Yemen

Introductory Video Explainers of the recent history of the Yemeni conflict

 * Yemen - 28 years of history explained Geo History July 19, 2018 The unification of the Soviet allied South Yemen with the islamic North Yemen, Presidents Salah and Hadi, the emergence of the Houthis in the north and the southern seperatists, AQAP, tensions within the coalition between UAE and Saudia Arabia
 * Yemen's complicated war explained TRT World August 10, 2018 Outlines some political developments and shifting alliances - although weaker on wider context.

Makeup of the coalition attacking Yemen
As recorded by the Yemen Data project the military coalition attacking Yemen is ''led by Saudi Arabia... also includes participation from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. The military coalition is backed by the United States and the United Kingdom with the US providing intelligence and logistical support, and the US and UK also having their military personnel deployed in the Saudi command-and-control centre for coalition airstrikes.''

Who are the 'Houthis'?

 * YEMEN’S ANSAR ALLAH MOVEMENT (HOUTHIS): WHAT IS IT? Southfront July 17, 2017
 * THE HOUTHIS AND WAR IN YEMEN Southfront July 3, 2018 Documentary and text overview of Houthis and the conflict

Allegations of Iranian backing

 * Despite the coalition/UN blockade of ports and Saana airport being disabled claims of an arms smuggling route from Iran to the Houthis have persisted. A land route via Oman seems unlikely as the large swathe of sparsely populated territory in the east of Yemen is controlled not by the Houthi aligned forces, but by Hadi/coalition aligned forces or AQAP. According to Southfront:
 * A number of experts believe that Iran’s financial assistance does not exceed 10-20 million dollars a year. It should be noted that the Islamic Republic’s capacity to provide assistance to Yemen is now limited, as Iran is also providing financial assistance, weapon and personnel to Hezbollah as well as to Shia militias in Syria and Iraq. Moreover, Yemen is currently under a sea and land blockade. Therefore, the possibilities to assist the Houthis are severely limited. Several Iranian vessels captured by the forces of the coalition in 2014 contained rockets for multiple rocket launchers, MANPADS, RPG-7 grenade launchers, explosives, cartridges, small arms and Iranian-made night vision devices.


 * US generals: Saudi intervention in Yemen ‘a bad idea’ Al Jazeera April 17, 2018 View of American expert on Yemen Michael Horton in 2015:
 *  “These constant reports that the Houthis are working for the Iranians are nonsense, but the view is right out of the neocon playbook,” he said. “The Israelis have been touting this line that we lost Yemen to Iran. That’s absurd. The Houthis don’t need Iranian weapons. They have plenty of their own. And they don’t require military training. They’ve been fighting Al-Qaeda since at least 2012, and they’ve been winning. Why are we fighting a movement that’s fighting Al-Qaeda?”


 * Did IRGC commander say Houthis were ordered to strike tankers? Amir Toumaj, FDD's Long War Journal August 9, 2018
 * See also Iranian Missiles?

Strategic importance of the Bab al Mandab strait

 * This strait is a strategic route for Persian Gulf oil, natural gas, and petroleum product shipments to Europe and North America, as well as European and North African oil exports to Asia GlobalSecurity.org
 * Strategic importance of the Bab al Mandab straight 1991 US Army College study

Estimated Casualties

 * Yemen death toll five times higher than previous estimate, researchers say MEE october 29, 2018

News Agencies

 * ABYZ Web Links Yemen Newspaper and News Media Guide
 * Yemen Press Agency
 * SABA (Yemen News Agency)
 * Yemen Extra
 * Almasirah.net
 * Alahed News (Yemen)
 * Yemeni Resistence Watch
 * Al Thawra News
 * Press TV (Yemen)
 * AhlulBayt News Agency (Middle East)
 * Al Masdar News(Yemen)
 * Yemen Press News Agency

Pro Hadi

 * Alsahwa Net

Monitoring Organisations

 * Legal Centre for Rights and Development
 * Drone Warfare (Yemen)
 * Yemen Data Project Twitter feed here
 * Stop Starving Yemen Campaign website edited by Dan Glazebrook
 * YemenWar.info

Social media

 * Living In Yemen On The Edge (Facebook Page)
 * Yemen Observer Twitter account
 * Mohamad Shami Facebook also Mohamad al Shami Facebook
 * Mohammed Al Shami Twitter
 * https://yemen.liveuamap.com/
 * ColonelCassad (Yemen)
 * Crimes of Saudi Arabia and UAE in Yemen Facebook page
 * Stop the War on Yemen Facebook group
 * Maher Farrukh Twitter
 * Hussain al Bukhaiti Twitter

Analysis

 * SouthFront (Yemen)
 * Middle East Eye (Yemen War)
 * Ahmed Abdulkareem for Mint Press
 * American Herald Tribune (War on Yemen)
 * Geopolitics Alert (Yemen)
 * 21st Century Wire (Yemen)

Warfare

 * Ex-president Saleh offers 'all Yemen's facilities' to Russia, Brian Whitaker, al-bab.com, 21 August 2016.


 * The resistance media wing captured footage of a Saudi tank crashing into one of its own vehicles, while trying to flee the battlefield in the key city of Najran. Almasdarnews report, Aug 24, 2016.


 * HSV-2 Swift recovery images show extent of damage to #UAE operated vessel from claimed #Yemen #Houthi attack, twitter post, 5 Oct., 2016
 * Weapon: unknown; a twitter user suggested Chinese C 801 anti ship missile


 * Rusvesna report, video, 21 May 2017
 * Yemeni rebels-houthis shot down an F-15 fighter of the Air Force of Saudi Arabia with an air defense missile. It is reported that the military aircraft was struck over the province of Saada, but fell in the province of Najran. Both provinces are located on the territory of the KSA. The incident occurred on the day of arrival of Donald Trump on a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The US F-15 fighter was shot down by a Soviet anti-aircraft missile. Earlier, on May 18, in Yemen, the husits were shot down by a military helicopter of the Black Hawk Saudis ("Black Hawk"), also American-made. At least 13 servicemen were killed.


 * Reports: ex-president Abdala Saleh was killed, said to be by a sniper -al-Arabia twitter & photo, quoted by TASS, 4 Dec. 2017

UAE role in Yemen



 * UAE SAYS IT CAN’T CONTROL YEMENI FORCES — EVEN AS IT HANDS THEM BAGS OF CASH Iona Craig, The Intercept June 8, 2018
 * The Saudi-UAE Alliance is the Most Dangerous Force in the Middle East Today Doug Bandow AmericanConservative June 13, 2018
 * Hodeidah Bombardment Reveals UAE’s US-Backed Rise in Regional Power Whitney Webb Mint Press News June 14, 2018
 * The UAE In Yemen: With A Lot Of Help From Its Mercs David Isenberg, LobeLog June 19, 2018

Torture claims against UAE

 * Sexual abuses rampant in UAE-controlled prisons in Yemen Maggie Michael Associated Press June 20, 2018


 * Brutal Torture Ongoing in UAE-Run Prison in Aden Al Masirah December 11, 2018
 * UAE accused of torture and running secret prisons Video: Jonathan Rugman, Channel 4 news December 6, 2018

Counter Claims

 * Yemen: Houthi Hostage-Taking - Arbitrary Detention, Torture, Enforced Disappearance Go Unpunished Human Rights Watch, September 24, 2018
 * Al Houthis accused of hostage-taking, torture Gulf News, September 25

US role in Yemen

 * U.S.-Supported Government in Yemen Has Ties to Al-Qaeda JustSecurity April 24, 2017
 * Yemen conflict may alter US-Saudi relations Michael Horton Janes Intelligence Review 2017 (sample not full article)
 * Army Special Forces Secretly Help Saudis Combat Threat From Yemen Rebels New York Times May 3, 2018
 * Report: US Drone Attacks Killing More Civilians in Yemen Fars news Agency November 15, 2018
 * The Eye on the West Coast: This is how Americans prepare their presence Yemen Extra November 16, 2018

US Senate Bill on military aid for Saudi Coalition
See also US role in Yemen
 * Senate Votes to End Aid for Yemen Fight Over Khashoggi Killing and Saudis’ War Aims, The New York Times, December 13, 2018
 * ''The Senate voted (...) to end American military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.... Moments later, senators unanimously approved a separate resolution to hold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia personally responsible for the death of (...) Khashoggi.... The resolution was written by Mr. Lee and Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont. It was an unusual invocation of the War Powers Act, a 1973 law by which Congress sought at the end of the Vietnam War

British role in Yemen

 * Country Policy and Information Note Yemen: Security and humanitarian situation Home Office, June 2017


 * Yemen: Declassified http://markcurtis.info


 * The Guardian view on Yemen: our complicity lies bare The Guardian June 20, 2018


 * U.K Military Industrial Cartel and Tory Government Profit from Mass Murder in Yemen Vanessa Beeley, 21st Century Wire August 9, 2018


 * Britain's secret deal to train Saudi air force Larisa Browwn Daily Mail, October 16, 2018


 * Yemen: hundreds of alleged war crimes but only 79 investigations Billy Briggs The Ferret November 20, 2018


 * Stop Starving Yemen: Britain’s role in Yemen Website for the campaign, edited by Dan Glazebrook

Weapons traffic

 * U.S. Navy says it seized weapons from Iran likely bound for Houthis in Yemen-Reuters, April 4, 2016
 * ''U.S. Navy ships in the Arabian Sea intercepted and seized an arms shipment from Iran likely bound for Houthi fighters in Yemen, the military said...The weapons seized last week by the warships Sirocco and Gravely were hidden on a small dhow and included 1,500 AK-47 rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, and 21 .50-caliber machine guns, according to the Navy statement...The boat, which the Navy described as stateless, and its crew were allowed to leave once the weapons were taken.
 * UN investigators check weapons seized by Navy warship, by Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press. Navy Times, October 25, 2018
 * ''...U.N. inspectors boarded the American guided-missile destroyer, to examine the more than 2,500 guns the crew seized in late August and determine if suspicions are true that the weapons originated in Iran. U.S. officials have long accused Iran of smuggling arms across the waters to Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, who have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since September 2014. But they have only managed to seize a handful of weapons caches in recent years, underscoring the difficulties in tracking down arms smugglers working the vast waters around Yemen. “It’s one big traffic corridor,” Vice Adm. Scott Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, told reporters Thursday. “It’s not blocked, and it’s not just lines on a map that people don’t penetrate.”
 * Yemen: inquiry finds Saudis diverting arms to factions loyal to their cause Rod Austin The Guardian November 28, 2018
 * Yemen: The devastating war waged with European weapons Deutsche Welle November 30, 2018

World Food Programme

 * World Food Program, Bribed By Saudis, Threatens Yemenis With More Famine Moon of Alabama Januray 1, 2019
 * AP Investigation: Food aid stolen as Yemen starves Maggie Michael Associated press December 31, 2019
 * Al-Houthi: “Position of WFP Based on Untrue Procedures Which Shows their Real Hidden Aim” January 1, 2018