Monthly Briefing / August – 2022
| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
Political Scene
The recent events in Shabwa have taken a front seat in the local and international media, the most important of which was the control of the Southern Transitional Council faction, which joined the Presidential Council by force, over two governorates (Shabwa and Abyan) and moving toward two new governorates (Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra). As the Presidential Council is in political stagnation, the UN envoy to Yemen admitted his failure to lift the siege on the city of Taiz and to implement the rest of the terms of the humanitarian armistice, all met by a growing presence of Russia and China in the Yemeni file.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it would be receiving a delegation from the Houthis in Moscow, led by Mohammed Abd al-Salam to discuss the prospects for achieving a political settlement of the war in Yemen, a week after the announcement of the extension of the UN armistice that has been going on since the beginning of last April. (August 10)
Russia assured the need to achieve peace and restore security and stability in Yemen, in a meeting that brought together the Chargé d’Affairs of the Russian Embassy in Yemen, Evgeny Kodrov, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, calling for transforming the humanitarian truce into a comprehensive political settlement. (August 25)
UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, expressed his country’s willingness to cooperate with Russia and China to reach a political solution in Yemen, as these efforts are “midway to end the conflict in Yemen.” (August 13)
In his meeting with members of the UN Security Council, The UN Special Envoy for Yemen admitted the failure of efforts to open Taiz roads, as his proposals were rejected by the Houthis. (August 15)
The Minister of Information in Yemen, Muammar Al-Eryani, questioned the extent of the international community’s commitment to ending the war in Yemen, calling on world leaders to stop turning a blind eye to the crimes and violations of the Houthis and its supporters and to work on supporting the struggle of Yemenis to restore their state and preserve their identity. (August 17)
The U.S. State Department said that the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, discussed with senior Emirati officials the recent events in Shabwa Governorate, which witnessed confrontations between the government’s army and security forces with forces affiliated with the South Transitional Council (loyal to the UAE). (August 15)
The Presidential Leadership Council issued a decree appointing a leader in the Southern Transitional Council, Raafat Al-Thaqali, as governor of the Socotra archipelago, despite his leadership of the coup against the former governor, Ramzi Mahrous, in mid-June 2021. (August 1)
The UN Security Council members welcomed the announcement of the extension of the armistice for an additional two months in Yemen, assuring the need to open the main roads to the city of Taiz (one of the armistice terms that the Houthis refuse to implement), as a humanitarian necessity to alleviate the years-long suffering of the besieged city. (August 5)
The former governor of Shabwa, Mohammed Saleh bin Adyo, described the intervention of the UAE aviation in the “recent” Ataq confrontations as a blatant intervention and a war of extermination against leaders in the army and security forces in Shabwa. (August 11)
(Ataq is a small city and the capital of Yemen’s Shabwah Governorate. Ataq is 458 kilometers southeast of Sana’a.)
Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, left the capital, Aden (during a visit to the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), to settle the escalating disputes within the Council and because of the absence of compatibility among the components of the Council. (August 15)
Military Scene
The confrontations in the Shabwa Governorate were resolved using force, unlike the Abyan governorate, which was resolved by surrendering without a fight in favor of the Southern Transitional Council, which is considered to be part of the Presidential Council, supervised by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The role of the legitimate government has been reduced in southern governorates, while the Houthis continue their preparations for what it says is an upcoming battle with legitimacy and the alliance.
The UAE drones launched more than 30 air raids on the location of the army and security forces in the city of Ataq, the center of Shabwa Governorate, killing and wounding soldiers after the National Army took control of sites surrounding the local authority’s building. (August 9)
A soldier from the National Army was killed and two others wounded in an Emirati drone attack, which targeted a military checkpoint in an area between Ataq and the Al-Abr District of Wadi Hadhramaut (August 15).
Shabwa Governor Awad bin Al-Wazir Al-Awlaki announced the dismissal of the commander of the special security forces in the governorate, Brigadier General Abed Rabbo Lakab, and two leaders of the Special Security Forces, without consulting the government, while the Minister of Interior described the decision as violating the law. (August 7)
Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, issued a presidential decree, appointing new military leaders in Shabwa Governorate and dismissing four army and security officers, hours after clashes erupted between the army and security forces on one side and forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council and the giants on the other. (August 8)
The commander of the Fifth Brigade in the Shabwa Defense Forces of the Southern Transitional Council, Mufarrej Al-Harthy, and two of his companions, were killed by friendly fire at a military point of the Giants forces, which support them in the process of controlling the Shabwa Governorate. (August 13)
In a televised speech, the leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, called on his supporters to prepare for the next round of war, talking about the suppression of any protests demanding human rights at the current stage. (August 24)
The National Army forces have monitored 3,437 violations of the UN armistice committed by the Houthis on the fronts in Taiz Governorate since the start of the armistice on the second of last April, which resulted in 17 dead, and 104 military personnel, eight civilians and 46 civilians were wounded. (August 2)
Security Scene
In a statement by the British government spokeswoman, Rosie Diaz, the British government announced it had taken strict measures to limit the capabilities of the Houthis and to prevent the flow of weapons to them. (August 5)
A report by the International Organization for Migration revealed an increase in the number of illegal immigrants coming to Yemen from Africa during the first seven months of this year to 34,437 migrants who entered Yemen from January to July 2022. (August 9)
A security source (affiliated with the Houthis) revealed that a ballistic missile exploded, killing five technicians, while it was being assembled inside a hangar that includes a workshop for the manufacture of ballistic missiles and drones, northeast of Sana’a International Airport. (July 30)
Economic Scene
The former foreign minister and leader of the General People’s Congress, Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi, said that the recent events in Shabwa are the result of an active French move, as well as negotiations with the countries of the region (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) and Yemeni parties, to export gas from the Balhaf LNG facility, in light of rising international gas prices and easing the Russian pressure on Europe.
Humanitarian Scene
The attempts of the Presidential Council to make a breakthrough in the file of the “Saudi deposit”, which was announced three years ago, failed, as the hope was to make a difference in the dire humanitarian situation in the country. Meanwhile, international organizations continue to raise the level of warnings of famine, while the World Food Program is reducing aid due to a lack of funding.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Yemen, Katharina Ritz, said that more than 20 million Yemenis do not have access to basic health services, and there are millions of sick Yemenis facing a painful reality as a result of not obtaining the necessary health care. (August 6)
The International Organization for Migration of the United Nations said that more than 400 Yemeni families were displaced in less than a week, most of them in Shabwa Governorate due to confrontations between forces loyal to the coalition and the government army, (representing 2,538 individuals) in Shabwa (313 families) and Ma’rib (88 families), Taiz (11 families) and Hodeidah (9 families). (August 15)
The United States of America announced the provision of $431 million in additional emergency humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people, provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (August 5)
Violations
The Houthis, which control nine governorates in the north, and the Southern Transitional Council forces, which control five governorates in the south, topped the list of the most human rights violators, and these crimes varied amid the kidnapping, torture, house raids, and arbitrary detention and killing.
The Reporters Without Borders organization condemned the harsh treatment of four journalists kidnapped by the Houthis in Sanaa in 2015 and demanded their immediate release. (August 1)
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate called for the immediate release of a journalist and his brother, who were kidnapped by the forces of the Southern Transitional Council in the temporary capital of Aden. (August 10)
The Houthis have imposed a siege and deployed forces and military vehicles at the entrances to a village in Hamdan District, north of Sana’a, since the beginning of this month, where 35 people were kidnapped from the village, against the background of the people’s refusal to allow the confiscation of their land for the benefit of an association that cares for the deceased Houthis. (August 14)
A citizen was killed by snipers of the Houthis in the Kalabh neighborhood, east of Taiz, as the first victim after the extension of the UN armistice in the country. (August 3)
The Houthis kidnapped two young men from Ibb Governorate, and their fate was hidden from their families, who demanded their disclosure and their whereabouts. (August 5)
The Houthis kidnapped 20 people in the Taiz District after citizens went out to protest against the death of a citizen due to a medical error in a hospital in the Al-Hawban area, east of Taiz (August 5).
The Houthis kidnapped three activists in Ibb Governorate, due to their posts on social media, and transferred them to the Intelligence and Political Security prison. (August 10)
The Shabwa Defense Forces and the UAE-backed Giants Forces prevented the people of the northern governorates from entering the city of Ataq (the administrative center of Shabwa governorate) and prevented those living outside the city from the northern governorates — who have businesses and shops — from entering the city, including teachers and merchants. (August 21)
“SAM” Organization for Rights and Freedoms (based in Geneva) called on the Houthis to unblock news sites (about 200 sites) and to lift censorship of news content after witnessing several violations, ranging between privacy breaches and content fabrication, which targeted officials and activists during the past years. (August 1)
Statistics
The Yemeni Landmine Monitor has documented 168 civilian casualties during the armistice period (April 2–August 1, 2022); as a result of the mines and projectiles, planted by the Houthis, which led to the killing of 57 people, including 28 children and 4 women. In addition, there were 111 wounded, including 47 children and 8 women.
Al-Hodeidah Governorate topped the list with 69 civilian casualties (dead and wounded), then Taiz Governorate with 26 casualties. Followed by Hajja, Al-Bayda, Saada, Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, Lahij and in the district of Nehm Sana’a. In addition, it was reported that mines destroyed six cars, two farm tractors, nine motorcycles and were responsible for the death of about 40 livestock (sheep and camels). (August 2)
General
Al-Masdar Online revealed a (secret) report that includes information and serious details, which was submitted by the President of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidaros al-Zubaidi, to what is called the “Special Unit”. the report consists of detailed information on the work of the Council and its military, security and social activities, including detention centers, as well as the financial budget for the year 2020. On pages 10 and 71 of this report, it included the costs of completing the training of 45 members of Al-Qaeda and enrolling 40 of them, who have undergone a rehabilitation program, to be absorbed into the Hadrami elite. (August 20)
