July 27-August 2: Civilians killed in Sa’dah market, Houthis bomb Security Belt, al-Qaeda attack rocks army base

Saturday, July 27

Houthi rebels shelled a food processing complex and residential areas of Hudaydah city on Saturday, killing one person and wounding several others. The facility was the target of many similar Houthi attacks last year and had since completed major reconstruction.

Monday, July 29

An airstrike on al-Thabet market in Yemen's northern Sa’dah province on Monday killed 14 civilians including four children. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. A Houthi report held the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the incident and also said it wounded 26. In response, coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki told CNN that "the targeting of Al-Thabet market by the terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia is a deliberate attack against innocent civilians." Representatives of the Yemeni government also blamed the explosion on the Houthis.

Gunmen attacked a police station in Aden today as part of an ongoing feud for over control a residential area of the city, reports al-Masdar Online.

Five civilians were killed by an armed gunman in Ibb on Monday, among them two women, according to al-Mahrah Post. 

Tuesday, July 30

Arab News reported on the ongoing medical treatment of Yemeni citizens in India. In the last two years, thousands of injured Yemeni civilians and soldiers have been transported to New Delhi for complex medical operations. The UAE has been funding the treatment, and India has been facilitating the process by issuing more visas to injured Yemenis.

Human rights groups (including Mwatana for Human Rights) investigating atrocities in the Yemen war have urged Australia to immediately suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Australia has argued that the weapons it sells to Saudi Arabia and the UAE go through extensive checks before shipment and are not used in violation of international humanitarian law.

Wednesday, July 31

A Twitter thread from pro-Hadi news account Yemen Now claims that, according to medical sources, approximately $250,000 worth of medical supplies were looted from Kuwait Hospital in San’a by the Houthis.

Landslides damaged a number of homes in Ibb today, according to al-Masdar Online.

Aden al-Ghad reports that the Joint Forces downed a Houthi drone in Hudaydah today.

Two women were shot and wounded in their homes by a Houthi sniper in western al-Dhali’ governorate yesterday evening, reports southern news outlet Aden al-Ghad. 

Thursday, August 1

Two attacks killed at least 51 on Thursday. Houthis said they had mounted drone and missile attacks on a military parade in Aden, killing civilians and several military commanders. In another attack in Aden, an explosives-laden car blew up at a police station, killing at least three officers and wounding dozens of civilians. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the police station attack. 

UAE-backed Separatist Security Belt commander Abu Yamamah was among those killed.

An article from al-Masdar Online discusses Houthi efforts to put 45 soldiers and officers on trial in Ibb for murder and rebellion, after the death of a Houthi leader sparked clashes in the city last June.

Friday, August 2

An al-Qaeda attack in the southern Abyan province today has killed at least 19 soldiers stationed at the al-Mahfad army base. "The Qaeda gunmen took advantage of what happened [on Thursday] in Aden and launched an assault on al-Mahfad base and clashed with soldiers," a government security official said.

April 11-17: Shaky ceasefire takes hold one week before scheduled peace talks

Monday, April 11Yemen’s ceasefire, which was scheduled to begin at midnight on April 10, was delayed 24 hours. Soon after the truce took hold on Monday, both sides accused one another of breaking it. The typically pro-Hadi government site Mareb Press reported violations by Houthi forces, while the pro-Houthi outlet Al-Masirah documented continued Saudi-led coalition airstrikes near San’a, Ta’iz, and other provinces. Despite these violations, the ceasefire remained in place. 

Tuesday, April 12 Four people were killed and eight others wounded in Aden on Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a group of young army recruits. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Wednesday, April 13 Mareb Press reported that a pro-Hadi military commander was killed in Nihm, east of San’a, during clashes with Houthi forces. The source claims that Houthi fighters initiated the attack in violation of the ongoing ceasefire and a number of the rebels were killed and injured in the exchange. Here is the same story, from the Gulf News perspective.

Local tribal officials and officers were dispatched on Wednesday to the provinces of Marib, Ta’iz, and Hajjah to act as ceasefire monitors in an attempt to stop truce violations and allow humanitarian aid to pass through.

US Senators Chris Murphy and Rand Paul introduced a resolution that would place conditions on US arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The proposal comes after Human Rights Watch revealed that US-supplied weapons were used in the Saudi-led airstrikes on a Hajjah market in March, which killed at least 119 people, mostly civilians.

Coalition helicopters reportedly struck al-Qaeda militants in Abyan province on Wednesday. At least 10 were killed and a number of others injured in one of the rare occasions that the Saudi-led coalition has directly attacked the militant group.

Thursday, April 14 Military sources reported on Thursday that 13 pro-Hadi government fighters were killed during attacks by Houthi forces in Nihm, outside of San’a. This is one of many attacks reportedly launched by both sides since the ceasefire began on April 10.

An apparent disagreement between the UK’s Foreign and Home offices was revealed after the Home Office issued an assessment stating that returning refugees to war-torn Yemen would be a breach of human rights due to the ongoing and indiscriminate airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. The Foreign Office, however, says that the government should not indulge these claims by “special interest groups” (meaning human rights groups and charities) that have repeatedly documented Saudi war crimes.

Friday, April 15 Yemeni forces, backed by Apache helicopters from a Saudi-led coalition, recaptured the city of Houta in southern Lahj province from al-Qaeda fighters after a gun battle on Friday morning.

The United States is considering a request from the UAE for military support to wage an offensive in Yemen against AQAP, according to US officials. The UAE is reportedly asking the US for help with medical evacuation and combat search and rescue as part of a broad request for American air power, intelligence, and logistics support in fighting al-Qaeda.

Saturday, April 16 The US transferred on Saturday nine Yemeni detainees from Guantánamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, completing a long-sought diplomatic deal ahead of Obama’s visit to Riyadh in the coming week. There are now 80 prisoners left in Guantanamo, 43 of whom are from Yemen.

Local Yemeni committees agreed on Saturday to begin monitoring the ceasefire, according to security officials. Monitors in Ta’iz agreed to exchange records of prisoners in preparation to release them, while also agreeing to open roads to Ta’iz, which the Houthis have besieged for nearly a year.

Sunday, April 17 Both sides appeared to be ready for Monday’s peace talks in Kuwait, with Hadi’s Foreign Minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi saying, “We are ready for a political transition which excludes no one...The world now looks to the Kuwait consultations as a landmark of peace for Yemenis, and we will give everything we can to alleviate the suffering of the people.” Meanwhile, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, spokesman for the Houthis, told Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai that "There should be a consensus authority during a definite transitional phase to decide every political dispute," adding that "Iran does not have any role in our sovereign decisions and we are not tools in anyone's hands."