AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s army troops and allied tribesmen on Wednesday launched counterattacks in the southern province of Shabwa with the aim of liberating three strategic areas that the Iran-backed Houthis captured during the past couple of weeks.
Local officials said hundreds of Yemeni troops attacked Houthis in the district of Bayhan and managed to recapture a military base along with a large swathe of land in the district after killing and capturing dozens of rebels.
Rashad Al-Mekhlafi, a military official at Yemen’s Armed Forces Guidance Department, told Arab News on Wednesday that military units from Shabwa’s capital Attaq, Abyan province, along with security forces also took part in the offensive in Shabwa.
“This is a well-prepared military offensive,” Al-Mekhlafi said. “There are great advances for the government forces.”
After months of relentless attacks on government forces, the Houthis have recently managed to seize control of three areas in Shabwa and the besieged Abedia district in the province of Marib. The advancement put them closer to oil and gas fields and Marib city, the main goal of their continuing offensive in the province.
In Marib, dozens of combatants were killed in fierce fighting between government forces and the Houthis outside the city of Marib as the Arab coalition intensified airstrikes in the province.
Al-Mekhlafi said that at least three Houthi field leaders were killed in fighting with government forces or in the coalition’s airstrikes. Several army officers and tribesmen were also killed in the fighting.
The focus of Wednesday’s fighting was on the Juba and Hareb districts, south of Marib city, where government forces pushed to expel the Houthis from areas they controlled during their latest incursions.
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik pledged full support to army troops and tribesmen who have fought off relentless Houthi attacks in Marib. He also urged international aid organizations to help displaced people and civilians who come under Houthi missiles, drones, and ground strikes in Marib province.
The official Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported that the prime minister called the governor of Marib, Sultan Al-Arada, to express the government’s support with Marib’s authorities in their battles against Houthis. He also praised their handling of the desperate humanitarian situation in the city of Marib, which hosts more than 2 million internally displaced people.
Abdul Malik accused the Houthis of committing genocides in Abedia and other areas in the province. The Yemeni prime minister vowed to throw full weight behind government forces in order to win the “existential” battle in Marib.
Thousands of combatants and civilians have been killed in Marib province since early this year when the Houthis resumed a major military offensive to control Marib city, the government’s last stronghold in the northern half of the country.
Yemen counters Houthi attacks in Shabwa province
https://arab.news/8mscv
Yemen counters Houthi attacks in Shabwa province
- Army troops and allied tribesmen trying to regain three strategic areas Iran-backed Houthis captured in the past month
Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal
- The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27
- Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity
ALGIERS: Algeria’s prosecutor general sought at an appeal hearing on Tuesday 10 years in prison for novelist Boualem Sansal, doubling his current sentence, an AFP journalist in the courtroom reported.
The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27.
A verdict is expected on July 1.
Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity.
This came after he said in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the 1830-1962 colonial era.
The statement was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty and echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim.
On Tuesday, Sansal appeared before the judge without legal representation after authorities said he wished to defend himself.
“The Algerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience,” he told the court during the roughly 20-minute hearing, seemingly in good health. “This makes no sense.”
Defending the remarks he made to French far-right media on Algeria’s borders, he said: “Fortunately, after independence in 1962, the African Union declared that inherited colonial borders are inviolable.”
Also questioned on some of his books, Sansal answered: “We are holding a trial over literature? Where are we headed?“
According to his relatives, Sansal has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and many feared his health would deteriorate in prison.
French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” toward Sansal.
But Algiers has insisted that the writer has been afforded due process.
His conviction and sentence further frayed ties between Paris and Algiers, already strained by migration issues and Macron’s recognition last year of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front.
Charges against the writer include “undermining national unity,” “insulting state institutions,” “harming the national economy,” and “possessing media and publications threatening the country’s security and stability.”
UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire
- In call with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan says he hopes agreement will enhance security, peace across Middle East
LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday.
Sheikh Mohamed told President Masoud Pezeshkian he hoped the agreement would “serve as a foundation for enhancing stability, security and peace across the Middle East,” the Emirates News Agency reported.
Sheikh Mohamed added it was important to “ensure the success of the agreement in a way that benefits all the countries and peoples of the region.”
Pezeshkian gave thanks for the UAE’s position during Israel’s recent airstrikes against Iran.
The ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump came into force on Monday, a day after Iran attacked a US military base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of its nuclear sites.
The UAE on Monday “condemned in the strongest terms” the Iranian attack on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which saw almost all of the missiles intercepted.
Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran
- Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross
- Rubio, in his call with FM Rashid Meredov, expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday thanked Turkmenistan and promised cooperation with the authoritarian state after it let US citizens cross through as they fled Iran following Israeli strikes.
Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross but agreed over the weekend following appeals from Washington, officials said.
Rubio, in his call with Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, “expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Rubio said he “looks forward to further partnership with Turkmenistan, including expanding economic and commercial ties,” she said.
Washington has organized evacuation flights for its citizens in Israel, but has limited capacity in Iran due to the lack of diplomatic relations.
Most US citizens in Iran are dual nationals and hundreds have left since Israel launched its military campaign on June 13, another State Department official said.
Around 200 Americans had voiced an interest in going through Turkmenistan, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran, although so far only “tens” have proceeded through that route, the official said.
“We’re communicating to all of the US citizens... in Iran looking to go to Turkmenistan that that border is open,” the official said on customary condition of anonymity.
With flights unavailable, the vast majority have gone through Azerbaijan, with some also going through Armenia and Turkiye, the official said.
President Donald Trump, who has prioritized cracking down on immigration, earlier this month banned virtually all Iranian citizens and partially restricted nationals of Turkmenistan from entering the United States.
The visa restrictions continue to apply to Iranian nationals who leave even if they are family members of US citizens, the State Department official said.
Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran but voiced frustration at implementation.
Israel lifts domestic restrictions linked to Iran war
- Israel’s airport authority also announced that all flights to and from the country would resume
- The country has been under tight restrictions since the start of the war, with schools closed and non-essential businesses shut
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Tuesday it was lifting restrictions on public gatherings, workplaces and schools it imposed during its 12-day war with Iran after a ceasefire took effect.
“All areas of the country will shift to full activity” from 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Tuesday on the orders of Defense Minister Israel Katz, the military said in a statement.
The guidelines will be effective until Thursday evening when they will be reviewed.
Israel’s airport authority also announced that all flights to and from the country would resume.
According to the transport ministry, between 100,000 and 150,000 Israelis were stranded abroad when Israel closed its airspace after launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran on June 13.
Tens of thousands of them have since been repatriated by air or sea.
The country has been under tight restrictions since the start of the war, with schools closed and non-essential businesses shut.
Israel and Iran both said Tuesday they would abide by a ceasefire deal first announced by US President Donald Trump.
Israel, in announcing it had agreed to Trump’s plan, said it had achieved all its military objectives.
Iran initially stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later said that if “the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either.”
Israel hit Iranian military and nuclear facilities as well as key commanders and scientists, prompting waves of retaliatory Iranian missile fire at Israel.
The full extent of the damage in Israel is still not known due to military censorship rules, but at least 50 impacts have been acknowledged nationwide and the official death toll stands at 28.
At least four people died in the southern city of Beersheba on Tuesday in a missile attack launched by Iran shortly before the ceasefire entered force, the emergency services said.
Qatari emir holds calls with Iranian and US presidents, condemns targeting Al-Udeid
- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Iran’s action contradicted the principles of good neighborliness
- Masoud Pezeshkian expressed regret to Sheikh Tamim for the damages caused by Monday’s attack
- Donald Trump rejected ‘any aggression that threatens the security and safety of the State of Qatar’
LONDON: The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, received separate phone calls from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday following the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ missile attack on Al-Udeid Air Base.
Sheikh Tamim strongly condemned the Iranian attack at the outset of his call with Pezeshkian. He said the act was “a blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as a breach of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
The IRGC on Monday night fired missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military base in the Middle East, accommodating about 10,000 service members, located 30 kilometers southwest of Doha. The attack was a retaliatory action after the US hit three of Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend.
Sheikh Tamim said that Iran’s action contradicted the principles of good neighborliness and highlighted Doha’s ongoing commitment to dialogue with Iran.
He urged an immediate halt to military operations and a return to negotiations to resolve the crisis and ensure regional security and safety, the Qatar News Agency reported.
Pezeshkian expressed regret to Sheikh Tamim for the damage caused by Monday’s attack. He said that Qatar and its people were not the intended targets of the military operation and that “the attack does not constitute a threat” to Qatar.
Sheikh Tamim also spoke with Trump, who affirmed Washington’s solidarity with Doha after the Iranian attack and rejected “any aggression that threatens the security and safety of the State of Qatar and undermines the security and stability of the region.”
During the call with Sheikh Tamim, Trump urged restraint and seeking diplomatic solutions.
Sheikh Tamim thanked Trump for the supportive stance of the United States. He also mentioned that the readiness of the Qatari armed forces and the precautionary measures authorities took resulted in no fatalities or injuries.
