Oct 13

The Yemeni government accused al-Houthi rebels of preventing the civilians in the volatile areas in Sa’adah from displacing to safer places and using them as human shields. The Supreme Security Committee (SSC), which supervised the 63-day old war, called civilians to displace to four different places, relatively safe, where camps were established. In responses to the UN repeated calls for securing safe corridors to deliver assistance to the war-affected people, the SSC said that the national committee for relief would secure their passage to safer places.

People from Harf Sufan were displaced to the Khaiwan camp in Harf Sufyan.

People from Razeh, Shada, al-Dhaher, Haidan and Ghamer were displaced to al-Mazrak camp in al-Malahaid, far west of Sa’adah.

Oct 12

A total of 59 al-Houthi rebels were killed and 31 others detained over the last 24 hours in the ongoing battles between them and the government troops in various areas in Sa’adah and Harf Sufyan.

Oct 9

The aid organizations working in Sa’adah are working hard with the local authorities to create an environment that can preserve the lives and dignity of the displaced people they can reach, said the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. John Holmes, stated a press release issued by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Holmes visited Mazrak camp in Hajjah Governorate, northern Yemen, where over 6,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are being sheltered, and a group of IDP families who have taken refuge in open land. Mr. Holmes said. There are still many we cannot reach as well as we would like, and our resources are finite. We will not be able to cope with the increasing caseload without increased international support”. He said he came to see first-hand the circumstances that the displaced people are living in, so that he could better understand how the international community can assist. He added this part of the country has been experiencing instability for some time now, and for some of these people this is the second or third time that they have been displaced.

Oct 6

A total of 1,440 Yemenis and Arabs expressed their support for the armed forces, which fight al-Houthi rebels by donating blood, said a coordinator of a blood donation camp on Tuesday.

Oct 6

Two Pakistani nationals were sentenced to death and two others sentenced to 25 years in prison for smuggling drugs to Yemen. Chaired by Judge Redhwan al-Namer, the Yemen State Security special court acquitted seven other Pakistanis for bringing drugs to Yemen. Late last year, 11 Pakistani citizens were put on trial for charges of bringing 1600 kg of Hashish “ratang” to Yemen from the Pakistani harbor of Kawader via a boat named Zaher.

Oct 5

The parliament opened its first hearings dealing with the issues of the war in Sa’adah, the conflict in the South, and the kidnapping of journalists on Sunday. Members of parliament from different parliamentary blocks motioned to summon the government for questioning on the current Yemeni crises, in order to take the appropriate measures consistent with the law and the Yemeni constitution. The parliament approved a motion made by GPC member Mohammed al-Khulani to summon the Minister of Justice to discuss withdrawing immunity for parliament member Yahya Badradin al-Houthi yesterday.

Oct 4

Security authorities sabotaged an attempt by arms dealers to enter a large amount of ammunition imported from China, through forged official documents. The dealers were investigated in preparation for trial. The deal was done through forged documents on behalf of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense and it included a large amount of old manufactured ammunition, said security sources.

Oct 1

A total of 24 al-Houthi rebels were arrested including one from the most wanted list, said the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday. A group of 16 rebels were arrested in the old city of Sa’adah where hidden groups have occasionally instigated attacks against security forces since the beginning of the war on August 10th, said an official statement from the Ministry. The statement also said that the security forces are now chasing three more rebels who escaped from the same group and were planning to implement acts of terrorism.

Sep 29

Swine flu continues to spread in Yemen, with almost 200 confirmed cases and six fatalities reported so far. The first case reported in Yemen was announced this past June. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has announced a one-week delay for the new academic year because of the illness.

Sep 26

President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that war against the al-Houthi rebels would continue until uprooting them, even if it lasted ages. In his speech on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the 26th of September revolution, President Saleh said that “there are many challenges we are still facing since the start of the 26 September Revolution but the will of the Yemeni people is bigger than any challenges.” Saleh indicated that what is currently taking place in Sa’adah is an extension of the ignorance and Imamate era.

Sep 25

A South Korean warship repelled pirates pursuing freighters off the coast of Yemen and rescued three foreign vessels from being hijacked, said a South Korean military source. During the Eid vacation, ROKS Dae Jo Yeong, a destroyer with the South Korean naval unit Cheonghae, rescued three ships sailing under the flags of Cyprus, the Marshal Islands, and the Bahamas, from Somali pirates.

Sep 25

President Ali Abdullah Saleh renewed calls for al-Houthi rebels to come back to the right path and show commitment to the ceasefire announced by the government to help prevent further bloodshed and bring peace back into Sa’adah.

Sep 22

Seven fresh H1N1 cases were discovered in Yemen today raising the number of Swine Flu cases to 183, most of which were discovered within the past week as the infected cases multiplied.

Dr. Abdul Karim Rase’a, Minister of Public Health and Population said that the contracted cases have been increasing drastically reaching to 20 cases per day. He said that the percentage of the increased cases was 100 percent and expected this percentage to increase due to the unawareness amongst the public.

Sep 21

Around 150 al-Houthi rebels were killed when they the attacked the government take over the Republican Mansion in Sa’adah, said local sources. Sources added that 70 other al-Houthi rebels surrendered in the same day. This took place during a surprise attack that came a day after the government announced suspending military operations for the Eid occasion. According to military sources, al-Houthi fighters attacked the city from different directions with around 70 armored vehicles, but the attack was deterred by the troops. Local sources said that most of the killed rebels were in the districts of al-Maqash and al-And.

Sep 19

Yemen welcomed a call of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah, for a cease-fire in the northern Yemeni province of Sa’adah on a condtion that al-Houthi rebels agree on the six points that the government proposed last August.

The source told Saba news agency that the government appreciates Nasrallah’s call for a cease-fire and his eagerness to avoid further bloodshed, saying that the war in Sa’adah has been imposed on the government which is always and still keen to resort to all peaceful options in order to avoid a war.

Sep 16

Tribal mediators lead by Sheikh Khaled Ghalib al-Ajda’a and Sheikh al-Sharif Mohammed Bin Salem Hamoud succeeded in freeing the son of the Yemeni tycoon Jamal Abdulwasea Hayel Saeed on Wednesday. The kidnappers released Jamal Hayel with no any conditions.

Sep 15

Son of Abdulwasea Saeed Hayel, Yemen’s biggest businessman was kidnapped by some tribesmen affiliated to Murad tribe of Marib province. Jamal Abdulwasea Hayel, Deputy Chairman of NATCO Holding Company, General Manager of NATCO Automobiles Company, was kidnapped from Sana’a by tribesmen from the Murad tribe over property dispute between Hayel Saeed Group of Companies and between tribesmen from Murad.

Sep 15

There were 5,818 Arab and foreign nationals involved in different crimes committed in Yemen during the first half of 2009, revealed a report released by the Ministry of Interior on Sep 14. According to the report, 4,799 Arab nationals were accused of being involved in different crimes committed in the country and 1,019 foreign nationals of different nationalities were also accused of being involved in crimes committed in Yemen from January 1 to June 30, 2009.

Sep 14

After days of struggling through labor, Fawziyah Abdullah Youssef a 12-year-old “child bride” died along with her baby a stillborn in Hajjah Hospital in the northern Yemen, said a statement issued by Seyaj organization for protecting children. Fawziyah, from al-Zuhra district of Hudiedah province in the north west of Yemen, was married last year at the age of 11 to a 24-year-old.