Houthi weapon-smuggling cell linked to Iran’s revolutionary guards apprehended

A militant loyal to Yemen's Houthi militia stands guard during a rally commemorating the death of Shiite Imam Zaid bin Ali in the capital Sanaa, on September 14, 2020. (AFP)
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Updated 19 September 2020
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Houthi weapon-smuggling cell linked to Iran’s revolutionary guards apprehended

  • The cell admitted to receiving training in Iran and the confessions were evidence of Iran’s involvement, according to Al-Eryani
  • He added that Iran’s continued arming of the Houthis was a violation of international laws

LONDON: A Houthi cell smuggling Iranian weapons into Yemen has been apprehended, the country’s Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani said on Saturday.

The cell admitted to receiving training in Iran and the confessions were evidence of Iran’s involvement, according to Al-Eryani.

“The cell’s confessions confirm the Houthis’ exploitation of the Stockholm Agreement,” he said, referring to an accord signed in Dec. 2018 between opposing factions in the conflict that set out a series of undertakings as a precursor to lasting peace in the country.  

He added that Iran’s continued arming of the Houthis was a violation of international laws.

He said that the cell used the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Issa to smuggle Iranian weapons as well as to target civilians in Saudi Arabia and navigate the Red Sea.

“It is imperative to pressure Tehran to stop its terrorist activities,” he said, calling for an extension of the Iranian arms embargo.


RSF-encircled city in Sudan’s Kordofan targeted by drones: witness, military source

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RSF-encircled city in Sudan’s Kordofan targeted by drones: witness, military source

  • The drone strikes hit a military base, a police headquarters, and the regional parliament
  • A military source said the army’s air defenses had intercepted 20 aerial targets

PORT SUDAN: The city of El-Obeid in Sudan’s Kordofan region, largely encircled by paramilitary forces, was targeted by a drone attack on Friday that hit multiple government-linked facilities, several witnesses told AFP.
The drone strikes, which began early in the morning and lasted two hours, hit a military base, a police headquarters, the regional parliament and the premises of a telecoms company, witnesses said.
A military source told AFP that the army’s air defenses had intercepted 20 aerial targets.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s army has been waging a war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions more and created a grinding humanitarian crisis.
El-Obeid, located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum, remains under army control after it managed to loosen a lengthy RSF siege last February.
The paramilitary force, however, has redoubled its efforts to take the city after forcing the army out of neighboring Darfur last year, cutting off most access routes in and out.
El-Obeid lies along a strategic route linking Darfur and Khartoum.
More than 88,000 have fled the Kordofan region since October.