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One of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s advisers has apologized to Yemen’s president on the recent misunderstanding regarding statements on a Yemen peace deal. Yemeni Foreign Minister Al-Mekhlafi said that his government was not consulted on the cessation of hostilities deal announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday, Al Arabiya News Channel reported. Mekhlafi criticized the agreement saying it will jeopardize prospects of reaching peace between Yemen’s warring sides. “The government was not aware of nor is it interested in what Secretary Kerry announced, which represents a desire to scuttle peace efforts by trying to reach...

In significant news that has thus far either gone under or outright unreported by the media, U.S. military advisors have “boots on the ground” in Yemen, according to a recent report in the Washington Post by Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Missy Ryan: “The Pentagon has placed a small number of U.S. advisors on the ground in Yemen to support Arab forces battling al-Qaeda, military officials said on Friday, signaling a new American role in that country’s multi-sided civil war. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. personnel had been in the country for about two weeks, supporting Yemeni and...

ISIS claims deadly attacks on Yemen govt, Arab troops in Aden DUBAI (AFP) - The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group, ISIS, claimed responsibility for deadly attacks Tuesday on the government headquarters and positions of the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni city of Aden. In a statement posted online, the Sunni extremist group said it carried out four suicide bombings against the targets, contradicting accounts from officials that the attacks involved rockets fired by Iran-backed Shiite rebels. ISIS said two attacks targeting the government headquarters at Al-Qasr hotel were carried out using bomb-laden vehicles driven by members it identified...

Unseen by most of the world, the once tranquil port of Aden is being steadily infiltrated by jihadists from both al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) and the so-called Islamic State (IS). They are not in charge of the city, the military forces of the UAE are. But in the last few days disturbing reports have emerged of the summary executions of prisoners by the jihadists, along with their black flags hoisted onto public buildings.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Military officials and residents say al-Qaida has taken control of a major airport, a sea port and an oil terminal in southern Yemen after brief clashes with troops. The officials said al-Qaida fighters clashed Thursday with members of one of Yemen’s largest infantry brigades outside Mukalla, a city the militants overran earlier this month. The officials, speaking from Sanaa on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press, said the leaders of the brigade fled.

Some 140 Americans fleeing unrest in Yemen have arrived in Djibouti, officials said, but hundreds of others are believed to still remain behind in Yemen. The families in Djibouti are exhausted, getting food and water and will receive "full consular services," authorities said. Americans could be seen smiling, grasping hands with U.S. Embassy staff members in Djibouti after fleeing from Yemen. Last week, more than 50 U.S. citizens filed lawsuits last week against the State Department and Department of Defense for failing to evacuate them.

Moscow, April 12 (QNA) – A ship of Russia’s naval forces has evacuated some 308 nationals, including 45 Russians, from Yemen, a defence ministry spokesman said on Sunday. The ministry official, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, told Russia’s (TASS) News Agency that “The Russian navy ship Priazovye has evacuated some 308 people from Yemen’s coast.” “Among those evacuated from the zone of military operations near the southern port of Aden are nationals of 19 countries,” Konashenkov said, noting some 45 citizens of the Russian Federation, 18 citizens of the United States, five citizens of Great Britain, one citizen of Bulgaria, six citizens...

WASHINGTON — A Michigan family with two toddlers and an infant was stranded in Yemen after being forced from its home by rebel gunmen. A California woman tried to flee through an arrangement with the embassy of Djibouti, but failed. A mother of four from New York also tried that route, at the State Department’s suggestion, only to hear the same reply: There would be no help. These accounts are among dozens presented in a lawsuit filed Thursday by Arab and Muslim civil rights groups seeking to force the Obama administration into taking action to bring home U.S. citizens who...

Saudi-led air strikes have failed to reverse the rebels' momentum Houthi militia inched closer Sunday to capturing the port city of Aden, where Saudi-backed forces loyal to Yemeni President Abdel Rabbo Mansour Hadi continue to hold out. The Shi‘ite rebels unleashed artillery barrages on residential areas in the city and targeted a pro-Hadi television station with mortar rounds, forcing it off the air, reports AFP. “There are bodies in the streets, and we can’t get close because there are Houthi snipers on the rooftops. Anything that gets near, they shoot at,” an unidentified medic told Reuters. Houthi militants continue to...

... From the center of the article ... "Yemen does have value as a lesson -- this is what happens when you ignore the basic foundations of social stability. These include legitimate leadership with stable succession plans; a united elite; institutions to bridge regional and ethnic divisions and assure fairness in political and economic access and a functioning economy with capabilities for providing employment and growth."

Yemen's beleaguered government said Saudi-led airstrikes against its Houthi militia opponents would not last long on the second day of a Gulf Arab-led campaign against the Iranian-allied militia that could escalate a proxy conflict spreading through the region. Warplanes targeted Houthi forces controlling Yemen's capital and their northern heartland on Friday and, in a boost for Riyadh, fellow monarchy Morocco said it would join the rapidly-assembled Sunni Muslim coalition against the Shi'ite Muslim group. Tribes in Yemen's oil producing Marib region said they supported the air campaign, but Houthi forces advanced south despite the airstrikes and Pakistan, named by Saudi...

With Saudi and allies striking Iranian-backed fighters, Israel and Jewish Agency increasingly frustrated by refusal of handful of Jews left in the country to leave. Israel is closely following developments in Yemen, where Gulf states are bombing Iranian-backed fighters, and has expressed deep concern over the fate of the last few Jews in the country. Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a series of air strikes overnight Wednesday, battling Iranian-backed Houthi fighters who have captured swathes of the country. Israel believes that there are less than 100 Jews remaining in Yemen. Most of that number is concentrated in Sanaa, which...

TEHRAN — Iran condemned regional rival Saudi Arabia on Thursday for launching air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying it was “a dangerous step” that violated “international responsibilities and national sovereignty.” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said that the military action would “further complicate the situation, spread the crisis and remove opportunities for a peaceful resolution of Yemen’s internal differences.” “The fact that Saudi Arabia has fanned the flames of a new war in the region shows its carelessness,” he said, in comments carried by the Fars news agency. “The smoke of this fire will go into the eyes...

US officials confirm to @NBCNews that Saudi Arabia has started bombing rebel positions inside #Yemen. NO indication of troops crossing in.

A White House spokesman said American efforts in Yemen are a "template that has succeeded," even as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the country by boat. White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday said that the U.S. still had Yemeni extremists in its crosshairs. According to media reports, Hadi fled the presidential palace in Yemen as rebels attempted an armed takeover of the city of Aden. Earnest told reporters that U.S. officials were not aware of Hadi's destination but insisted that American officials still had a level of control over the chaotic situation. "We have...

For far too long, the Iranian-backed Houthi movement was left to meddle in Yemen. Now, while one realizes that war should always be used as a last resort and that every effort to use political and peaceful means should be exhausted; the reality is time after time, Iran and its agents continue to prove that they can’t be trusted and that they will always behave as the rogue players that they are. Saudi Arabia and its allies – who up until now include all GCC states (excluding Oman), Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and Pakistan - answered the call with Operation:...

Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers for anti-Houthi campaign. Also from Al Arabiya: UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan Deploy Warplanes Against HouthisThe UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan have deployed fighter jets to join the Saudi air force in the ongoing air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Al Arabiya News Chanel reported. The UAE has deployed 30 fighter jets, Bahrain 15, Kuwait 15, Qatar 10 and Jordan 6 warplanes, according to the news channel. Pakistan and Egypt are also taking part in the military campaign, contribution with air and naval forces. Al Arabiya said Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan have...

Iran demanded an immediate halt to Saudi-led military operations in Yemen on Thursday and said it would make all necessary efforts to control the crisis there, Iranian news agencies reported. Warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies on Thursday struck Iran-allied Houthi forces fighting to oust the country's Western-backed president. Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported a ground offensive with troops from other Muslim states was being prepared.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states launched airstrikes against rebel forces in Yemen’s capital and across the country in defense of what Riyadh called the nation’s legitimate government. The attacks began Thursday morning, hours after Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the southern port city of Aden by boat when Iranian-backed Houthi militants closed in. The decision by Saudi Arabia and the region’s Sunni monarchies to intervene on Mr. Hadi’s behalf raises the stakes in their rivalry with predominantly Shiite Iran, which has raged in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. The raids also risked further inflaming sectarian...

Airstrikes by Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in turbulent Yemen have added a regional dimension to the conflict in the Arab world’s poorest country. Five reasons why the world should care about what is happening there: Yemen is home to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, which Washington has viewed as the most lethal branch of the global network founded by Osama bin Laden. AQAP has been linked to several attempted attacks on the U.S., including the underwear bomb plot of December 2009, and it claimed the January killings at the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie...