MANILA: The United States is “keeping all our options open” when it comes to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the national security adviser said Monday, amid reports the outgoing Trump administration could tag the group as terrorists.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Philippines, Robert O’Brien criticized the Iran-backed Houthis of failing to engage in a “good-faith peace process” to end the conflict.
The Houthis are at the center of a flurry of diplomacy as the Trump administration, which has made isolating its arch-foe Tehran a centerpiece of its regional policy, enters its final weeks.
Washington was monitoring the situation “very closely,” said O’Brien in response to a question on whether the US would designate the Houthis a “terrorist organization.”
“We are constantly considering whether and who and how we should designate terrorist organizations,” O’Brien said.
“President Trump is still the president of the United States for the next 50 days and this will be something that is certainly on the agenda and we will have to see how that plays out,” he added.
“Right now we encourage the Houthis to expel the Iranians, to stop attacking neighbors and stop attacking people within Yemen and engage in a good-faith peace process with the other stakeholders in Yemen.”
The rebel group controls the capital Sanaa and much of the north after a grinding five-year war with government forces that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The government is supported by a Saudi-led coalition, assisted by Western powers including the US.
The Houthis have reacted angrily to the prospect of the US designation, saying Trump had no right to make the ruling after failing to win a second term.
The possibility has also alarmed humanitarian groups who say it could cripple aid delivery and tip the country into famine.
US keeps ‘all options’ open for Yemen’s Houthis
https://arab.news/gyjua
US keeps ‘all options’ open for Yemen’s Houthis
- Adviser Robert O’Brien criticized the Iran-backed Houthis of failing to engage in a “good-faith peace process” to end the conflict
- “Right now we encourage the Houthis to expel the Iranians, to stop attacking neighbors and stop attacking people within Yemen"
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
