Yemen’s Ansar Allah (lit. ‘Supporters of God’) fighters, better known as the Houthis, have shot down another US Reaper drone. How has a militia hailing from one of the poorest countries in the world, many of them literally fighting barefoot, been able to create an air defense system sophisticated enough to challenge a superpower? Sputnik explores.

The United States and Britain have lashed out over the Houthis’ embarrassing takedown of another of America’s $31 million apiece MQ-9 Reaper drones, killing at least 16 people (most of them civilians) and injuring 35 others in large-scale overnight airstrikes in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Taiz provinces late Thursday night.

Houthi Political Bureau member Ali al-Qahoum vowed that the militia would retaliate with a “painful response” to the US-UK “acts of aggression,” and warned that “the American-British coalition will not be able to ward off our responses.”

Nasruddin Amer, another member of the Houthi Political Bureau, said that “even if the whole world attacks Sanaa, we will never abandon Gaza,” – a reference to the militia’s ongoing partial-blockade of the Red and Arabian Seas to Israeli, Israeli-linked and allied commercial shipping in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israeli military operation in the besieged Gaza Strip.

 

Another Drone Bites the Dust

The US-UK attacks came less than 48 hours after the Houthis shot down another Reaper drone – their sixth since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis last October, on Wednesday. Footage posted to social media showed a Reaper laying on its belly in a desert somewhere in Marib province, its tail assembly partially broken, but the drone otherwise intact, with a group of militiamen, two of them barefoot, standing on top of the wreckage.

Houthi Warriors brought down another US Reaper Drone.

Some analysts had dismissed the Houthis' ability to take out these highly advanced American pilotless aircraft

This film clarifies the issue. pic.twitter.com/PAsXyt0JdK

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) May 29, 2024

The drone featured no visible markings, indicating that it was likely used by the CIA – which has been flying unmarked Reapers over Yemen since the 2000s, first against suspected al-Qaeda* terrorists in the country’s southeast, and then against the Houthis after the Shia militia established control over much of western Yemen, including Sanaa, in early 2015.

Since then, the Houthis have racked up an impressive tally of downed Reapers, including:

 

an MQ-9 shot down on October 1, 2017 over Sanaa,

 

another Reaper destroyed on June 6, 2019 somewhere over Yemen, this one using a modified Soviet-era 2K12 Kub medium-range surface-to-air missile system, according to United States Central Command (CENTCOM),

 

a third Reaper downed on August 21, 2019 over Dhamar, southwestern Yemen, this time using an improved domestic variant of the Kub known as the Fater-1 (lit. ‘Innovator-1’),

 

another MQ-9, belonging to the US Air Force destroyed over the Red Sea on November 8, 2023,

 

a fifth Reaper downed over al-Hudaydah city, western Yemen on February 19,

 

a sixth MQ-9 destroyed over Saada province in northwestern Yemen,

 

another Reaper shot out of the sky on May 17 over Marib province,

 

an eighth MQ-9 destroyed over Sanaa on May 24,

 

and finally, the aforementioned ninth Reaper eliminated over Marib on May 29.

Put another way, between 2017 and the present, the militia has taken down a combined $279 million worth of Reapers, becoming by far the biggest threat to America’s killer drone program apart from accidents and mechanical failures.

 

 

Other Aircraft Lost or Damaged by the Houthis

Reapers aren’t the only US and NATO-made aircraft proving vulnerable to the Houthis, who have engaged in a long slog against a coalition of Gulf countries attempting to restore Yemen’s ousted government since March 2015. According to a tally published by Islamic World News this week, Reapers make up less than a tenth of the Western aircraft, manned or unmanned, that have been shot down or damaged fighting Ansar Allah and other actors in Yemen. Others include:

 

a US UH60 Black Hawk helicopter lost off the coast of Yemen during a mysterious ‘training mission’ on August 26, 2017,

 

three American-made F-16 fighter jets (belonging to Morocco, Bahrain and Jordan, lost over Yemen in May 2015, December 2015, and February 2017, respectively),

 

at least 64 scout, strike and helicopter drones, mostly operated by Gulf coalition forces targeting the Houthis, including US and European-made MQ-1 Predators, Scan Eagles, Seeker 400 surveillance UAVs, and other drones,

 

11 manned Western-made Gulf coalition aircraft (on top of the aforementioned F-16), including Mirage 2000, Eurofighter Typhoon, F-15 and Tornado jets, as well as Ah-64 Apache, AH-60, S-70 Black Hawk and SA-365 helicopters.

 

How Did the Houthis Get Their Air Defense Prowess?

Modern-day Yemen got its start in the development of air defenses thanks to the Soviet Union. Moscow signed treaties of friendship and cooperation with both the Yemen Arab Republic (which makes up most of Houthi-controlled Yemen today) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, a separate state in what is today southern Yemen, in the 1960s.

Accompanying diplomatic support and major economic and infrastructure assistance, friendship with the USSR meant weapons – including sophisticated ballistic missile, coastal defense, anti-tank, and anti-air missile tech. The latter included:

 

the aforementioned 2K12 Kub/Kvadrat (NATO classification SA-6 ‘Gainful’) tracked missile system, modernized by the Houthis into a FrankenSAM using 3M9 missiles known as the Fater-1,

 

the S-75 Dvina (NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline), a high-altitude air defense system,

 

the S-125 Neva/Pechora (NATO reporting name SA-3 Goa) short-range SAM, upgraded variants of which are known to have been delivered to both Yemens in the 70s and 80s,

 

the 9K31 Strela-1 (NATO classification SA-9 Gaskin) high mobility short-range low-altitude vehicle-mounted SAM system,

 

the R-60 Molniya (NATO reporting name AA-8 Aphid) - an air-to-air missile system once used by Yemen’s MiG-21s, MiG-29s and Su-22M3 aircraft, converted by engineers from the Yemen Missile Research and Development Center into a SAM that can be launched from the beds of pickup trucks,

 

the R-73 (NATO reporting name AA-11 Archer) – another Soviet air-to-air missile modified into a SAM, known as the Thaqib-1 (lit. ‘Piercer’),

 

the R-27 and R-77 (NATO classification AA-10 Alamo and AA-12 Adder) beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, converted by Yemen into the Thaqib-2 and Thaqib-3, respectively,

 

the 9K32 Strela-2, 9K34 Strela-3 and 9K38 Igla man-portable surface-to-air missile systems (NATO codename SA-7 Grail, SA-14 Gremlin and SA-18 Grouse, respectively),

 

12.7 and 14.5 mm Soviet towed anti-aircraft guns and ZU-23 towed 22 mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannons – whose quantities in Yemen are estimated to number in the hundreds.

 

The USSR also provided Yemen with an array of surveillance and target acquisition radars, including:

 

the P-18 (NATO codename Spoon Rest D) and P-19 Danube (NATO reporting name Flat Face B) 2d UHF radar systems,

 

the 1S91 SURN (NATO designation Straight Flush) 26 kW G/H band radar with a range of up to 75 km for the Kub and Kvadrat missile systems,

 

the PRV-13 (NATO codename Odd Pair) Soviet height-finding (altimeter) radar – spotted at a military parade in Sanaa in 2022.

 

Simple, Durable Soviet SAMs Perfect for Yemen’s Difficult Environment

“During the Soviet period, our military specialists and advisors were widespread in Iraq, in Yemen, in Libya,” Lt. Gen. (ret.) Aytech Bizhev, the former deputy commander of the CIS Joint Air Defense System, recalled to Sputnik, commenting on the pervasiveness of Soviet air defenses in Yemen.

“The countries of the Middle East were in the zone of interests of the Soviet Union. These were countries with which we had very friendly relations. Therefore, we helped, assisted in the creation of air defense systems for them. We created it and they bought our weapons, and they still have them there. They were put on combat duty in very difficult climactic conditions – in the heat, in sandstorms, under the scorching Sun they carried out the tasks that were set before them,” Bizhev said.

 

 

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240531/why-houthis-dont-fear-the-reaper-everything-we-know-about-militias-air-defenses-1118720010.html

 

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To Israel’s ‘Tragic Mistakes’, the world’s response is pathetic    By Stuart Rees

 

Israeli forces’ slaughters of Gazans, journalists, doctors, humanitarian aid workers are described by military spokespersons and by Prime minister Netanyahu as tragic mistakes. In retrospect, killings appear an intention conducted by an alleged accident, in which well rehearsed explanations are part of a familiar two faced process of speaking with double tongues.

There are evil precedents to this process of appearing to be honest yet doing so by lying. When describing how invading Europeans negotiated with deceit and lies, Indigenous peoples of the Americas are said to have referred to white men speaking like snakes with forked tongues, seldom to be trusted, always likely to deceive.

Israeli spokespersons use the same immediate denial techniques, albeit presented with holier than thou defence of supposed mistakes. The wonder is that western politicians and media play their part in denials by seldom calling out the pretence and instead waiting patiently for an investigation to be conducted, until the next supposed mistake occurs.

Western governments’ pathetic responses to Israel’s latest deceits suggests that collusion to lessen the importance of Palestinian deaths is coupled to reluctance to hold perpetrators accountable.

December 15, 2023, three Israeli hostages dressed in civilian clothes and waving a white flag are shot dead. Apologiser in chief, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, expresses the Israeli military’s ’deep remorse’ and claims, ‘a military investigation is underway.’ Prime Minister Netanyahu plays his permanent mourner role, ‘My heart goes out to grieving families in a difficult time.’

To remind the world that a white flag as an international symbol of surrender means nothing to the Israeli defence forces, in January 2024, five Palestinians walk down a street in Khan Younis, each with their hands in the air, one holding a white flag. After holder of the white flag, shopkeeper Ramzi abu Sahloul has been shot dead, grieving Palestinians are told, ‘The army is reviewing the shootings’, at which point the Hamas blame game operates. An Israeli army spokesperson says that accusations of IDF culpability ‘can only be deemed as an extension of Hamas propaganda to defame the IDF.’

A few days after the shopkeeper’s death, in northern Gaza, grandmother Hala Kreis, holds her 4 year old grandson’s hand in which he waves a white flag. Hala is killed despite the white flag, despite an Israeli agreement to provide Hala and others with safe passage out of a besieged neighbourhood.

On April 2, 2024, seven staff from World Central Kitchen (WCK) travel in a clearly marked humanitarian aid convoy but are wiped out in an Israeli air strike. The world is said to ‘recoil’. Netanyahu says the air strike is ‘unintended’ and ‘tragic’ but can’t resist adding, ‘These things happen in wartime.’ Even before charred bodies are cleared away, Israeli double tongue techniques reappear in their insistence that Israeli forces are ‘making extensive efforts to enable safe delivery of humanitarian aid.’

Reaction to that slaughter includes an Australian government sideshow. Australian Zomi Francom was one of the WCK casualties, so Prime Minister Albanese appoints former air force defence chief Mark Binskin to understand how and why the IDF fired on the World Central Kitchen Convoy. Australia demanded ‘appropriate action’ and asked Israel for access to evidence to fully understand the process and the consequences. Binskin’s appointment was eight weeks ago. Nothing appears to have happened apart from Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressing concern, which sounds like code to reassure Israel that Australia would not pressure a supposed ally. Binskin’s access to evidence is still being negotiated. Oh dear.

Then comes the horrific May 26 attack on a Rafah tent camp when 45 mostly women, children and elderly are bombed out of existence or burned to death. French President Macron says he is ‘outraged’, European chief Josep Borrell is ‘horrified’. Netanyahu says, ‘We are investigating this incident and will reach our conclusions because this is our policy.’ The US urges Israel to take more care to protect civilians but does not call for a halt to the Rafah invasion.

In response to the UN court, the ICJ ordering Israel to cease the carnage in Rafah, Israeli tanks take no notice and continue their bombardment of eastern and central areas of Rafah. The IDF says their air strike on the tent camp was based on ‘precise intelligence’ concerning the presence of senior Hamas officials, an assessment which included the furphy ‘ there would be no expected harm to uninvolved citizens.’

Angry and uninhibited, an outraged Palestinian did speak spontaneously. He pleaded with powerful western governments to dispense with diplomatic niceties and instead identify forked tongue deceits for what they are. The man shouted, ‘There is no safe zone in Rafah. The army is a liar. There is no security in Gaza.’

On a Jewish holiday, to add insult to injury, to compound the horrors of deaths in Gaza, to display another reaction to alleged tragic mistakes, Israelis were filmed dancing and celebrating the Rafah massacre.

https://johnmenadue.com/to-israels-tragic-mistakes-the-worlds-response-is-pathetic/

 

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Two far-right Israeli ministers have threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire proposal unveiled by US President Joe Biden on Friday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they were opposed to striking any deal before Hamas was destroyed.

But opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged to back the government if Mr Netanyahu supported the plan.

The prime minister himself insisted there would be no permanent truce until Hamas's military and governing capabilities were destroyed and all hostages released.

Mr Biden's three-part proposal would begin with a six-week ceasefire in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza. The deal would eventually lead to the release of all hostages, a permanent "cessation of hostilities" and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.

But in a post on social media on Saturday, Mr Smotrich said he told Mr Netanyahu he would "not be part of a government that agrees to the proposed outline and ends the war without destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages".

Echoing his words, Mr Ben-Gvir said "the deal.. means the end of the war and the abandonment of the goal to destroy Hamas. This is a reckless deal, which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel". 

He vowed to "dissolve the government" rather than agree to the proposal. 

Mr Netanyahu's right-wing coalition holds a slim majority in parliament, relying on a host of factions, including Mr Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party - who hold six seats - and Mr Smotrich's Religious Zionism party - who hold seven seats - to maintain power. 

But Yair Lapid, one of Israel's most influential opposition politicians, was quick to offer his backing to the embattled prime minister. His Yesh Atid (There is a future) party hold 24 seats. 

He said Mr Netanyahu "has our safety net for a hostage deal if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leave the government".

The row came as tens of thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to accept Mr Biden's proposed plan. They also demanded Mr Netanyahu's resignation. Scuffles broke out between protesters and police, and some demonstrators were reportedly detained. 

Biden unveils Israeli proposal to end Gaza war All Eyes on Rafah: The post that's been shared by more than 47m people

In a joint statement on Saturday, mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US urged both Israel and Hamas to "finalise" Mr Biden's proposed deal.

Officials said that "as mediators in the ongoing discussions to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees", they "call on both Hamas and Israel to finalise the agreement embodying the principles outlined by President Joe Biden".

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also offered his backing to the plan, telling reporters that his government could "flood Gaza with far more aid" if Hamas accepts the ceasefire plan. 

Earlier, a senior Hamas politician told the BBC it "will go for this deal" if Israel does.

But in a statement on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu's office said Israel's "conditions for ending the war have not changed".

It listed these as "the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel".

The statement added Israel would "continue to insist these conditions are met" before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz55y6k0p5go

 

 

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