ADEN: Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen Saleh has called for national unity to defeat the Houthi militias.
Addressing a meeting of leaders of the Nasserite Popular Unionist Party in Aden, he urged all political parties and national organizations to unite their ranks in confronting the Iran-backed Houthis, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
He discussed the role of political parties in supporting the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The government — with local, regional and international support — would eventually bring an end to the turmoil created by the Houthis, Saleh said.
Military operations are aimed at stopping Houthi crimes against Yemen and its people, and building a federal state comprising six provinces in accordance with the National Dialogue Conference resolutions, he added.
A Yemeni military source said the army had liberated the areas of Haid bin Aqeel and Hajjar-Kahlan as it advances toward Wadi Khar next to Al-Baidah province, the SPA reported.
The source said the army had seized weaponry and ammunition left behind by fleeing militias.
The army’s engineering teams have begun clearing mines and explosives in the liberated areas in the Behan region of Shabwa province.
Abdul Raqib Fatah, Yemen’s local administration minister and head of the Higher Committee for Relief, said many displaced residents of Sanaa and neighboring provinces occupied by the Houthis had fled to government-controlled areas due to the militias’ brutality.
He renewed the government’s request for UN relief and humanitarian organizations to move to Aden so they can continue their work without Houthi interference and under international standards and protocols.
Houthi interference in relief operations is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the needy, Fatah said.
Yemen VP urges national unity against Houthis
Yemen VP urges national unity against Houthis
Russian forces begin pulling out of bases in northeast Syria
- Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow
QAMISHLI, Syria: Russian forces have begun pulling out of positions in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces after the group lost most of its territory in an offensive by government forces.
Associated Press journalists visited one base next to the Qamishli airport Tuesday and found it guarded by SDF fighters who said the Russians had begun moving their equipment out in recent days.
Inside what had been living quarters for the soldiers was largely empty, with scattered items left behind, including workout equipment, protein powder and some clothing.
Ahmed Ali, an SDF fighter deployed at the facility, said the Russian forces began evacuating their positions around the airport five or six days ago, withdrawing their equipment via a cargo plane.
“We don’t know if its destination was Russia or the Hmeimim air base,” he said, referring to the main Russian base on Syria’s coast. “They still have a presence in Qamishli and have been evacuating bit by bit.”
A UN humanitarian convoy from Damascus reached Qamishli on Tuesday, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“It delivered food, warm clothes and blankets, among other supplies,” he told UN reporters. “More convoys are planned in the coming days.”
Dujarric said the UN is also continuing to distribute food, bread and cash elsewhere including displacement sites.
There has been no official statement from Russia about the withdrawal of its forces from Qamishli.
Russia has built relations with the new central Syrian government in Damascus since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024 in a rebel offensive led by now-interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa — despite the fact that Moscow was a close ally of Assad.
Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of Assad a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war at the time, keeping Assad in his seat. Russia didn’t try to counter the rebel offensive in late 2024 but gave asylum to Assad after he fled the country.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast.
Al-Sharaa is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday and meet with Putin.
Fighting broke out early this month between the SDF and government forces after negotiations over a deal to merge their forces together broke down. A ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding.
After the expiration of a four-day truce Saturday, the two sides announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
