local militias may have been responsible” for targeting the party, which included many women and children.

Earlier:

Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes “mistakenly” struck a wedding party in Yemen early Monday killing at least 38 people, many of which were women and children.

The U.S.-backed coalition was purportedly targeting Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, when it bombed a celebration in al-Wahga, a village near the strategic Strait of Bab al-Mandab. One senior government official declared the two airstrikes a “mistake.”

According to the BBC, “First reports from the village said that 12 women, eight children and seven men had been killed, with dozens more wounded, when the air strike hit two tents during a wedding for a local man linked to the Houthi group.”

And the Associated Press notes that the village in which the strikes took place “lies in the battered Taiz province, where civilians routinely fall victim to daily Saudi airstrikes as well as rebel mortar shells.”

The United Nations estimates that roughly 4,900 people have been killed and more than 25,000 wounded in the six months since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began in March. Further, roughly 21 million of Yemen’s population of 25 million have been impacted by the conflict.

The incident immediately drew references to the United States’ December 2013 drone bombing of another wedding party in Yemen, which resulted in the death of 15 people. Among those who connected the two attacks, blogger Marcy Wheeler wrote on Twitter:

Deadly blasts hit Yemen mosque during Eid prayers

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At least 25 dead, dozens wounded as two suspected suicide bombers attack Shia mosque in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.

The capital is controlled by Shia Houthis who have driven out Yemen's government [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]

The capital is controlled by Shia Houthis who have driven out Yemen’s government [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Suicide bombers have struck a mosque in Yemen’s capital in an attack targeting Shia worshippers that killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens, medics and witnesses said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Sanaa has been shaken by a string of bombings by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in recent months targeting Shia Muslims.

Thursday’s blast ripped through the Balili mosque where Houthi Shia rebels who control Sanaa go to pray, according to witnesses. It came as worshippers marked Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar.

Witnesses reported that after a first blast inside the mosque, a second suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt at the entrance as worshippers rushed outside.

ISIL, a Sunni Muslim group which controls swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, considers Shias to be heretics.

ISIL bomb attacks targeting several Shia mosques in Sanaa on March 21 killed 142 people. The group has also claimed attacks on mosques in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The capital of Sunni-majority Yemen has been under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the past year. The Houthis have also expanded their grip to other parts of the country.

Extremists exploit chaos

Pro-government forces backed by air strikes and troops provided by a Saudi-led Arab coalition have recently managed to wrest back some southern provinces, including the second city of Aden.

After six months in exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi returned to Aden on Tuesday with a vow to liberate the country from the Houthis.

The Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against the rebels on March 26, and began a ground operation in July.

Hadi loyalists began an all-out offensive against the Houthis in the oil-rich Marib province east of Sanaa earlier this month, aiming to retake the capital.

The United Nations says around 5,000 people have been killed and 25,000 wounded, many of them civilians, since late March in Yemen.

Yemen has descended into chaos since the 2012 ouster of longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, and security has broken down since Houthi militiamen swept unopposed into the capital a year ago.

ISIL and the Yemen-based branch of its rival Al-Qaeda have exploited the turmoil to boost their activities in the impoverished country on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Al-Qaeda has long been a dominant force in Yemen, located next to oil-flush Saudi Arabia and key shipping lanes, but experts say ISIL is seeking to supplant its rival.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) controls parts of the vast southeastern province of Hadramawt, including the provincial capital Mukalla, which it is seized in April.

It has distanced itself from ISIL’s tactics, saying that it avoids targeting mosques to protect “innocent Muslims”.

13 of 20 Indians reported killed in Yemen are alive, 7 missing: MEA

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New Delhi: At least seven out of 20 Indian crew members are missing after their boats came under aerial bombardment while plying between Somalia and Yemen, External Affairs Ministry said today.

Disputing reports that 20 Indian nationals were killed in air strikes by Saudi-led coalition forces at Yemen’s Hodeidah port, the MEA said 13 Indians crew members “are alive and 7 are reported missing”.

“We have seen media reports about the death of Indian nationals in Yemen. Indian Embassy officials in Djbouti are in touch with local contacts and we have ascertained that there were two boats one of which was plying between Berbera (Somalia) and Mokha (Yemen),” the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said.

The boats came under aerial bombardment in the afternoon of 8 September. The boats were carrying a total of 20 Indian crew members of which 13 are alive and 7 are reported missing, he said, adding, no other information is currently available regarding the identities of the Indian nationals.

“Embassy officials are in constant touch with local authorities and are also due to meet with the boat owner today at which point of time more information would be available,” he said.

Some media reports, quoting residents and fishermen, yesterday claimed that at least 20 Indian nationals were killed in air strikes by Saudi-led coalition forces on fuel smugglers at Yemen’s Hodeidah port.

They claimed two boats were hit in the attack on an area near the port. India does not have Embassy in Yemen, which was shut down in April after evacuation of its nationals.

(PTI)

Saudi coalition airstrike hits Sana’a orphanage

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by dpa GmbH

An airstrike launched by the Saudi-led alliance in Yemen appears to have struck an orphanage Saturday morning in Sana’a’s al-Nahda neighbourhood, killing and injuring an unknown number of people, local medical sources told dpa.

There have been contradicting reports about the casualties, and whether they include children or not. No further details were immediately available.

Separately, a residential building was bombarded by an airstrike earlier in the day in the Hadda area, also in Sana’a, killing three and injuring five civilians, local sources said.

Meanwhile, sources at the Health Ministry said a state of emergency was announced due to the rising number of casualties from mistaken strikes upon civilian sites since Friday.

“Due to the ongoing airstrikes, there is no way to make an exact estimation of the number of the dead and injured at this stage, but they are dozens,” a source at the ministry told dpa.

Airstrikes against Houthi-held military sites in Sana’a and other parts of Yemen have intensified since Friday, but that has increased the possibility of them mistakenly targeting civilian areas.

Saudi Arabia and fellow Sunni partners have mounted since March an air campaign in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, who still control large parts of the country.

Yemen hospitals facing closures as fighting rages

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Major hospitals in Sanaa and Taiz facing closure due supply shortages as fighting rages, NGOs say.

More than 15.2 million people are lacking access to basic healthcare across Yemen, according to Save the Children [EPA]

More than 15.2 million people are lacking access to basic healthcare across Yemen, according to Save the Children [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Major hospitals in Yemen have been struggling to function due to a supply shortages caused by the increased fighting between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The main hospital in rebel-held capital, Sanaa, is on the verge of shutting down due to limited access to basic medicines and equipments caused by blockade imposed by pro-Hadi fighters, while hospitals in Taiz were under siege by Houthi rebels.

Save the Children said Al-Sabeen Hospital – that caters to children and pregnant women in Sanaa – could shut its doors on Tuesday over critical fuel shortages and a lack of medical supplies.

The hospital, reliant on the Red Sea port of Hodeida for 90 percent of its imports, serves an estimated three million people, the organisation said in a statement.

“The hospital has entirely run out of IV fluid, anaesthetic, blood transfusion tests, Valium to treat seizures and ready-prepared therapeutic food for severely malnourished children,” the statement said citing the hospital’s deputy manager Halel al-Bahri.

Basic healthcare

In Taiz, Yemen’s third city, two major hospitals have already closed due to a supply shortage caused by a blockade imposed by Houthi fighters, Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors without Borders (MSF) said.

“Yemen International Hospital and the military hospital, the biggest in Taiz, have shut their doors because the rebels refused to allow us to deliver drugs and medical supplies,” Salah Ibrahim Dongu’du, a project coordinator at MSF, told Al Jazeera over phone.

“Safwa Hospital is closing today, and Rawda hospital can only accept emergency cases,” he said. “The medical situation in Taiz is not good. It is catastrophic.”

Dongu’du said that there are more than 1,400 people in need of immediate medical help in the besieged city.

The Saudi-led coalition has mounted an air campaign against Iran-backed Houthi rebels late March in support of the exiled President Hadi.

Across Yemen, 15.2 million people are lacking access to basic healthcare, an increase of 40 percent since March, Save the Children warned.

More than half a million children are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year, and there has been a 150 percent increase in hospital admissions for malnutrition since March, it said.

Saudi troops enter northern Yemen after Houthi clashes

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Saudi commanders insist incursion into northern Yemen is temporary, as troops take up positions overlooking Jizan.

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by Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabian troops have crossed into northern Yemen for the first time since the conflict with Houthi rebels began in March.

Footage published on Wednesday showed soldiers taking positions in a mountainous area overlooking the southern Saudi province of Jizan.

Houthi shelling and rocket attacks on the border have killed dozens of Saudi soldiers, including a general on Sunday.

Saudi commanders insist the incursions are temporary.

A Saudi-led coalition has launched air strikes at rebel positions in Yemen but the the Houthis and their allies, soldiers loyal to the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, insist they are still a capable fighting force.

The Houthis have posted video online of what they say are rebel commandos storming a Saudi border post.

The video shows the fighters capturing the building after heavy fighting and blowing up military vehicles, only to withdraw when Saudi fighter jets launched an air raid in the area.

In July, Popular Resistance fighters fighting on the side of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s forces expelled the Houthis and their allies from the southern port city of Aden, whose capture by the rebels sparked the aerial campaign by the Arab coalition.

More than 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict in Yemen, according to the UN, almost half of those civilians.

At least 50 people have died in Houthi attacks on positions inside Saudi Arabia.

Children bearing brunt of war in Yemen, UNICEF says

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Nearly 400 children killed and 377 children recruited as child soldiers since the Saudi-led bombing began in March.

At least 1,950 civilians have been killed in the fighting and 1.3 million others have fled their homes [UNICEF]

At least 1,950 civilians have been killed in the fighting and 1.3 million others have fled their homes [UNICEF]

by Al Jazeera

The conflict in Yemen has killed nearly 400 children since the end of March, and a similar number of children have been recruited by armed groups, according to a new report by the UN children’s agency.

UNICEF’s report released on Wednesday, says that 398 children have been killed and 377 others have been recruited to fight since the Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes in Yemen.

“This conflict is a particular tragedy for Yemeni children,” Julien Harneis, UNICEF Representative in Yemen, said.

“Children are being killed by bombs or bullets and those that survive face the growing threat of disease and malnutrition. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he added.

The UN said that as devastating as the conflict is for the lives of children, it will have terrifying consequences for their future.

On Wednesday, human rights watch dog, Amnesty International, said that all sides fighting in Yemen have left a “trail of civilian death and destruction” in the conflict, killing scores of innocent people in what could amount to war crimes.

The London-based rights group said the violence has been particularly deadly in the southern city of Aden and in Taiz, with dozens of children among those killed.

Yemen’s conflict pits the Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against forces including southern separatists, tribal fighters and troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis are leading a US-backed Arab coalition that is carrying out air strikes against Houthi fighters since March.

Civilian death toll

Overall, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday, at least 1,950 civilians have been killed in the fighting and 1,3 million others have fled their homes.

The UN and aid groups have called repeatedly for ways to get food, fuel, medicine and other supplies into Yemen, but tight restrictions imposed by the coalition on air and sea transport remain in place, while Yemen’s exiled government accuses the Houthis of hijacking aid.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world, and its population relies on imports for about 90 percent of its supplies. Attempts at UN-brokered humanitarian pauses to bring in aid have failed.

The new UNICEF report says about 10 million children, or half of the country’s population, need urgent humanitarian assistance.

It also says more than half a million pregnant women in Yemen’s hardest-hit areas are at higher risk for birth or pregnancy complications because they can’t get to medical facilities.

Across the country, nearly 10 million children – 80 percent of the country’s under-18 population – are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance [UNICEF]

Anti-Houthi forces recapture Yemen’s largest army base

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Backed by Saudi-led air strikes, forces fighting on the side of President Hadi recapture southern al-Anad base.

Spread over 40 square kilometres, al-Anad houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot [Reuters]

Spread over 40 square kilometres, al-Anad houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Forces battling Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have captured the country’s largest military base following intense clashes which left dozens killed.

In a statement on Monday, the exiled government claimed the complete control of al-Anad base, which is in Lahej province in southern Yemen.

“With the help and back-up of the Arab-led coaltion, this achievement was possible,” the statement said.

Troops were also supported by Popular Resistance Committees who have sided with the government in the fight against the Houthis.

The Houthis’ loss of the base deals a significant blow to the Shia rebel group, which has seized large parts of the country but recently lost control of the southern port city of Aden.

Nasser Hadour, an officer in the Popular Resistance, told Al Jazeera that their forces were also able to enter another military base between al-Sader and al-Madina al-Khadra in Lahej province.

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, who has covered Yemen extensively, explained that while the Popular Resistance Committees are against the Houthis, they form a loose umbrella group whose members do not necessarily back exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

“They have been forced together by the Houthi threat but they have different agendas. Many of them are southern secessionists who in fact see Hadi as a threat,” he said.

The Yemeni army has been split since the Houthis’ advance last year. Some units backing deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh are fighting alongside the Houthis, while others remain loyal to Hadi.

“The Saudi-led coalition is training anti-Houthi forces, providing them with new weapons to build a new army from scratch,” our correspondent said. “Their aim is to maintain Yemen united under one leader and a professional army. But that aim will depend on how the different factions get along. Yemen remains divided along regional and sectarian ties.”

Houthi rebels and its allies had been in control of al-Anad since March.

Spread over 40 square kilometres, the base houses a military airport, a war college, and an arms depot.

It was previously used by US forces as an intelligence gathering hub and base for drone attacks on al-Qaeda in Yemen.

The assault by anti-Houthi forces began after new weapons, including armoured vehicles that had been supplied by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, arrived to reinforce fighters.

At least 50 Houthis and troops loyal to Hadi were killed in fighting for the base, military sources told Al Jazeera. At least 23 Popular Resistance fighters were also killed, the sources added.

There was no word from the Houthis on the outcome of the battle, but the Houthi-run Saba news agency said earlier that Saudi-led air raids had repeatedly struck the military base.

Al-Anad lies on road to Taiz, the next target for the coalition after their recapture of Aden.

The military says controlling al-Anad will help the push to recapture Taiz and the southern provinces.

Hadi remains in Saudi Arabia, where he fled in March as the Houthis closed in on his refuge in Aden.

The Houthis broke out of their northern strongholds and seized control of the capital Sanaa in September, plunging Yemen into another bout of conflict.

While backed by US, Saudi coalition accused of war crime in Yemen

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New report from Human Rights Watch investigates bombings that killed at least 65 civilians in the city of Mokha on Friday

A residence that houses workers of the Mokha Steam Power Plant and their families after it was destroyed by Saudi-led coalition bombings on 24, 2015. (Photo: Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch)

A residence that houses workers of the Mokha Steam Power Plant and their families after it was destroyed by Saudi-led coalition bombings on 24, 2015. (Photo: Ole Solvang/Human Rights Watch)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition—which is backed by the United States—committed an “apparent war crime” when they bombed residential housing in the Yemeni city of Mokha on Friday, killing at least 65 civilians and wounding dozens more, Human Rights Watch declared on Monday.

“The Saudi-led coalition repeatedly bombed company housing with fatal results for several dozen civilians,” said Ole Solvang, senior emergencies researcher for HRW, of the attack that claimed ten children among its victims. “With no evident military target, this attack appears to be a war crime.”

However, HRW said there are no signs that Yemen’s government or any coalition partners are investigating the attack, which struck residential compounds that house family and workers of the Mokha Steam Power Plant on Friday.

“Again and again, we see coalition airstrikes killing large numbers of civilians, but no signs of any investigation into possible violations,” said Solvang.

Researchers with the rights group who visited the aftermath of the attack saw craters and destroyed buildings that indicate multiple bombs “had struck the plant’s main residential compound, which housed at least 200 families.” Another bomb tore through a separate compound that also housed temporary workers.

“After the third strike the entire building began to collapse on top of us,” Wajida Ahmed Najid, the wife of a plant employee who lived in one of the compounds targeted, told researchers. “Then I knew we needed to leave because it was not safe to stay. I grabbed my girls and we started running in the direction of the beach, but as we were running pieces of metal were flying everywhere and one hit Malak, my 9-year-old daughter. Thank God she is going to be okay. While we were running I saw bodies, seven of them, just lying on the ground, in pieces.”

HRW noted that the civilian death toll could be higher than 65, with many people still reported missing. In the following video, resident after resident testifies that there was no reason for the coalition to target them. “This is a dirty war,” said a resident of one of the buildings whose name is not revealed in the video. Warning: video contains disturbing images.

The Saudi-led military coalition includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, and Sudan. While the United States and United Kingdom both say they are not formally part of the coalition, they are both providing direct assistance—including logistics and intelligence—as well as serving as major weapons suppliers for the campaign.

Since the bombing campaign began nearly four months ago, the coalition has bombed homes, schools, warehouses storing humanitarian aid, and refugee camps, killing at least  1,693 civilians and wounding another 3,829,according to the estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The bombings and naval blockade have touched off an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis as residents of the impoverished country arecut off from water, food, and medical aid.

Saudi Arabian airstrike kills 120 civilians as US-backed war in Yemen rages

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Humanitarian crisis continues with no end in sight as forces armed and supported by the United States continue to terrorize the people of Yemen

Houthi followers demonstrate against Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 24, 2015. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. (Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

Houthi followers demonstrate against Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa July 24, 2015. A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh since late March in a bid to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. (Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Intense fighting between Houthi factions and Yemeni forces allied with a Saudi-backed military campaign continued on Sunday, just a day after the killing of approximately 120 civilians by a Saudi airstrike spurred an impromptu call for a five-day ceasefire in the war-torn and poverty-stricken country.

According to the Associated Press:

The airstrikes late Friday hit workers’ housing for a power plant in Mokha, flattening some of the buildings to the ground […] A fire erupted in the area, charring many of the corpses, including children, women and elderly people.

Wahib Mohammed, an eyewitness and area resident, said some of the bodies were torn apart by the force of the blast and buried in a mass grave on Saturday. Some of the strikes also hit nearby livestock pens, he said. Human and animal blood pooled on the ground of the surrounding area.

The deadly strike highlights growing concerns that the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes are increasingly killing civilians as they continue to target Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

Responding to the carnage, Hassan Boucenine of the Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders told AP, “It just shows what is the trend now of the air strikes from the coalition. Now, it’s a house, it’s a market, it’s anything.”

In the wake of the deadly airstrike on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition, which includes the United States and allied Gulf states, called for a five-day ceasefire that would begin at midnight local time on Sunday.

However, even as mixed reporting by Reuters indicated that Houthi military leaders may have rejected the call, a fierce battle raged near the port city Aden over a strategically valuable air base:

The al-Anad base, 50 km (30 miles) from the major southern port city, has been held by the Iranian-allied Houthi movement for much of a fourth-month-old civil war, and is regarded as a strategic asset commanding the approaches to Aden.

The Arab coalition on Saturday announced a ceasefire to take effect at 11.59 p.m. (2059 GMT) on Sunday evening for five days to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Reuters indicated that a Houthi leader may have taken to Twitter to reject the call for the midnight ceasefire, but other journalists expressed doubt that the message was valid:

Since the Saudi-led bombing began in March of this year, the United Nations last week estimated that in addition to the many more thousands injured and maimed, at least 1,693 civilians have been killed in Yemen, of which 365 were children. Already one of the poorest nations on the planet before the fighting and subsequent bombing campaign began, both the UN and independent aid agencies have warned that so long as the war continues and humanitarian blockade enforced, Yemen’s further spiral towards total political chaos and a full-fledged famine will continue.

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