Related: Yemenis Unhappy With New U.S. Lackey
Must be why they got rid of them then -- with the help of the U.N.
"Suicide blasts rip Yemen capital, kill 67" by Ahmed Al-Haj | Associated Press October 10, 2014
SANA, Yemen — Two suicide bombings in Yemen killed nearly 70 people on Thursday, with one targeting an antigovernment rally by Shi’ite rebels who control Sana, leaving body parts strewn across a street in the heart of the capital and escalating sectarian tensions in a country gripped by turmoil.
The suicide bomber in Sana detonated his explosives-laden belt as he approached a security checkpoint run by Shi'ite rebels, known as Houthis, outside the antigovernment rally, killing 47 people and wounding 75. Hours later, a suicide car bomber rammed a security outpost on the outskirts of the Arabian Sea port city of Mukalla, killing 20 soldiers and wounding 15.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda's powerful local affiliate, which for years has waged a campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks against security forces and government facilities despite US drone strikes targeting its leaders.
Certainly those retaliatory reprisals by Al-CIA-Duh were expected.
The Sunni extremist group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had warned it would target the Houthis, and the attack in Sana threatened to set off the kind of sectarian bloodletting that is ravaging Iraq and Syria.
Yemen, an impoverished country whose rugged landscape and tribal society has long limited the reach of the central government, has been navigating a bumpy transition since long-ruling President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to step down following a 2011 uprising inspired by the Arab Spring.
Over the last several months, the Houthis had moved south from their northern stronghold, winning a series of battles against tribal and other forces allied with the Islamist Islah party and ultimately seizing the capital on Sept. 21.
The Houthis insist they want a greater share of power in a new national government, but their critics view them as a proxy of Shi'ite Iran bent on seizing power.
Shortly after the Houthis seized the capital, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed a suicide car bombing that killed one person at a Houthi field hospital and warned: ''You will see your bodies scattered and your heads flying.''
It would prove an eerie foretelling of the carnage visited upon Sana on Thursday.
The attacker mingled among protesters as they approached the venue of the planned rally in the city's landmark Tahrir Street before detonating his explosives, according to security and health officials.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.
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"Yemen’s Shiite rebels win another stunning victory" by Ahmed Al-Haj and Hamza Hendawi | Associated Press October 15, 2014
SANAA, Yemen — Shi’ite rebels who overran Yemen’s capital last month won another stunning victory Tuesday, capturing a key port on the Red Sea in a move that underlined their apparent intention to create a mini-state in the mostly chaotic and lawless Arab country.
Control over Hodeida gives the rebels, known as the Houthis and suspected of links to Shi’ite Iran, an outlet that could be needed to lend viability to a future entity they create. It also adds to the troubles of US-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi as he struggles to hold Yemen together.
The offensive is the latest chaotic chapter for the impoverished nation on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.
Yemen has been beset for years by an Al Qaeda-led insurgency that has staged dozens of suicide attacks against military and security personnel. It also has endured crushing poverty that has bred resentment — and outright rebellion — that took root in a secessionist movement in its once-independent southern region.
The advances by the anti-American rebels come in a country that is a centerpiece in the US campaign against Al Qaeda’s leaders, hideouts, and camps, often with drones. Its proximity to the oilfields of Washington’s Gulf Arab allies adds to Yemen’s strategic value.
And now you see why the phantom of terrorists must be raised. This is no longer fooling anyone, and never did.
Analysts say the Houthis might be building on the momentum gained from their recent battlefield successes to seize more territory. Apart from Sanaa, they also took over the provinces of Saada and Omran to the north. Tuesday they were in full control of the province of Damar, just south of Sanaa.
It's the subtleness of word choice that let's you know this is an unapproved rebellion.
The Houthis captured Hodeida and Damar without any fighting, a fact that could point to the disarray within Yemen’s army and security forces.
Seems like everyone AmeriKa trains is incompetent!
But it could also be the result of cooperation between the rebels and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been trying to derail the political transition launched after he was forced to step down in 2011 after 33 years in power.
Related: "Al-Saleh-Duh?"
Army units loyal to Saleh are widely suspected to have aided last month’s Houthi takeover of Sanaa by stepping aside or reaching non-aggression pacts with the rebels. But this confluence of interests — Saleh’s desire to undermine the political process and to exact revenge on his foes on the one hand, and the Houthis’ territorial ambitions on the other — is likely to be short-lived, according to analyst Jane Kinninmont.
‘‘One important variable will be the role of Yemen’s Gulf neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia,’’ said Kinninmont, a specialist on the Middle East from Chatham House, London’s prestigious political research center. ‘‘They are deeply worried by the expansion of the Houthis and may back unlikely forces who oppose it. The possibility of renewed Saudi military action can’t be ruled out either.’’
Saudi Arabia, the Sunni powerhouse that borders Yemen, has expressed concern over the Houthis’ battlefield success. The territorial gains give Iran a foothold right on the Saudis’ doorstep.
Except Iran isn't helping them.
Analysts are skeptical the Houthis have the manpower or expertise to hold and govern vast areas, though some speculate the rebels always intended to capture a sea outlet to ensure the flow of foreign supplies. Two years ago, Yemeni authorities intercepted two vessels — allegedly from Iran — carrying weapons that officials said were destined for the Houthis.
The rebels pushed into Hodeida after they had besieged it for days, according to Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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"Al Qaeda and Shi’ite rebels clash in south Yemen" Associated Press October 16, 2014
SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s Shi’ite rebels, pushing to seize more territory across the country, were locked in fierce battles with Al Qaeda militants on Wednesday in a province south of the capital, Sana, security officials said.
The fighting between the Shi’ite Houthis and Al Qaeda militants erupted late on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday in the town of Raad in Baydah province, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Initial reports said five rebels and six Al Qaeda militants were killed in the fighting. Thousands of residents have fled the town to escape the violence.
Now Al-CIA-Duh is taking on the Houthis, huh?
The Houthis, who are suspected of being linked to predominantly Shi’ite Iran, on Tuesday captured Damar province, also south of Sana, and the key Red Sea port city of Hodeida, west of the capital.
Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch, described by Washington as the world’s most active offshoot of the terror network, has vowed to fight the Houthis. It has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last week in Sana that killed at least 51, mostly Houthis on their way to attend an antigovernment rally.
So now Al Qaeda is our friend, or is it the Houthis, or.... WTF?
The Houthis overran Sanaa in September and are also in full control of the provinces of Saada and Omran north of the capital.
On Wednesday, Yemeni security officials said four suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed when a rocket fired by a drone struck their vehicle in southern Shabwa province, an Al Qaeda stronghold. It was not clear if there were any senior operatives among the four.
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"12 killed in clashes after Shi’ite attack
SANA — Yemen’s empowered Shi’ite rebels attacked the home of a rival Islamist politician south of the capital on Saturday, setting off clashes that left 12 people dead, security officials said, adding that the politician was not home at the time. The officials said Shi’ite rebels and allied fighters attacked the home of a local politician from the rival Islamist Islah party, killing two of his relatives in the town of Yarim. The ensuing clashes left eight rebel fighters and two bystanders dead (AP)."
"Suicide bomber kills 10 Houthi rebels in Yemen" Associated Press October 21, 2014
SANA, Yemen — A suicide car bomb targeted a house used by Shi’ite Houthi rebels in a town south of Sana on Monday, killing at least 10 and injuring 15, security officials said, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Sunni militant group Al Qaeda.
It's a covert CIA effort to destabilize and overthrow the Houthi effort.
The officials said the bombing in the Rada area hit the house of Abdullah Idris, a top local official with the party of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. All victims were members of the Houthi movement, whose fighters overran the capital of Sana last month. The Houthis have since made significant military advances widely suspected to have been made with the help of Saleh’s loyalists among tribes and in the military.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place hours after the officials reported that fighting resumed between the Houthis and Al Qaeda fighters in Rada. The battles left 13 of the rebels and 15 militants dead, according to tribal officials in the area. Also on Monday, the officials said Al Qaeda militants captured the town of al-Adeen, 125 miles south of Sana.
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Time to get rid of the troublemakers:
"Backers of Yemen’s ex-leader say US told him to leave" Associated Press November 06, 2014
ADEN, Yemen — Backers of Yemen’s deposed president on Wednesday accused the nation’s US ambassador of threatening him with international sanctions if he didn’t leave the country by Friday, an allegation that US officials denied.
Ali Abdullah Saleh, believed by some to be orchestrating the Shi’ite Houthi rebel uprising now in control of the capital of this impoverished Arab nation, angrily rejected the purported demand. A post on his Facebook page read: ‘‘The man has not been created or given birth by his mother yet to tell Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave his country.’’
So we turned on him and now he's the bad guy helping out Shi'ites??
His General People’s Congress party said in a statement that US Ambassador Matthew H. Tueller told its officials through mediators that Saleh had to leave before 5 p.m. Friday, otherwise ‘‘sanctions will be imposed against him.’’
‘‘This is a blatant intervention in Yemen’s internal affairs,’’ the party said. ‘‘It’s rejected and unacceptable.’’
We do it all the time. What are you getting so bent out of shape for?
In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki later called the allegation false.
Then it must be true.
‘‘There have been no meetings between the ambassador and GPC officials at which any such statements have been made,’’ she said.
On Tuesday, the United States asked the UN Security Council to freeze the assets and impose a global travel ban on three figures it blamed for orchestrating Yemen’s current unrest: Saleh and Houthi leaders Abdel-Khaliq al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim.
So they didn't give him any warning, is that what they are saying?
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"Thousands rally against US in Yemeni capital" Associated Press November 08, 2014
ADEN, Yemen — Thousands of supporters of Yemen’s ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Shi’ite rebels who have overrun the country’s capital rallied in Sana on Friday, denouncing the United States over its push for sanctions against Saleh and rebel leaders.
We've lost Yemen.
The United States is seeking United Nations sanctions against the former president and two leaders of the Houthi rebels, accusing them of acting as ‘‘spoilers’’ causing Yemen’s latest unrest. All 15 Security Council members must approve sanctions for them to take effect.
Yeah, you are mucking up the New World Order plans of EUSrael.
Saleh stepped down in 2011 as part of a US-backed, Gulf-brokered deal after months of protests against his rule.
But backers of his successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, accuse him of undermining Hadi.
Many believe Saleh helped Houthi rebels in the past months as they swept into Sana. Saleh has remained a powerful political player, with his party still holding many positions in government and the security forces.
Meaning Hadi was just a face job for the Yemeni public.
The protesters in Sana — in much smaller numbers than usual on Friday — carried posters urging the US ambassador to get out of the country.
Saleh’s party this week accused the American ambassador of telling the former president to leave Yemen by Friday or face sanctions. Washington vehemently denied making any such demand, but the party’s claim has stoked anger of alleged US ‘‘interference.’’
Nobody seems to like our help these days.
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Also see: Yemen: Another Step in the Balkanization of the Middle East
