SANAA: Yemen’s war has killed around 7,700 people and wounded 42,500 others, according to UN figures, since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in support of the government two years ago.
The conflict underscores the regional rivalry between Iran, a supporter of Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, and Saudi Arabia, which heads the nine-member coalition. An overview:
• On March 26, 2015, the coalition launches operation “Decisive Storm” with airstrikes on Houthi rebels to defend embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who seeks shelter in Riyadh. The coalition also comprises the Gulf countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE along with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan. A month later, it is renamed operation “Restoring Hope.” The goal is to defeat the Shiite rebels who have controlled the capital since September 2014 in addition to large swathes of land in northern, central and western Yemen.
• On July 17, 2015, the government announces the liberation of southern Aden province after more than four months of fighting; in August 2015, the coalition supplements its air power with hundreds of ground troops; by mid-August, loyalist forces have retaken the south, but face a growing presence of militants from Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
• In February 2016, Riyadh says loyalist forces control “more than three quarters” of Yemen, despite trouble advancing in the southwestern province of Taiz and in Marib, central Yemen. Three months of UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait end in stalemate, and coalition aircraft resume strikes on Sanaa on Aug. 9, 2016.
• On Jan. 7, pro-government troops backed by coalition planes and ships launch operation “Golden Spear” around the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
• The UN and US organize three rounds of fruitless peace talks, in June and December 2015 in Switzerland and in April 2016 in Kuwait.
Seven truces are agreed, but all broken.
The severing in January 2016 of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran complicates the task for diplomats.
• The internationally-recognized government, led by Hadi, establishes a “provisional” base in the port city of Aden in late September 2016.
Two months later, the rebels and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh form a government of their own in Sanaa, dousing hopes of a UN-brokered national unity government.
• On Sept. 28, 2015, an airstrike smashes a wedding hall in southwestern Mokha, killing 131 people. The coalition denies responsibility.
On Aug. 15, 2016, a coalition planes bomb a hospital in Abs, northwestern Yemen, the fourth strike in a year on a medical facility run by the non-governmental organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders. MSF says 19 people died and 24 were wounded.
• On Oct. 8, 2016, an airstrike kills 140 people and wounds 525 others at a funeral in Sanaa. The coalition belatedly acknowledges responsibility. Washington steps up airstrikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has benefitted from the chaos to gain influence.
• AQAP loses territory to the Daesh which on March 20, 2015 claims responsibility for the first time for attacks against two Shiite mosques in Sanaa that kill 142 people.
A botched Jan. 29 anti-AQAP raid by US special forces results in the deaths of a US Navy SEAL and multiple civilians — including women and children.
According to the UN, the fighting has displaced more than three million people, and more than two thirds of Yemen’s population of around 18.8 million people need aid.
Some 7.3 million people are estimated to be close to starvation and 462,000 children suffer from serious malnutrition. Without $2.1 billion in international aid, the UN warns that Yemen will suffer a famine in 2017.
Yemen war leaves 7,700 dead: UN
Yemen war leaves 7,700 dead: UN
Family of Palestinian-American shot dead by Israeli settler demand accountability
- Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community
LONDON: The family of a 19-year-old Palestinian-American man reportedly shot dead by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank have demanded accountability, amid mounting scrutiny over a surge in settler violence and a lack of prosecutions.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a US citizen born in Philadelphia, was killed near the city of Ramallah on Wednesday, becoming at least the sixth American citizen to die in incidents involving Israeli settlers or soldiers in the territory in the past two years.
Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community. Witnesses said that stones were thrown by both sides before settlers opened fire, wounding at least three villagers.
Abu Siyam was struck and later died of his injuries.
Abdulhamid Siyam, the victim’s cousin, said the killing reflected a wider pattern of impunity.
“A young man of 19 shot and killed in cold blood, and no responsibility,” he told the BBC. “Impunity completely.”
The US State Department said that it was aware of the death of a US citizen and was “carefully monitoring the situation,” while the Trump administration said that it stood ready to provide consular assistance.
The Israeli embassy in Washington said the incident was under review and that an operational inquiry “must be completed as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said troops were deployed to the scene and used “riot dispersal means to restore order,” adding that no IDF gunfire was reported.
The military confirmed that the incident remained under review and said that a continued presence would be maintained in the area to prevent further unrest.
Palestinians and human rights organizations say such reviews rarely lead to criminal accountability, arguing that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers accused of violence.
A US embassy spokesperson later said that Washington “condemns this violence,” as international concern continues to grow over conditions in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians and human rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to investigate or prosecute settlers accused of violence against civilians.
Those concerns were echoed this week by the UN, which warned that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank may amount to ethnic cleansing.
A UN human rights office report on Thursday said that Israeli settlement expansion, settler attacks and military operations have increasingly displaced Palestinian communities, with dozens of villages reportedly emptied since the start of the Gaza war.
The report also criticized Israeli military tactics in the northern West Bank, saying that they resembled warfare and led to mass displacement, while noting abuses by Palestinian security forces, including the use of unnecessary lethal force and the intimidation of critics.
Neither Israel’s foreign ministry nor the Palestinian Authority has commented on the findings.
