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| Arabia |
| Houthis Face Heavy Ground, Aerial Shelling |
| 2009-11-20 |
| Yemeni and Saudi forces continue their ground and aerial strikes against Houthi strongholds in the districts of Malahidh, Shada, Razih, Maqash, Hassana, and nearby villages. Houthis said that the Saudi army launches airstrikes and rockets while the Yemeni army fires mortar shelling and Katyusah missiles, plus intensive air raids on villages and farmlands stretching over 60km along the Yemeni-Saudi border. A Saudi official source said their troops used F-15 and Tornado jets, Apache fighters and heavy mortars in attacking Houthi hideouts. Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz said on Monday that the kingdom's territory were cleared of Houthis, and clashes between Houthis and Saudi troops are taking place on Yemeni soil. A Saudi military source confirmed on Tuesday that Houthis use hit-and-run tactics in their confrontations with Saudi troops, pointing out that Houthi fighters resort to launching surprise assaults against military positions. "This situation put Saudi troops on full alert in order to thwart such surprise attacks," the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted the source as saying. Alarabyia.net reported that Houthis attacked military positions with Katyusha rockets and heavy mortars earlier this week, adding that other clashes between Saudi troops and Houthis took place at the border, particularly in areas overlooking Dukhan Mountain from the Saudi side. According to the Spokesperson for Yemeni Army Colonel Askar Zuail, fierce clashes are taking place in the Malahidh district after the army took over the Khazaen Mountain, north of the district. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani expressed curiosity about operations by the Saudi army inside Yemeni territory, pointing out that the U.S. supports the Saudi operations. Fatwa Dozens of religious clerics in Saudi Arabia released a fatwa statement instigating people against Houthis for their standing clashes with the Kingdom at the Yemeni-Saudi border. Signed by 42 Saudi clerics, including Nasser Al-Omar, the statement called on all people of the kingdom to be on high alert toward what they called "Shia Expansion" and take necessary security measures to thwart Shia threats. From his side, Mr. Mohammed Khatmi, a Tehran mosque preacher and a member of the Leadership Experts Council, condemned the fatwa made by Saudi clerics, saying that this fatwa is supported by Western intelligence organizations. During a program titled "From Tehran" televised by the Al-Alam satellite channel on Tuesday, Khatmi said, "Those who made such a fatwa never dared issue statements condemning Israeli practices against the Palestinian people even once." The Iranian official called on Muslim clerics to sit together through the pilgrimage season and denounce the Saudi fatwa that hurts Muslims, as well as to show the world that this fatwa contradicts the values of Islam and serves western and Zionist interests. The Houthi group called on the Arab League to intervene, stopping the Saudi military operations against its members, and denying reports that they have relations with Iran. In a letter addressed to the Arab League Secretary-General Amro Mossa, the Houthis field leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi condemned the Saudi assaults against Yemen, asking that the Arab League to do its job in investigating roots of the crisis. Houthis accused the Yemeni government of involving the Saudi army in a war against Yemeni people. "The Arab League should support the national dialogue in order to eradicate prejudices that Iran has a role in the Sa'ada fighting," Abdulmalik Al-Houthi said. "The Yemeni regime is responsible for fuelling the fighting and direct involvement of Saudi forces in the war." Humanitarian situation Regional Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) for the Middle East and North Africa Sigrid Kaag, warned of miserable conditions to be faced by displaced as a result of ongoing clashes in Sa'ada governorate and neighboring areas. She called on all parties to the conflict to protect children from violence, and help in securing a humanitarian corridor for access of aid agencies to war-affected civilians. "Fighting has now spilled into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated and more than 50 schools to be closed," Kaag said in a statement. The information came from UNICEF's contacts on the ground, a spokeswoman said in Geneva, giving no further details. UNICEF voiced deep concern at the escalation of the conflict in north Yemen, where the United Nations now says 175,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. More than 15,000 are staying in al-Mazraq camp in Hajjah province, the population of which has doubled in the past month, according to Kaag. "Deaths have been recorded among children in the camp as malnutrition, already a chronic problem in Yemen, is reaching alarming levels," she noted. "More than 600 children in the camp are being treated for severe acute malnutrition." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > REBEL FIGHT IN YEMEN SPILLS OVER INTO THREE COUNTRIES, + REGIONAL TENSIONS RISE OVER ACCUSATIONS THAT IRAN IS ARMING YEMEN REBELS + IRAN DENIES ARMING YEMEN/HOUTHI REBELS. * BIGNEWSNETWORK > ARNAUD BE BORCHGRAVE BELIEVES IRAN CAN NEITHER BE ATTACKED, OR PRESSURED [oer its Nucprogs]!? ARNAUD repor also believes that IRAN'S COVERT MOTIVE-AGENDUM in THE YEMEN HOUTHIS-SAUDI CONFLCIT IS TO INDUCE SAUD ARABIA TO DIVERT RESOURCES = GEOPOL LOCII FROM THE PERSIAN GULF AGZ IRAN TO THE RED SEA [mil face AQ + "AQ IN SAUDI ARABIA" + "AQ IN MAHGREB", etc.]??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-11-20 20:17 |