Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday held a funeral for the prime minister and 11 other senior officials killed in an Israeli airstrike that decimated the political Cabinet.
Twelve coffins draped in flags were displayed at al-Shaab mosque in Sana’a, as masked gunmen patrolled the area and thousands of mourners flooded in.
Houthi prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two Cabinet officials were killed as they attended a government meeting in Sana’a on Thursday last week.
Photo: EPA
It was the highest profile assassination to be announced in Yemen in months of attacks by Israel during the Gaza war. The US also waged an intense bombing campaign against Houthi targets from March to May.
The Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones toward Israel throughout the Gaza war.
The Israeli military on Monday said that it had intercepted a drone launched from Yemen before it entered Israeli territory.
The Houthis on Sunday detained at least 11 UN workers as part of a roundup, prompting a protest from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
A Yemeni security source on Saturday said that Houthi authorities had arrested dozens of people in Sana’a and other areas “on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.”
The Houthis on Sunday also fired a missile at an Israeli tanker in the Red Sea, reprising a campaign waged throughout the Gaza war.
The missile landed close to the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray with a “loud bang,” the UK Maritime Trade Operations monitoring agency said.
Last week’s Israeli strike wiped out about half of the 22-strong Houthi Cabinet, which plays a mainly administrative role.
Al-Rahawi was from the southern province of Abyan, which is not part of the large swathes of Yemen under Houthi control.
The Houthis, who hail from divided Yemen’s rugged north, have traditionally reserved the role of prime minister for southerners in an attempt to win hearts and minds.
US-based Yemen analyst Mohammed al-Basha said last week’s strike might signal an Israeli shift toward targeted killings, an approach that gutted the leadership of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The attack could mark “the beginning of a campaign of targeted assassinations against both civilian and military Houthi leadership, even at informal gatherings,” he wrote on social media, calling it a “bad day” for the group.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
RSS