Diplomatic efforts to stop the war and bring views closer to the Yemeni parties have stalled as a result of the Houthi group’s insistence on military escalation on most fronts, according to the State Department, while the UN envoy admits for the first time in his address to the Security Council that he has failed in recent days to find a solution to the crisis in Yemen, and that launching a new political process is a difficult and complex task.
Gulf movements, particularly Saudi Arabia, were active in December 2021, with Yemen leading most of the meetings and statements, both between Gulf leaders and international officials.
State Department spokesman Ned Price: The Houthis are not serious about resolving the conflict in Yemen, they have done serious harm to civilians and they are a real obstacle to diplomatic solutions.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi delivers a message to Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, to help with the deterioration of the Yemeni currency against the Dollar Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, while Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar meets with Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, to discuss Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and Oman agree in a joint statement to continue their efforts to find a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis based on the three references (National Dialogue Conference outcomes, UN resolution No:2216, and gulf initiative) Security Council resolutions, and the Kingdom’s peace initiative. Qatar and Saudi Arabia reaffirm support for all regional and international efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis.
Research report by the Sana’a Center for Studies: Houthi insurgency has released 70% of al-Qaeda members (prominent leaders) in secret exchanges since its coup against the state in 2014, restoring the ability to rearrange the terrorist group and negotiating the release of the rest.
Senior IRGC official who served as Tehran’s ambassador to the Houthi group Hassan Erlo died two days after coordinating with Saudi Arabia to leave Sanaa via an Iraqi plane after being infected with the Corona virus.
The UAE is pumping UAE currency (Dirham) in the province of the Socotra archipelago, in preparation to end the use of Yemeni currency (Riyal), among several measures preceded by changing the telecommunication keycode to different international code and granting temporary Emirati passports to the people of the archipelago instead of Yemeni passports.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit warns Iran of its repeated efforts to control Bab al-Mandab Strait through Houthi group (their extension in Yemen), posing a direct threat to the security of navigation in the Red Sea.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appoints a retired Irish officer as the fourth head of the UN mission to support the “Stockholm agreement“ between Houthis and the government at the end of 2018.
mass public demonstration took place in Ataq, capital of Shabwah province, rejecting any presidential directives to change governor Mohammed Saleh bin Adeow under pressure from the coalition over his repeated demand to evacuate the balhaf gas facility from UAE forces and resume work again.
The United Nations accuses Houthi insurgency in Sana’a of banning humanitarian flights to and from the international airport despite the airport not being completely decommissioned.
The Ministry of Defense, the Presidency of the Staff and the Presidency of the House of Representatives condemn the joint statement issued by the Speaker of the Shura Council “Ahmed bin Daghr” and deputy speaker of parliament “Abdulaziz gubari “, in which they stressed: the failure of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia in its mission, calling for an immediate cessation of the war and an urgent dialogue between the Yemeni components under the supervision of the United Nations.
The United States strongly condemns the Houthis’ horrific attack on the Southern Saudi region of Jazan causing injuries and deaths, and leaving 70,000 U.S. citizens living in Saudi Arabia threatened.
Military Scene
The war in Marib province is becoming increasingly fierce between the Houthi insurgency, which is attacking in many large formatation, and the national army, which imposes a strong security and military cordon to protect the oil-rich city, which is crowded with displaced people. Houthi believes that the overthrow of Marib will change the balance of power politically and militarily in its favor, while the government is relying on a defense strategy and working to drain the attacker, which will affect the Houthi politically and militarily.
The National Army regains positions in The Al-Saq Front in Usaylan district of Shabwa province for the first time after it fell under the control of the Houthi insurgency in late September.
Joint forces – in the west coast – cease military operations after the liberation of the Directorate of Hays and Al-Khawkhah and securing them, areas adjacent to the directorates of al-Jarsa, Jabal Ras in Al-Hadida and Maqbana in Taiz city.
Saudi Arabia announces the death of a Yemeni expatriate and a Saudi citizen, and the injury of seven others as a result of the fall of a Rocket Propelled Grenade fired by the Houthi on an industrial workshop in Samtah governorate in Jazan region in the southwest of the kingdom.
Houthi insurgency admits to the assassination of Houthi prominent field commander Brig. Gen. Abdul Nasser Ali Al-Muthanna, commander of the 4th Brigade border guards, in battlefield grounds, commander Sadiq Hesan, newly appointed director of the Harib Al-Qaramish directorate in Marib.
Lebanese Hezbollah military expert Akram Al-Sayed, 35, was killed in Marib province in northeastern Yemen was accompanyed by 10 people, he came to Yemen in August 2017 to fight alongside the Houthi insurgency.
Major General Naser Al-Thibani, head of military operations in the Yemeni Army, was killed during the fight in Marib.
Houthi insurgency in Dhamar province acknowledges 4,000 of their members were killed in battlefield against government forces this year, and 9,000 militants have been killed since the beginning of the war from the same province, while the death toll this year reached 14,700.
The U.S. Department of Justice reveals the seizure of Iranian weapons in the Arabian Sea en route to the Houthi insurgency on November 25, 2019, and February 9, 2020, The shipment contains:
171 surface-to-air missiles.
8 anti-tank missiles.
101 million barrels of petroleum products.
The U.S. Navy seizes a large Iranian arms shipment aboard an unidentified ship seized in the Arabian Sea on its way to the Houthi group in Yemen less than a week after an earlier shipment was announced.
Security Scene
Security gaps in the temporary capital Aden contribute to the continuation of the assassinations of soldiers, civilians, activists and clerics, as recent investigations by the local authority are linked to only two incidents, the first incident at Aden International Airport, which was targeted in late December 2020, and the other incident targeting the governor of Aden, Ahmed Hamed Lamlis, last October, 2021, while the rest of the assassinations, which exceeded 200 incidents, the majority of which were pending and are against an unknown person.
The U.S. Navy is testing a laser weapon in the Gulf of Aden that it used to counter remotely piloted boats, used by Houthi insurgency loaded with explosives in the Red Sea.
Security agencies in Marib province seize a terrorist cell linked to the Houthi group Ansar allah with improvised explosive devices and medium and light weapons, against the background of previous intelligence.
The signal corner of the 35th Armored Brigade of the Government Army, Colonel Abdul Basit al-Qadi, died of serious injuries as a result of an explosive device in his car south of Taiz province.
Ihab Bawazir, director of the Department of Quranic Studies at the Office of Education in Aden province, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen as he left the education office in Khormakser district.
The assassination of Officer Ahmed Yasser Al-Masori in the police forces in the commercial neighborhood of “Sila” of Sheikh Osman Directorate north of the temporary capital of the country.
Commander of the engineering of the 8th Brigade of Tarek Saleh’s forces was killed while demining the villages of the recently liberated District of Hesse in Hodeidah governorate in western Yemen.
The Security Committee in the temporary capital Aden reveals the results of its investigations into the two terrorist incidents that targeted the convoy of the governor of Aden in Al-Tawahi area and citizens at the gate of Aden International Airport in Khormaksar city, and the responsibility of the Houthi insurgency for the two incidents.
economical Scene
The collapse of the Yemeni riyal against the dollar has led to meetings and press reports of officials during the past period, and the economic situation is worsening due to the war, high prices and the absence of official control over markets and shops, which has compounded the suffering of the population.
Yemeni-Saudi meetings in The Saudi capital Riyadh, to discuss economic support for the country and stop the decline of the currency, after the increase of the dollar to 1700 Yemeni riyals before the recent commissions in the Central Bank, and talks in the media about a new Saudi deposit in the Yemeni Central bank.
A UN report issued by the United Nations Economic Commission for West Asia (ESCWA), in partnership with the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, states that Yemen’s economy collapsed during the war years and recorded a 50% contraction between 2014 and 2020.
A presidential decision to appoint Ahmed Ghalib al-Mu’akhyi as governor of the Central Bank of Yemen and Dr Mohammed Omar Banajeh as deputy governor of the bank and three other members of the Board of Directors.
A government decision to distribute, market and sell oil derivatives supplied in the local market to the oil products distribution company after the price was consolidated throughout the Republic.
16 members of the House of Representatives (who support the internationally recognised government) are demanding the Prime Minister Dr Maeen Abdulmalek be questioned for the currency’s deterioration and its implications for increasing prices.
Violations
56 international and human rights organizations have submitted a request to the UN General Assembly for quick actions to establish an investigative mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights violations committed by parties to the conflict in Yemen.
Human Rights Watch accuses the Houthi insurgency of indiscriminately firing artillery and ballistic missiles at populated areas in Yemen’s Marib province.
Houthi insurgency kidnaps journalist Majid Yaseen in Ibb province for his social media activity and refuses to release him with tribal mediation and financial guarantees.
Engineering teams of Project Masam, the clearing landmines from Yemen, were able to remove 16 mines and explosive devices planted by the Houthi insurgency in Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq school in Dahiya village, west coast, and 18 other explosive devices planted in the Health Center and water tank, in the same village.
Two women were killed, one while fetching water in Osifra area north of Taiz city, by an armed sniper from the Houthi insurgency, and the other by a mortar shell in Al-Suwaihri district west of Maqbanah district in Taiz countryside with artillery shelling by Houthis.
Eight civilians were killed and 9 others injured as a result of a rocket attack on the Said bin Jubeir school on the outskirts of Maqbanah district in western Taiz province in southwestern Yemen.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented the injury of 4 children and one woman in the “Hama” camp (where 250 families reside) in valley Marib directorate in eastern Yemen following a rocket attack.
The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory documents the killing of five civilians by two mines planted by Houthi insurgency in two vehicles in the northern province of Al-Jouf, and announced, 1.420 Yemenis have been killed by mines in the past four years.
Human Rights Radar group documented: “565 civilians, including 23 women and 141 children, have been killed since the beginning of 2021, and 624 civilians, including 61 women and 135 children, have been injured. In Marib, there were 70 civilian casualties, followed by Sana’a with 65 cases, 57 cases, 49 cases and Aden with 38 killings.”
The Houthi insurgency led the causes of death for civilians, by accounting for 437 killings, followed by unknown gangs responsible for 79 cases, 19 killings by UAE-backed militias in government-controlled areas, 23 cases due to insecurity, 5 cases of responsibile for the Saudi-led coalition, and one case of al-Qaeda.
Kidnappings: “There have been 410 cases, 234 kidnappings (men) and 7 (women) responsibile by the Houthi insurgency, while the UAE-backed militia (Transitional Council) is responsible for the abduction of 127 (men), 2 (women) and 7 children, according to the organization’s statement.
The Association of Mothers of Abductees in Sana’a invites the International Red Cross to visit prisons and inspect the conditions of 620 people still in prison, 507 civilians, including 3 women in Sana’a, 85 forcibly hidden and held by the Security Belt Forces of the Transitional Council in Aden, 21 detained by the legitimate government security services in Marib and Taiz, and “11” abducted by joint forces (UAE-backed forces) on the west coast.
Houthi insurgency arrests 6 sheikhs from al-Muharraq, Aslam, Al-Khamees, and Al-Dani governorate after refusing to recruit fighters and send them to Marib frontlines battles.
Sam Organization for Rights and liberties documents the killing and injury of 1,237 civilians in a number of provinces as a result of snipiner attempted crimes between March 2015 and December 2020, where the Houthi insurgency was accused of standing behind these violations, which caused 725 civilians to be killed by snipers, including 141 children, 78 women, and injured 512 civilians, including 157 children and 85 women.
Taiz topped the list of sniped victims with 365 civilians, followed by Aden 140 civilians killed, followed by Al-Dalla province 92 civilians, followed by Al-Bayda governorate 18 civilians killed.
Sam also documented the killing of five civilians in attacks by government forces, and 3 others killed in Taiz and Aden, by Abu Abbas Brigades and security belt forces (UAE-backed forces), while three were recorded killed by other armed groups.
Reporters Without Borders: Yemen is the third most dangerous country in the world for the lives of journalists after the killing of four Yemeni journalists in the country during the year 2021.”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has evacuated 2,028 African migrants (1,622 men, 30 women, 248 children and 28 girls) from Yemen since the beginning of 2021.
Other
Three earthquakes in less than a week hit large parts of Sa’da province, yemen’s far north, in early December 2021.
The national team was crowned the West Asian Junior Championship after winning the penalty shootout against the Saudi team in the match that brought them together at Prince Fahd Bin Salman Stadium in Dammam, east of the Kingdom.
Houthi leader Maj. Gen. Saleh bin Saleh al-Wahbi, commander of the Al-Wahbi Brigades, dies in Al-Bayda province, central Yemen.
11 people were killed and injured in a heavy transport truck overturned and flipped on a road in Yirim district, north of Ibb province.
