Recent Appearances...

Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Arabia

Royal Saudi Air Force carried out airstrikes near Al Ghaydah, the capital of Al Mahrah governorate in eastern Yemen

2026-01-05

The Royal Saudi Air Force 🇸🇦 carried out airstrikes near Al Ghaydah, the capital of Al Mahrah governorate in eastern Yemen 🇾🇪, after some UAE-backed 🇦🇪 STC forces refused to hand over their weapons or withdraw from the city. The strikes were intended as a warning ⚠️. https://t.co/YzZ075NV7A pic.twitter.com/j4ZOpoJQA9
— Rich Tedd 🛰 ✈️ (@AfriMEOSINT) January 4, 2026

#CHO #Yemen | Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition @modgovksa carried out airstrikes near the eastern axis of Al-Ghaydah. The area is currently hosting pro–Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces operating under the Al-Ghaydah Axis command, led by Major General Mohsen… https://t.co/jzIxFxcNK1 pic.twitter.com/30vdpcxQZo
— Basha باشا (@BashaReport) January 4, 2026

Text:

#CHO #Yemen | Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes near the eastern axis of Al-Ghaydah. The area is currently hosting pro–Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces operating under the Al-Ghaydah Axis command, led by Major General Mohsen Marassa, alongside Brigadier Sayyaf al-Maka’ar, commander of the Sixth Support and Reinforcement Brigade, both aligned with the STC South Arabia.

Initial reports described the airstrikes as warning strikes intended to pressure STC forces to withdraw, particularly as the Third Division of the National Shield Forces, led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Sadiq al-Ja‘di al-Mahri, together with elements of the NSF Fifth and Sixth Brigades based in Qishn, has been coordinating a safe exit for STC forces from Al-Mahrah, allowing personnel to depart with personal weapons and civilian vehicles while military equipment remains in the governorate.

More at the link

Dozens of UAE-backed Fighters killed in Saudi strikes in Hadhramaut
[HodhodYemenNews] Dozens of fighters from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed in Saudi ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in Hadhramaut’s valley districts over the past two days, media sources reported Sunday. The strikes reportedly targeted positions seized earlier by STC forces.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the preliminary figures indicate that at least 70 STC fighters were killed. Most of them come from the provinces of Dhalea and restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
provinces.

According to the statistics, Radfan (in Lahj governorate) recorded the highest number of victims, with 22 killed, followed by Dhalea with 14 killed.

The report added that among the dead were seven fighters from Yafa, seven from the al-Musaymir in Lahj, four from Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, and two each from Shabwah and Aden.

No casualties were reported from Hadhramaut, despite STC claims that local fighters make up the bulk of its forces there.

The sources also noted that five unidentified dead were believed to belong to forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, amid claims from media affiliated with the Islah party that those units had taken part in operations in Hadhramaut

Hundreds more are believed to have been maimed in the strikes and ensuing festivities across the valley and coastal districts, the reports said.

These bloody developments come following intensive air raids by Saudi warplanes on the camps of the First Military Region, which had been seized by the STC forces, in the districts of Hadhramaut, at the beginning of last December, as part of a ground operation that was then called ’Promising Future.’

The sources said the Saudi strikes forced STC units to withdraw from sites they had captured, stretching from al-Khasha’a in al-Abr district in northern Hadhramaut to Seiyun and the placid provincial capital, Mukalla. There are also reports of possible moves to push STC units out of neighboring Shabwah.

This comes after Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
forced the UAE to pull its forces out of military bases it had set up in Hadhramaut and Shabwah — extending to Aden and Lahj — after Abu Dhabi’s role in the Saudi-led coalition’s war was effectively ended.

An Nahar adds:

At least 80 troops from Yemen's secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) have been killed in fighting with Saudi-backed forces and strikes since Friday, a military official from the group told AFP on Sunday.

At least 152 members of the UAE-backed STC forces were wounded and 130 were taken captive, the official said, giving a preliminary toll of casualties following the start of the operation.

Saudi-backed forces began on Friday operations to retake swathes of territory seized by the UAE-backed STC, as a struggle for dominance between forces backed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies.

Most of the casualties had occurred in strikes by the Saudi-led coalition that targeted military camps held by the separatists, the official said, including Al-Khasha and Barshid military camps in Hadramawt province.

Yemen's presidency on Saturday announced the retaking of resource-rich Hadramawt, following an apparent retreat of the STC.

Riyadh-aligned government military officials on Saturday also said authorities in neighboring Mahra province had switched back their allegiance without any resistance.

On Sunday, Saudi-backed forces were consolidating positions in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, two government military officials told AFP.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have long supported rival groups in Yemen's divided government. A December offensive by the STC, in which it took control of Hadramawt and Mahra, angered Saudi Arabia, exposing strains in ties between the two oil-rich powers.

The Saudi-led coalition launched repeated warnings and air strikes over the past week, including one on an alleged Emirati arms shipment to the separatists.

On Friday, a strike on the Al-Khasha military camp in Hadramawt left 20 dead, according to an earlier toll from the separatist group.

On Saturday, a military official with the STC told AFP Saudi warplanes had carried out "intense" air strikes on another of the group's camps at Barshid, west of Mukalla.

The Times of Israel has more here.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Democrats Protecting Maduro's Narcos

2025-12-09

[John Kass News] For the 40 years that my wife and I have been together, she's never lobbied me about a column.

Not once.

Not even when my writing made things difficult for her socially, when I was the lead columnist at the Tribune, a conservative, and our small West Suburban village had been overrun by what I call AWFLS, the Angry White Female Leftists who hectored and ousted a reasonable moderate Democrat, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D, IL). Our village, Western Springs, became known for all the Hate Has No Home Here signs in the front yards. These were rather like a declaration of war, or at least an "unwelcome mat."

But there was one time when she asked me to write on a topic that as a mother and a teacher struck her to the core:

The 100,000 young Americans who had been killed by the Narcotraffickers to the indifference and shrugs of the Democrats and the corporate legacy media. They had twisted themselves like pretzels defending Joe Biden's open borders. I called that column Biden's Border Chaos, 100,000 Fentanyl Dead and Hands That Rocked the Cradle, about the millions of illegal migrants and the drugs poisonin America's young.

If you're a parent, you know how parents process such news of the young Americans poisoned by the narcotraffickers. We're horrified into stunned silence. I can still see her years ago, when when I'd come home late after work, her hands rocking those twin wooden cradles as I opened the door, Betty wordlessly warning me not to wake up the boys. The hands that rock the cradle shape the world.

While the Southern border has been closed, drugs continue to make their way to America, and death comes with them. I keep hearing the argument that the narcotraffickers of Mexico and Venezuela are providing a service that the American people are willing to pay for. I understand the theoretical economic argument. But do me a favor:

Try to explain that to a grieving father who's just lost his daughter to the poisoning of narcotraffickers. Because that's what it is: Poisoning.

It is an act of war.

And I really don't give two figs if the killers of American young come from Mexico or Venezuela or some Middle-East hellhole. Be clear on this: It is an act of war to kill our kids. Jesus would tie a millstone around their necks and toss them into the sea.

Given the mid-term elections are coming, the hysteria of Democrats and their corrupt handmaidens in the legacy corporate media, their war cry is that the Trump White House taking out narco boats coming from Venezuela into the Caribbean is reprehensible and a war crime. This follows the Democrat's "Seditious Six thought experiments in propaganda attacking the military chain of command, hoping to intimidate some 18-year-old soldier into disobeying orders. It's all part of a political game to tear America apart. But the Seditious Six is antithetical to the law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It was organized by an American CIA officer.

Of course it was.

I'm told in their defense that stupidity is not a crime. But the Seditious Six is irksome and dangerous. So I offer have compromise for the Democrats, just as their leader, Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain who is by law subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice is restored in rank to be frog marches to his court martial. There he would be stripped of rank and pension.

The Democrats have been at fever pitch screaming that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is a war criminal for blowing up Venezuelan drug boats aimed at the United States.

A useful piece was offered by my favorite periodical, the Federalist The Media's ‘War Crimes' Hoax Was Always About Taking Out Hegseth

Of course it was.

"Throughout the past week, these so-called "defenders of democracy" and their Democrat allies have been salivating at an anonymously sourced Washington Post hit piece against War Secretary Pete Hegseth," writes Shawn Fleetwood. "As The Federalist's Brianna Lyman summarized, the gist of this little hatchet job is that Hegseth supposedly "'gave a spoken directive' to ‘kill everybody' after a Sept. 2 strike left two smugglers ‘clinging to the smoldering wreck'" in the Caribbean.

The implication, of course, is that Hegseth is guilty of wrongdoing and alleged "war crimes" ‐ a term Democrats quickly latched onto to (once again) call for the war secretary's resignation. (The Post's article conveniently came days after several Democrat lawmakers fomented fears about the Pentagon giving "illegal orders" to U.S. service members.)

But as Americans have come to learn in the days since the Post's "bombshell" dropped, all signs point to the hit piece being ‐ wait for it ‐ complete garbage.

In a surprise move, The New York Times ‐ yes that hoax-peddling New York Times ‐ published a story contradicting the Post's central reported claim that Hegseth ordered military officials to "kill everybody" aboard the suspected drug-smuggling vessel."

Throughout the past week, these so-called "defenders of democracy" and their Democrat allies have been salivating at an anonymously sourced Washington Post hit piece against War Secretary Pete Hegseth. As The Federalist's Brianna Lyman summarized, the gist of this little hatchet job is that Hegseth supposedly "'gave a spoken directive' to ‘kill everybody' after a Sept. 2 strike left two smugglers ‘clinging to the smoldering wreck'" in the Caribbean."

But the Democrats shrieking like banshees for the head of Hegseth and President Trump have a profound difficulty with history.

Former presidential speechwriter Marc Thiessen of the Washington Post argues that like almost everything, you'll find Obama involved.

"President Barack Obama did it all the time. Indeed, in targeting cartels it has designated as foreign terrorist organizations, the Trump administration appears to be closely following the playbook pioneered by Obama.

"On taking office, Obama dramatically escalated the use of drone strikes against terrorism targets after ending the CIA's terrorist interrogation program ‐ finding it was simpler to vaporize enemy combatants rather than capture them alive for questioning. So Obama forged what the New York Times called at the time a "take-no-prisoners policy," ordering more than 540 drone strikes on terrorists in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen (including one that killed a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula).

"The strikes Obama ordered were similar to those Trump has carried out in the waters off of Venezuela. Obama used what were called "signature strikes" in which the U.S. targeted patterns of behavior denoting terrorist activity ("signatures") even when the precise identity of the individuals being targeted was unknown. And he routinely carried out so-called "double-tap" strikes ‐ hitting a target once and then striking again to take out any survivors or other terrorists who rushed to the scene after the initial hit.

"We used double-taps all the time," said David Shedd, former deputy director and acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Obama administration. "You would get the initial signature off of a target that's been hit," he told me in a podcast interview, "and if you saw that they ‘squirted' and were injured … you hit them again." In fact, he said, "there was often a second predator ready to go … that was fully expected to be used if you didn't have a 100 percent coming out of the first hit ‐ and maybe a third hit," adding that "it was done routinely" and there "was bipartisan support on the Hill for doing it."

Obama personally approved the "kill lists" for these strikes. "Turns out I'm really good at killing people," Obama reportedly declared to aides. According to one estimate, the strikes Obama authorized killed an estimated 3,797 people.

He was really good at killing people bragged the man from Chicago, the so-called phony reformer who got his start in real estate helped by the convicted bagman Tony Rezko.

He was good at killing people, without warrants, with Democrats silent as drugs spread into America. The Democrats pretend that they're shocked and surprised as China and Iran develop their foothold in our hemisphere, as America families keep burying their children.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Remember all those young men crossing the border - NCTC Warn of New Al-Qaida Plot in Memo; Loomer Claims 'Horrific' Multicity Attacks Coming

2025-09-21

[NEWSMAX] The National Counterterrorism Center issued a sobering memo Friday warning that U.S.-designated terrorist group al-Qaeda and its Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
-based affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
, remain intent on striking America.

Did that ever pause? The amazing thing is how few attacks have actually happened over the past quarter century…

In a nationwide advisory distributed to law enforcement, the agency said the groups are seeking to exploit ongoing global conflicts and U.S. involvement overseas.

Al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula "are likely seeking to leverage their media publications and global conflicts, particularly where there is U.S. support or military involvement, to inspire potential attackers," the memo read.

The National Counterterrorism Center, created in 2004 after the 9/11 attacks, urged government personnel to heighten vigilance.

Officials were told not to share travel plans online, to avoid carrying badges or IDs outside of work, and to stay alert for surveillance.

The memo also highlighted soft targets, including sporting events and concerts, urging local authorities to deploy visible law enforcement and conduct pre-event security briefings.

Link

Arabia

STC members killed and wounded during clash in Zinjibar

2025-07-04

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] At least three members of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed and four others maimed on Tuesday, including field commanders, in bloody festivities in the city of Zinjibar of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
A local source in the city said that the festivities erupted between members of the Security Belt factions, led by Mustafa Lashqam, and the Gulf City Protection Force, led by Abdul Rahman al-Faqih.

The source attributed the festivities to previous disputes following the arrest of al-Faqih's brother by Security Belt forces last November at the Arish checkpoint on charges of possessing alcohol and women.

The festivities broke out after an attempt to oust al-Faqih from command of the Gulf City residential area in Khanfar district, which led to a kaboom of tensions between the UAE-funded faction leaders, who have witnessed unprecedented internal conflicts and disputes due to their rivalry over lands in the area.

Link

Arabia

Former al-Qaeda commander and HTS associate launches new movement in Hadhramaut Valley

2025-04-16

[HodhodYemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
News] Abu Omar Riyad al-Nahdi, a former leader in al-Qaeda and a prominent associate of the head of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) in Iraq, has officially launched a new political movement called "Current of Change and Liberation" in the city of Seiyun, Hadhramaut Valley, well-informed sources reported.

The sources confirmed that al-Nahdi, who defected from the takfiri

...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
organization in 2018, was previously known by "Rafiq al-Shar’a" due to his close ties with Ahmed al-Shar’a (Abu Mohammed al-Julani), the leader of HTS—a ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
-backed faction that later declared itself the governing authority in Syria after Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
’s departure from power.

The new movement has reportedly gained significant traction in the valley’s districts, coinciding with humanitarian activities carried out by the Ottoman Turkish Red Islamic Thingy (Hilal al-Ahmar al-Turki) in recent years, facilitated by leaders of al-Islah Party (Yemen’s Moslem Brüderbund affiliate).

Notably, al-Nahdi previously fought with al-Qaeda in Iraq before announcing his defection and undergoing political training, raising questions about his true objectives, regional affiliations, and activities under a political cover in Hadhramaut’s oil-rich areas. These regions are controlled by factions of the First Military District, which is loyal to Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a leading figure in al-Islah.

Observers view the announcement of this movement in Seiyun as a clear message from al-Islah to curb the ambitions of the UAE-backed Southern Translation Council (STC), which has failed since August 2022 to fully control Hadhramaut Valley after declaring "Operation Arrows of the East."

Saudi-led forces blocked the STC’s military advances after the factions seized al-Islah’s camps in Shabwa and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
.

This comes at a time when Hadhramaut Governorate is witnessing intense political conflicts between the UAE and Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, carried out through local proxies such as the STC, the Hadhramaut Tribes Alliance, and al-Jami’, the latter two being headed by tribal sheikh Amr bin Habrish al-Ali, who is aligned with Saudi Arabia. His armed forces took control of the oil fields in July of last year and are now moving to encircle the coastal districts controlled by UAE-backed factions, including al-Rayyan Airport and the al-Dhaba oil terminal, which have been under Emirati control since 2016.

Link

Arabia

Two prominent Al-Qaeda figures killed in Saudi-occupied Yemen

2025-02-16

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Two prominent leaders of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, including a Saudi national, were killed in separate ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in the governorates of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
and Shabwah, which are under the control of the Saudi-led coalition in southeastern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
Informed sources confirmed that a senior figure, known by the alias Abu Muhammad al-Hudhali al-Makki—a Saudi national—was killed in a US airstrike on the Musayna'ah area in the al-Saeed district, south of Ataq in Shabwa governorate, which is controlled by UAE-backed factions, last Wednesday.

The sources also reported the death of another leader, Ayoub al-restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
i, in a similar airstrike in Mudiyah district, Abyan governorate, last week.

These operations targeting the organization's leaders followed the death of another leader, Abu Yusuf al-Mahdi al-Hadrami, earlier in February. He was killed in a kaboom involving a booby-trapped cycle of violence in the Wadi district, east of Ma'rib city, which is controlled by the Islah Party.

The governorates of Abyan, Shabwah, and Ma'rib have witnessed a significant presence of terrorist elements, especially after Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
gathered these groups into training camps following the cleansing operations carried out by Sana'a forces in the al-Bayda districts in recent years.

Link

Arabia

New study reveals million dollar business in human trafficking of African refugees to Yemen

2025-01-15

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A shocking international study has revealed the extent of the illicit trade that thrives on the back of the suffering of African ~~migrants~~ colonists heading to Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
A study conducted by the ''MMC'' (a global network), which specializes in migration research, showed that the smuggling of African ~~migrants~~ colonists to Yemen generates about $30 million annually for organized smuggling gangs.

The study indicated that about 100,000 ~~migrants~~ colonists attempt to cross Yemen annually, making this route a major target for smuggling gangs that operate in an organized manner from Djibouti.

This trade is considered one of the most dangerous types of illegal immigration in the world, as ~~migrants~~ colonists put their lives at risk on a dangerous journey across the Red Sea.

During the past year, hundreds of African ~~migrants~~ colonists arrived on the coasts of Shabwa and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
provinces amid accusations against leaders of the UAE-backed factions of collusion with smuggling gangs in exchange for sums of money paid to them on a monthly basis.

Just before Christmas when I ordered lots of green coffee beans from a site in Oakland CA (Oakland where much of our good coffee enters the USA), They had 3 types from Yemen. They have not had Yemen coffee in years so somehow Yemen coffee is on the world's market again even though they lob missiles and drones like confetti.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Some pager boomer chemistry for those adverse to searching the web in such times as these

2024-09-18

Extracted from public domain, edited for readability. Scrubbed.
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT,
pentyl, PENTA (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian), TEN
(tetraeritrit nitrate), corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and
primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material.
It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythritol, and is structurally
very similar to nitroglycerin. Penta refers to the five carbon
atoms of the neopentane skeleton. PETN is a very powerful
explosive material with a relative effectiveness factor of
1.66. When mixed with a plasticizer, PETN forms a plastic
explosive. Along with RDX it is the main ingredient of Semtex.

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate
PETN is also used as a vasodilator drug to treat certain heart
conditions, such as for management of angina.

History
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate was first prepared and patented in
1894 by the explosives manufacturer Rheinisch-Westfälische
Sprengstoff A.G. of Cologne, Germany. The production of PETN started in 1912, when the improved method of production was patented by the German government. PETN was used by the German Military in World War I. It was also used in the MG FF/M
autocannons and many other weapon systems of the Luftwaffe in World War II.

Properties
PETN is practically insoluble in water (0.01 g/100 mL at
50 °C), weakly soluble in common nonpolar solvents such as
aliphatic hydrocarbons (like gasoline) or tetrachloromethane,
but soluble in some other organic solvents, particularly in
acetone (about 15 g/100 g of the solution at 20 °C, 55 g/100 g
at 60 °C) and dimethylformamide (40 g/100 g of the solution
at 40 °C, 70 g/100 g at 70 °C). PETN forms eutectic mixtures
with some liquid or molten aromatic nitro compounds, e.g.
trinitrotoluene (TNT) or tetryl. Due to steric hindrance of the
adjacent neopentyl-like moiety, PETN is resistant to attack by
many chemical reagents; it does not hydrolyze in water at
room temperature or in weaker alkaline aqueous solutions.
Water at 100 °C or above causes hydrolysis to dinitrate;
presence of 0.1% nitric acid accelerates the reaction.

The chemical stability of PETN is of interest, because of the
presence of PETN in aging weapons. Neutron radiation
degrades PETN, producing carbon dioxide and some
pentaerythritol dinitrate and trinitrate. Gamma radiation
increases the thermal decomposition sensitivity of PETN,
lowers melting point by few degrees Celsius, and causes
swelling of the samples. Like other nitrate esters, the primary
degradation mechanism is the loss of nitrogen dioxide; this
reaction is autocatalytic. Studies were performed on thermal
decomposition of PETN.

In the environment, PETN undergoes biodegradation. Some
bacteria denitrate PETN to trinitrate and then dinitrate, which
is then further degraded. PETN has low volatility and low
solubility in water, and therefore has low bioavailability for
most organisms. Its toxicity is relatively low, and its
transdermal absorption also seems to be low. It poses a threat
for aquatic organisms. It can be degraded to pentaerythritol
by iron.

Production is by the reaction of pentaerythritol with
concentrated nitric acid to form a precipitate which can be
recrystallized from acetone to give processable crystals.
Variations of a method first published in US Patent 2,370,437
by Acken and Vyverberg (1945 to Du Pont) form the basis of
all current commercial production.

PETN is manufactured by numerous manufacturers as a
powder, or together with nitrocellulose and plasticizer as thin
plasticized sheets (e.g. Primasheet 1000 or Detasheet). PETN
residues are easily detectable in hair of people handling it.
The highest residue retention is on black hair; some residues
remain even after washing.

The most common use of PETN is as an explosive with high
brisance. It is a secondary explosive, meaning it is more
difficult to detonate than primary explosives, so dropping or
igniting it will typically not cause an explosion (at standard
atmospheric pressure it is difficult to ignite and burns
vigorously), but is more sensitive to shock and friction than
other secondary explosives such as TNT or tetryl.
Under certain conditions a deflagration to detonation
transition can occur, just like that of ammonium nitrate.

It is rarely used alone in military operations due to its lower
stability, but primarily used in main charges of plastic
explosives such as C4 along with other explosives (especially
RDX), booster and bursting charges of small caliber
ammunition, in upper charges of detonators in some land
mines and shells, as the explosive core of detonation
cord. PETN is the least stable of the common military
explosives, but can be stored without significant deterioration
for longer than nitroglycerin or nitrocellulose. Detonation velocity 8400 m/s (density 1.7 g/cm3)

During World War II, PETN was most importantly used in
exploding-bridgewire detonators for the atomic bombs. These
exploding-bridgewire detonators gave more precise
detonation, compared with primacord. PETN was used for
these detonators because it was safer than primary explosives
like lead azide: while it was sensitive, it would not detonate
below a threshold amount of energy. Exploding bridgewires containing PETN remain used in current nuclear weapons. In spark detonators, PETN is used to avoid the need for primary explosives; the energy needed for a successful direct initiation of PETN by an electric spark ranges between
10—60 mJ.

Explosive data
Autoignition temperature
190 °C (374 °F; 463 K)

Its basic explosion characteristics are:
Explosion energy: 5810 kJ/kg (1390 kcal/kg), so 1 kg of PETN has the energy of 1.24 kg TNT.

Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
Detonation velocity: 8350 m/s (1.73 g/cm3), 7910 m/s (1.62 g/cm3), 7420 m/s (1.5 g/cm3), 8500 m/s (pressed in a steel tube)

Volume of gases produced: 790 dm3/kg (other value: 768 dm3/kg)
Explosion temperature: 4230 °C
Oxygen balance: −6.31 atom -g/kg
Melting point: 141.3 °C (pure), 140—141 °C (technical)
Trauzl lead block test: 523 cm3 (other values: 500 cm3 when sealed with sand, or 560 cm3 when sealed with water)

In mixtures
PETN is used in a number of compositions. It is a major ingredient of the Semtex plastic explosive. It is also used as a component of pentolite, a Pentaerythritol tetranitrate before
50/50 blend with TNT. The XTX8003 extrudable explosive, used in the crystallization from acetone W68 and W76 nuclear warheads, is a mixture of 80% PETN and 20% of Sylgard 182, a silicone rubber. It is often phlegmatized by addition of 5—40% of wax, or by polymers (producing polymer-bonded explosives); in this form it is used in some cannon shells up to 30 mm caliber, though it is unsuitable for higher calibers. It is also used as a component of some gun propellants and solid rocket propellants.

Nonphlegmatized PETN is stored and handled with approximately
10% water content. PETN alone cannot be cast as it explosively decomposes slightly above its melting point, but it can be mixed with other explosives to form castable mixtures.

PETN can be initiated by a laser. A pulse with duration of 25 nanoseconds and 0.5—4.2 joules of energy from a Q-switched ruby laser can initiate detonation of a PETN surface coated with a 100 nm thick aluminium layer in less than half of a microsecond.

PETN has been replaced in many applications by RDX, which is thermally more stable and has a longer shelf life.

PETN can be used in some ram accelerator types.

Replacement of the central carbon atom with
silicon produces Si-PETN, which is extremely sensitive.

Terrorist use
Ten kilograms of PETN was used in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing.

In 1983, 307 people were killed after a truck bomb filled with PETN was detonated at the Beirut barracks.

In 1983, the "Maison de France" house in Berlin was brought to a near-total collapse by the detonation of 24 kilograms (53 lb) of PETN by terrorist Johannes Weinrich.

In 1999, Alfred Heinz Reumayr used PETN as the main charge for his fourteen improvised explosive devices that he constructed in a thwarted attempt to damage the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

In 2001, al-Qaeda member Richard Reid, the "Shoe Bomber", used PETN in the sole of his shoe in his unsuccessful attempt to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. He had intended to use the solid triacetone triperoxide (TATP) as a detonator.

In 2009, PETN was used in an attempt by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to murder the Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Interior Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, by Saudi suicide bomber Abdullah Hassan al Asiri. The target survived and the bomber died in the blast. The PETN was hidden in the bomber's rectum, which security experts described as a novel technique.

On 25 December 2009, PETN was found in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "Underwear bomber", a Nigerian with links to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. According to US law enforcement officials, he had attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 while approaching Detroit from Amsterdam. Abdulmutallab had tried, unsuccessfully, to detonate approximately 80 grams (2.8 oz) of PETN sewn into his underwear by adding liquid from a syringe; however, only a small fire resulted.

In the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula October 2010 cargo plane bomb plot, two PETN-filled printer cartridges were found at East Midlands Airport and in Dubai on flights bound for the US on an intelligence tip. Both packages contained sophisticated bombs concealed in computer printer cartridges filled with PETN.
The bomb found in England contained 400 grams (14 oz) of PETN, and the one found in Dubai contained 300 grams (11 oz) of PETN. Hans Michels, professor of safety engineering at University College London, told a newspaper that 6 grams (0.21 oz) of PETN—"around 50 times less than was used—would be enough to blast a
hole in a metal plate twice the thickness of an aircraft's skin".

In contrast, according to an experiment conducted by a BBC documentary team designed to simulate Abdulmutallab's Christmas Day bombing, using a Boeing 747 plane, even 80 grams of PETN was not sufficient to materially damage the fuselage.

On 12 July 2017, 150 grams of PETN was found in the Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

Detection
In the wake of terrorist PETN bomb plots, an article in Scientific American noted PETN is difficult to detect
because it does not readily vaporize into the surrounding air.
The Los Angeles Times noted in November 2010 that PETN's low vapor pressure makes it difficult for bomb-sniffing dogs to detect.
Many technologies can be used to detect PETN, including chemical sensors, X-rays, infrared, microwaves and terahertz, some of which have been implemented in public screening applications, primarily for air travel. PETN is one of the explosive chemicals typically of interest in that area, and it belongs to a family of
common nitrate-based explosive chemicals which can often be detected by the same tests.

One detection system in use at airports involves analysis of swab samples obtained from passengers and their baggage. Whole-body imaging scanners that use radio-frequency electromagnetic waves, low-intensity X-rays, or T-rays of terahertz frequency that can detect objects hidden under clothing are not widely used because of cost, concerns about the resulting traveler delays, and privacy concerns.

Both parcels in the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot were x-rayed without the bombs being spotted. Qatar Airways said the PETN bomb "could not be detected by x-ray screening or trained sniffer dogs". The Bundeskriminalamt received copies of the Dubai x-rays, and an investigator said German staff would not have identified the bomb either. New airport security procedures followed in the U.S., largely to protect against PETN.

Medical use
Like nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate) and other nitrates, PETN is also used medically as a vasodilator in the treatment of heart conditions. These drugs work by releasing the signaling gas nitric oxide in the body. The heart medicine Lentonitrat is nearly pure PETN.

Monitoring of oral usage of the drug by patients has been performed by determination of plasma levels of several of its hydrolysis products, pentaerythritol dinitrate, pentaerythritol mononitrate and pentaerythritol, in plasma using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Link

Arabia

STC-affiliated leader injured in landmine explosion

2024-03-22

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] A leader affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s factions was injured on Wednesday, in a kaboom of a landmine in the province of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
.

Pro-STC Media sources reported that the chief of staff of the so-called "Second Battalion in the Sixth Support Brigade," Mahmoud Braber, was maimed in a kaboom of a landmine he attempted to dismantle in Wadi Omran in the district of Mudiyah east of the city of Zinjibar, the bucolic provincial capital.

According to the sources, Braber fired at the landmine to detonate it and neutralize its effect, but unidentified individuals remotely executed the detonation of the landmine.

He was then transferred to one of the hospitals in Aden, the sources said.

Link

-Obits-

AQAP announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi

2024-03-11

[Twitter]

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi. pic.twitter.com/yvzlcAiWg2
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) March 10, 2024

Le Monde adds:

Batarfi had appointed his successor back in February 2020, following the death of his predecessor, Qassim al-Rimi, in a US dronezap or Yemen.

Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
has announced the death of its leader Khalid Batarfi and named a successor, SITE Intelligence Group reported Sunday, March 10. The monitoring service said Batarfi's body was shown in footage released by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
(AQAP) in a burial shroud and wrapped in a flag bearing the jihadist group's name.

"God took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm, immigrated, garrisoned, and waged jihad," SITE quoted an AQAP veteran as saying of Batarfi in the nearly 15-minute video. There were no immediate details of the time or cause of Batarfi's death. He was believed to be in his 40s.

The United States considers al-Qaeda's Yemen branch the most dangerous faction of the global jihadist network, and the State Department designated Batarfi in 2018 a "global terrorist". SITE said the group had named its new chief Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who last appeared in a video released in February 2023 urging Sunni rustics to join AQAP.

The Sunni bad boy group thrived in the chaos of years of war since 2014 between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s. AQAP has carried out operations in Yemen against both the Huthis and government forces.

It has also carried out sporadic attacks abroad, including on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo
...Pix/Hebdo2.pngA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
in 2015 and a 2019 mass shooting at a US naval base in Florida, in which a Saudi Air Force officer killed three American sailors.

Update from the Times of Israel at 2:15 p.m. ET:

Khalid al-Batarfi had a $5 million bounty on his head from the US government over leading the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula over years that saw him imprisoned, freed in a jailbreak, and governing forces in Yemen amid that country’s grinding war.

Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP has long been considered the most dangerous branch of the extremist group still operating after the killing of founder Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda released a video showing al-Batarfi wrapped in a white funeral shroud and al-Qaeda’s black-and-white flag. Terrorists offered no details on the cause of his death and there was no clear sign of trauma visible on his face. Al-Batarfi was believed to be in his early 40s.

In the announcement, the group said Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki would take over as its leader. The US has a $6 million bounty on him, saying al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.”

Why is the new guy worth 20% more than the dead one was?

Estimates provided to the UN put AQAP’s total forces as numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops,

…how very tawdry and commonplace…

as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

…smuggling weapons and ransom operations being the usual occupations of Yemeni lads when they’re feeling feisty. Currency counterfeiting is a bit more technical than they usually get up to, but every group contains at least a few eager to learn and better themselves…

Under al-Batarfi, AQAP fell further under the influence of al-Qaeda fighter Saif al-Adel, now believed to lead the terror group after the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022. That came as Yemen has been locked in a war between the Houthi rebels, who hold the capital, Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition backing the country’s exiled government based in Aden.

“Since 2020, Saif al-Adel has been able to convince al-Batarfi of his strategic approach, focused on confronting Western states and their allies in Yemen — the Saudi-led coalition, the Aden-based government, the United Arab Emirates and its allies — rather than confronting the Iranian-backed Houthi movement,” a 2023 report by the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies said.

Al-Adel is believed to be in Iran, part of a longtime al-Qaeda presence in the Islamic Republic. That’s long been denied by Tehran but backed up by documents seized in the 2011 US raid in Pakistan that killed bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Good to know.

Al-Batarfi’s ties to al-Adel had strained relations in AQAP, experts say. However, it has seen the terrorists become armed with bomb-carrying drones — something the Houthis now use to target shipping in the Red Sea amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Very interesting — a hint that not only is Iran sheltering Al Qaeda’s top leaders, but supplying at least one of its key franchises as well.

AQAP “developed unmanned aerial systems capabilities, establishing a specialized drone unit, with operational training from the Houthis,” a UN report from January says.

That goes well beyond hinting. And the Houthis would only help their enemy on direct orders from Tehran.

“It prioritizes liberating its prisoners to replenish ranks; in September, the Houthis released several AQAP members and explosives experts.”

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years while the terrorists continue to attack Saudi-led coalition forces.

Me and my brother against my cousin. Me and my cousin against the outside world.

Yemen’s history and tribal structure long has seen alliances rapidly shift, something its late strongman President Ali Abdullah Saleh referred to as “dancing on the heads of snakes.”

Al-Batarfi, born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and fought alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion. He joined AQAP in 2010 and led forces in taking over Yemen’s Abyan province, according to the US.

In 2015, he was freed after an AQAP raid that saw the terrorists capture Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt, amid the chaos of the war. A photo at the time showed al-Awlaki with a Kalashnikov rifle, posing inside a government palace there.

AQAP was later pushed out of Mukalla but has continued attacks and been the target of a US drone strike campaign since the administration of then-president George W. Bush.

In 2020, there had been claims that al-Bartafi had been detained, which later were denied. In 2021, he appeared in a video by the terror group and referred to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol as “only the tip of the iceberg of what will come to them, God willing.”

Link

Arabia

Saudi reinforcements arrive in Aden, as tensions escalate within coalition

2024-03-10

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] New military reinforcements have arrived in the city of Aden, which is under the control of the Saudi-led coalition in southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
This comes in light of the escalating tensions between factions funded by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the UAE in Aden and the rest of the southern regions under the control of the coalition.

Informed sources confirmed that more than 43 Saudi military vehicles arrived on Thursday in Ahwar area of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province and were on their way to Aden.

The military vehicles belonging to the Saudi-backed factions in Aden, "Dera al-Watan," were coming from the al-Wadiah crossing and are the second since February 25, according to the sources

Link

Arabia

Armed mercenary forces detain urgently needed fuel transports in occupied Abyan

2023-12-03

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Armed elements affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) factions detained on Saturday dozens of tankers loaded with oil derivatives in Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, southern Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
"The STC members have been preventing the passage of tracks loaded with crude oil coming from Shabwa province to the ’PetroMasila’ power station in Aden city for several days," local sources said.

The sources explained that the armed elements did that in protest against the non-payment of their financial dues by the leaders of the STC factions for regional reasons.

The armed elements in the rest of the points affiliated with the UAE-funded factions impose huge amounts of taxes and royalties on the tankers without any legal right to allow them to pass, according to the sources.

The detention of fuel tankers, which portends an upcoming disaster in Aden Electricity, comes to pressure the STC to pay the armed elements’ financial dues for the past four months following the dismissal of 400 conscripts from several districts of Abyan.

Link

-12 More