French, British, US warplanes and troops occupy Yemeni capital

Source : StratRisks

The UN Security Council continues its Yemen visit after holding a closed meeting with Yemeni and GCC – Gulf Cooperation Council – officials in Sana’a, the capital, residents woke up under foreign military occupation.

Keen to guarantee the safety of its state officials and ensure that no faction, group or individual will try to derail efforts being made in regards to moving Yemen transition of power forward, the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom took control between them of the sky and the ground.

Residents told the Yemen Post on Sunday they saw French warplanes patrol the sky of the capital in a great show of strength, which they say they felt a bit “over the top” and slightly insulting to Yemen military potency. A retired General, Ali Mohsen Khawlani stressed that Yemen should have been put in charge of all security details . “Our armed forces are perfectly capable and well-trained. What kind of message does it send to see foreign troops invade our capital. Are we moving toward a military occupation? Did foreign powers come to announce they will divide Yemen into zones of influence?”

Security sources revealed that on Saturday evening 250 Marines arrived in the capital, increasing yet again America’s military presence in the country. In addition to the Marines, several American CTU agents – couter-terrorism units – are said to have been deployed throughout the capital to scoop out any potential threat.

British troops scattered in Sana’a, criss-crossing with their American counterparts to cover as much ground as possible.

Dozens of French warplanes were sent to patrol the sky.

Earlier last week, President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi issued an order forbidding all residents of the capital to carry a weapon, officers and license bearers included following a request from foreign officials ahead of the arrival of the UNSC delegation to Sana’a. Yemen Post Staff

Yemen seizes ship carrying weapons

Source : APA

The report said Yemen's coast guard intercepted the ship last week

in an operation coordinated with the U.S. Navy. It did not say why

news of the interception was not announced earlier.

The report said the vessel's eight crew members were Yemenis and tha its destination and source of the weapons were under investigation.

Yemen has recently witnessed several cases of illegal arms shipments through its porous shores on the Red and Arabian seas.

Yemen is home to an active branch of al-Qaida, which staged several failed or foiled attacks on U.S. territory over the past several years.

On Tuesday, officials said attacks by Yemen's air force killed at least 16 al-Qaida militants and wounded dozens of others. The officials said the air force launched several air attacks in central Yemen, where the militants have bases.

In another operation, the Yemen military freed 13 soldiers captured by al-Qaida Monday night. The soldiers were on their way to transport troops and a military ambulance when they lost their way, straying int al-Qaida-held territory, where they were captured.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Yemeni president meets Chinese vice FM on developing ties

Source :  Xinhua

SANAA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Monday met with visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, with two sides exchanging views on Yemen's political transition and bilateral relations.

During the meeting, Hadi briefed Zhai on Yemen's transition process and expressed appreciatio for China's support to Yemen's development.

He stressed that Yemen attaches importance to the bilateral relations with China and wishes to continue developing the friendly cooperation relationship in various fields.

For his part, Zhai praised the progress in Yemen's political transition and reconstruction after rival forces in the country signed a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that ended one-year unrest in 2011.

The Chinese government wishes all involved parties in Yemen to continue solving disputes through talks, in order to advance in the political transition with steady steps and achieve stability in the Arab country.

Yemen is among the first Arab countries that forged diplomatic ties with China, Zhai said, addin that China attaches great importance to developing bilateral relations with Yemen.

China wishes to deepen political mutual trust and strengthen the friendly cooperation in variou fields with Yemen, and will try its best to support Yemen's political transition and reconstructio the Chinese official said.

8 soldiers killed by Yemen bomb

Source : Voice of Russia

A powerful suicide car bomb is reported to have killed 8 government soldiers at a roadblock near Radaa 150 kilometers north of the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

The authorities say they believe Al Qaeda tried to retaliate for an artillery barrage of its positions in the area.

Yemen’s war with Al Qaeda started two years ago when Al Qaeda militants seized a number of towns in southern Yemen.

Voice of Russia, TASS

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Tribal attackers bomb Yemen's oil export pipeline

Source :  Xinhua | English.news.cn

SANAA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Armed tribal attackers blew up Yemen 's main oil export pipeline late Friday, nearly two weeks after it was repaired, officials said Saturday.

"The pipeline was exploded by a high-explosive bomb of TNT in a desert area in Sarawah district i the northeast province of Marib, causing thick smoke from burning oil," a provincial security investigator told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

Local security reports indicated that those saboteurs have links to provincial terrorist groups affiliated with the al-Qaida wing.

The fresh attack was the eighth of its kind in two months targeting the pipeline, which carries about 110,000 barrels of crude oil a day to the country's main oil terminal on the Red Sea for export.

The flow was resumed on Jan. 11 after the government repairs the pipeline, which came following a tribal mediation that ended nearly a two-month-long conflict between local military authorities and tribesmen whom the government accused of repeatedly attacking the pipeline.

The army launched a massive offensive last month over the previous attack of the pipeline, leavin at least 10 militants killed and more than 15 others injured.

The cash-stripped Yemeni interim government depends on oil exports for up to 70 percent of its budget.

Oil pipeline bombed by gunmen in southeast Yemen

Source :  Xinhua | English.news.cn

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- An armed group blasted an oil pipeline Saturday in Yemen's restive southeastern province of Shabwa, as part of a string of explosions targeting the energy sector in Yemen, a government official told Xinhua.

The armed group blew up the pipeline that transfers Yemen's liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Gulf of Aden export terminal, in the area of Rudhum in Shabwa province, the local government said on condition of anonymity.

The huge blast, which is the latest in a series of explosions during the past few months, disrupted oil flows, the government source said.

Local residents said they saw fire following the pipeline bombing.

The 320-km pipeline, linking oil-producing Marib province to Belhaf LNG export facility in Yemen's restive south, has been repeatedly targeted by al-Qaida operatives.

Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of the state budget, while oil and gas products account for over 90 percent of Yemen's exports.

Yemen's oil production rapidly declined from more than 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the past decade to the current 270,000 barrels per day.

Despite the army reinforcements and high security measures at the country's oil projects, al-Qaid militants have attacked the main LNG pipeline several times in recent months.

Oil pipeline bombed by gunmen in southeast Yemen

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

DEN, Yemen, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- An armed group blasted an oil pipeline Saturday in Yemen's restive southeastern province of Shabwa, as part of a string of explosions targeting the energy sector in Yemen, a government official told Xinhua.

The armed group blew up the pipeline that transfers Yemen's liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Gulf of Aden export terminal, in the area of Rudhum in Shabwa province, the local government said on condition of anonymity.

The huge blast, which is the latest in a series of explosions during the past few months, disrupted oil flows, the government source said.

Local residents said they saw fire following the pipeline bombing.

The 320-km pipeline, linking oil-producing Marib province to Belhaf LNG export facility in Yemen's restive south, has been repeatedly targeted by al-Qaida operatives.

Oil revenues make up more than 70 percent of the state budget, while oil and gas products account for over 90 percent of Yemen's exports.

Yemen's oil production rapidly declined from more than 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the past decade to the current 270,000 barrels per day.

Despite the army reinforcements and high security measures at the country's oil projects, al-Qaid militants have attacked the main LNG pipeline several times in recent months.

Yemen tightens security around French embassy - Xinhua

Source :  English.news.cn

SANAA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni Interior Ministry said Friday that it has tightened security around the French embassy in the capital of Sanaa, after a French-backed ground offensive agains Islamist militants in the African country of Mali.

"The security reinforcement does not mean that the French embassy is at risk, but it is a precautionary measure that we must be prepared to face every eventuality," the ministry said in a brief statement obtained by Xinhua.

The move came in anticipation of possible protests against the French week-long military operations on the Islamist rebels in the desert of Mali.

In September 2012, four Yemenis were killed when dozens of angry demonstrators stormed the U.S. embassy in Sanaa to protest a film produced in the United States denigrating Prophet Mohammad.

Thousands rally in southern Yemen on civil war anniversary

Source : Xinhua

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of pro-secession protesters on Sunday took to streets across Yemen's southern port city of Aden, calling for independence of the south on the 27th anniversary of civil war.

More than 7,000 pro-secession protesters comprising students, political activists and lawyers, organized a large rally to mark the anniversary of civil war on Jan. 13, 1986.

The rally that initially called for peace and tolerance then turned to call for secession from the northern part of Yemen.

"South Independence, South Independence... We all want the right for self-determination," the protesters chanted.

A local government official told Xinhua anonymously that "The whole country is in an alarming situation in all respects. But we don't want secession. We stick to unification of all Yemen's parts.

"The south secession issues and other issues should be discussed through dialogue. We refuse the acts of violence," the official added.

Yemen's pro-secession Southern Movement and several other separatist factions have refused to participate in the upcoming national dialogue proposed by the central Sanaa government.

The comprehensive national dialogue scheduled to begin soon is based on a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal under which former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down after one-year-long unrest.

Government officials have called the exiled leaders of the Southern Movement to return to Yemen to take part in the national dialogue, but some separatist leaders place little faith and claim that security units will simply arrest them at the airport if they come back.

Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the first president from southern Yemen since the country's two parts unified in 1990, pledged that he will address the problems by launching a responsible national dialogue within the framework of the constitutional institutions.

However, youth activists and politicians in the south dismissed Hadi's call, with many saying that i was just an empty gesture.

Two soldiers killed in ambush in south Yemen

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Two army soldiers were killed in a secessionist ambush in Yemen's southern province of al-Dhalea on Friday, a police officer told Xinhua.

A military convoy was attacked by pro-secession gunmen with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades in al-Dhalea province, leaving at least two soldiers killed, the local police officer said on condition of anonymity.

"About two soldiers of the 33rd Armored Brigade were killed in a well-planned ambush by secessionist attackers," the police source said.

North and South Yemen unified peacefully in 1990, but their relationship deteriorated in 1994. Calls for separation in the country's southern regions were renewed in 2007, as southerners have complained of being marginalized

Yemeni protesters hold demonstration in Sana’a

Source : www.islamicinvitationturkey

Yemenis have staged a demonstration in Sana’a to voice discontent with the government’s failure to meet their demands following the ouster of former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital on Thursday, chanting, “The revolution will continue.” One of the protesters told Press TV, “We want the ouster of all corrupt officials in the military and government institutions. If these demands are not met, our revolution will continue.” The demonstrators also censured the increasing presence of military checkpoints and armored vehicles across the capital. They called on President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to address the current situation of the military and the political instability in the country before a national dialogue takes place. Saleh formally stepped down and handed over power to then Vice President Hadi in February 2012. The power transfer occurred under a Saudi-backed deal brokered by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council in April 2011 and signed by Saleh in Riyadh on November 23, 2011. Hadi, who is a UK-trained field marshal, was sworn in on February 25, 2012, following a single-candidate presidential election on February 21, which was supported by the United States and the Saudi regime.

Yemeni chief killed, apparent al-Qaida revenge

Source : APA

Baku—APA. Yemeni security officials say a prominent tribal chief has been killed in an ambush, an apparent revenge attack by al-Qaida for his security links, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.

The officials said suspected al-Qaida militants fatally shot Ali Abdul-Salam Thursday and wounded two of his guards as they rode in his vehicle in the southern province of Abyan.

Security and tribal officials said Abul-Salam, an elected local council member in Shabwa province, was accused by militants of providing information to security agencies and foreign intelligence that led to the targeting of al-Qaida members.

The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The government, backed by the U.S., has been going after al-Qaida militants who have established strongholds in Yemen's south.

Pro-government tribal chief killed in southern Yemen

Source - Xinhua | English.news.cn

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A pro-government tribal chief was killed by unknown gunmen in Yemen's southern province of Abyan on Thursday, a security official told Xinhua.

Four masked gunmen shot dead the elderly pro-government tribal chief, Abdulsalam Zabra, in the suburbs of Mahfad town in Abyan, the local security official said on condition of anonymity.

"The pro-government tribal leader, who escaped two previous assassination attempts in Abyan, was seriously injured and died after he was sent to hospital," the security source said.

"Residents in the area denounced the assassination incident, for which they hold the al-Qaida militants responsible," he added.

Meanwhile, a military source told Xinhua anonymously that " scores of al-Qaida militants are still fighting with the government troops which intend to clear the terrorist group from mountainous areas in Abyan."

In January 2009, al-Qaida affiliates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen officially merged and formed Al- Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP). The group, mainly entrenching itself in Yemen's southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, is on the terrorist list of the United States, which considers it as an increasing threat to its national security.

The AQAP underscores the challenges faced by Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who won support from major Yemeni political forces, the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Hadi is tasked with restoring security and stability to Yemen and putting an end to the growing influence of al-Qaida that threatens daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.