8/21
The Norwegian Refugee Council wrote a letter to the UN asking that they work towards a ceasefire and increase humanitarian aid in Yemen to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi blamed Iran’s support for the Houthis for causing the civil war. He also stated that Iran can’t be part of the solution, and that the Houthis still receive smuggled weapons from Iran.
The US Deputy Representative to the United Nations made remarks on the Yemeni humanitarian crisis, stating that parties to the conflict must take steps to address the situation and must allow the distribution of humanitarian aid. She also stated that Yemeni ports need more cranes to increase the speed of aid distribution and that airports must be reopened.
Islamic World News and South Front report that ISIS released a 12 minute long video about its growth in Yemen, though its expansion in Yemen has been slow in comparison to AQAP’s meteoric rise.
Yemen Press accuses Abu Dhabi of directly financing AQAP, citing a leaked document from the UN’s Panel of Experts on Yemen.
8/22
Michael Horton wrote an op-ed in the American Conservative explaining that the war in Yemen is furthered more by UK and US arms manufacturers’ profits than the profits of militias and politicians. Although the parties to the conflict profit from the war, Western arms manufacturers profit to a much higher degree and should be considered a major driver of the conflict.
The International Organization for Migration released a report on migration and population mobility within Yemen from May to June 2017. Overall, the IOM identified fewer migrants than the first report from March 2016. Migrant populations were mostly male, and mobile populations were mostly Ethiopian and Somali nationals.
8/23
The BBC’s Nawal al-Maghafi documented the hardships that several Yemeni families face amidst a cholera epidemic and the Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign.
A coalition airstrike hit a hotel outside San’a and killed dozens of people, with casualty estimates ranging from 35 to over 60. The victims are said to have been farm laborers.
The US Commander for the Middle East visited the Saudi-Yemeni border to better understand Saudi Arabia’s security situation.
Al Jazeera reported that Yemen analysts deem the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen to be a “strategic failure.” However, since Saudi security is dependent on Yemeni security, a Saudi withdrawal in unlikely.
8/24
The Canadian government’s Global Affairs department is struggling to find conclusive evidence that Saudi Arabia used Canadian armored vehicles to commit human rights abuses as recently-released images suggest.
Boeing’s pending sale of Chinook CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters to Saudi Arabia was modified; the contract was changed from selling refurbished helicopters to new builds, a $222.5 million modification.
8/25
Former president Saleh staged a mass rally in San’a in a display of power amidst tensions in the Houthi-Saleh alliance. The Houthis held their own rally in the same area, including a parade of heavily-armed fighters.
A Saudi airstrike in San’a struck a residential area and killed at least 14 people, including 5 children. The coalition announced that it would investigate the incident.
The New York Times editorial board wrote that the UN should have put Saudi Arabia on the blacklist of countries that harm children last year and that the UN should publicly shame Saudi Arabia this year, following the UN draft report that stated that Saudi Arabia causes half of children’s deaths and 75% of school and hospital attacks.
A piece in Critical Threats argued that there are two “diseases” in Yemen, the cholera outbreak and Salafi-jihadists. The conflict in Yemen has weakened the state’s capability to respond and the ability of other organizations to distribute aid, facilitating the cholera epidemic. AQAP and ISIS have been able to exploit the conflict, and they continue to grow despite US counterterrorism efforts.
The International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the airstrike in the residential area of Sana’a that killed 14 people, calling on the parties to the conflict to spare civilians.
The UN stated that it is gathering information on airstrikes and attacks in Yemen in the past month, which have killed 58 people.
Amnesty International called on the UN to scrutinize Saudi Arabia for its role in the deaths of children in Yemen. It states that Saudi Arabia, after two years of conflict, continues to defy international humanitarian law.
8/26
The Saudi-led coalition admitted that this week’s attack on a residential neighborhood killed civilians due to a technical error.
The Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council stated that humanitarian organizations face difficulties distributing aid and food because of the Saudi-led coalition’s sanctions against civilian and commercial goods that are backed by the US and UK.
AP reports that a US military helicopter crashed off the southern coast of Yemen, with one member of the six-person crew still missing. They were undergoing routine training when the incident occurred, according to US Central Command.
The SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties condemned the recent coalition airstrikes that killed civilians and called on other countries and international organizations to exert pressure on the coalition. In 2017, SAM has documented 39 attacks killing 390 civilians.
8/27
An Al Jazeera investigation found that 90% of cholera deaths occur in Houthi-controlled territory, partly as a result of the blockade and air raids by the Saudi-led coalition. Airstrikes have destroyed health and sanitation systems, and coalition forces block aid from being distributed.
Secretary-General Guterres of the UN said that the Saudi-led coalition has not pressured the UN over the draft report describing its role in child deaths in Yemen. He also said that any pressure would not influence his decision on whether to add Saudi Arabia and the other members of the coalition to the child rights blacklist.