The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023 and sunk two vessels
The US military says it carried out a wave of strikes against what it said were underground arms facilities of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. US Central Command said in a statement that Wednesday's strikes targeted weapons used by the rebels to attack ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis said seven strikes targeted sites in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and the northern Amran province, without providing further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The United States and its allies have carried out repeated strikes on the Houthis, who have continued to target shipping. The rebels say they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
Priya's mother is currently in Yemen, negotiating with Mahdi's family to stop the death penalty by offering 'blood money', a compensation allowed under Yemeni law
The Quran encourages forgiveness and compensation to the victim's family as preferable alternatives to retribution. This system is called 'diyya,' which loosely refers to 'blood money.'
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier in the day confirmed its awareness of the death sentence handed to Nimisha Priya and assured that the government is providing all possible assistance
Nimisha Priya's death sentence was approved by the Yemeni President on December 30 and her execution is scheduled to take place within a month
Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing and a UN delegation was waiting to leave, the UN's top humanitarian official in Yemen said Friday. Julien Harneis told UN reporters that the most frightening thing about the two airstrikes on Thursday wasn't their effect on him and about 15 others in the VIP lounge at the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, including the head of the UN World Health Organisation. Rather, it was the destruction of the airport control tower as a Yemenia Airways plane was taxiing in after touching down. Fortunately, that plane was able to land safely and the passengers were able to disembark, but it could have been far, far worse, said Harneis, who was with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the lounge. He said one airstrike landed approximately 300 metres (330 yards) south of the VIP lounge and another about 300 metres to the north around 4:45 pm, while abo
A septuagenarian Israeli woman who was taken hostage during Hamas's attack on southern Israel on 0ctober 7, 2023 has died. She was among the 250 hostages the Palestinian militant group took back into Gaza following the surprise attack that left about 1,200 people dead. Israel's subsequent bombardment and ground invasion have killed over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Tuesday it intercepted a projectile launched from Yemen. Here's the latest: A former Israeli hostage dies at 78 Tel Aviv Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78. The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death on Tuesday but did not disclose the cause. Her daughter, Carmit P
A soldier for Yemen's exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom's nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday. The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders. Meanwhile, US warplanes carried out new strikes targeting Houthi positions that lasted into early Sunday morning, the American military said. The strikes come after the militants likely shot down yet-another American reconnaissance drone over the country. The attack on the Saudi troops took place Friday night in Seiyun, a city some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east o
The US has sanctioned 18 companies and individuals, including two Indians, for their alleged ties to a Houthi network transporting Iranian oil, revenue from which enables Houthi attacks on Israel and disrupting shipping in the Red Sea region. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the companies, including the captains of vessels transporting illicit oil, for their ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force-backed Houthi financial official Sa'id al-Jamal and his network, a press release said on Thursday. The 18 companies sanctioned include Marshall Islands-registered Changtai Shipping and Motionavigations Limited and UAE-based Indo Gulf Ship Management. The two Indians sanctioned are linked to the Indo Gulf Ship Management, according to the Treasury Department. The release said that UAE and India-based Indian national Rahul Rattanlal Warikoo acts as the managing director of Indo Gulf Ship Management. He has also served in managemen
In the days since Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the strike that killed the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been quick to show they are an important player in the complex conflicts convulsing the Middle East. In a brazen attack on Saturday, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel's main airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back from New York, where he had addressed the United Nations. On Monday, they threatened escalating military operations to target Israel after apparently shooting down a U.S. military drone flying over Yemen. And on Tuesday, an explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship in the Red Sea as a missile exploded against another, the British military and private security officials said, the latest in the Houthis' assaults on commercial shipping in the key waterway. The salvo of Houthi attacks has again drawn attention to the Yemeni rebels and raised .
Following the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, Israel intensified attacks on Lebanon while waging simultaneous airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen
Meanwhile, tensions also escalated in the Middle East after Hezbollah launched missile strikes targeting Haifa and northern Israel
The United Nations is cutting back its activities in Yemen in response to a crackdown by Houthi rebels on staff working for the UN and other humanitarian, human rights, development and education organisations, the top UN aid official said Thursday. Acting UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the UN Security Council that the United Nations has taken steps to minimise the exposure of staff to risk in Houthi-controlled areas. The UN has narrowed its focus to essential lifesaving and life-sustaining activities, she said, and is deprioritising broader activities to develop the Arab world's poorest nation. In June, the Houthis detained more than 60 people working with the UN and other organisations, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Days later, the Houthis said they had arrested members of what they called an American-Israeli spy network. The Houthis' claims could not be independently verified. Msuya said the UN strongly rejects false allegations by the Houthis against ...
Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed early Sunday they shot down another American-made MQ-9 drone flying over the country, marking potentially the latest downing of the multimillion-dollar surveillance aircraft. The US responded with airstrikes over Houthi-controlled territory, the rebels said. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the Houthi claim. The rebels offered no pictures or video to support the claim as they have in the past, though such material can appear in propaganda footage days later. However, the Houthis have repeatedly downed General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones in the years since they seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Those attacks have exponentially increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and the Houthis launched their campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree made the claim in a prerecorded video message. He said the Houthis shot down the drone over Yemen's .
An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted an oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, as a second ship nearby also came under fire. Both attacks were near where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group. The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed rebels' campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. Meanwhile, the efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion seek to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil. In Monday's first assault, ballistic missiles hit the Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I, and a third exploded near the ship, the multination Joint Maritime Information Center overseen by the U.S. Navy said. All crew on board are safe (no injury reported), the cente
A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said. Two projectiles hit the vessel, and a third explosion occurred near the ship, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Damage control is underway, UKMTO said. There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults. The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets. The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel's campaign against H
Two missiles suspected to have been fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden late Friday, splashing down nearby without causing any damage, authorities said. The attack comes after the Houthis repeatedly assaulted and then boarded a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the nearby Red Sea, planting explosives on it they later detonated. That attack, the worst in weeks, risked a major oil spill as the rebels' campaign disrupts the USD 1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. The attack Friday saw two missiles exploding in close proximity to the vessel some 240 km (150 miles) east of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. The ship reports all crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call, the UKMTO said. Investigations are ongoing. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. ...
Yemen's Houthi rebels released footage on Thursday showing their fighters boarded and placed explosives on a Greek-flagged tanker, setting off blasts that put the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill. The vessel was abandoned earlier, after the Houthis repeatedly attacked it. In the video, the Iran-backed Houthis chant their motto as the bombs detonated aboard the oil tanker Sounion: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam. The blasts capped the most-serious attack in weeks by the Houthis in their campaign disrupting the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. The Sounion carried some 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on Aug 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of the European Union's Operation Aspides rescued th
Houthis, who control Yemen's most populous regions, said on Thursday that they attacked the Sounion oil tanker in the Red Sea