Our deadly indifference about Yemen

Armed conflict is raging for more than 18 months in Yemen and 3 million people lost their homes and more than 11,000 were killed and countless others injured, maimed or psychologically scarred. Every family in Yemen has felt its effects on an almost daily basis. Yet, the Main Stream Media and their audience appear indifferent to this crisis in Yemen.

Rima Kamal, the Communication Coordinator and Spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, writes:

“Currently, Yemen is a nation of shattered men and women. Families are torn apart. Children bereft of their right to go to school. Young boys and girls who are bearing testimony to atrocities far bigger and heavier than their young souls can bear.

As humanitarians, we do our best to respond to the needs wrought by the conflict, but only global interest and political will to resolve the fighting can help bring an end to the despair of the Yemenis.

We can’t afford to become immune to human suffering.

It is not only weapons that kill. Indifference can be just as deadly.”

Army foils mercenaries' attack in Jawf

Several mercenaries were killed and others wounded when the Houthi alliance, consisting of the rump Yemen army, Ansarullah and Popular Committees joined by several tribes, forces repelled an assaultof the mercenaries at Wakaz area, al-Maslub district in al-Jawf province.

Meanwhile, Saudi coalition airstrikes targeted the Malh area in the same district.

Saudi coalition drops cluster bombs on Saada

Saudi coalition airstrikes targeted the al-Dhaher and Haydan districts with internationally prohibited cluster bombs on Saada province overnight, causing heavy losses, damage to citizens` houses and burning farms.

The war jets kept flying over the province for hours and fficials and residents condemned the US-led Saudi coalition’s use of world-banned bombs against civilians.

Saudi troop concentration hit in Asir, Najran and Jizan

The missile and artillery units of the Houthi alliance targeted Saudi troop concentrations and military bases in Jizan, Najran and Asir provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In Jizan, they fired on a gathering of Saudi soldiers in the Jalah military center, burning the military post. They also destroyed military vehicles of the mercenaries in the Medi desert.

In Najran, they targeted another assembly of soldiers with their equipment at al-Sudays military posts.

In Asir, they bombarded groups of soldiers at Kamahat al-Sheihk military sites.

Saudi-led mercenaries targeted in Lahj

The Houthi alliance targeted an assembly of mercenaries with mortar fire at Kahbob district in Lahj province and the shelling caused direct casualties.

Mercenary fortifications destroyed in Marb

The Houthi alliance targeted and destroyed mercenary fortifications at Serwah district in Marb province and dozens were killed or wounded in east Rabiah Valley.

Turning tragedy into farce: Yemen’s seventh truce

After six failed attempts to observe a truce, the US brokered a seventh truce, and unsurprisingly , this one also failed to end the fighting in Yemen where the death toll has already exceeded 11,000.

Both sides accused the other of breaking the ceasefire first, and fighting surged around the flashpoint city of Taez with dozens killed this week, despite clashes subsiding on other fronts.

This seemingly endless and pointless war is a clear reflection of US inability to control the situation on the ground even in a limited sense. What turns tragedy into farce is the US, pretending to broker peace, is also the biggest provider of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

This is the crux of the problem and can be traced back also to the original game plan for the war: profits for the military industrial complex.

The war continues, not because the parties can’t to come to terms, but because it is not only intended to deepen the dependence of the Saudi coalition countries upon US military assistance, but also to generate $billions in terms of weapons sold to them.

The US is playing a double game in Yemen while weapons supplied by them are targeting Yemenis indiscriminately; US complicity in war crimes becomes apparent with sufficient material proofs.

Peace is not possible except if the US can compel the Saudi coalition to stop its bombing campaign. Yet, at such a high-cost to US’s weapon manufacturers, it is very unlikely to happen.

In this context, the ceasefire saga is meaningless except for the fact that it allows the US military and media to profess that they are maintaining a ‘neutral’ stance towards the war.

Sources:

https://www.sbs.com.au

https://www.sabanews.net/en/news447641.htm

https://www.sabanews.net/en/news447643.htm

https://www.sabanews.net/en/news447650.htm

https://www.sabanews.net/en/news447651.htmhttps://www.sabanews.net/en/news447653.htm

http://m.journal-neo.org/2016/11/24/yemen-s-seventh-truce-turning-tragedy-into-farce/