Monthly Briefing / November – 2021
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Political Scene
Since the UN Envoy, Hans Grundberg, assumed his duties as the fourth UN envoy to Yemen three months ago, he has not been able, so far, to bridge any gap in the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country. The refusal of the Houthi group to receive him for the purpose of meeting the leaders of the group, as part of a tour to make any progress in bringing the views closer, was an indication of this failure.
During the month of November 2021, Saudi Arabia’s movements seemed clearer, including the dialogue with Iran in Iraq and the meetings held by the Saudi ambassador in Washington, which were followed by a partial withdrawal of Saudi forces from Socotra, Mahra, Shabwa and Hadramaut. (Introduction 2)
– UN envoy Hans Grundberg arrives in the temporary capital of Aden for the second time, one day after the arrival of U.S. Special Envoy Timothy Lenderking as part of a new tour to further the faltering peace process in the country.
-After the Houthi group’s refusal to receive Grundberg, he changed his destination and headed to the city of Taiz, in southern Yemen.
Saudi Arabia recalls the head of the Southern Transitional Council, “Aidarus al-Zubaidi”, days after it threatened to withdraw from the government formed under the conditions of the “Riyadh Agreement”, which has been going on for more than two years without implementing its most important contents.
The Yemeni government aligns itself with Saudi Arabia and expresses its strong condemnation of the statements made by the Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi, in a television program about the war ignited by the Houthi group in Yemen.
In early November 2021, the political parties in Ma’rib issued a “strongly worded” statement, clearly expressing their strong dissatisfaction with the “legitimate government’s betrayal” of the governorate, as it is engaged in a fateful war, and, at the same time, the political parties expressed their astonishment by the poor performance of the Arab coalition and its management of its task in supporting legitimacy and overthrowing the coup.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price accuses the Houthi group of being the main cause of the suffering experienced by Yemenis, and their actions are linked to destabilization, causing additional suffering to the Yemeni people.
The UN Security Council includes three leaders of the Houthi group (Mohammed Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, Saleh Misfir al-Shaer and Youssef al-Madani) in the international sanctions list.
-The American magazine, Foreign Policy accuses the UAE of being involved in war crimes, torture and assassinations in Yemen and that it is directly responsible for causing the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, which claimed the lives of 230,000 people.
Military Scene
The withdrawal of the joint forces, that are “loyal to the UAE”, from Hodeidah, represented a great shock to the Yemeni streets. The legitimate government continues to deny its knowledge of the withdrawal, as well as the United Nations, which is the sponsor of the “Stockholm Agreement”. In addition, the Houthi group made great advances toward the city of Ma’rib, which reflected the extent of international inaction toward the city, which is crowded with displaced people.
The First, Fifth and Sixth “Giant” Brigades and the 21st Brigade withdrew from their front-line positions on the western coast fronts — including the Red Sea Mills, the 16th kilometer area, the Thabet Brothers Industrial Complex, Hodeidah International Airport, the Ad Durayhimi and Beit al-Faqih areas and the Tuhayta District — to re-deploy in the coastal city of Kahoka.
After widespread popular pressure, the Arab Coalition led by Saudi Arabia admits that the withdrawal carried out by the joint forces on the western coast from the southern and eastern areas of the city of Hodeidah was within the repositioning and that it was under the direct guidance of the leadership of the joint forces of the coalition.
The joint forces, loyal to the UAE, control significant mountainous areas and heights between the governorates of Hodeidah and Ibb in western Yemen in order to re-protect the areas of their new position after the withdrawal.
A great popular and media interaction after the governor of Ma’rib, Major-General Sultan al-Arada, appeared in a video after a meeting with the security committee in the province about the readiness of the army, indicating that the Houthi group, “backed by Iran”, will never reach its goal in bringing down the city.
In an exclusive statement to the Russian Sputnik agency, the Governor of Mar’ib, Major General Sultan Al-Arada, said, “We are ready to resume the export of gas in Mar’ib, but we are faced with obstacles in the port of Balhaf and the lack of achievement by the French Total, the Korean company and the American company.”
A partial withdrawal of the Saudi forces in the Yemeni governorate of Socotra, in which they have been stationed since 2018, are coinciding with a similar withdrawal from Shabwa, Mahra, Hadhramaut and the temporary capital, Aden.
The Houthi group admits to killing 14,700 of its members in recent months in the ongoing battles in Ma’rib Governorate, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, publishes a video showing that members of the Houthi group are conducting experiments on an air system at Sana’a International Airport, using a UN plane during landing and takeoff.
The National Army announces full control of the strategic Al-Alam camp in Shabwa Governorate, after the Emirati Forces depart the camp, as the Emirati forces refused to leave the Balhaf gas facility, according to official statements.
Security Scene
The wave of assassinations in the cities of Aden, Taiz and Hadramaut has been active, and there have been car bombings targeting government officials and journalists in Aden. What is remarkable is that Al-Qaeda has denied responsibility for these assassinations, before and after, and, in the absence of transparent investigations into these incidents, they are often recorded with no known perpetrator.
The murder of the journalist Rasha Abdullah (pregnant), the correspondent of Al-Sharq channel, and the serious injury of her husband, Mahmoud Al-Autumi, after their car was blown up while passing through Khormaksar district, Corniche Road, Aden.
The Head of Operations of the Transportation Brigade, Colonel Nazih al-Azibi and six other people, managed to escape from the camp of the Fifth Brigade of the Southern Transitional Council in the Sabr area of the Tabn District in Lahj Governorate, southern Yemen, after a seven-month detention.
Three days after the assassination of the Taiz resistance leader, Dhia al-Haq, adevice exploded in Colonel Mohammed Al-Eid’s car in the Shammar area of the Misrakh District in the countryside of Taiz, killing a 12-year-old child and another soldier and wounding five others.
Nine civilians were killed and 12 others, including women and children, were wounded as a result of an explosion on the road to Aden International Airport in the temporary capital, Aden, causing great damage to neighboring houses and shops, and burning a number of cars.
The Yemeni government officially accuses the Houthi group of being the ones responsible for the bombings that targeted the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and the Governor of Aden in the bombings of the Aden Airport gate on November 10, 2021.
A prominent academic and former member of the Islah Party, Muhammad Aqlan survived an assassination attempt while leaving his home, north of the temporary capital, Aden.
Ali Thabet, Director of the Operations Room, was assassinated in the Ministry of Local Administration in Aden, by gunmen’s bullets near his home in the Dar Saad District, north of Aden.
The coastal city of Mocha, west of the city of Taiz, was exposed to a missile attack by the Houthi group, which coincided with the arrival of UN envoy Hans Grundberg without mentioning victims.
Al-Qaeda, in the Arabian Peninsula, denies a connection to the bombing of the gate of Aden International Airport in late October or to the assassinations in the city during the past years.
Three people were killed, and two others were injured as a result of a U.S. air strike that targeted their car when they were driving on a road between the governorates of Al-Bayda and Shabwa, in southern Yemen.
The U.S. State Department confirms that the Houthi group has released 30 employees of its embassy in the capital, Sanaa, while only three people are still being detained.
The UN Security Council condemns the Houthi group’s storming of the U.S. embassy in the capital, Sana’a, calling for a speedy withdrawal from the building and the release of detainees.
The U.S. State Department allocates a financial reward of up to $6 million USD for providing information about the leader of Al-Qaeda (Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki).
Economic Scene
The United Nations Development Program’s “shocking” report estimated the losses of Yemen during the war years to be $126 billion, and the war led to the deaths of 377,000 people, and this large number of deaths coincides with the announcement of an international agency that nearly got 15,000 affiliated militants of the Houthi group killed since the beginning of the year in Ma’rib.
Thabet Brothers Industrial Group threatens to stop its factories and transfer them outside Yemen and lay off thousands of workers and employees after its sites in the Kilo 7 area of the coastal city of Hodeidah were exposed to repeated military attacks that cost the company millions of dollars.
The Yemeni government rejects the unilateral procedures taken by, MTN Group limited, the south African telecommunication company, regarding their pull-out from Yemen and the sale of its share to another Omani company, with doubts about the identity of the company, which is believed to belong to leaders in the Houthi insurgency group.
The Yemeni Riyal reaches its lowest level, after crossing the barrier of 1522 Riyals to the US dollar in the areas of the legitimate government.
Violations
Al Abdiyah area, in Ma’rib, and the targeting of Dar Al-Hadeth Center with ballistic missiles received great resonance in the media, but what is remarkable is the appearance of a UN official in Al Abdiyah a few days after its fall with leaders of the Houthi group.
A court affiliated with the Houthi group in Sana’a issues a five-year prison sentence against the Yemeni model, Intisar al-Hammadi (20 years old), on charges of “violating public morals”, eight months after she was kidnapped from a street in the capital, Sana’a.
From a report by Human Rights Watch: The Houthis have trapped 35,000 civilians in the Al Abdiyah District of Ma’rib for three continuous weeks, preventing them from leaving or entering, as well as inhibiting the entry of food, oil and other goods.
A ballistic missile, which was launched by the Houthi group and targeted the house of the tribal sheikh, Abdul Latif Al-Qibli Namran, in the Ras al-Amoud area, in the Al-Juba District, south of Ma’rib Governorate, killed 12 people, including two of the tribal sheikh’s sons, and destroyed several nearby houses.
The UN Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, David Gressly, appears in Al Abdiyah District, south of Ma’rib, next to leaders and gunmen of the Houthi group, three days after storming the district.
On October 28, a family in Taiz found, by chance, the remains of the big brother under the rubble of the family house, which was blown up by the Houthi group while he was inside it six years ago, and the negotiation for his release continued for more than five years.
The Human Rights Office in Ma’rib Governorate, documents, in just three weeks, the death and injury of 300 civilians, resulting from the siege and bombardment on Al Juba District, in the south of the governorate.
Thirteen international relief agencies issued a joint statement indicating the recording of 54 incidents of armed violence that affected civilians in Ma’rib during the month of October, resulting in 119 civilian casualties.
On October 30, 2021, three children were killed, and five civilians were injured, including three seriously, as a result of the Houthi group’s bombing of the Al-Kanab neighborhood, next to the Al-Khair Mosque, east of the city of Taiz.
On November 1, 2021, the Houthi group bombed a mosque and a center for Salafists in the Ras al-Amoud area, south of Ma’rib Governorate, with two ballistic missiles, killing 29 people and wounding dozens.
Prisoner Jihad Saleh Ali Makaber (35 years old) died days after he was released from the prisons of the Houthi group in Sana’a and was tortured, while his brother is still in prison.
The death of Brigadier General Abdul Majid Alous in the prisons of the Houthi group, after five years of abduction and torture.
– United Nations Office (OCHA): Armed violence (in Yemen) killed 529 civilians, including 70 children and 41 women, during the third quarter of this year (2021).
The Houthi group stormed the headquarters of the Yemeni Women’s Union in Ibb Governorate, in the center of the country, and appointed a new administration, loyal to the group, days after the confiscation and robbery of Al-Manar Hospital and weeks after the robbery of the Women Pioneers Foundation and the confiscation of all its property.
A new UN report on armed violence in Yemen documents the death and injury of 529 civilians during the third quarter (July-September) of this year (2021).
170 dead
359 wounded
70 dead children
41 women killed.
Mines:
70 casualties among children in the last quarter only
17 male dead
18 child victims in Hodeidah Governorate
The Houthi group arrests Abdul Qader Al-Mudhafari — a former prisoner who spent 14 years in Guantanamo prison and seven years in the UAE prison — upon his arrival in Sana’a.
The Houthi group announces “Precautionary attachment” of funds and property of 56 military leaders who support the internationally recognized legitimacy.
The UN published a report about the displacement of 800 families toward the city of Al-Khokha and 184 other families toward the Mocha area following the sudden withdrawal of the joint forces from Hodeidah.
The Abductees Mothers’ Association in Hodeidah records 92 kidnapped and forcibly disappeared persons, including 79 kidnapped and forcibly disappeared persons by the Houthi group and 13 others by the forces of Brigadier General Tareq Saleh on the western coast.
Immigrants
The Yemeni immigrant, Mustafa Murshid Al-Rimi, 37 years old, was buried in the Polish town of Bohoniki after his death, due to extreme cold weather and exhaustion while trying to enter the European Union from Belarus.
The Saudi authorities are carrying out mass deportations for many Yemeni workers, including those authorized to work in a number of Saudi regions, most notably Al-Dayer, Al-Ardah and Al-Twal, within the Jizan region in the south of the Kingdom.
General News
U.S. President Joe Biden issues a decision appointing the diplomat Steven Fagin as the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Yemen.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken lists the Houthi group, and a number of other terrorist groups (including ISIS and Al-Qaeda), as entities of particular concern to religious freedom.
The Global Initiative against “Transnational Organized Crime” documents the smuggling of 400 weapons by the Houthi group (allies of Iran) in 13 locations across Somalia, over a period of eight months, and stocks of 13 boats, intercepted by military vessels, smuggled through the Gulf of Aden into Somalia.
Thousands of Taiz residents attend the funeral of the leader of the resistance and the Islah Party, Dhia al-Haq al-Ahdal, two weeks after his assassination and the failure to reveal the assassination executing party.
Parliamentarian and leader of the General People’s Congress, Yasser Al-Awadhi, died in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, following a sudden illness.
“Project Masam” removes 289,000 mines planted by the Houthi group in various Yemeni governorates since July 2018.
The United States considers the Houthi group’s storming of its embassy in Sana’a as an “insult to the international community”. It confirms the release of 30 of its employees 10 days after their abduction and demands the release of three other employees who are still in detention.
