Yemen Bahrain Saudi update 8/26/2016..Saudi Arabia 'too arrogant to accept defeat' in Yemen

Houthis seizing several Saudi army posts in Alshaibani Hills S Asir province

Yemeni forces break into Zajj and Yemeni Qulal Shaibani posts

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Mareb Mercenaries’ advance attempt failed

Yemeni Army, Popular Forces Seize US-Made Arms in Ma’rib, Continue to Advance in Najran

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950605000419

The Yemeni army and popular forces discovered an arms depot of pro-Saudi forces in Ma’rib province which contained weapons and ammunition made in the US as Ansarullah fighters continued to gain more military grounds in the kingdom’s Najran and Jizan provinces. The Yemeni forces seized a weapons depot of the Saudi-led forces in Ma’rib province which was packed with the US-made arms and dispatched from Saudi Arabia to the Yemeni province. The Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters also seized the military positions of the Saudi army in Najran province. Score of pro-Saudi forces were killed and wounded in fierce clashes with the Yemeni army and Ansarullah fighters in the region.

On Wednesday, the Yemeni army and popular forces repelled an attack by the forces loyal to the former fugitive President Mansour Hadi on their military positions in the Western part of Ta’iz province, inflicting heavy losses on them in a counteroffensive. The pro-Hadi militias attacked the Yemeni military positions in Zobab region in Western Ta’iz, but they were pushed back by the army and popular forces. Several militias were killed and wounded in the Yemeni forces’ counteroffensive. The Yemeni forces also destroyed several armored and military vehicles of the Saudi forces in the army counter-offensive.

Also on Wednesday, the Yemeni army continued its advances against the Saudi-led forces in the Southern parts of the kingdom, battlefield commanders disclosed, adding that more lands in Jizan and Najran provinces have been seized in recent days. “Yemen’s special forces backed by tribal forces have taken full control of the all Saudi military positions in Najran’s border region,” Senior Ansarullah Commander Ali al-Hamzdani told FNA. He reiterated that the Saudi forces fled their military positions as the Yemeni forces continued their advances in Najran and Jizan provinces. “Fierce clashes are currently underway between Yemeni and Saudi forces in Assir and Jizan provinces,” al-Hamzdani added.

On Tuesday, the Yemeni army and popular forces hit a strategic military base of the Saudi-led forces in Ma’rib province with their ballistic missile, inflicting heavy losses on them. Al-Falaj military base located in Ma’rib province in Western Yemen was hit by Yemen’s Zalzal 3 missile. Early reports indicated large casualties on the pro-Saudi forces in the missile attack. The Saudi army and its coalition members have lost, at least, over a hundred troops each time they have come under a ballistic missile attack by Yemen. The Yemeni attack came in retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s continued violation of ceasefire across Yemen, killing a large number of civilians.

Also last week, a Qaher-I ballistic missile hit Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait military base, destroying their military hardware and equipment. The Saudi-led forces’ armored vehicles were destroyed during the Yemeni missile attack. Also in mid-August, the Yemeni army missiles pounded the Saudi troops’ military positions in the kingdom’s Southwestern provinces, while Ansarullah fighters fended off the Saudi forces’ attacks in border regions in Northern Yemen. “The Saudi military centers in Najran and Jizan provinces came under the Yemeni army’s missile attacks today,” Ansarullah Commander Abdullah al-Zeidi told FNA. He also noted that the Yemeni forces repelled the Saudi army attacks on their military positions in border areas near Jizan and Najran provinces, and said, “The Yemeni army and popular forces fired tens of mortar rounds at al-Tala’a and al-Shabaka military sites in the Southern parts of Saudi Arabia.” Al-Zeidi also said that Saudi Arabia’s newly-established site in al-Khoba of Jizan province also came under Yemen’s missile attack, killing and wounding several Saudi troops.

Asir Saudi military vehicle destroyed 26 8 2016

Jizan Ballistic missile hit Aramco oil company 26 8 2016

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-26/oil-spikes-iran-report-saudi-aramco-facilities-hit-yemen-missiles

Oil Spikes On Iran Report Saudi Aramco Facilities Hit By Yemen Missiles

POWER RELAY FACILITY SET ON FIRE BY PROJECTILE FIRED FROM YEMEN TOWARDS SOUTHERN SAUDI ARABIAN CITY OF NAJRAN- SAUDI STATE NEWS AGENCY While oil is spiking thanks to the dollar’s kneejerk reaction lower following Yellen’s (not really) hawkish speech, another reason for the move higher appears to be an unconfirmed report by Iran’s PressTV that Yemeni forces have fired ballistic missiles at the facilities belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the kingdom’s southwest. From the report:

Yemeni forces have fired ballistic missiles at the facilities belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the kingdom’s southwest. The retaliatory attack took place on Friday, hitting targets in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan region and causing considerable damage to the Aramco facilities there, Yemen’s al-Masirah television reported. The Saudi military has been pounding Yemen since March last year to undermine Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and to restore power to the former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh. Nearly 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Riyadh’s military aggression which lacks any international mandate.

Taiz Tens of Riyadh’s mercenaries killed 26 8 2016

Saudi Arabia ‘Too Arrogant to Accept Defeat’ in Yemen

The founder of the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission said the Saudis are “too arrogant and don’t want to accept a defeat” they suffered in the war against Yemeni people.

“Riyadh will drag on the war, refusing to negotiate or discuss peace, which is the only intelligent exit strategy left to the House of Saud,” the founder of the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shajareh, said in an interview about Western involvement and possible outcomes of the Yemen war, Sputnik reported.

Framing the violence in Yemen as a proxy war involving Iran is flat-out wrong, in the words of Shajareh, who was interviewed by Brian Becker on Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear program.

Iran, accused by the Saudis of supporting the political opposition faction throughout the war, hasn’t got any influence on conflict in Yemen, he said.

“There’s a total blockade of sea, and Iranian weapons cannot get through, personnel cannot get through. Iran has no air forces involved,” Shajareh noted, offering that the real driving force of the hostilities in Yemen is Saudi Arabia that has been shelling the country since March 2015.

To justify its attempted invasion, the Saudis used the pretext of spreading democracy, which is patently absurd, given that Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, and it practices executions and widely oppresses women, Shajareh said.

Riyadh “wants to be a regional power” and has instigated a number of conflicts, including those in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, he said.

“They want to strengthen themselves so as to ensure the continuation of the royal family’s dictatorship.”

The Saudi’s real goal in sending troops Yemen, he said, is to place a puppet president in power who will obey Riyadh.

“Here we’ve got one of the richest countries in the region, or in the world, attacking one of the poorest countries, destroying infrastructure and killing children,” he said, speaking of the ongoing Saudi bombing campaign, known to be using US-manufactured weapons.

The Hypocrisy of the West’s Alliance With Saudi Arabia The war has not only killed nearly 10,000 people and left the country in ruins, but has also given a “kiss of life” to a branch of al Qaeda now planted in Yemen, he added. Concurrently, “the international community, that is supposed to be the peak of democracy and justice, is involved in it,” Shajareh stated.

Citing an Oxfam report, he observed that the UK is also actively supplying Riyadh with arms and ammunition, which are being liberally used against civilians. “Saudi Arabia couldn’t possibly get engaged in this sort of war without such support,” he said. Riyadh made it clear that its airstrikes, targeting hospitals and schools, are overlooked by the West, Shajareh pointed out, citing the Saudi Foreign Minister’s claim that US and UK commanders have access to the list of Saudi airstrike targets.

“The reality is that not only is Saudi Arabia committing war crimes, but also those who make it possible,” he added, referring to logistical assistance and weapons supplied by Washington and London. Among the reasons prompting Americans and Britons to turn a blind eye to the “carnage and international law violations” currently being committed in Yemen by the Saudis is the aggressive sale of weapons by the West, weapons specifically provided for the use of Riyadh against the opposition.

Pentagon Withdraws Air Support to Saudi Forces in Yemen as Civilian Deaths Mount “There are no economic reasons, other than the sale of arms. There’s no oil, geopolitical interest for the US or the UK there. So it really goes back to old-fashioned corruption.” In spite of the far-reaching support of the Western allies, the Saudis are stuck in a quagmire similar to that being experienced by the US in Afghanistan.

The Ansarullah faction, disorganized at the beginning of the war, have become a “fighting machine, manufacturing weapons and being able to sustain themselves, despite all the blockades that had been imposed.”

The Saudis, in their wealth and Western friendships, are “too arrogant and don’t want to accept a defeat” that has already happened, he said. “Riyadh will drag on the war, refusing to negotiate or discuss peace, which is the only intelligent exit strategy left to the House of Saud,” Shajareh concluded.

Iran denies sending arms to Yemen

Yemeni tribes mobilize support for Army& Popular Committees 26 8 2016

UN rights chief calls for international probe into violations in Yemen 26 8 2016

Bahrain’s Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Transferred to Hospital

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950605000827

A Relative of Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab said the imprisoned activist will be transferred to hospital due to pain in his chest.

Son of Nabeel Rajab, Adam said that his father called from prison and told them that he will be transferred to hospital due to pain in his chest, Bahrain Mirror reported.

Adam Rajab did not provide more details on his fathers deteriorating health.