Latest news with #Aden
Al Bawaba
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Reports uncover global hidden networks surpassing Iran feeding the Houthis with weapons
ALBAWABA - Security and military experts say that recent increases in the number of weapons packages that were stopped on their way to Yemen's Houthi group show that Iran is losing control over more and more global drug trafficking networks. They say the rise happens at a time when international intelligence agencies are working together more with the Yemeni government and Western countries are more worried about how the Houthis' relationships are changing. According to Yemen's terrorist unit, security forces in Aden were able to take a package of drones, advanced control units, wireless devices, and extra parts for different types of weapons and military equipment thanks to information they gathered last week. The goods came from China and were on a business ship that was going to the war-torn port of Hodeidah before recent international bombings forced it to turn around. This capture comes after a big operation a few weeks ago, when Yemen's National Resistance Forces stopped one of the biggest shipments of illegal weapons going to the Houthis. The package left from the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran, went through Djibouti, and was stopped in the Red Sea on its way to Hodeidah. Colonel Waddah Al-Dubaish, spokesman for the Joint Yemeni Forces, said that since the beginning of 2024, the resistance has stopped eight major smuggling operations, keeping guns, military gear, and supplies for the militia. He said that "robust regional and international intelligence collaboration" and close watching of dangerous trade paths from Iran, East Asia, and the Horn of Africa were to blame for the results. A group of people who were caught smuggling drugs admitted that they had sent 11 packages of strategic weapons parts hidden inside industrial items like batteries, generators, and hydraulic columns. Brigadier General Yasser Saleh, a military planner, said that the increased flow of weapons was caused by two main things: heavy U.S. bombs that hurt the Houthis' skills, and the effects of the recent 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran on the rest of the area. He said that Tehran seems set on making the Houthis stronger as a fighting force in the area. Military expert Brigadier General Abdulrahman Al-Rubaie said that Iran probably won't cut back on shipments of drones and missile systems because they see the Houthis as an important agent holding key land and are getting ready for a possible large-scale conflict. Mohammed Al-Basha, a security expert, said that the Houthis were buying more industrial and technical parts that can be used for more than one thing. In particular, they were buying more drone parts that were easy to find in Chinese markets. He said that the Aden package was found "by chance" when Israeli bombs on Hodeidah caused a Chinese ship to change its path. He said that a recent arrest showed "coordinated smuggling backed by intelligence," which shows that Iran and the Houthis are working together more than ever. Most experts say that the Houthis have become a key part of the so-called "Axis of Resistance." They have become more active while the Assad government in Syria and Hezbollah's power have decreased.
Asharq Al-Awsat
6 days ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Weapons Shipment Seized at Yemen's Aden Port
A joint task force of Yemeni security, judicial, and presidential officials on Tuesday began investigating a suspicious shipment seized at the port of Aden containing drone components and espionage equipment, as a UN report warned of an emerging arms trafficking network linking Yemen's Houthi militias with al-Qaeda and Somalia's al-Shabaab. Local sources in Aden reported that the Port Security Directorate in the free zone had recently alerted the public prosecution to a container shipment found to contain fully assembled drone storage systems and jet propulsion devices. Anti-terrorism units were immediately dispatched to the site alongside prosecutors to secure the cargo and begin legal procedures. According to the sources, the cache was discovered during routine inspection operations, with no accompanying documents identifying its origin or intended destination. Officials have so far declined to provide further details, but speculation is mounting that the shipment was destined for the Iran-aligned Houthi militias, which have long relied on smuggled weapons and military supplies from Tehran. Sources dismissed reports suggesting the shipment was intercepted at sea, saying it likely entered the port via official channels with forged paperwork in an apparent attempt to bypass inspections - an effort thwarted by port authorities and vigilant security forces. The latest seizure comes weeks after Yemen's National Resistance Forces intercepted a major Iranian weapons shipment near Hanish Island in the Red Sea. That cache reportedly weighed 750 tons and included various types of military equipment, all bound for the Houthis.
Reuters
03-08-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
At least 54 migrants die as boat sinks off Yemen coast, medics say
ADEN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - At least 54 migrants died when a boat sank off Yemen's coast due to bad weather on Sunday, medics told Reuters.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran's axis 'can be stopped here,' general of Yemen's anti-Houthi forces tells 'Post'
BEHIND THE LINES: Read about the Southern Transitional Council, based out of Aden in south Yemen, leading the fight against Houthi terrorists, primarily based in the north of the country. ADEN, Yemen – 'We just need a green light, and we'll drive back the Houthis – and Habrish too,' Maj.-Gen. Salah al Hassan tells me, as we sit in his office in Aden, southern Yemen. 'Habrish' is Amr Bin Habrish, deputy governor of Hadramout Province, who is widely suspected of collaboration. The Houthis need no introduction. We are in the headquarters of the Yemeni Southern Transitional Council, or STC. I have come here to look into the question that the general has sought to answer – namely, whether there are potential ground partners available to the West in Yemen, to help undertake the urgent task of pushing back the Ansar Allah ('Partisans of God,' the Houthis' official name) from the Red Sea coast area. The importance and the urgency of this question require little explanation. Of the pro-Iran forces mobilized by Tehran to take part in the regional war against Israel under way since October 2023, the Houthis are unique in that they have not yet suffered any serious setback, and have not yet blinked. Across a regional landscape where the main strategic lesson of recent months has been the relative weakness and vulnerability of Iran and its allies, the Houthis stand out in their durability. Aden, under the de facto control of the STC, is ramshackle and poverty-stricken. The apartment buildings built by the British to house imperial officials and their families have long since fallen into decay. The Soviet-supported People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY, now South Yemen) appears to have left little architectural memory. Here and there, one may see faded Soviet-style murals. Like similar displays in Syria and Egypt, these seem to be the work of North Korean artists, and depict heroic Arab fighters of oddly East Asian appearance. The British fought a doomed colonial counter-insurgency here, in the late 1960s. The Soviets are long gone, too. BUT THE thing that brought them both to South Yemen – the crucial strategic waterway that runs past the Bab el Mandeb Strait between the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and then on to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean – remains. Today, new forces are fighting over it. The Houthis' campaign against international shipping on the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea route recommenced this month, with the targeting and sinking of two Greek owned, Liberian-flagged vessels. This is despite a supposed ceasefire concluded with the US regarding this front on May 6. Ansar Allah's launching of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel is ongoing. Large-scale US and Israeli counterattacks from air and sea on the Hodeidah and Salif ports and the airport at Sanaa have so far failed to deter them. What more might be done? GEN. MOHSEN DERAI, Yemen's defense minister, told us that he and the government he serves were 'shocked' at the US decision to conclude a ceasefire with the Houthis in May. Speaking in his office in Aden, the defense minister said that on the one hand, he had regretted that no ground operation had taken place to take advantage of the US air activity. But on the other hand, he was relieved, 'because the US was going to abandon us…. When the Americans decided to begin those operations against the Houthis, they didn't coordinate with us and didn't notify us, and when they decided to cease, they also didn't coordinate with or notify us.' 'We had a strategic plan we had devised together with STC leader Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, which was supposed to involve the US, UK, UAE, and Saudi Arabia… a coordinated effort to bring down the Houthis.' Darei's words are notable given reporting at the time in April by The Wall Street Journal, suggesting that a ground operation had been in preparation. Such an operation to push north into Hodaidah Province – taking the ports of Hodeidah and Salif, and the Ras Issa oil terminal – would with one stroke deprive the Houthis of a massive part of their revenue, their ability to bring in weaponry and goods, and much of the infrastructure used for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. But it didn't take place. THE ISSUE, in part at least, is one of will. In 2019, an agreement brokered in Stockholm prevented a military offensive by the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the STC on the crucial Houthi-held port of Hodeidah. Now in 2025, the enemies of the Houthis have hesitated again. But there are other complicating factors. The CIA estimates that anti-Houthi forces number around 300,000 fighters, which is only a little less than the number commanded by their enemies. But the anti-Houthi camp remains bitterly divided. The internationally recognized government of which Defense Minister Da'eri is a part wants to reunite the country after the destruction of the Houthis. Who is the Southern Transitional Council, and what is their goal? The separatist Southern Transitional Council favors recreating a separate state in South Yemen, with Aden as its capital. In our talks with STC officials, this issue was paramount. The Southern Transitional Council emerged in 2017, following a successful defense of the southern provinces against the Houthis, and the clashes with Saudi-linked forces. Led by Zoubaidi, the STC was backed from the outset by the United Arab Emirates. Today, it constitutes probably the dominant military force in South Yemen, with its associated militias holding the main fronts against the Houthis in Daleh, Abiran/Shabwa, and Lahej. The STC aligned decisively with the US-led coalition following the commencement of attacks on international shipping in November 2023. In interviews, Zoubaidi noted that air action against the Houthis would not be enough. 'What we need,' he said at that time, 'is military equipment, capacity building, and training for ground forces, as well as intel sharing.' These requests were echoed by STC fighters and commanders when we visited the Daleh and Shabwa fronts in the course of our visit. The situation on the frontlines is one of 'no war, no peace,' as one commander at Daleh described it. There are near daily exchanges of fire, involving small arms and mortars, and regular attempts by the Houthis at incursion. The Daleh front is the most active. STANDING ON a mountain facing the Houthi lines in Daleh, Gen. Abdallah, the local STC commander, outlined the tactical situation facing his forces near the city of al-Fakhr: 'What's happening is skirmishes, sometimes sniper fire, drones. Sometimes the enemy tries to infiltrate behind our lines, but he doesn't succeed. 'We and the US are in the same boat – against Iran,' Abdallah said. 'And the Houthis are an arm of Iran. The Iranian project succeeded in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, but it can be stopped here, in this area. If you want to ensure maritime security at Bab el Mandeb and the Red Sea, you need to support us.' The central issue facing both the STC and the various other forces aligned with the internationally recognized government, appears to be a chronic lack of equipment. The list of their needs, as related to us in Aden, included: drones for reconnaissance (they appear to lack any capacity in this area), night vision equipment, light and heavy machine guns, and medium range artillery. Political and military will, and manpower, are not lacking in southern Yemen. But the STC's regional patrons, and their Western allies, at the moment appear to see no reason to convert their allies on the ground in Yemen into a force that could pose a genuine challenge to the Houthis. The result is that, for now, the Iran-supported militia looks set to remain free to commit piracy and murder on the Gulf of Aden-Red Sea route whenever it chooses to do so. Its opponents will continue to hold the line against them with the meager resources available to them. But real change is likely to come only when the Western and regional enemies of the Houthis decide that the situation is intolerable, and begin to build and equip a force capable, with air support from outside, of pushing the Iran-supported militia back from the coast – hopefully soon. Solve the daily Crossword
Arab News
28-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
Saudi project clears 1,151 mines in Yemen
RIYADH: Members of Saudi Arabia's Project Masam removed 1,151 explosive devices from various regions of Yemen last week. The total included 1,093 unexploded ordnances, 49 anti-tank mines, four anti-personnel mines and five improvised explosive devices, according to a recent report. Ousama Al-Gosaibi, the initiative's managing director, said that 507,588 mines have been cleared since the project began in 2018. The explosives were planted indiscriminately and posed a threat to civilians, including children, women and the elderly. The demining operations took place in Marib, Aden, Jouf, Shabwa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Lahij, Sanaa, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhale and Saada. The project trains local demining engineers and provides them with modern equipment. It also offers support to Yemenis injured by the devices. Teams are tasked with clearing villages, roads and schools to facilitate the safe movement of civilians and delivery of humanitarian aid.
