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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Sep-2014
10-Sep-14 World View -- Yemen faces both Shia Houthi protesters and Sunni AQAP jihadists

Web Log - September, 2014

10-Sep-14 World View -- Yemen faces both Shia Houthi protesters and Sunni AQAP jihadists

Protests in Sanaa are tied to gasoline subsidies

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Yemen fighting Houthi rebels in capital city Sanaa
Three Yemen soldiers killed by AQAP suicide bombers

Yemen fighting Houthi rebels in capital city Sanaa

Yemen soldiers (Yemen Times)

Yemen soldiers (Yemen Times)

Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world, is also one of the most troubled. Yemen is fighting multiple wars at once.

The latest crisis is that four ethnic Houthis were shot and killed in the capital city Sanaa. They were part of a large group of Houthis who who have been camped out since mid-August. There have been several conflicts with the police. On Tuesday, the Houthis tried to force their way into the prime minister's office. The security forces who responded claim that they were not responsible for the protesters' deaths because they didn't shoot at the protesters, but shot in the air.

The protests were triggered by deep cuts in fuel subsidies in July imposed by Yemen's president Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, raising the price of gasoline by 60% and diesel by 95%. The cuts in fuel subsidies were demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in return for extending a $552.9 million credit line to Yemen.

Because of widespread public unrest, particularly anti-government rallies by Houthi rebels, Hadi last week ordered a 12% rollback in the subsidies. However, the Houthis are refusing to accept the partial rollback, and are demanding that the subsidies be fully restored.

The Houthis are in the Zaidi branch of the Shia Muslim religion, and are in control of large swathes of territory in northern Yemen, along the border with Saudi Arabia. They're considered a threat to both the Yemen government in Sanaa and the Saudi Arabia government in Riyadh. It's believed that Iran is funding them and supplying them with weapons, in an attempt to destabilize both Yemen and Saudi Arabia. SABA (Yemen) and Platts and Al Jazeera

Three Yemen soldiers killed by AQAP suicide bombers

While Yemen is fighting Shia Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, they're facing Sunni jihadists in southern Yemen, in the form of Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). AQAP has taken control of a large region and set up terrorist training camps. Before the rise of the Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS), AQAP was considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda to the United States. AQAP was responsible for several attempted terrorist attacks on the United States, including the underwear bomb that was used in the failed Christmas day bombing in 2009. One component of AQAP, Ansar al-Sharia, operates in both Yemen and Libya, and is believed responsible for the September 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber reached an army checkpoint in Yemen, leading to a gunfight. A second suicide bomber sped towards the same checkpoint and detonated his explosives, killing the soldiers. It's estimated that in 2014 so far, AQAP attacks have killed 387 soldiers and injured hundreds more. Atrocities by militants reached a pinnacle in August this year as 14 off-duty soldiers travelling on a civilian bus were kidnapped and executed by AQAP militants, four of whom were beheaded. Yemen Times and Al-Ahram (Cairo)

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 10-Sep-14 World View -- Yemen faces both Shia Houthi protesters and Sunni AQAP jihadists thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (10-Sep-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Sep-2014 10-Sep-14 World View -- Yemen faces both Shia Houthi protesters and Sunni AQAP jihadists

Yemen fighting Houthi rebels in capital city Sanaa

Three Yemen soldiers killed by AQAP suicide bombers

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Sep-2014
10-Sep-14 World View -- Yemen faces both Shia Houthi protesters and Sunni AQAP jihadists