Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

Saudi-Houthi Peace Talks While Air Strikes and Faction Fighting Continue to Claim Lives on Both Sides

March 9, 2018 

Yemeni Houthi fighters, March 18, 2018

 

Arabic news report from Yemeni Press about fighting in Yemen, on March 18, 2018: The full report can be accessed at: www.yemenipress.net/archives/101506 انتصارات كبرى للجيش واللجان ضد قوى العدوان ومرتزقتها في مختلف الجبهات 2018/03/18 ، يمني برس | تقرير حقق أبطال الجيش واللجان الشعبية أمس السبت جملة من الانتصارات الكبرى ضد قوى العدوان ومرتزقتها في مختلف الجبهات نورد تفاصيلها في التقرير التالي  :- نجران –  إطلاق عد من صواريخ الكاتيوشا على تجمع الجنود السعوديين في قيادة صلة –  قصف مدفعي على تجمعات مرتزقة الجيش السعودي في منفذ الخضراء – قصف مدفعي على تجمع مرتزقة الجيش السعودي في تبة الفراص بصحراء الأجاشر قبالة #نجران

The following news stories are from the Yemeni independent website Al-Masdar ( http://www.almasdaronline.com/category/42  ):

*** 

Coalition aircrafts wage 12 airstrikes on Aldailami Air Base

ALMASDARONLINE, 2018-03-14
The Saudi-led Arab coalition aircrafts waged on Wednesday 12 raids on al Dailami air base in the capital Sana'a, eyewitness said. 
 
They told Al-Masdaronline that the raids targeted various locations in the air base and that the smoke had risen, which likely the air strikes targeted weapons stores. Only a day after a similar bombing.

Houthis bomb houses, kill 9 people in al Bayda province

ALMASDARONLINE , 2018-03-14

Local residents said that the Houthi militants shelled civilian houses, detonated five artesian wells and demolished farms in the Zub area of al Quraishiya district, l Bayda province, and houses were seriously damaged by the shelling.
 
They told Almasdaronline that "after the militias suffered significant human and material losses yesterday in attacks by the resistance on their positions in Jamidah, Ham Thra' and al Khashia' areas''.
 
In addition, 9 Houthis were killed in battles against the government forces in the vicinity of Al-Hamra, Souran and Saha mountains, west of Nate district, eastern the province, according to a field source.
 
The source said that the Saudi-led Arab Coalition aircrafts launched several air raids targeting mechanisms and equipment for the Houthis in Shab Leban in the district.
 
In the one hand, Coalition aircrafts launched an air strike on a training center at the military police headquarters in Dhamar province, causing casualties among the group's militants.

30 Houthis, four government soldiers killed in Nate

ALMASDARONLINE, 2018-03-12

About 30 of the Houthis militants were killed and five others were captured in battles against the government forces in Nate district of al Bayda province, central Yemen, a field source said.
 
The source told Almasdaronline that the fierce battles between the two parties were broke up, and that the government forces with the popular resistance took control of al Gamidah strategic sites.
 
The source also reported that four government soldiers were killed, Jihad Malik al-Zouba, Shafiq Ahmad al-Zouba, Jaber al-Sindi and Abdullah Taher al-Sarari, while six other soldiers were wounded.
 
The fighting lasted for hours, according to the source. 

Yemen's Houthis and Saudi Arabia in secret talks to end war: sources

2018-03-15, Masdar Online and Reuters --

Saudi Arabia and its adversaries in Yemen’s armed Houthi movement are holding secret talks to try to end a three-year-old war that has unleashed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, diplomats and Yemeni political sources said.
 
A Saudi-led coalition is fighting to counter the influence of Riyadh’s arch-foe Iran, an ally of the Houthis, who deny any help from Tehran and say they are fighting a revolution against corrupt politicians and Gulf powers in thrall to the West.
 
Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, two diplomats and two Yemeni officials said the Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam had been in direct communication with Saudi officials in Oman on a comprehensive solution to the conflict.
 
“There are consultations between the Houthis and the Saudis, without a representative of the internationally recognized government, and it is clear that there is a desire of the Houthis and the coalition to go toward a comprehensive agreement,” one diplomat told Reuters.
 
Neither Saudi nor Houthi officials provided an official comment.
 
Hailing from Yemen’s Zaydi Shi’ite sect, the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and drove the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into Saudi exile.
 
Fearing the advance was part of a regional power grab by Tehran, Riyadh and other mostly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states armed and supported by the United States and Britain intervened to restore his rule.
 
The hoped for accord would begin with a truce to pause fighting on nationwide battlefronts and culminate in the signing of a peace deal addressing the political interests of the warring parties, the sources added.
 
Thousands of Saudi-led air strikes have killed hundreds of Yemeni civilians while Houthi-led cross-border rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia have led to hundreds of casualties. Coalition forces have made modest territorial gains but appear far from seizing back the capital from seasoned Houthi fighters.
 
With no victory in sight, and as the war pushes the country toward famine, Saudi officials including the powerful Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman have expressed a desire to wrap up the conflict.
 
NEW ENVOY
 
Diplomats said the Saudi-Houthi dialogue had been going on for about two months and appeared aimed at providing a framework for a resolution to coincide with the arrival of a new U.N. envoy to Yemen, former British diplomat Martin Griffiths, who began his term on Sunday.
 
But it was not immediately clear how much progress has been achieved. U.N.-backed peace talks between the Houthis and the Yemeni government were last held in Kuwait in August 2016.
 
That round of dialogue and two previous ones in Switzerland, where there was no Saudi presence, ended without success.
 
The current talks appear to have bypassed Yemen’s Riyadh-based government, whose restoration was the justification for the Saudi-led intervention, underlining a series of deepening Yemeni squabbles which have hobbled the coalition war effort.
 
Two Hadi government officials contacted by Reuters were unaware of the dialogue, and their criticism of the coalition has mounted in recent days, accusing them of barring Hadi and other Riyadh-based officials from returning to the country.
 
Hadi has mostly resided in Riyadh while government-held areas in Yemen suffered a series of deadly attacks by Islamic State militants. He last visited in February 2017

***

The following news stories are from the pro-Houthi website Yemen Extra (http://www.yemenextra.net/):

***

Yemeni joint forces take revenge from Saudi-led coalition

Mar 18, 2018, YemenExtra, Y.A

Yemeni joint forces have killed many Saudi troops and paid fighters during retaliatory operations to Saudi-led coalition’s fatal air strikes all over Yemen.

According to AL-Masirah channel ,the Yemeni joint forces launched a salvo of Katysha missiles on gatherings of the Saudi soldiers , targeted gatherings of the paid fighters in Najran front.

Meanwhile, they kill and wounded Saudi soldiers with an offensive operation and shot dead 6 Saudi soldiers in Jizan front.

They also pounded gatherings of the Saudi soldiers and their paid fighters with artillery shelling and shot dead a paid fighters in Asir front.

Notably, they kill and wounded many of the paid fighters , including high ranking,and foiled advances , lasted for hours and covered by Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes, by the paid fighters, leaving dead ,wounded , destroyed a gunmachine- 23-in AL-Baida front.

The Yemeni war media reported that the artillery of the Yemeni joint forces targeted gatherings and fortifications of the paid fighters , killing and wounding many of the paid fighters amid their ranks in Midi front.

The Yemeni joint forces carried out military operations on the gatherings of the paid fighters , killing and wounding many and causing them big losses in munition, and targeted gatherings of the paid fighters with artillery shelling .Additionally, the engineering unit of the Yemeni joint forces destroyed a military mechanism , as well as the missile force of the Yemeni joint forces aimed at gatherings of the paid fighters in AL-Jawf province, it confirmed.

Nehm front witnesses launching Zelzal 1 missile .

To conclude it with Taiz front , 5 of the paid fighters were shot dead .

Around 14,000 people have been killed since the onset of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country’s infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The worst day to Saudi-led coalition at the hands of Yemeni joint forces in AL-Jawf province

Mar 18, 2018, YemenExtra, Y.A

The Yemeni joint forces , Sunday, launched military attacks and operations , the most offensive ones since the begging of the war,leaving dozens as dead and wounded amid the paid fighters’ ranks ,in addition to big losses.

The Yemeni joint forces launched attacks on gatherings and sites of the paid fighters and silmilar ones on other fronts in the same province, according to military sources.

Dozens dead and wounded fell amid the paid fighters’ ranks , as well as a military mechanism was destroyed , the Yemeni war media camera reported a big number of the paid fighters, fleeing their sites , leaving dead bodies behind them.

The Yemeni joint forces foiled an attempt of advancing by the paid fighters , which lasted for hours under intensive aerial coverage of the Saudi led coalition.

According to field sources, the Yemeni joint forces were able to kill and wounded big umbers of paid fighters , destroyed three military mechanisms, loaded with elements ,and a gunmachine- 23-during facing the advance.

Saudi Regime’s Humanitarian Violations in Yemen on March 17th: Report

Mar 18, 2018, YemenExtra, M.A.

The poorest country in the Middle East, Yemen, has been constantly bombed by the region’s richest country Saudi Arabia for nearly three years since the Kingdom first initiated its military campaign on March 26 of 2015.

The daily bombardment led to the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world as well as an unprecedented outbreak of diseases such as cholera.

According to local Yemeni reports, the Saudi regime and its allies have included hospitals, schools, homes, factories, local markets, universities, bridges, farms and roads in their military targets.

The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the US and UK, has also been imposing an air, sea and land siege on the country, preventing the entry of essential life requirements like medical supplies. Moreover, the siege has consequently led to millions in need of humanitarian aid.

Despite the horrific results of the Saudi war on Yemen, the Kingdom continues to take advantage of the international silence and retains its position although it has achieved no goals it has earlier announced.

In Saada governorate, the Saudi Air Force launched three raids on the district of Baqem, three raids on al-Soda area, district of Majz, in addition to a rocket attack and artillery bombardment on different areas of the two border districts, Razih and Monabeh, resulting in the damage of citizens’ farms and property.

In Hodeidah governorate, two citizens were injured after 3 raids struck a farm in al-Husseiniya district. Additionally, the coalition aircraft also raided a farm in Wadi Siham, Bajel district.

Moreover, the Saudi-led jets launched 2 raids on a civilian’s farm in al-Ghawadar area, district of Beit al-Faqih in the aforementioned governorate.

In Hajjah governorate, the Saudi-led warplanes carried out 10 missiles on the districts of Haradh and Medhi during the past several hours.

In Jizan, southern Saudi governorate, the US-backed coalition military aircraft carried out three raids on Wadi Gara.

A Saudi-led war began against Yemen on March 26 of 2015, in an attempt to reinstall a Saudi-friendly president, Hadi. Hadi was ousted by the Ansarullah revolutionaries, who enjoy wide public support, and that is when they took control over the country’s affairs with an aim of eliminating foreign intervention or influence over Yemen.

***

Share the link of this article with your facebook friends