Timeline Yemen
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The capital of Yemen is Sanaa.
150Mil BC In 2008 scientists said
footprints, dating from about this time, showed sauropods traveling
at the same speed along a river in Yemen, the first discovery of
dinosaur footprints on the Arabian peninsula.
(AP, 5/21/08)
c800BC-200 Saba culture (Yemen) was a major
economic player in the trade routes from India to the Mediterranean
during this period.
(Arch, 1/05, p.56)
500BC Qataban flourished in the 5th-1st centuries
BC in what is now southern Yemen. Qataban had a democratic form of
government and gained rule over a large area, but its influence and
dominions shrank with the emergence of the Himyarites late in the
2nd century BC. Qataban was conquered by Saba‘ in the early
centuries AD.
(HNQ, 7/20/00)
c950BC The Queen of Sheba lived about this time.
Local legends name her Makeda and claim that she was from Ethiopia.
Archeologists have found inscriptions from the ancient Sabean
kingdom but no mention of Makeda or Bilqis, the local name for Sheba
in Yemen. The Koran claims she ruled from Yemen.
(WSJ, 5/2/97, p.A1)
632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in
Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height,
the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant,
Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and
Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in
history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France,
Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the
Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by
the Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of
Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
1000 About this time in the
Hadramawt region of Yemen a dam burst near the village of Senna, and
the people of the valley fled. In 1997 researchers using DNA studies
found that the Lemba, a Bantu speaking people of southern Africa
carry markers distinctive of the Cohanim, Jewish priests believed to
be descended from Aaron. Lemba oral tradition held that they came to
Africa from Senna. Dr. Tudor Parfitt authored "Journey to the
Vanished City," a description of his work on the Lemba.
(SFEC, 5/9/99,
p.A24)(www.answers.com/topic/lemba)
c1500-1600 A Muslim pilgrim stole coffee beans
from Yemen and raised them in India. Yemen was the first great
coffee exporter and in order to protect its trade had decreed that
no living plant could leave the country.
(WSJ, 6/4/99, p.W9)
1931 Muhammad bin Laden, a
baggage carrier, left Yemen for Jidda. He and his brothers later
founded a prosperous construction company. He later fathered 51
children that included Osama bin Laden, the 17th in 1957.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.B9)
1948 Nov 16, Operation Magic
Carpet began with the 1st plane from Yemen carrying Jews to Israel.
(MC, 11/16/01)
1950 Sep 24, In "Operation
Magic Carpet" all Jews from Yemen moved to Israel.
(MC, 9/24/01)
1952 In Yemen American explorer
Wendell Phillips began excavating Marib’s Moon Temple of Sheba. He
was forced away after 4 months when locals suspected that he was
after gold.
(WSJ, 5/2/97, p.A1)
1955 Apr 16, Abdullah Seif
el-Islam, brother of Yemenite king Ahmed, was beheaded.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1958 Mar 2, Yemen announced it
will join the United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria).
(SC, 3/2/02)
1962 Sep 26, In North Yemen a
group of military officers led by Col. Adbullah al-Sallal and
supported by Egypt overthrew the Imam and established a republic.
Zaydi Imam al-Badr had been in power for only a week having
succeeded his father who had presided over a feudal kingdom where 80
per cent of the population lived as peasants and which was
controlled through bribery, an arbitrary and coercive tax system and
a policy of divide and rule. The coup was led by Colonel Abdullah
al-Sallal and a pro-Nasser, Arab nationalist group within the Yemeni
military, which proclaimed the Yemen Arab
Republic.
(http://markcurtis.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/the-covert-war-in-yemen-1962-70/)
1963 Aden (South Yemen) was
amalgamated with the British protectorate to form the Federation of
South Arabia which resulted in rioting.
(www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/yemen.htm)
1964 Jun, It was agreed that
the Federation of South Arabia (Aden-South Yemen) would gain
independence from Britain in 1968.
(www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/yemen.htm)
1966-1967 Yemen was engaged in civil war.
(Econ, 8/30/03, p.64)
1967 Nov 28, Yemen gained
independence from Britain. British troops withdrew and the People's
Republic of Yemen was declared with Qahtan ash-Sha'abi as the
country's first President.
(www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/yemen.htm)
1967-1990 South Yemen stood as an independent
state during this period after Britain ended 128 years of rule over
what it called the Aden Protectorate.
(Econ, 4/24/10, p.46)
1978 Jun 24, There was a coup
in Yemen. Pres. Ahmad Hussein al-Ghashmi was murdered and replaced
by Lt.-Col. Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh was elected president of North
Yemen and began his 2-decade hold on the office. His power was
strong in the cities but in the countryside Sheik Abdulla al-Ahmar
held power.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A1)(WSJ,
1/02/00, p.A1)
1978 Ali Abdullah Saleh was
elected president of North Yemen and began his 2-decade hold on the
office. His power was strong in the cities but in the countryside
Sheik Abdulla al-Ahmar held power.
(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/02/00, p.A1)
1978 Jun 26, There was a coup
in Southern Yemen (formerly Aden). Pres. Salem Rubaye Ali was
ousted, tried and shot. He was succeeded by Ali Nasir Muhammad.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)
1978 Jul 2, The Arab League
imposed a boycott on South Yemen.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)
1978 Oct 16, An attempted coup
against President Ali Abdullah Saleh of North Yemen was crushed.
(http://archive.gulfnews.com/indepth/30thyear/onthisday/10160457.html)
1978 Dec 27, In South Yemen the
Supreme Council elected a new president. He reversed moves toward
reconciliation with North Yemen and acquiesced to a continued Soviet
military buildup.
(PC, 1992, p.1065)
1984 Oct 9, A cooperation
agreement between the European Community and the Yemen Republic is
signed in Brussels.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1984/index_en.htm)
1986 Yemen discovered oil.
(AP, 6/24/06)
1990 May 22, After years of
conflict, pro-Western North Yemen and pro-Soviet South Yemen merged
to form the Republic of Yemen. The North was conservative and the
South was socialist.
(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A1)(AP, 5/22/98)
1992 In Yemen 2 hotel bombs
directed at US servicemen killed 2 Australians. The bombing was
later linked to Osama bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi
family. He was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10,12)
1993 Nov 26, A U.S. diplomat
was kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen. Government officials negotiate
for his release in the first known kidnapping of a diplomat in
faction-ridden Yemen.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1993 In Yemen the first
elections after unification were held.
(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A1)
1994 May 21, South Yemen
seceded from Yemen.
(MC, 5/21/02)
1994 In Yemen the new
Parliament elected Ali Abdullah Saleh as president.
(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A1)
1994 In Yemen a civil war broke
out in Mukalla. Northern forces put down communist secessionists in
the South. The constitution was amended and the ban on
discrimination was replaced with the phrase "All citizens are equal
in general rights and duties."
(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A1)(SFC, 1/19/01, p.D6)
1995 Dec 17, Eritrean and
Yemeni forces clashed over control of the Hanish Islands, located
just north of the Bab el-Mandeb. Eritrea used its warships to try to
seize a disputed island in the mouth of the Red Sea from Yemen.
Yemen sent warplanes to counter the attack.
(WSJ, 12/18/95,
p.A1)(www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/hornafrica.html#eri)
1995 In Yemen Bin Shamlan, a
former executive for a Saudi oil company in London and minister of
infrastructure and minister of oil in the government of South Yemen,
resigned from parliament to protest government corruption.
(AP, 9/24/06)
1996 Jun, Heavy floods hit
Yemen and more than 65 people were believed dead and hundreds made
homeless.
(SFC, 6/15/96, p.A10)
1996 Aug, Eritrean and Yemeni
forces again clashed over control of the Hanish Islands, located
just north of the Bab el-Mandeb.
(www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/hornafrica.html#eri)
1996 Oct 19, In Yemen Serge
Lefevre, first secretary of the French Embassy, was kidnapped.
(SFC, 10/28/96, p.A8)
1996 Oct 27, In Yemen Serge
Lefevre, first secretary of the French Embassy, was kidnapped a 2nd
time after being released by members of the same tribe.
(SFC, 10/28/96, p.A8)
1996 Oct, Eritrean and Yemeni
signed an agreement for arbitration over control of the Hanish
Islands, located just north of the Bab el-Mandeb. [see Oct 1998]
(www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/hornafrica.html#eri)
1996 Yemeni troops put down
antigovernment protests in Mukalla, also the site of a 1994 civil
war. Court charges that police raped a group of women appeared to
trigger the protests.
(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A1)
1997 Apr 27, Parliamentary
elections were held in Yemen. Some 11 people were killed in violence
linked to the vote. Participation was estimated at 80%.
(SFC, 4/28/97, p.A12)
1997 May 26, In Yemen it was
announced that 21 children died after being injected with insulin
rather than inoculations against fatal diseases.
(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A16)
1997 Aug 14, In Yemen ten
Italian tourists were reported kidnapped in 2 separate incidents.
(SFC, 8/15/97, p.A17)
1997 In Yemen it was reported
in 1999 that honor killings, the killing of girls and women by their
relatives to cleanse "soiled honor," claimed the lives of over 400
women this year.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.A4)
1998 May, In Yemen Prime
Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani came into power.
(SFC, 6/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 19, In Yemen a 40%
price increase for gasoline, kerosene and cooking gas led to
protests for the next 4 days.
(SFC, 6/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 22, In Yemen police
fired on protestors. At least one person was killed in Taiz and 3
were killed in Sanaa. Protestors called for the resignation of Prime
Minister Abdul Karim al-Iryani.
(SFC, 6/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 23, In Yemen police
killed 6 people blocking fuel trucks. The government ordered
increased fuel prices to pay off an $80 million IMF loan.
(WSJ, 6/24/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 20, Saudi Arabia
attacked a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and killed 3 guards. 3
islands and parts of the Empty Quarter, a vast desert with potential
for oil, were under contention.
(SFEC, 7/21/98, p.A7)
1998 Jul 22, Yemeni naval
forces landed on Duwaima Island and took control.
(SFC, 7/23/98, p.C3)
1998 Jul 27, In Hodeida, Yemen,
3 nuns were killed by Abdullah al-Nashri (25), an unstable, mental
patient treated by the Missionaries of Charity.
(SFC, 7/28/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct, The Permanent Court
of Arbitration ruled that the Hanish Islands are subject to the
territorial sovereignty of Yemen.
(www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/hornafrica.html#eri)
1998 Dec 28, In Yemen Islamic
militants kidnapped 16 Western tourists. The demanded the release of
Saleh Haidara al-Atwi and another top militant arrested 2 weeks ago.
The militants were led by Abu Hassan.
(SFC, 12/29/98, p.A8)(SFC, 10/29/00, p.A10)
1998 Dec 29, In Yemen security
forces attacked the kidnappers of 16 and 4 hostages were killed. The
freed tourists said that government forces initiated the battle that
left 3 Britons and an Australian dead.
(SFC, 12/31/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 12/31/98, p.A1)
1998 An Egyptian militant,
believed to be Ahmed Nasrallah, reported to Yemen’s Political
Security Organization on al Qaeda terrorists around the Marib
region. The security service tipped off the terrorists.
(WSJ, 12/20/02, p.A1,6)
1999 Jan 17, In Yemen 2 British
and 4 Dutch citizens were kidnapped.
(SFC, 1/18/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 2, In Yemen kidnappers
freed 4 Dutch and 2 British nationals.
(WSJ, 2/3/99, p.A1)
1999 May 5, A Yemeni court
sentenced 3 Islamic militants to death for their role in the
abduction and killing of Western tourists in Dec.
(WSJ, 5/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 9, In Yemen 8 Britons
and 2 Algerians were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison
for plotting terrorist acts.
(SFC, 8/10/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 17, In Yemen Abu
Hassan, "a nom de guerre" for the head of the Islamic Army of Aden
and Abyan, was executed.
(SFC, 10/29/00, p.A10)
1999 Oct 28, In Yemen 3
Americans, Marta R. Colburn and her parents were freed after being
held for 2 days by tribesmen, who demanded the release of 25
suspects held for an attack on an oil pipeline.
(SFC, 10/28/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov 27, Military sources
reported that 2 Yemeni soldiers had been killed over the last few
days in border clashes with Saudi Arabia.
(SFEC, 11/28/99, p.A26)
1999 Saudi police arrested
Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and jailed him for 14 months for maintaining
contact with Osama bin Laden. He was then deported to Yemen.
(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2000 Feb 10, In Yemen tribesmen
released Kenneth White (54), an American oil executive, who was
kidnapped a month ago.
(SFC, 2/11/00, p.D2)
2000 Jun 12, Saudi Arabia and
Yemen signed an agreement to end decades of border disputes.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A11)
2000 Jun, In Yemen at the Univ.
of Sanaa Medical School Muhammad Adam Omar Ishaak, a morgue
attendant, was arrested for the rape, murder and dismemberment of at
least 2 women training to be doctors. The case also revealed bribes
for grades and the smuggling of body parts.
(SSFC, 12/3/00, p.D10)
2000 Oct 12, A US Navy
destroyer, the USS Cole, refueling in Yemen suffered an enormous
explosion in what appeared to be a terrorist attack. Initial reports
had at least 6 sailors killed with 11 missing. The death toll was
revised to 17. The 8,600-ton Cole was returned to the US aboard the
Norwegian ship Blue Marlin. In 2001 a video tape by "Al-Sahab
Productions" circulated among Muslim militants with footage of the
bombed vessel. The Cole returned to active duty in 2003 following
$250 million in repairs. In 2007 Walid Muhammad bin Attash told a
military tribunal at Guantanamo that he was responsible for
organizing the Cole attack as well as the 1998 bombings in Kenya and
Tanzania.
(SFC, 10/13/00, p.A1)(SFC, 10/14/00, p.A1)(SFC,
11/7/00, p.A12)(SFC, 6/20/01, p.A8)(WSJ, 12/1/03, p.A1)(SFC,
3/20/07, p.A3)
2000 Nov 22, Yemen identified
the bombers of the USS Cole as 2 Saudi Arabian citizens with Yemeni
family roots. One was named Abdul Mohsen al-Taifi and both had
suspected ties to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 11/23/00, p.A22)
2000 In Yemen a government
report held that 90% of Yemeni men use qat regularly along with an
almost equal number of women. Cat, Catha edulis, had a 600-year
history of use as a mild stimulant.
(WSJ, 12/28/00, p.A1)
2000 In Yemen Rift Valley fever
began affecting thousands of cattle, sheep and goats in the autumn
and within weeks 1,800 animals had died and 7,800 fetuses had
aborted.
(WSJ, 3/2/00, p.A8)
2001 Jan 2, The population of
Yemen was about 18 million. Most of these lived in the mountains and
remote plains.
(WSJ, 1/02/00, p.A1)
2001 Feb, 106 Russian-made T-54
tanks were delivered to Yemen by Czech/Slovak arms traders.
Diversion to Sudan was suspected.
(WSJ, 12/11/01, p.A15)
2001 May 19, In Yemen an
explosion in the weapons market of al-Suwaida killed at least 14
people and injured 15.
(SSFC, 5/20/01, p.A16)
2001 Jun 18, In Yemen 15
suspected terrorists were arrested. US FBI investigators had pulled
out on June 17 under a security threat.
(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A9)(WSJ, 6/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 16, US Customs at JFK
found $140,763 in the luggage of Basam Nahshal who was bound for
Yemen. A 2nd man Ali Alfatimi claimed the money was his and was
being smuggled to Yemen as part of his travel business.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.A5)
2001 Oct 20, Some 30,000 people
gathered in Amran, Yemen, to protest US air strikes in Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 10/31/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 22, It was reported
that Yemen had partially shut down its port of Aden after the
breakup of a big anti-US protest. Militants were commandeering boats
to ferry fighters out of the country and to Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 27, Jamil Qasim Saeed
Mohammed (27), a Yemeni microbiology student, was turned over to US
authorities in Pakistan. He was said to be an active al Qaeda member
and was suspected of involvement in the Oct 12, 2000 bombing of the
Cole in Aden.
(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.A13)
2001 Oct, Sayyid Imam
al-Sharif (b.~1950), aka Dr. Fadl, a co-founder of al-Qaida, was
arrested in Yemen and transferred to Egypt in 2004, where he changed
his radical position and published "Document of Right Guidance for
Jihad Activity in Egypt and the World," also transliterated as
"Rationalizing Jihad in Egypt and the World". In it he proclaimed
“We are prohibited from committing aggression, even if the enemies
of Islam do that.” In 1988 in Peshawar, Pakistan, “The Essential
Guide for Preparation” by Dr. Fadl appeared and became one of the
most important texts in training for jihadis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyed_Imam_Al-Sharif)
2001 Dec 18, Yemeni troops
assaulted tribal forces in the Marib region after local leaders
refused to turn over suspected members of al Qaeda. At least 12
people were killed and 22 wounded.
(SFC, 12/19/01, p.A15)(WSJ, 12/19/01, p.A12)
2002 Feb 13, In Yemen Sameer
Mohammed ahmed al-Hada (25), an al Qaeda fugitive, died as troops
closed in and a hand grenade exploded in his hand. Family members
were also linked to al-Qaeda.
(WSJ, 2/14/02, p.A1)(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A18)
2002 Mar 1, Pres. Bush approved
plans to send some 100 US troops to Yemen to help train the nation’s
military to fight terrorists.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 14, VP Cheney traveled
to Yemen to press for joint efforts against remnants of al Qaeda.
(SFC, 3/15/02, p.A14)
2002 Aug 11, Yemen reported
that 6 suspected Muslim militants were arrested for planning a
bombing attack in the capital San'a. Two more were arrested in
connection with a previous blast.
(AP, 8/11/02)
2002 Sep 6, A Yemeni man died
when a bomb he was carrying exploded in a crowded market in San’a,
injuring two bystanders.
(AP, 9/6/02)
2002 Sep 20, In Yemen 2
suspected members of al-Qaida were killed in a gun battle and three
others were arrested after security forces raided several homes
looking for members of the terrorist network.
(AP, 9/20/02)
2002 Oct 6, A fire broke out on
the Limberg, a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, setting
barrels of oil ablaze and sparking an explosion killing one
Bulgarian crew member. The explosion was soon determined to be the
result of a terrorist attack. Insurance paid out $70 million for the
damages.
(AP, 10/6/02)(SFC, 10/11/02, p.A13)(AP,
10/6/03)(Econ, 4/22/06, p.73)
2002 Nov 3, In northwest Yemen
6 al-Qaida suspects were killed when the car they were traveling in
was struck by a missile from a US Predator drone. Qaed Salim
Sinan al-Harethi, a suspected al-Qaida leader, was among the dead
along with Kamal Derwish, a member of the Lackawanna, NY, sleeper
cell.
(SFC, 11/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/02, p.A15)(SFC,
11/9/02, p.A3)(AP, 11/3/03)
2002 Dec 9, US and Spanish
forces seized an unflagged ship from North Korea that was carrying
Scud missiles to Yemen.
(SFC, 12/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 11, Yemen said Scud
missiles found hidden aboard a North Korean ship seized by Spain and
the United States were destined for its army and demanded them back.
Pres. Bush ordered them released. Bush later created a coalition of
members to block arms shipments "of proliferation concern."
(Reuters, 12/11/02)(SFC, 12/12/02, p.A19)(WSJ,
10/21/03, p.A1)
2002 Dec 20, Yemeni security
forces battled suspected al-Qaida members holed up in a building in
a gunfight that left 2 policemen dead.
(AP, 12/20/02)
2002 Dec 28, In Yemen a gunman
shot and killed Jarallah Omar, a senior politician, after Omar spoke
as a guest at an Islamic party's congress at San’a.
(AP, 12/28/02)
2002 Dec 30, In Yemen a
suspected Muslim extremist, hiding his gun cradled like a baby,
slipped into the Jibla Baptist Hospital and opened fire, killing
three American missionaries: Dr. Martha Myers (57), William Koehn
(60), and Kathleen Gariety (53). A 4th was seriously wounding. Abed
Abdul Razak Kamel was sentenced to death in May for killing the
missionaries. Kamel was executed on Feb 27, 2006.
(AP, 12/30/02)(SFC, 12/31/02, p.A4)(AP,
12/30/03)(AP, 2/27/06)
2003 Mar 18, In Yemen a man
shot 4 Hunt Oil company workers. He killed 3 and shot himself dead.
(SFC, 3/19/03, p.A5)
2003 Mar 21, In Yemen police
clashed with anti-war demonstrators trying to storm the US Embassy,
leaving a policeman and protester dead.
(AP, 3/21/03)
2003 Apr 11, In Yemen 10
suspects in the bombing of the US destroyer Cole escaped from
prison.
(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A3)
2003 Apr 27, In Yemen
parliamentary elections for 301 seats were marred by gunfights that
wounded at least 15 people.
(SFC, 4/28/03, A12)
2003 Apr 29, Pakistani police
arrested six men linked to al-Qaida, including a Yemeni man, Tawfiq
Attash Khallad, wanted in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks and
the bombing of the USS Cole.
(AP, 4/30/03)(WSJ, 5/1/03, A1)
2003 Jun 6, In Yemen an
explosion close to a military base killed 3 people. The blast was
caused by a missile that blew up in the Beir Ahmed district of the
southern port city of Aden.
(AP, 6/6/03)
2003 Jun 25, Yemeni troops
killed at least 6 Islamic militants during an attack on a mountain
hideout following failed negotiations.
(SFC, 6/26/03, p.A10)
2003 Oct 1, US officials
identified Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir (29), a Yemeni ex-bodyguard of Osama
bin Laden, as al Qaeda's new terror chief.
(WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 25, In Yemen security
forces arrested Saudi-born Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal (32), the alleged
mastermind of the attacks on the USS Cole, at a hide-out west of the
capital, San'a.
(AP, 11/26/03)(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2003 In Yemen guards
apprehended Hezam Ali Hassan (17) and Khaled Saleh (18) after they
followed the car of Ambassador Edmund Hull through the Sabeen area
of San'a before they were able to throw hand grenades at Hull as he
stepped into a store. Both men were released in 2008 after serving
over 3 years in jail.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2004 Mar 3, In Yemen security
forces arrested Abdul Raouf Naseeb, a leading al-Qaida member, along
with other militants in the southern mountains.
(AP, 3/4/04)
2004 Mar 16, Yemen authorities
said 9 suspects in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole had been
arrested, including 8 who escaped from jail in 2003.
(SFC, 3/17/04, p.A9)
2004 Mar 19, Yemen security
forces captured the nation's most wanted man and another militant
who escaped from prison last year after being detained for the 2000
bombing of the USS Cole. Jamal Badawi and Fahd al-Quso were arrested
in the mountains of southern Abyan province.
(AP, 3/19/04)
2004 Jun 11, In Yemen a gunman
opened fire with an automatic rifle on worshippers in a mosque
outside the capital during midday prayers, killing four people and
wounding six.
(AP, 6/12/04)
2004 Jun, In northern Yemen
Shiite Muslim rebels began a revolt in Saada. By 2009 fighting
claimed at least 4,000 lives. The rebels were led by Shiite cleric
Hussein Badr Eddin al-Hawthi until his death in clashes later in
2004. Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, the brother of the slain leader, became
chief.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2004 Jul 10, In northern Yemen
5 policemen were killed as security forces continued an offensive
against followers of a Shiite dissident, firing missiles on the
militant's mountain hideout.
(AP, 7/10/04)
2004 Aug 5, Yemeni officials
said its army has launched a major offensive to quash a rebellion in
the northern mountains. About 50 soldiers and rebels have been
killed in the two days of fighting.
(AP, 8/5/04)
2004 Aug 6, Yemeni warplanes
and artillery pounded mountain hideouts of an anti-U.S. leader and
his followers in a major offensive aimed at ending a six-week
conflict that has killed at least 500 people.
(AP, 8/6/04)
2004 Aug 28, A Yemen court
convicted 15 militants on terror charges including the 2002 bombing
of a French oil tanker and plotting to kill the U.S. ambassador.
(AP, 8/28/04)
2004 Sep 10, Yemen reported
that its troops had killed Hussein Badr Eddin al-Hawthi (al-Houthi),
a rebel cleric whose “Believing Youth” forces have battled the
government in a remote northern region for months.
(AP, 9/10/04)(SFC, 9/11/04, p.A10)(Econ, 5/21/05,
p.51)
2004 Sep 29, A Yemeni judge
sentenced two men to death and four others to prison terms ranging
from five to 10 years for orchestrating the 2000 suicide bombing of
the USS Cole.
(AP, 9/29/04)
2004 Yemen fell from 88th to
112th place on a ranking of 145 countries tested for government
transparency and corruption by Transparency International, a global
anti-corruption group.
(AP, 10/27/05)
2005 Feb 5, A Yemeni court
overruled earlier rulings and imposed harsher sentences, including a
death sentence, on three militants convicted of attacking a French
oil tanker and a helicopter carrying U.S. employees of an oil
company.
(AP, 2/5/05)
2005 Mar 29, In Yemen clashes
between the military and followers of a slain cleric stretched into
a second day of fighting, leaving eight Yemeni soldiers dead.
(AP, 3/29/05)
2005 Apr 16, Yemen's PM
Bajammal said underground religious schools that promote extremist
forms of Islam are drawing in many young students across the
country. He promised to eliminate the underground schools, which he
estimated numbered about 4,000 and drew about 330,000 students.
(AP, 4/16/05)
2005 Apr 21, Health officials
said a polio outbreak in Yemen may be due to pilgrims returning from
Mecca.
(AP, 4/22/05)
2005 Apr 29, The UN health
agency reported 18 new cases of polio in Yemen and said more people
are believed infected, sparking fears of an epidemic in the Middle
Eastern country with a low immunization rate among children.
(AP, 4/29/05)
2005 Apr, Yemen troops put down
a resumption of violence by the followers of cleric Hussein Badr
Eddin al-Hawthi (al-Houthi), who was killed in September. It was
thought to be led by his father, Badr Eddin al-Hawthi, in fighting
that tribal sources say killed 250 people on both sides.
(AP, 4/20/05)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.51)
2005 May 17, The UN WHO health
agency said confirmed polio cases reached 83 in Yemen. The country
was believed to have been free of the disease until last month.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 Jul 17, Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh, leader of this Arab nation for more than a
quarter-century, said he will not run in next year's elections, and
he urged political parties to nominate "young blood" to lead the
country.
(AP, 7/17/05)
2005 Jul 20, In Yemen at least
11 people were killed in clashes with police after rioters threw
stones and set fires in streets to protest against subsidy cuts that
nearly doubled petrol prices.
(AP, 7/20/05)
2005 Jul 21, In Yemen
protesters clashed with security forces for a 2nd day after the
government reduced subsidies on oil products. The violence in the
capital and elsewhere left four dead and seven injured. 2 days of
rioting left 16 people dead.
(AP, 7/21/05)(SFC, 7/22/05, p.A14)
2005 Aug 3, According to
Amnesty International 2 Yemeni men said they were held in solitary
confinement in secret, underground US detention facilities in an
unknown country and interrogated by masked men for more than 18
months without being charged or allowed any contact with the outside
world.
(AP, 8/4/05)
2005 Oct 19, The International
Organization for Migration (IMO) said "Ethiopian women and girls who
migrate to Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia suffer from
maltreatment, physical, sexual and emotional abuses," in a report
based on interviews with 443 women returning from the region.
(AP, 10/20/05)
2005 Nov 12, In Yemen masked
attackers stabbed and wounded outspoken journalist Nabil Sabaie (27)
on one of the capital's main streets. Newspapers in recent months
have stepped up reports on Yemen's rampant corruption, identifying
ministers and other officials allegedly involved in stealing state
money. They also have increasingly scrutinized Pres. Saleh, his
family and the country's powerful military.
(AP, 11/28/05)
2005 Nov 21, In Yemen a
tribesman threatened to kill two Swiss tourists he kidnapped if the
government uses force to free them. Hasan Ahmed al-Dhamen said that
he would kill his two hostages, a man and a woman, if security
forces tried to raid his hide-out.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2005 Nov 27, In Yemen a
suspected al-Qaida ally was executed by a firing squad after being
convicted of killing a prominent politician and plotting a deadly
attack on three American missionaries in 2002.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Dec 24, Yemeni kidnappers
freed two Austrian tourists, three days after seizing them in an
apparent dispute over the government's arrest of fellow tribesmen.
(AP, 12/24/05)
2005 Dec 28, Armed men
kidnapped a former German diplomat and his family touring the
mountains of eastern Yemen and pressed the Yemeni government for the
release of jailed members of their tribe.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Dec 28, In Yemen a
mountain avalanche swept away 23 houses in the tiny village of
Dhafeer, killing at least 56 people.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 Dec 31, Yemeni kidnappers
released a former German diplomat and his four family members.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 Yemen’s population of
about 18.5 million was expected to double within 15 years, placing
further burdens on its economy.
(AP, 10/27/05)
2006 Jan 1, In northern Yemen
tribesmen kidnapped five Italians, a day after the government
negotiated the release of five Germans held hostage. Tribesmen soon
freed three Italian women, who were among a group of five Italian
tourists, and pressed for the release of kinsmen held by the
authorities.
(Reuters, 1/1/06)
2006 Jan 2, Yemeni tribal and
state officials said 3 Italian women kidnapped in north Yemen have
refused to go free until their abductors release two Italian men
held with them.
(AP, 1/2/06)
2006 Jan 6, In Yemen 5 Italian
hostages were freed in good health after six days in captivity when
their kidnappers surrendered to government troops.
(AP, 1/6/06)
2006 Jan 22, The UN refugee
agency said a smuggler's boat capsized off the coast of Yemen,
killing at least 22 people. Twenty-eight were reported missing.
(AP, 1/22/06)
2006 Feb 3, Jamal al-Badawi, a
man considered a mastermind of the USS Cole bombing that killed 17
sailors in a Yemeni port in 2000, was among 23 people who escaped
from a Yemen prison. At least 13 of the 23 escapees were convicted
al-Qaida fighters, who escaped via a 140-yard-long tunnel dug by the
prisoners and co-conspirators outside.
(AP, 2/5/06)
2006 Feb 26, Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh said three al-Qaida convicts among the two dozen
who escaped earlier this month have turned themselves in.
(AP, 2/26/06)
2006 Feb 27, In Yemen a firing
squad executed Abed Abdul Razak Kamel, an Islamic militant who
killed three American missionaries in a south Yemen hospital in
2002.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Mar 5, In Yemen Hezam Ali
Hassan (17) and Khaled Saleh (18), convicted of trying to kill US
ambassador Edmund Hull in 2003, were sentenced to five years in
prison.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 5, In Yemen Hezam Ali
Hassan (17) and Khaled Saleh (18), convicted of trying to kill US
ambassador Edmund Hull in 2003, were sentenced to five years in
prison.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Apr 14, Security forces at
a Shiite mosque in northern Yemen fought with supporters of a slain
anti-US cleric in a clash that left at least four people dead.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 Jun 10, Three Guantanamo
Bay detainees, 2 from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen, hanged
themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes, bringing further
condemnation of the isolated camp where hundreds of men have been
held for years without charge. Yasser Talal al-Zahrani (21) of Saudi
Arabia, captured in Pakistan in 2002, was one of the 3 Gitmo
detainees who committed suicide.
(AP, 6/11/06)(Econ, 6/17/06, p.92)
2006 Jun 24, Yemen's president
Ali Abdullah Saleh, a US ally in the war on terrorism, said he would
run for re-election this year despite earlier assurances that he
would step down after 28 years in power.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jul 8, A Yemeni court
acquitted 19 alleged al-Qaida members of charges they plotted to
blow up a hotel frequented by Americans, citing a lack of evidence.
The state prosecutor appealed the collective acquittal, and the
defendants were returned to their cells at the intelligence
services' jail where they have been held for more than two years. 14
Yemenis and 5 Saudis had been caught with guns and fake Iraqi
passports.
(AP, 7/8/06)(WSJ, 8/14/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 8, Five Yemeni army
officers were killed when their military helicopter crashed during a
heavy rainstorm.
(AP, 8/9/06)
2006 Sep 10, Armed Yemeni
tribesmen kidnapped four French tourists in the east of the country
to press for their relatives to be released from jail.
(AP, 9/10/06)
2006 Sep 12, In Yemen a
stampede during a campaign rally for President Ali Abdullah Saleh
killed at least 51 people and injured more than 230, most of them
schoolchildren and teenagers.
(AP, 9/12/06)
2006 Sep 15, In Yemen suicide
bombers tried to strike two oil facilities with explosives-packed
cars. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for the attempted
suicide attacks and vowed more strikes against the United States and
its allies.
(AP, 9/15/06)(AP, 11/7/06)
2006 Sep 16, In Yemen 4
suspected al-Qaida members who were plotting attacks in San’a were
arrested.
(AP, 9/17/06)
2006 Sep 20, Yemen's President
Ali Abdullah Saleh faced a serious challenger at the polls for the
first time. Roughly 5 million of the 9.2 million eligible Yemenis
cast ballots. Saleh has ruled since 1978, first as president of
North Yemen and then as head of the unified state after the 1990
merger of the North and South.
(AP, 9/20/06)
2006 Sep 23, Yemen's President
Ali Abdullah Saleh was re-elected with more than 77% of votes in the
face of the strongest challenge since he came to power 28 years ago.
Faisal bin Shamlan won almost 22% of the vote. Opposition parties
backing bin Shamlan immediately rejected the election commission's
results, claiming their candidate won at least 40%.
(AP, 9/24/06)
2006 Sep 25, In Yemen 4 French
tourists kidnapped Sep 10 were freed.
(AP, 9/25/06)
2006 Sep 29, Yemeni government
forces raided a tribal settlement following the kidnappings of
foreign tourists, arresting five suspects but killing two women and
wounding three children.
(AP, 9/29/06)
2006 Oct 1, Yemeni
anti-terrorism forces killed Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeie, a suspected
al-Qaida member, who was convicted of an attack on a French oil
tanker and escaped from prison earlier this year. The forces also
killed another suspected al-Qaida member, Mohammed al-Dailami, and
arrested two other suspects.
(AP, 10/1/06)
2006 Nov 4, In Yemen an appeals
court endorsed a lower court's decision to drop the most serious
charges against 19 alleged al-Qaida members, clearing all of
plotting to assassinate Westerners and blow up a hotel frequented by
Americans.
(AP, 11/4/06)
2006 Nov 22, A Yemen court
convicted 34 men of plotting attacks across the country, including
one aimed at the US Embassy. It sentenced Ibrahim Mohammed
Sharafeldeen, the leader of the Shiite rebel group, to death.
(AP, 11/22/06)
2006 Dec 5, In Yemen a gunman
opened fire outside the US Embassy, but Yemeni guards quickly shot
and arrested him.
(AP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 18, Six Yemenis
released from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay returned home
and were being held by Yemeni authorities to determine if they have
any terror ties.
(AP, 12/18/06)
2006 Dec 27, Yemeni authorities
opened fire on boats filled with refugees fleeing the fighting in
Somalia and at least 17 people drowned when one of the vessels
capsized.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Yemen’s 20 million
citizens owned an estimated 60 million firearms.
(Econ, 9/23/06, p.52)
2007 Jan 27, In Yemen 6
security forces were killed and 20 others were injured in clashes
with followers of Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi in Saada.
(AP, 1/28/07)
2007 Feb 12, A vessel smuggling
120 people across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen capsized as
it approached the coast. At least 30 Somali and Ethiopian migrants
trying to reach the Arabian peninsula drowned.
(AP, 2/13/07)
2007 Feb 13, Military officials
said clashes between the Yemeni army and followers of a Shiite rebel
leader have killed 16 troops and 69 guerrillas during the past three
days.
(AP, 2/13/07)
2007 Feb 16, A Yemeni official
said a boat loaded with Somali and Ethiopian migrants capsized in
the Gulf of Aden during a night crossing in which at least 112
people died.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 19, Military officials
said ongoing clashes between the Yemeni army and followers of a
Shiite rebel leader in the north of the country have killed more
than 100 people in the past five days.
(AP, 2/19/07)
2007 Mar 3, A Yemen official
said a hundred jailed Muslim extremists, including some who
allegedly fought for al-Qaida in Iraq, had been released. Some had
completed serving their sentences, while some of the others were
acquitted for lack of evidence.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 4, Thirty-six Yemenis
with alleged ties to al-Qaida went on trial on charges they planned
to take part in foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations
in the country.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 19, A Yemen military
official said government forces seized a number of bases belonging
to Shiite rebels in northern Yemen following fighting that drove
some 2,500 civilians from their homes. Military officials said that
144 Yemeni troops have been killed since January.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 22, Smugglers taking
illegal migrants from Somalia to Yemen forced hundreds of Africans
overboard in stormy seas in an effort to make a fast getaway from
security forces. 31 bodies were found and nearly 90 people remained
missing.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Apr 7, Yemeni police
arrested three men suspected of setting fire to a mosque and
wounding at least 33 people.
(AP, 4/7/07)
2007 Apr 6, Human migrant
traffickers forced some 300 African migrants to jump into the sea
off Yemen causing at least 32 to die.
(SFC, 4/7/07, p.A3)
2007 May 8, A newspaper owned
by Saudi Arabia's royal family said one of seven recently exposed
Saudi terrorist cells used Syria as a base for coordinating with
al-Qaida in Iraq and held training camps in the desert of
neighboring Yemen.
(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 12, Yemen said it was
recalling its ambassadors to Iran and Libya over what it sees as
their support for Shi'ite Muslim rebels involved in bloody clashes
with government forces. The government of Sunni-dominated Yemen
accused the rebels of seeking to oust its secular administration and
install Islamist rule.
(AP, 5/12/07)
2007 Jun 16, Representatives of
both sides said Yemen's government and Shiite rebels have reached a
cease-fire in a three-year fight that has claimed 4,000 lives this
year.
(AP, 6/16/07)
2007 Jun 19, The US announced
the transfer of six Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to their home
countries, including one who, according to his lawyers, now may face
abuse in Tunisia for nonviolent political activities. 4 men returned
to Yemen and two to Tunisia.
(AP, 6/19/07)
2007 Jun 23, A Yemeni guard
opened fire on a group of foreign oil workers shortly after they
landed at a company airstrip, killing one and wounding five,
including an American. The provincial governor said the guard's was
mentally ill.
(AP, 6/23/07)
2007 Jul 2, In Yemen a suicide
bomber plowed his car into people visiting a temple linked to the
ancient Queen of Sheba, killing seven Spaniards and two Yemenis. A
wounded Spanish woman died July 14. The suicide bomber was later
identified as Abdu Mohammed Saad Ahmed (21), a Yemeni citizen.
(AP, 7/3/07)(AP, 7/15/07)(AP, 8/2/07)
2007 Aug 2, In Yemen security
forces fired tear gas and water cannons at former soldiers
protesting in Aden demanding to be allowed back in the military. One
person was reported killed. The protesters were largely members of
the army of south Yemen who were ousted after being defeated by
northern forces.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Sep 1, Hundreds of riot
police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse thousands of retired
officers and soldiers in southern Yemen who were demanding to be
allowed back into the military. The protesters were largely members
of the army of south Yemen who were ousted after being defeated by
northern forces.
(AP, 9/1/07)
2007 Sep 2, In Yemen riot
police opened fire on a demonstration by retired officers and
soldiers, killing two people and wounding more than 20 on the second
day of protests demanding the right to rejoin the army.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 30, A volcanic
explosion rocked Yemen’s tiny Jabal al-Tair island in the Red Sea,
spewing lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air and forcing
Yemeni authorities to evacuate a military base. 8 soldiers were
missing.
(AP, 10/1/07)
2007 Oct 25, A senior security
official said Yemen has set free Jamal al-Badawi, one of the
al-Qaida masterminds of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 that killed 17
American sailors. Al-Badawi was granted his freedom after turning
himself in 15 days ago and pledging loyalty to Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah Saleh.
(AP, 10/25/07)
2007 Nov 1, The UN said nearly
90,000 people have fled Mogadishu in recent days following the
heaviest fighting to shake the war-battered city in months. About 40
people, mostly Somalis, drowned while crossing the Gulf of Aden on
their way to Yemen in a desperate attempt to escape gunbattles back
home. About 90 others survived and managed to reach the Yemeni
southern shores of Shokara after their rickety vessels capsized.
(AP, 11/1/07)(AP, 11/3/07)
2007 Nov 5, In Yemen
unidentified saboteurs bombed an oil pipeline in Marib province. The
attack halted the flow of oil and added to concerns in the world oil
markets about adequate supplies for heating fuel.
(AP, 11/8/07)
2007 Nov 7, A Yemeni court
convicted 32 al-Qaida suspects of planning attacks on oil and gas
installations in the country, sentencing them to prison terms of up
to 15 years. Four others were acquitted.
(AP, 11/7/07)
2007 Nov 8, In Yemen tribesmen
attacked an oil installation and then clashed with government
troops, leaving 12 people dead. It was the second attack on the
country's oil industry this week.
(AP, 11/8/07)
2007 Nov 21, More than 60
migrants drowned when their boat capsized off Yemen during an
attempt to flee their war torn homeland of Somalia.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2008 Jan 10, Government
officials and rebels said soldiers and Shiite rebels are fighting
again in northern Yemen, breaking a 6-month-old cease-fire with
clashes that have killed more than 30 people.
(AP, 1/10/08)
2008 Jan 18, In Yemen gunmen
believed to be al-Qaida militants opened fire on a tourist convoy
near the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, killing two Belgian
women and their driver. In 2009 four Al-Qaida militants were
convicted for the attack and sentenced to death.
(AP, 1/18/08)(AP, 7/11/10)
2008 Jan 19, The bodies of
nearly 50 Africans trying to immigrate washed up on Yemen's shores
after their boat capsized in the treacherous waters of the Gulf of
Aden.
(AP, 1/19/08)
2008 Mar 18, In Yemen a mortar
shell exploded by a high school next to the American embassy,
killing one Yemeni guard and wounding 13 students and three other
guards. Five suspects were later arrested in the attack, which the
US said targeted its embassy. An Interior Ministry official later
said al-Qaida militant Hamza al-Dayan launched three mortars at the
embassy before fleeing the scene in a vehicle with three
accomplices. In 2009 four Al-Qaida militants were convicted for the
attack and sentenced to death.
(AP, 3/18/08)(WSJ, 3/21/08, p.A1)(AP,
3/22/08)(AP, 7/11/10)
2008 Mar 28, Jordan, Iraq and
Yemen announced at the last minute that their top leaders will not
attend this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Apr 1, Tanks took to the
streets of southern Yemen cities to discourage rioting by
disaffected youths and retired military officers over unfulfilled
government promises to enlist them in the army.
(AP, 4/1/08)
2008 Apr 2, In Yemen security
forces killed one demonstrator and wounded four others in the fourth
day of rioting that has engulfed the country's south.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 6, In Yemen a housing
complex used by foreigners in the capital came under attack, with
explosions shattering windows and prompting residents to evacuate
with suitcases and boxes.
(AP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 7, In Yemen 7 people
were arrested on suspicion of involvement in attacks the previous
day against a residential complex for Westerners in San’a, Yemen's
capital.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 18, In northern Yemen
gunmen assassinated Saleh Hendi, a ruling party lawmaker, along with
his son.
(AP, 4/18/08)
2008 Apr 21, Pirates in the
Gulf of Aden fired on a Japanese oil tanker, unleashing hundreds of
gallons of fuel into the sea. The attack took place 170 miles off
the coast of Yemen while the 150,000-ton tanker was heading to Saudi
Arabia.
(AP, 4/21/08)
2008 May 2, In northern Yemen a
motorcycle bomb exploded amid a crowd of worshippers leaving a
mosque after prayers, killing at least 18 people and wounding about
45.
(AP, 5/2/08)
2008 May 3, In Yemen 3 soldiers
and four rebels died in the overnight skirmishes that took place in
the remote mountain province of Saada, near the Saudi Arabian
border.
(AP, 5/3/08)
2008 May 4, A Shiite rebel
leader in Yemen warned that his group will escalate its fight
against the government if the army continues an offensive that has
left almost 20 rebels and soldiers dead over the past two days.
(AP, 5/4/08)
2008 May 18, A Yemeni-American
on the FBI's Most Wanted list of terror suspects was jailed in Yemen
after an appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence. Jaber
Elbaneh has been accused of belonging to al-Qaida, convicted of
plots to attack oil installations in Yemen and of involvement in a
2002 attack on the French tanker Limburg off Yemen's coast that
killed one person. On November 8 Elbaneh’s sentence was cut to 5
years after winning an appeal.
(AP, 5/19/08)(AP, 11/8/08)
2008 May, The population of
Yemen was about 22 million. More than a fifth of the people were
malnourished. 75% of the food was imported. It was feared that
aquifers could dry up within a decade.
(Econ, 5/10/08, p.55)
2008 Jun 9, A Yemeni security
court convicted 13 Shiite rebels of plotting terrorist attacks,
sentencing one of them to death.
(AP, 6/9/08)
2008 Jul 5, In northern Yemen
an explosion at the main post office building of Saada killed at
least five people.
(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 25, In eastern Yemen a
suicide car bomber rammed a vehicle into the Interior Ministry's
headquarters, killing a policeman and injuring eight others.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 28, Tarek bin Laden
signed a deal with Djibouti to build Noor City, the first of a
hundred “Cities of Light” that the Saudi Binladen Group planned
around the world. Plans called for the city to have 2.5 million
people by 2025 and 4.5 million for its Yemeni twin.
(Econ, 8/2/08,
p.50)(www.railpage.com.au/f-p1093077.htm)
2008 Aug 11, Two Yemeni
security officers and five suspected al-Qaida militants died in a
gunbattle in Tarim, a southern Yemeni town.
(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Sep 17, Suspected
militants armed with automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades
and at least one suicide car bomb assaulted the US Embassy in the
Yemeni capital. The coordinated attack killed 17 people, including
six assailants. The dead included Susan Elbaneh (18), a US citizen
from Lackawanna, N.Y., who was recently wed in Yemen in an arranged
marriage, along with her Yemeni husband as they stood outside the
embassy.
(AP, 9/17/08)(AP, 9/18/08)(AP, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 18, A senior Yemen
security official said at least 25 militants with suspected links to
al-Qaida have been arrested in the last 24 hours in connection with
the deadly attack on the US Embassy in San’a.
(AP, 9/18/08)
2008 Oct 10, Yemeni officials
and the UN refugee agency said about 100 migrants from Somalia were
missing and feared drowned in the treacherous waters off the coast
of Yemen after smugglers forced them overboard 3 miles off Yemen’s
coast. 47 were believed to have survived.
(AP, 10/10/08)(SFC, 10/11/08, p.A10)
2008 Oct 23, In southern Yemen
a tropical storm, formed out in the Indian Ocean earlier in the
week, hit the remote Hadramut province. Flooding which followed left
at least 90 people dead and some 20,000 displaced.
(AP, 10/25/08)(SSFC, 10/26/08, p.A18)(AP,
10/27/08)
2008 Oct, Yemen’s President Ali
Abdullah Saleh disclosed that a "terrorist cell" linked to Israel's
intelligence services had been dismantled. Bassam al-Haidari was
later found guilty of contacts with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert on
the Internet to plot against Yemen and sentenced to death. 2 other
men received 3-year jail terms.
(AFP, 4/3/10)
2008 Nov 2, The bodies of 60
Somali and Ethiopian migrants washed up on the shores of southern
Yemen over the last three days.
(AP, 11/3/08)
2008 Nov 12, Pirates
commandeered the Karagol, a Turkish chemical tanker, off the coast
of Yemen. 14 Turkish personnel were aboard the tanker. The Russian
frigate Neustrashimy and the British frigate Cumberland foiled
pirates who fired automatic weapons toward a Danish ship and twice
tried to seize it in the Gulf of Aden. The Karagol was released on
Jan 12, 2009.
(AP, 11/12/08)(AP, 1/13/09)
2008 Nov 15, In Yemen a
16-year-old boy died when police fired at locals demonstrating at a
voter registration center. The crowds were protesting the
government's rejection of opposition attempts to amend the country's
electoral law. Yemen's political parties have been preparing the
amendment to the electoral law for the past year in an effort to
bring more women into parliament, curb vote-rigging and limit the
influence of government officials.
(AP, 11/15/08)
2008 Nov 22, In Yemen opening
ceremonies were held for the $60 million Saleh Mosque glorifying the
country's leader, President Ali Abdullah Saleh. It's a massive sum
in a country that ranks as the poorest in the Arab world and is
beset by internal armed conflict, terrorism and severe malnutrition.
(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Nov 24, The Bush
administration, after a long legal battle, agreed to send Salim
Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, home to Yemen. Hamdan was
transferred to Yemen the next day.
(WSJ, 11/25/08, p.A1)(AP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 27, Yemeni security
troops in San’a opened fire on thousands of protesters calling for a
boycott of April parliamentary elections, wounding a number of
demonstrators.
(AP, 11/27/08)
2008 Dec 3, In Yemen the bodies
of 24 Somalis washed ashore following an accident involving a boat
trying to smuggle migrants. Strong winds pushed the bodies on to
beaches over the last 2 days near the town of al-Qasha'a. 184 more
Somalis involved in the accident managed to swim ashore.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 4, The Danish navy
intercepted and sunk a suspected pirate vessel drifting off Somalia.
7 men were handed over to authorities in Yemen but were not
immediately suspected of any crime.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 13, The Indian navy
captured 23 pirates who threatened a merchant vessel in the lawless
waters of the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of ships have come under
attack by gunmen in recent months. The pirates were from Somalia and
Yemen. A German helicopter thwarted another attack on a freighter
being chased by speed boats off Yemen.
(AP, 12/13/08)(SSFC, 12/14/08, p.A20)
2008 Dec 15, In southern Yemen
tribesmen kidnapped a German aid worker and her parents, demanding
the government release imprisoned clan members.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 17, An international
anti-piracy force thwarted the attempted takeover of a Chinese cargo
ship off the Somali coast, sending in attack helicopters that fired
on the bandits and forced them to abandon the ship they had boarded.
The Indian navy handed over 23 pirates, caught at sea on Dec 13, to
authorities in Yemen.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 19, Mediators said
Yemeni kidnappers have released their three German hostages after
the Yemeni government agreed to meet some of their conditions,
including paying a ransom and releasing some tribesmen from prison.
(AP, 12/19/08)
2009 Jan 17, Near Yemen
hundreds of people were missing and feared dead after three boats
carrying about 400 migrants from Somalia capsized.
(AP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 20, Abdullahi Yusuf
(75), Somalia's former president and an ex-warlord who was forced
from government, arrived in Yemen in a private jet from his
impoverished homeland, seeking political asylum. Islamic insurgents
and Somali forces clashed in Mogadishu, killing at least 14 people
in the latest sign the Islamists are making inroads into the few
areas the UN-backed government still controls.
(AP, 1/21/09)(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 23, Said Ali
al-Shihri, a Saudi man released from Guantanamo after spending
nearly six years inside the US prison camp, is now the No. 2 of
Yemen's al-Qaida branch, according to a purported Internet statement
from the terror network.
(AP, 1/23/09)
2009 Jan, In Yemen local
jihadists merged with fugitive Al-Qaida operatives to form al-Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.73)
2009 Feb 17, The Yemeni
Interior Ministry announced the surrender of Abu al-Hareth Muhammad
al-Oufi, a former Guantanamo detainee who later became an al-Qaida
field commander. He was handed over to Saudi authorities.
(AP, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 19, Naser Abdel Karim
al-Wahishi, Yemen's most wanted fugitive and leader of al-Qaida in
the Arabian Peninsula, used an audio recording to urge Yemenis to
rise up against the government and called on Arabs in Saudi Arabia
and Gulf countries to help their brothers in Yemen.
(AP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 20, Six African
migrants drowned and 11 more are presumed dead after smugglers in
the Gulf of Aden forced their passengers overboard in deep water off
Yemen. The smuggling boat was carrying 40 Somalis and 12 Ethiopians
when it approached Yemen's coast.
(AP, 2/24/09)
2009 Feb 24, Four Yemenis were
convicted and sentenced up to seven years in prison on for forming
an al-Qaida cell and plotting to attack government and foreign
targets in the country.
(AP, 2/24/09)
2009 Mar 15, In Yemen a bomb
killed four South Korean tourists and their Yemeni guide, the latest
attack targeting foreigners visiting this poor Arab country that has
both famed historic sites and a strong al-Qaida presence. 12 Islamic
suspects were soon arrested.
(AP, 3/16/09)(WSJ, 3/17/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 18, In Yemen a suicide
bomber struck a convoy carrying South Korean officials sent to Yemen
to investigate a bombing earlier in the week that killed four South
Korean tourists. No one was hurt.
(AP, 3/18/09)
2009 Mar 31, In Yemen Jan and
Heleen Janszen, a Dutch couple, were kidnapped in a suburb of Sanaa
and taken to a mountainous area near the capital. They were released
on April 14 after Yemen's government paid more than a quarter
million dollars in ransom.
(AFP, 3/31/09)(SFC, 4/1/09, p.A2)(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 4, Off the coast of
Yemen a smuggling boat carrying 40 Somalis capsized as passengers
were disembarking. Twenty people made it to shore, the rest were
missing.
(AP, 4/7/09)
2009 Apr 22, In Yemen two young
sons of a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo were buried after a grenade
they were playing with accidentally detonated inside their home. The
two boys were the sons of Guantanamo prisoner #1463, Abdelsalam
al-Hilah, a businessman who was captured in Cairo in 2002 and sent
to Guantanamo on charges of terrorism.
(AP, 4/24/09)
2009 Apr 26, Pirates attacked 4
Yemeni tankers escorted by a Yemeni coast guard boat on their way to
Aden. 3 of the ships escaped and coast guards captured five pirates
and wounded two others. The Turkish cruiser Ariva 3, with two
British and four Japanese crew aboard, survived a pirate attack near
the Yemeni island of Jabal Zuqar. Somali pirates demanded a $5
million ransom for the release of two Egyptian fishing boats
hijacked earlier this month. Later in the day Yemeni coast guard
forces freed the hijacked Yemeni oil tanker (Qana) and arrested 11
Somali pirates, the first time the country has successfully retaken
a seized vessel.
(AP, 4/26/09)(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 May 4, In southern Yemen
armed protesters ambushed a military camp in Radfan killing one
soldier, as separatist sentiment mounted against the weak central
government.
(SFC, 5/5/09, p.A2)
2009 May 5, Yemen suspended
seven publications, including the nation's most popular daily, in
effort to stifle reporting on an unprecedented wave of deadly
rioting sweeping the south.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 Jun 1, Muhammad Ahmad
Abdallah Salih (31), a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay, died of an
apparent suicide. His was the fifth apparent suicide at the offshore
US prison, which Pres. Obama hopes to close by January. The Joint
Task Force that runs the US prison in Cuba said guards conducting a
routine check on June 2 found Salih unresponsive and not breathing.
(AP, 6/3/09)(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Jun 12, In Yemen nine
foreigners, including 3 children, were kidnapped while on a picnic
in northern Saada province. 3 of the kidnapped were found dead on
June 15. In May 2010 Saudi intelligence forces freed 2 German girls,
aged 4 & 6. The fate of the others remained unknown.
(AP, 6/16/09)(AP, 5/18/10)
2009 Jun 14, Yemen accused a
Shiite rebel group of kidnapping 9 foreigners in northern Saada
province. The Interior Ministry official said Hassan Hussein Bin
Alwan, a Saudi man suspected of financing Al-Qaida cells in Yemen
and Saudi Arabia, has been arrested.
(AP, 6/14/09)
2009 Jun 15, In Yemen 3 foreign
women, including two German nurses and a South Korean teacher
kidnapped on June 12, were found dead. Two children were found
alive. Nine foreigners, including seven German nationals, a Briton
and a South Korean, disappeared June 12 while on a picnic in Yemen’s
northern Saada region.
(AP, 6/15/09)(AP, 6/16/09)(SSFC, 6/21/09, p.F3)
2009 Jun 30, A Yemenia Airbus
310 jet with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean as it
tried to land during strong winds on the island nation of Comoros.
The passengers were on the last leg of a journey from Paris and
Marseilles to Comoros with a stop in Yemen to change planes. Bahia
Bakari (14), the only person to survive, was plucked from the sea
after clinging to wreckage for 13 hours. Investigators on Aug 28
retrieved the slightly damaged flight data recorder and 10 more
bodies from the Yemenia Airways flight. The voice recorder was
recovered on Aug 29.
(AP, 6/30/09)(SFC, 7/2/09, p.A3)(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Jul 6, In Yemen a barber
was publicly executed after he was found guilty of raping and
killing an 11-year-old boy who came to his shop for a haircut. The
barber was arrested in December 2008 and confessed during a January
trial to raping the boy inside his salon, killing him and cutting up
his body before dumping it outside San'a.
(AP, 7/6/09)
2009 Jul 23, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on thousands of protesters in the south chanting
anti-government slogans, killing 12 and wounding scores of others.
Demonstrations by former army members in southern Yemen demanding
political reforms have been occurring regularly since August, 2007.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Aug 6, In northern Yemen
local officials and the rebels said Shiite Muslim rebels have seized
a key control post on a strategic highway linking the capital San'a
with Saudi Arabia, overcoming an army brigade after 12 hours of
intense combat.
(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Aug 11, Yemen’s government
launched "Operation Scorched Earth," an all-out offensive to stamp
out an uprising in the northern Saada province, after rebels claimed
they had wrested more control of the region from Sunni-led
government troops.
(AP, 8/13/09)(AFP, 2/8/10)
2009 Aug 11, Two Yemenis jailed
in the United States over terrorism charges received a tumultuous
public welcome on their return home after serving more than six
years in prison. Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad (60) and his
assistant Mohammed Zayed were arrested in 2003 and convicted of
supporting terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida. Al-Moayad was
sentenced to 75 years in prison and Mohammed Zayed received 45
years, but on August 7 they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of
supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas and given six years
time served.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 12, Yemeni government
forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the
border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old
conflict. A local government official said 20 rebels were killed. A
local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting
across Saada and 51 were injured.
(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 13, Yemeni warplanes
bombed a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia for a second
straight day, in an ongoing offensive that has brought casualties
and pushed the area close to an all-out war.
(AP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 15, Yemen widened a
military offensive against Shiite rebels in the country's north,
blasting the fighters' positions with artillery and airstrikes.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Sep 8, Yemen’s the
Interior Ministry said 4 Yemenis carrying explosives and guns had
been arrested near the US embassy in San'a.
(AP, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 9, In Yemen 17 rebels
were killed in an air strike, according to a government statement,
which said they were caught sneaking through the mountains near
Saada. Four men survived the attack and were in custody.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 10, A Yemeni army
statement said the government launched a new offensive against
Shiite rebels in the north, destroying many of their vehicles and
hideouts. The rebels said they have been able to keep the government
from entering the northern town of Saada, which has been at the
center of the rebellion.
(AP, 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 15, The UN refugee
agency said 16 African migrants have died and another 49 were
missing and presumed dead after trying to cross the Gulf of Aden in
three boats. One boat reached Yemen on Sep 13, one had capsized on
Sep 13 and one sank on Sep 14.
(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Sep 16, Yemeni warplanes
hit a makeshift camp for civilians fleeing fighting between the
government and Shiite rebels. Nearly 87 civilians were killed as
government warplanes hit a camp of people fleeing fighting in the
northern region of Saada.
(AP, 9/16/09)(SFC, 9/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 19, Yemen offered a
conditional cease-fire to the Shiite rebels it is battling in the
north, following international concern over a deadly airstrike
against civilians displaced from the war zones.
(AP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 25, UN officials said
tens of thousands of Yemenis displaced by warfare between the
government and Shiite rebels were stranded around the war zone with
aid agencies unable to reach them because of the intensified
fighting.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep, General David
Petraeus issued a secret order authorizing an escalation that
included boosting military and intelligence assistance to help
Yemeni forces strike al Qaeda targets, as well as deployment of more
unmanned aerial drones to collect information and track high-value
targets.
(Reuters, 5/24/10)
2009 Oct 6, In Yemen thousands
of activists were reported taking to the streets across the south
calling for independence, even as much of the central government's
army is tied up fighting a Shiite rebellion in the far north.
(AP, 10/6/09)
2009 Oct 13, In Saudi Arabia a
shootout between Saudi security forces and al-Qaida militants near,
two of whom were disguised as women and wearing explosives belts,
left two of the militants and a soldier dead near the southern Yemen
border. One of the assailants, Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, was
captured. The two al-Qaida militants killed were planning to carry
out a massive attack. 6 Yemeni accomplices. who were coordinating
with the two militants, Youssef al-Shihri and Raed al-Harbi, were
later arrested.
(AP, 10/14/09)(AP, 10/18/09)
2009 Nov 3, Unidentified gunmen
infiltrated from Yemen and attacked Saudi security guards patrolling
the Mount Dokhan border area. 3 senior security men were killed.
(AP, 11/5/09)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.47)
2009 Nov 4, Saudi Arabia
launched a large military incursion across the border into northern
Yemen, using fighter jets and artillery bombardments to try to end a
Shiite rebellion inside its troubled southern neighbor.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 6, Saudi Arabia said
it carried out airstrikes against "infiltrators" from Yemen that
were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on
with the military action until the border with its restive neighbor
was secure. In Yemen, however, a military official said Saudi forces
continued to shell rebel position in Saada.
(AP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 8, Saudi Arabia’s
assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have taken control of
Dokhan mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of
Shiite rebels, in five days of fighting that saw three soldiers
killed and 15 wounded.
(AP, 11/8/09)
2009 Nov 10, Yemeni authorities
were reported to be hunting for Anwar al-Awlaki to determine whether
he has al-Qaida ties. The radical American imam, who communicated
with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooting suspect, and
called him a hero, was once arrested in Yemen on suspicion of giving
religious approval to militants to conduct kidnappings. Al-Awlaki, a
US citizen born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, had preached at a
Virginia mosque that Hasan's family attended.
(AP, 11/11/09)
2009 Nov 10, A Saudi Arabian
government adviser says the kingdom has imposed a naval blockade on
northern Yemen's Red Sea coast to try to prevent weapons and
fighters flowing to Shiite rebels in the area.
(AP, 11/10/09)
2009 Nov 16, A Yemeni security
official and the Japanese Embassy said armed tribesmen have
kidnapped a Japanese engineer working on the construction of a
school and demanded the government release one of their imprisoned
tribe members. Takeo Mashimo was released on Nov 23.
(AP, 11/17/09)(AP, 11/24/09)
2009 Nov 23, Shiite rebels in
northern Yemen accused Saudi forces of launching a major
cross-border ground and air attack, a day after an alleged failed
incursion.
(AFP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 27, Saudi Arabia said
nine of its soldiers fighting Yemeni rebels on the border were
missing and Saudi King Abdullah vowed to defend the country.
(AP, 11/28/09)
2009 Dec 12, Saudi newspapers
said Saudi ground forces and Apache attack helicopters had battled
Huthi fighters for two days at the Al-Jabri post on the Yemeni
border in the southern province of Yemen, and repulsed attempted
Huthi incursions. Saudi military denied a claim by Yemen's Huthi
rebels that they seized a Saudi border post.
(AFP, 12/12/09)
2009 Dec 13, In Yemen air
strike killed at least 35 people in the northwest where rebels have
been fighting a guerrilla war against Yemeni and Saudi forces.
Rebels said 70 civilians were killed as fighter jets struck the town
of Razah.
(SFC, 12/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Dec 15, Human Rights Watch
issued a report condemning Yemeni security forces for abuses in the
country's south, including the killing of at least 11 unarmed
protestors during the past two years.
(AFP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 17, Yemen security
forces struck several al-Qaida hideouts and training sites in Abyan
province, killing up to 34 suspected militants, including four
would-be suicide bombers who planned attacks at home and abroad. At
least 17 suspected militants were arrested. Civilians were caught up
in the government offensive, with several homes destroyed in the
airstrikes and others stormed by troops who mistook them for
al-Qaida hideouts. The government later admitted that 42 civilians
and 2 suspected Al-Qaida fighters died in the Dec 17 raids by Yemeni
special forces.
(AP, 12/17/09)(Econ, 1/2/10,
p.35)(http://tinyurl.com/2ekuand)
2009 Dec 18, The UN High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said an estimated 74,000 Africans,
mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia, have fled to Yemen as refugees or
economic migrants. That's a 50 percent higher than in 2008.
(AP, 12/18/09)
2009 Dec 22, Saudi Arabia said
that 73 Saudis have been killed and 26 gone missing since the
kingdom launched an offensive against Yemeni Shiite rebels along the
border last month. Rebels, known as Hawthis, have alleged dozens of
civilian deaths in Saudi air assaults.
(SFC, 12/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Dec 24, Yemeni forces,
backed by US intelligence, struck a series of suspected al-Qaida
hideouts in Shabwa province, including a meeting of senior leaders,
killing at least 30 militants in the country's stepped-up campaign
against the terror network.
(AP, 12/24/09)(Econ, 1/2/10, p.35)
2009 Dec 27, The New York Times
reported that the United States has quietly opened a third, largely
covert front against the Al-Qaeda terror network in Yemen. The paper
said the Pentagon will be spending more than 70 million dollars over
the next 18 months, and using teams of special forces, to train and
equip Yemeni military, Interior Ministry and coast guard forces.
(AFP, 12/28/09)
2009 Dec 30, Yemeni security
forces stormed an al-Qaida hide-out in a principle militant
stronghold in the country's west, setting off clashes, as a security
chief vowed to fight the group's powerful local branch until it was
eliminated.
(AP, 12/30/09)
2009 The population of Yemen
was about 24 million scattered over some 150,000 settlements. The
Zaydi sect, a quietist branch of Shia Islam, made up about a third.
(Econ, 9/12/09, p.49)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.45)
2009 Yemen received about $70
million in military aid from the US. In 2011 the military aid was
planned to reach $250 million.
(Econ, 1/15/11, p.51)
2010 Jan 2, Yemen security
officials said they deployed several hundred extra troops to two
mountainous eastern provinces that are al-Qaida's main strongholds
in the country and where the suspected would-be Christmas airplane
bomber may have visited.
(AP, 1/2/10)
2010 Jan 3, The US and Britain
closed their embassies in Yemen in the face of al-Qaida threats,
after both countries announced an increase in aid to the government
to fight the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a US
airliner on Christmas.
(AP, 1/3/10)
2010 Jan 4, Yemeni security
forces killed two suspected al-Qaida militants in clashes outside
the capital Sanaa, as the US and British embassies extended their
closure for a second day because of threats of attack by the terror
group's offshoot here. France became the latest foreign mission to
close in Yemen as security around embassies and the airport was
boosted.
(AP, 1/4/10)(AFP, 1/4/10)
2010 Jan 6, Yemeni security
forces captured Mohammed al-Hanq, a key Al-Qaeda leader, and two
other militants believed behind threats against Western interests in
Sanaa. The US embassy reopened after a 2-day closure due to terror
threats.
(AFP, 1/6/10)(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 12, Yemeni military
forces killed 20 rebels in a door-to-door sweep of the main northern
city Saada and arrested 20 more in an operation dubbed "Strike on
the Head." Yemeni security forces killed Abdullah Mihzar, a
suspected militant, who was on a government list of wanted al-Qaida
figures. 4 others were arrested in a raid on a house in the remote
mountainous province of Shabwa.
(AP, 1/12/10)(AP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 12, Saudi Arabia said
that 82 Saudi soldiers been killed and 21 are missing since November
when it joined the fighting in battling rebels along the
Yemeni-Saudi border.
(AP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 15, A Yemeni airstrike
killed six al-Qaida operatives, including a key leader, in a desert
village bordering Saudi Arabia. Officials said four of those killed
were on Yemen's list of most-wanted al-Qaida figures, including
Qassim al-Raimi, who had been accused of plotting to assassinate the
US ambassador in 2004. Al-Raimi escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006
with 21 other militants.
(AP, 1/15/10)
2010 Jan 20, Yemeni airstrikes
targeted Ayed al-Shabwani, one of the country's most wanted al-Qaida
figures, for the second time in a week.
(AP, 1/20/10)
2010 Jan 21, Officials said
Yemen will stop issuing visas to foreign visitors upon arrival to
try to prevent Islamic militants from sneaking in to meet and train
with an al-Qaida offshoot that has established a stronghold in the
fractured and impoverished country.
(AP, 1/21/10)
2010 Jan 22, Yemen rebel
leader, Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, appeared in a video posted on the
group's Web site to disprove Yemeni government claims that he was
killed in an attack last month. Al-Hawthi was shown sitting on a
chair and speaking into a microphone.
(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 23, Saudi Arabia’s
assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have recovered the
bodies of 20 soldiers who had been reported missing in fierce
battles with Yemeni rebels on the border, raising the Saudi death
toll in the conflict to 133.
(AP, 1/23/10)
2010 Jan 25, It was reported
that Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, the leader of Yemen's Shiite rebels, has
declared the war with Saudi Arabia over and that he will pull his
fighters out of Saudi territory. At least 133 Saudis soldiers have
died in the months of fierce fighting in the rugged border region.
(AP, 1/25/10)
2010 Jan 26, A Yemeni court
sentenced 7 suspected Al-Qaeda members between five and ten years in
jail after convicting them of plotting to attack foreign interests
and tourists.
(AP, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 27, In Britain world
powers gathered in London for talks on how to tackle Al-Qaeda
militants operating out of Yemen. The conference was called to help
world powers chart a roadmap out of Afghanistan amid rising US and
NATO casualties and falling public support.
(AFP, 1/27/10)(AP, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 27, A top Saudi
defense official said Saudi forces have driven Yemeni rebels out of
the border region between the two countries, suggesting that the
three month conflict along the mountainous frontier may be winding
down.
(AP, 1/27/10)
2010 Jan 30, In Yemen militant
Saleh al-Shaoush was arrested as he prepared to carry out a suicide
bombing in the southeastern port of Mukalla. He had been stopped on
his motorbike and found to be wearing an explosives belt and
carrying two bombs. His trial began in October.
(AFP, 10/9/10)
2010 Jan 31, Yemen said it
would stop its war on Shiite northern rebels only if they agree to a
six-point truce offer, including a pledge not to attack Saudi
Arabia, as fighting raged on 3 fronts.
(AP, 1/31/10)
2010 Feb 8, A Yemen military
official said 10 soldiers have been killed, most of them by snipers,
and 18 wounded in a fresh outbreak of fighting with Shiite rebels in
north Yemen.
(AFP, 2/8/10)
2010 Feb 10, Twelve Yemeni
soldiers and 24 Shiite rebels were killed in clashes despite the
announcement of an imminent accord to end six months of fighting.
(AFP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 12, A senior Yemeni
official accused northern rebels of violating a cease-fire agreement
hours after it took effect, killing a soldier and wounding another
in an attack on a police station.
(AP, 2/12/10)
2010 Feb 14, A Yemeni military
helicopter crashed killing at least 10 troops in the north, as the
government sought to implement a ceasefire with Shiite rebels in the
mountainous area.
(AFP, 2/14/10)
2010 Feb 15, Yemeni Shiite
rebels handed over the first of five Saudi soldiers held captive
since their border war.
(AFP, 2/15/10)
2010 Feb 28, Thousands of
Yemenis took to the streets of three provinces for a second
successive day to demand the independence of the country's south.
(AFP, 2/28/10)
2010 Mar 1, A Yemen government
raid left Ali Saleh al-Hadi, a southern activist, his wife and three
children dead during an ongoing crackdown on southern separatists.
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 2, In southern Yemen a
three-story building collapsed when explosives stored in its
basement went off, killing at least eight people. Officials said the
basement was used by an arms dealer to store dynamite and other
explosives.
(AP, 3/2/10)
2010 Mar 4, Yemen's Interior
Ministry said it has arrested 11 suspected al-Qaida militants during
a raid on one of their homes. The father of one of the suspects was
killed by police when he opened fire on police during the raid.
Sharif Mobley (26), one of the 11 suspects and a US citizen of
Somali descent, had worked for contractors at nuclear plants in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland from 2002 to 2008, mostly hauling
materials and setting up scaffolding.
(AP, 3/4/10)(AP, 3/13/10)
2010 Mar 7, In Yemen Sharif
Mobley, an American al-Qaida prisoner receiving treatment in a
hospital, attacked guards killing one and wounding another, while
trying to escape. He was caught after a chase.
(AP, 3/7/10)(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Mar 11, In Yemen 3
southern independence activists were killed and five wounded as
demonstrations in southern towns sparked clashes with police and
sympathy rallies in the north against the crackdown. Yemeni
authorities confiscated Al-Jazeera television broadcasting equipment
from the station's San'a offices after complaining of its coverage
of the country's restive southern region.
(AP, 3/11/10)(AP, 3/12/10)
2010 Mar 14, Yemen launched a
preemptive strike was to forestall an imminent al-Qaida attack
against a strategic site. The leader of Al-Qaeda in Abyan, Jamil
Nasser Abdullah al-Ambari, Samir al-Sanaani and Ahmed Amzarba were
killed in the raid.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 15, Yemen launched a
2nd day of strikes against al-Qaida hideouts. As many as 9 people
were killed in the raids including some civilians.
(AP, 3/15/10)(AFP, 3/16/10)
2010 Mar 19, Yemen's Pres. Ali
Abdullah Saleh declared the country's six-year war with northern
rebels over, saying the Shiite militants are living up to a
cease-fire agreement signed last month.
(AP, 3/20/10)
2010 Mar 21, Some of Yemen's
most influential Islamic leaders, including one the US says mentored
Osama bin Laden, declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be
apostates. A February 2009 law set the minimum age for marriage at
17, but it was repealed and sent back to parliament's constitutional
committee for review after some lawmakers called it un-Islamic. The
committee is expected to make a final decision on the legislation
next month.
(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 23, Yemeni security
courts sentenced two opposition leaders to prison for allegedly
working against national unity and calling for secession of the
country's south. Ahmed Bamualem, a leader in the southern movement
and former member of parliament who was detained in April, was
sentenced to 10 years in jail. Retired army Brig. Gen. Ali Mohammed
al-Saadi, also active in the movement, received a 15-month sentence.
(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 27, In Yemen policemen
opened fire in Daleh on the funeral procession for a Southern
Movement member killed by police gunfire a week earlier, wounding 28
mourners.
(AFP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr 1, In Yemen about 40
southern separatists reportedly escaped from a prison after a guard
lobbed a hand grenade to disperse an inmates' protest at the
facility in Daleh. Yemen's interior ministry denied the police
report. Police shot dead one protester and wounded five others in
Radfan as they opened fire to disperse a demonstration led by
southern separatists.
(AP, 4/1/10)(AFP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr 2, In Yemen Elham Assi
(13) bled to death hours after she spoke to her mother and just days
after she was married to a 23-year-old man, in the deeply poor
village of Shueba. She was tied down and forced to have sex by her
husband, according to later interviews with the child's mother,
police and medical reports. A February 2009 law set the minimum age
for marriage at 17, but it was repealed and sent back to
parliament's constitutional committee for review after some
lawmakers called it un-Islamic. The committee is expected to make a
final decision on the legislation this month.
(AP, 4/10/10)
2010 Apr 17, Yemeni authorities
arrested three alleged Al-Qaeda members accused of killing two
policemen and blowing up an official's vehicle in the southern
province of Abyan.
(AFP, 4/21/10)
2010 Apr 18, In Yemen soldiers
killed 2 suspected members of al-Qaida wanted by police and arrested
a third in an exchange of fire at a checkpoint near the country's
Red Sea coast.
(AP, 4/18/10)
2010 Apr 26, In Yemen the
British ambassador narrowly escaped a suicide attack, when a young
man (20) in a school uniform detonated his explosives belt near his
armored car at a poor neighborhood of San'a. 3 bystanders were
wounded.
(AP, 4/26/10)
2010 May 5, Yemen slapped a
last-minute ban on a meeting of Arab parliamentarians to discuss the
crisis in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
(AFP, 5/5/10)
2010 May 16, Yemeni tribesmen
kidnapped two Chinese engineers and their government escorts in the
country's volatile south. Kidnappers released the engineers after
several days of mediation.
(AP, 5/16/10)(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 18, A Yemeni security
court convicted six Somalis for piracy and sentenced them to death
for seizing an oil tanker. Six other convicted pirates received 10
year prison sentences and the pirates must together pay $2 million
compensation to an Aden refinery company, which owned a tanker that
was seized in April, 2009.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 21, Yemen’s Pres.
Saleh extended an olive branch to the opposition, offering to form a
national unity government and announcing an amnesty for imprisoned
southern separatists and Shiite rebels.
(AFP, 5/22/10)
2010 May 22, Yemen's President
Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an amnesty for journalists being tried
or convicted of press offences to mark the 20th anniversary of the
unification of north and South Yemen.
(AFP, 5/22/10)
2010 May 23, Anwar Al-Awlaki, a
US-born radical preacher who has encouraged Muslims to kill American
soldiers, called for the killing of US civilians in his first video
released by a Yemeni offshoot of al-Qaida.
(AP, 5/23/10)
2010 May 24, In Yemen tribal
gunmen kidnapped two American tourists and demanded the release of a
jailed tribesman for the pair. The tourists were released the next
day after Pres. Saleh agreed to free a prisoner held by the state.
(AP, 5/24/10)(SFC, 5/26/10, p.A2)
2010 May 25, In Yemen an
overnight airstrike on what was believed to be an al-Qaida hide-out
in a remote province accidentally killed a provincial deputy
governor and his two bodyguards. The strike was later identified as
a secret mission by the US military. Angry tribesmen attacked an oil
pipeline, petrol stations and government installations to avenge the
accidental death.
(AP, 5/25/10)(AFP, 5/25/10)(SSFC, 8/15/10, p.A8)
2010 May 27, A Yemeni soldier
was killed and four other people wounded in an attack on a military
vehicle in the southern province of Daleh. Provincial officials
blamed separatist militants.
(AFP, 5/27/10)
2010 Jun 2, Yemeni security
officials said authorities have detained several foreigners,
including Americans, Britons and an Australian woman, in connection
with an investigation into al-Qaida's increased activity in the
country. Shyloh Giddins of Australia was among several foreigners
taken into custody during the probe. She was initially placed on
house arrest May 14, along with her two children, and later held in
a prison. She was released with her 2 children on June 11 and
deported home.
(AP, 6/2/10)(AP, 6/11/10)
2010 Jun 5, A Yemeni colonel
and two of his bodyguards were killed in an attack by suspected
Al-Qaeda members near the city of Marib east of the capital.
Suspected al-Qaida operative, Ghalib al-Zayedi, surrendered after
lengthy mediation efforts to Marib's Governor Naji bin Ali
al-Zayedi, who is also his cousin.
(AFP, 6/5/10)(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 6, In Yemen Hamza Ali
Saleh al-Dayan, an al-Qaida operative, turned himself in to
authorities in northeastern Marib province, the second such
surrender in two days. He is believed to have trained suicide
bombers and helped plan the July 2007 suicide attack that killed
seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in the same province.
(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 12, Yemeni tribesmen
blew up an oil pipeline outside the provincial capital, Marib, after
the government recently bombed the area in retaliation for an attack
on a military convoy.
(AP, 6/12/10)
2010 Jun 19, In Yemen 4
suspected al-Qaida gunmen blasted their way into the intelligence
headquarters of Aden, Yemen's second largest city, and freed several
detainees in the group's most spectacular operation since a
US-backed government crackdown began late last year. The attack left
11 people dead.
(AP, 6/19/10)(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 20, Yemen said it has
arrested the suspected mastermind of the spectacular June 19 attack
on Aden’s intelligence headquarters, which freed detainees and left
11 people dead.
(AP, 6/20/10)
2010 Jul 7, A Yemeni court
convicted two al-Qaida militants for the killing of senior police
and army officers and sentenced them to death. Mubarak
el-Shabawni (23) and Mansour Salem (18), arrested last December,
denounced the verdict and shouted 'God is Great' afterward.
(AP, 7/7/10)
2010 Jul 11, Yemen’s Interior
Ministry said in a statement that police in Hadramut had arrested 10
militants suspected of being al-Qaida members.
(AP, 7/11/10)
2010 Jul 13, The US Defense
Department announced that Mohammed Odaini (26), a Guantanamo Bay
prisoner, has been transferred to his homeland of Yemen. Odaini,
also known as Mohammed Hassen, was 17 when he was first captured in
Pakistan at an alleged al-Qaeda safe house in Faisalabad.
(AP, 7/13/10)
2010 Jul 14, In southern Yemen
suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen launched simultaneous attacks on the
intelligence and security services headquarters in the southern town
of Zinjibar, killing three policemen and wounding 11.
(AFP, 7/14/10)
2010 Jul 20, Yemeni tribal
chief Sheikh Zaidan al-Moqannay, his son and four of his bodyguards
were killed in a rebel ambush in Saada. Rebel spokesman Mohammed
Abdul Salam denied that the rebels ambushed Moqannay, claiming that
he was killed in confrontations which also resulted in the death of
three rebels. Rebels said they welcomed a Qatari offer to help
consolidate a truce.
(AFP, 7/21/10)
2010 Jul 21, Yemeni tribal and
rebel sources said fighting in the mountainous north between Shiite
rebels and army-backed tribes over the past four days have left at
least 49 people dead, threatening a fragile truce.
(AFP, 7/21/10)
2010 Jul 22, In southern Yemen
Al-Qaida militants killed five soldiers in an ambush. Rebels in the
north fought with army units and government-allied tribes killing at
least 20 people in the latest series of clashes there.
(AP, 7/22/10)
2010 Jul 24, In Yemen tribal
mediators succeeded in reaching a ceasefire between northern Shiite
rebels and an army-backed tribe after days of fighting that killed
at least 70 people.
(AFP, 7/24/10)
2010 Jul 25, In Yemen Al-Qaida
militants attacked the patrol in the southern town of Aqla in Shabwa
province with rocket propelled grenades and sprayed it with bullets
killing 6 soldiers.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Jul 26, In Yemen renewed
clashes between Shiite rebels and army units just north of the
capital San'a killed dozens of people.
(AP, 7/26/10)
2010 Aug 18, In Yemen a woman
was killed and two police officers wounded when a wanted southern
militant fired at a security patrol which was attempting to arrest
him in Al-Afar area of the Lahj province. Five policemen were
wounded in an explosion when a masked biker hurled a hand grenade
through the window of a police station in Zinjibar.
(AFP, 8/19/10)
2010 Aug 19, The Yemeni Defense
Ministry's weekly magazine said that Hazem al-Mujali had surrendered
amid a government crackdown on the organization. Al-Mujali was
accused of the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker and imprisoned,
but on his release apparently rejoined al-Qaida. He escaped a highly
publicized raid late last year in northeast of San'a on al-Qaida
cell suspected of plotting attacks.
(AP, 8/19/10)
2010 Aug 20, In southern Yemen
clashes began between troops and “terrorist elements” at a market in
Loder. 19 people were killed, including 11 soldiers, 3 civilians and
5 Al-Qaeda members. Authorities said Adel Saleh Hardaba (27), whom
they described as the Al-Qaeda second-in-command in Loder, was among
the dead.
(AFP, 8/20/10)(AP, 8/24/10)
2010 Aug 25, Yemeni authorities
said the military had regained control of Loder. 33 people were
reported killed in fighting that began Aug 20. This included 12
Al-Qaida militants. Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a military patrol
in Zinjibar, killing 4 soldiers and wounding one.
(AFP, 8/25/10)(AP, 8/25/10)
2010 Aug 26, Yemeni Shiite
rebels signed an agreement with the government laying out a
timetable for implementing previous accords. The agreement was
signed in Doha, Qatar.
(AFP, 8/26/10)
2010 Aug 27, In Yemen gunmen
killed a soldier and wounded three others in an ambush in the
southern province of Lahij.
(AFP, 8/28/10)
2010 Aug 28, In Yemen 9
soldiers and a civilian were killed in an attack by suspected
Al-Qaeda militants on an army post in the town of Jaar in southern
Abyan province. The interior ministry called for tighter security at
intelligence headquarters throughout the country and said it had put
security units on alert.
(AFP, 8/28/10)(AFP, 8/29/10)
2010 Sep 4, Yemeni police
arrested 14 suspected members of al-Qaida in a raid on one of the
group's alleged hideouts in Abyan province in the town of Lawder.
Gunmen from a separatist movement attacked an army post in Rabwa
near the town of Habalein and killed four soldiers. Two of the
attackers died as well.
(AP, 9/5/10)
2010 Sep 10, In Yemen Al-Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula issued a statement threatening to kill 55
named policemen in Yemen's restive southern province of Abyan.
(AFP, 9/10/10)
2010 Sep 20, In Yemen a
security official said thousands of people have fled Hawta village
in the south where security forces were laying siege to some 120
al-Qaida militants. 3 militants were killed and 4 wounded in the
fighting. In the capital four al-Qaida suspects, including a
Yemeni-German teenager, were brought to trial on charges of plotting
attacks on tourists, international institutions and security forces.
(AP, 9/20/10)
2010 Sep 22, In Yemen Al-Qaida
militants holed up in a village in the south fought off repeated
attempts by government troops backed by tanks and heavy artillery to
retake the besieged town. At least four al-Qaida fighters and a
civilian have been killed since the fighting began on Sep 18.
(AP, 9/22/10)
2010 Sep 24, Yemeni forces,
backed by tanks and heavy artillery, drove al-Qaida militants from
the town of Hawta in Shabwa province after five days of fighting.
(AP, 9/25/10)
2010 Sep 25, In Yemen 2
al-Qaida militants ambushed a bus carrying security personnel in the
capital, San’a, spraying the vehicle with gunfire and injuring 10
passengers. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) later claimed
that 14 intelligence officers were killed in the attack.
(AP, 9/25/10)(AFP, 10/9/10)
2010 Oct 6, In Yemen assailants
fired a rocket at a convoy carrying Britain's No. 2 diplomat and
killed a Frenchman working for an Austrian oil company in a pair of
attacks that heightened fears over the safety of Westerners in a
country facing a growing militant threat. Hisham Assem (19), a guard
who worked at the French engineering firm SPIE, was later arrested
and charged with killing the Frenchman.
(AP, 10/6/10)(AP, 11/2/10)
2010 Oct 7, Yemeni authorities
announced the arrest of seven suspects in the attack on the
motorcade of the British embassy's No. 2, all from Nuqum, an area in
the capital that has become synonymous with militancy.
(AP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 9, In Yemen
self-confessed militant Saleh al-Shaoush admitted to carrying out
deadly attacks on military targets and oil facilities, as four other
suspected Al-Qaeda members went on trial for planning attacks.
Al-Shaoush was arrested on January 30 as he prepared to carry out a
suicide bombing in the southeastern port of Mukalla. The US-based
SITE monitoring service reported that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) claimed it had assassinated a colonel named Abdul
al-Karim al-Baan in the southern Lahij province. AQAP also said it
had shot an intelligence officer named Al-Hashidi in the province.
(AFP, 10/9/10)
2010 Oct 10, In Yemen 2
attackers on a motorbike in the southern town of Zinjibar gunned
down, Ghazi al-Samawi, a criminal investigations officer who was
featured on an Al-Qaeda hit list of policemen to be killed.
(AFP, 10/11/10)
2010 Oct 11, In Yemen 2 bombs,
timed to go off one after the other, killed two people and injured
12 others in San’a.
(AP, 10/12/10)
2010 Oct 12, In Yemen
Al-Qaida's offshoot warned it is setting up a "new army" to
overthrow the country's president in response to his US-backed
counterterrorism campaign and said it would fill its ranks with
snipers and bomb makers.
(AP, 10/12/10)
2010 Oct 14, In south Yemen a
police chief was shot dead during a protest marking the 47th
anniversary of the launch of its uprising against British colonial
rule. Abdullah al-Baham was shot in the head in Mudia in Abyan
province. The attack by suspected al-Qaida militants triggered
a series of clashes between soldiers and militants that killed eight
people, mostly government troops.
(AFP, 10/14/10)(AP, 10/15/10)
2010 Oct 18, A court in Yemen
sentenced an al-Qaida militant to death after convicting him of
involvement in terror attacks and manufacturing explosives. Saleh
al-Shawish was arrested in February and later charged with
involvement in attacks on security facilities, training would-be
suicide bombers and bomb making.
(AP, 10/18/10)
2010 Oct 22, In eastern Yemen
suspected al-Qaida gunmen killed Lt. Col. Abdul-Aziz Abu Abed, a
senior intelligence officer, outside his house in Mukalla.
(AP, 10/23/10)
2010 Oct 26, Yemen ordered the
confiscation of all firearms in the possession of its citizens after
canceling weapons' licenses not carrying the Interior Minister's
signature. Some 50 million firearms are thought to be in the
possession of Yemen's estimated 23 million people.
(AP, 10/26/10)
2010 Oct 27, A Yemeni court
charged Sharif Mobley (26), an American of Somali descent, with the
murder of a Yemeni soldier and the wounding of another during a
failed escape attempt. He had been arrested for suspected al-Qaida
ties.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 27, US officials said
the Obama administration has granted a waiver allowing Chad,
CongoDRC, Sudan and Yemen to continue receiving US military aid
despite their use of child soldiers. Officials said cutting off aid
would do more damage than good.
(SFC, 10/28/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 28, In Yemen clashes
between Shiite rebels and a pro-government tribe in the northern
mountains killed a tribesman and two rebels.
(AFP, 10/29/10)
2010 Oct 29, Authorities on 3
continents thwarted attacks when they seized explosives on cargo
planes in the United Arab Emirates and England. The plot sent
tremors throughout the US, where after a frenzied day searching
planes and parcel trucks for other explosives, officials temporarily
banned all new cargo from Yemen. The next day police in Dubai said
that the bomb discovered there contained the powerful explosive PETN
and bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida. One of the two powerful bombs
mailed from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues traveled on two
passenger planes within the Middle East. A tip of the plot came from
Jabir al-Fayfi, a Saudi who was held for years at the US military
prison at Guantanamo Bay. On Nov 5 al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing
claimed responsibility for the explosive parcels.
(AP, 10/30/10)(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/2/10)(AP,
11/6/10)
2010 Nov 2, Yemen put Anwar
al-Awlaki, a US-born radical cleric, on trial in absentia, accusing
him and two other men of plotting to kill foreigners and being
members of al-Qaida.
(AP, 11/2/10)
2010 Nov 4, In south Yemen a
car bomb tore through a market near security headquarters in the
town of Daleh, killing two people, one a policeman, and wounding 22.
(AFP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 6, A Yemeni judge
ordered police to find Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical US-born cleric,
"dead or alive" after the al-Qaida-linked preacher failed to appear
at his trial for his role in the killing of foreigners.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 8, Anwar al-Awlaki, a
US-born radical Yemeni cleric linked to previous attacks on the US,
called for Muslims around world to kill Americans in a new video
message posted on radical websites.
(AP, 11/8/10)
2010 Nov 24, In Yemen a suicide
car bomber struck a convoy of Shiites on their way to a religious
ceremony, killing at least 17 members of the Houthi clan and
wounding more than 15 people. Al-Qaida was suspected though it would
be the extremist organization's first reported direct assault on the
country's Shiite minority.
(AP, 11/24/10)(SFC, 11/25/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 26, In Yemen a suicide
car bomber struck Shiite mourners heading to a funeral to Saada
province, killing at least two people.
(AP, 11/26/10)
2010 Dec 15, Jordanian engineer
Maath Mohammed Kamal Alia (45) was arrested in Yemen on suspicion of
throwing a bomb at a US Embassy vehicle.
(AP, 12/22/10)
2010 Dec 17, In Yemen gunmen
killed three soldiers and wounded seven others when they opened fire
on a military base in the southern province of Abyan.
(AFP, 12/17/10)
2010 Dec 30, Yemen released
hundreds of detained Shiite rebels as part of a ceasefire in their
years long conflict.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 Victoria Clark authored
“Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes.”
(Econ, 4/24/10, p.81)
2010 Yemen was scheduled to
receive $150 million from the US this year including $34 million for
“tactical assistance.”
(Econ, 4/24/10, p.45)
2011 Jan 1, Yemen's parliament
agreed in principle to make constitutional amendments that could see
President Ali Abdullah Saleh rule for life, and will hold a formal
vote on the matter later this year.
(AFP, 1/1/10)
2011 Jan 2, Off southern Yemen
at least one boat of African migrants capsized and dozens were
feared drowned. The boat capsized near the Bab al-Mandab strait
which links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 5 migrants survived.
(AFP, 1/4/11)
2011 Jan 7, In Yemen suspected
al-Qaida fighters killed at least 17 Yemeni soldiers in a pair of
ambushes in the country's restive south.
(AP, 1/7/11)
2011 Jan 9, In Yemen masked men
on motorcycles attacked a government vehicle on its way to deposit
cash in Zinjibar, killing 3 electricity workers and a guard.
(Econ, 1/15/11, p.51)
2011 Jan 12, Yemen's president
suspended his oil minister and the head of the national oil company
over a fuel shortage that has forced people to queue at petrol
stations.
(AFP, 1/12/11)
2011 Jan 18, A Yemeni court
official said Sanaa State Security Court has sentenced Abdel Elah
al-Shaia, a journalist who interviewed the leader of al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula in 2009, to five years in prison for his ties to
the extremist group. The same court also sentenced Abdel Karim
al-Shami, a technician, to two years in prison for helping al-Shaia.
(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 23, Yemeni police
arrested Tawakul Abdel-Salam Karman, a woman activist for leading
anti-government protests, setting off a second day of street
demonstrations.
(AP, 1/24/11)
2011 Jan 27, In Yemen tens of
thousands of people called for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah
Saleh in protests across the country inspired by the popular revolt
in Tunisia.
(AP, 1/27/11)(AFP, 1/27/11)
2011 Feb 2, Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh told parliament he will not seek another term in
office or hand power to his son. His current term in office expires
in 2013. Saleh also said he will freeze plans to change the
constitution that would have enabled him to remain president for
life.
(AP, 2/2/11)(AFP, 2/2/11)
2011 Feb 3, In Yemen tens of
thousands of opponents and supporters of the president staged
dueling demonstrations. Police opened fire to break up an
anti-government protest, and security officials said one protester
has been critically wounded.
(AP, 2/3/11)
2011 Feb 8, In Yemen a
suspected US spy drone crashed near the southern town of Loder.
Al-Qaeda gunmen in cars intercepted the police and hijacked the
wreckage.
(AP, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 11, Yemeni police,
including plainclothes agents, drove several thousand protesters
away from Sanaa's main square. The demonstrators tore up pictures of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh and shouted slogans demanding his
immediate resignation.
(AP, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb 12, In Yemen several
thousand young Yemenis gathered in central Sanaa, calling for
President Ali Abdallah Saleh to step down and follow the example of
Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Police with clubs beat the
protesters.
(AFP, 2/12/11)(AP, 2/12/11)
2011 Feb 13, The Yemeni
opposition agreed to resume talks suspended since October with the
government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the target of
post-Tunisian revolution protests calling for his ouster. Police
armed with sticks and daggers beat back thousands of protesters
marching through the capital in a third straight day of
demonstrations calling for political reforms and the resignation of
the country's US-allied president.
(AFP, 2/13/11)(AP, 2/13/11)
2011 Feb 14, In Yemen more than
1,000 people protested for a fourth straight day, demanding
political reforms and the ouster of the US-allied president in
demonstrations inspired by the upheaval in Egypt.
(AP, 2/14/11)
2011 Feb 15, In Yemen thousands
of people, marching for the ouster of the US-allied President Ali
Abdullah Saleh, clashed with police and government supporters. At
least three demonstrators were injured in a fifth straight day of
Egypt-inspired protests.
(AP, 2/15/11)
2011 Feb 16, Yemeni authorities
flooded the streets of the capital with 2,000 police to try to halt
six days of Egypt-style demonstrations against the president of 32
years. One person was killed when police and protesters clashed in
the southern port of Aden in the first known death during Yemen's
political unrest.
(AP, 2/16/11)
2011 Feb 17, In Yemen several
thousand protesters defied appeals for calm from the military and
the country's most influential Islamic cleric and marched through
the capital, pressing on with their campaign to oust the US-allied
president.
(AP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 18, In Yemen at least
two people were killed in Taez after a grenade was lobbed at
protesters from a speeding car that carried government registration
plates. Clashes between police and protesters continued in the 9th
straight day of protests. Organizers used social media sites
Facebook and Twitter in summoning people to the streets for the
"Friday of Rage" following noon prayers, and tens of thousands
responded in the capital of Sanaa, the southern port of Aden and the
political hotbed of Taiz. 4 people were killed by police in Aden and
48 wounded in Taiz.
(Reuters, 2/18/11)(AP, 2/18/11)(AFP,
2/18/11)(SFC, 2/19/11, p.A5)
2011 Feb 19, Yemeni riot police
in the capital shot dead a protester and injured five others when
they opened fire on thousands marching in the 10th day of unrest
rocking the country.
(AP, 2/19/11)
2011 Feb 20, Yemen's embattled
Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh sought a way out of the political crisis
gripping his impoverished Arab nation, offering to oversee a
dialogue between his ruling party and the opposition to defuse the
ongoing standoff with protesters demanding his ouster. A total of
seven people have been killed since the unrest began. Hundreds of
Yemeni students demonstrated outside the Sanaa university campus on
the eighth straight day of anti-regime protests in the capital.
Hassan Baoum, a prominent separatist leader, was arrested.
(AP, 2/20/11)(AFP, 2/20/11)(Econ, 2/26/11, p.29)
2011 Feb 21, Yemen's embattled
leader rejected demands that he step down, saying widespread
demonstrations against his regime are unacceptable acts of
provocation.
(AP, 2/21/11)
2011 Feb 22, In eastern Yemen
about 5,000 anti-government protesters rallied in the town of
al-Shiher, calling for the ouster of the country's president.
Thousands rallied at a university campus in Sanaa while hundreds
continued to camp out in a nearby square. Yemen President Ali
Abdullah Saleh's supporters armed with daggers and batons clashed
violently with students in Sanaa before police intervened. One
person was killed and at least 12 injured in the clashes near Sanaa
University, medics said. A local human rights group gave a higher
toll, saying two people were killed and 18 hurt.
(AP, 2/22/11)(AFP, 2/22/11)(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Feb 23, In Yemen thousands
streamed into a square in Sanaa, trying to strengthen the hold of
anti-government protesters after club-wielding backers of President
Ali Abdullah Saleh tried to drive them out. 7 legislators, who
belonged to Saleh's ruling party, resigned from the group because of
the situation in the country and said they will form their own
independent bloc. The resignations raised to nine the number of
legislators who left Saleh's Congress Party since protests began
earlier this month. In the port city of Aden, a 19-year-old man
wounded last week died of his injuries. His death brought to 13 the
number of demonstrators killed since the crisis began nearly a month
ago.
(AP, 2/23/11)
2011 Feb 24, Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered his forces to offer "full protection" to
anti-regime protesters and loyalists alike, after 15 people died in
an uprising against his rule.
(AFP, 2/24/11)
2011 Feb 25, In Yemen tens of
thousands of people gathered in a main square in Sanaa for prayers
that later turned into mass protests to press demands for the
US-backed president to step down. Security forces in Aden opened
fire on demonstrators wounding at least 19 people.
(AP, 2/25/11)(SFC, 2/26/11, p.A5)
2011 Feb 26, In Yemen two
powerful tribal chiefs joined opposition forces demanding the ouster
of the country's longtime president, a new sign the embattled leader
might be losing his grip on the impoverished, conflict-ridden
country.
(AP, 2/26/11)
2011 Feb 27, Yemen's opposition
parties said they are joining young protesters in their push to
bring down the country's beleaguered president.
(AP, 2/27/11)
2011 Mar 1, Yemen's embattled
US-backed Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh accused Washington of instigating
protests against his regime, as hundreds of thousands marched in
cities across Yemen in the largest rallies yet seeking the longtime
ruler's ouster. Saleh sacked the governors of five provinces where
anti-regime protests have been raging for more than a month. Abdul
Majid al-Zindani, a radical cleric and opposition figure, joined the
protests.
(AP, 3/1/11)(AFP, 3/1/11)(Econ, 3/5/11, p.53)
2011 Mar 2, In southern Yemen
security forces fired tear gas and shot at hundreds of protesters.
Two protesters were shot and killed in Sadr, Lahaj province. A
coalition of Yemeni opposition groups proposed a plan to end the
country's political crisis that would involve embattled Pres. Saleh
stepping down by the end of the year.
(AP, 3/2/11)(AP, 3/3/11)
2011 Mar 4, In northern Yemen
soldiers opened fire at anti-government protesters, killing four
people in the northern town of Harf Sofyan and wounding seven as
demonstrations against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh again
turned deadly.
(AP, 3/4/11)(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 5, In Yemen tens of
thousands continued with protests in several key cities across the
country, pressing on with demands that the country's president step
down. Several members of Saleh's ruling Congress Party resigned.
(AP, 3/5/11)
2011 Mar 6, In Yemen suspected
al-Qaida gunmen killed four Republican Guard soldiers in the
mountainous central province of Marib. Al-Qaeda militants shot and
killed an army intelligence officer in the city of Zinjibar, in
southern Abyan province. Another officer was shot dead in the city
of Sayun, in Hadramut province, by gunmen suspected to be from
Al-Qaeda. “Government thugs” descended on protesters camped out on a
main square in Ibb province. One person was killed and 53 people
were hurt.
(AFP, 3/6/11)(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 7, In Yemen about
2,000 inmates staged a riot at a prison in the Sanaa after taking a
dozen guards hostage and joined calls by anti-government protesters
for the country's president to step down. In the southern port city
of Aden a young protester was critically wounded by a bullet to the
head during a rally. 25 protesters were arrested.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Yemen tens of
thousands took to the streets in the cities of the southern Ibb
province, calling on the government to bring to justice those
responsible for a deadly attack there on March 6 by what opposition
activists said were "government thugs." In Dhamar province thousands
took to the streets calling for the ouster of Pres. Saleh. There
were large demonstrations also in the provinces of Shabwa, Hadramawt
and Taiz.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 9, A Yemeni man died
of gunshot wounds after the army raided the university campus in
Sanaa and opened fire on hundreds of anti-government protesters
gathered there.
(AP, 3/9/11)
2011 Mar 10, Yemen's embattled
president proposed that the government draw up a new constitution
guaranteeing the independence of the parliament and judiciary, but
thousands of unsatisfied protesters poured into the streets after
his speech to demand the ouster of the Yemeni ruler of 32 years.
(AP, 3/10/11)
2011 Mar 11, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on demonstrators taking part in protests
throughout Yemen in what appears to be the biggest turnout in a
month of unrest to demand regime change.
(AP, 3/11/11)
2011 Mar 12, Yemeni security
forces fired live bullets and tear gas on two pro-democracy
demonstrations. 3 doctors said the security forces appeared to be
using a poison gas that disables the nervous and respiratory
systems. Security forces killed 6 demonstrators in protests around
the country.
(AFP, 3/12/11)(AP, 3/13/11)
2011 Mar 13, Yemeni police on
rooftops fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters, injuring
more than 100 people who were camping near Sanaa University. A
protester in Aden died from wounds he suffered a day earlier
bringing that total to seven. Violence left 2 people dead in a
southern province. Security officials said two Americans and two
Britons have been detained by authorities for illegally entering the
country.
(AP, 3/13/11)(AP, 3/14/11)(SFC, 3/14/11, p.A3)
2011 Mar 14, In northern Yemen
anti-government tribesmen stormed a security building in the town of
al-Jawf and shot dead four soldiers in a revenge attack after
government troops opened fire on opposition protesters calling for
the president's ouster. The governor of Marib province was stabbed
and wounded by protesters. Armed Yemeni security forces raided an
apartment shared by four Western journalists and deported them
because of their coverage of a growing uprising against the
country's longtime ruler.
(AP, 3/15/11)
2011 Mar 15, In Yemen thousands
poured onto the streets in the southern provinces of Taiz, Aden and
Hadramawt. Pres. Saleh visited the governor of Marib province, who
was stabbed and wounded by protesters a day earlier. Government
supporters in al-Hudaydah set fire to the headquarters of the
influential opposition Islah party. The party said five of its
members were injured in the attack.
(AP, 3/15/11)(AP, 3/16/11)
2011 Mar 16, Yemen government
supporters armed with sticks, knives and guns attacked thousands of
pro-democracy protesters camped out in a main square, injuring
hundreds. About 10,000 Saleh supporters attacked about 4,000
protesters at the southern al-Hudaydah port. After about a month of
protests security forces have killed about 50 demonstrators.
(AP, 3/16/11)(SFC, 3/17/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 17, Yemeni government
supporters attacked a protest camp in Manama, hurling stones and
opening fire. At another rally government loyalists struck as police
fired tear gas.
(AP, 3/17/11)
2011 Mar 18, Yemeni government
snipers firing from rooftops and houses shot at tens of thousands of
anti-government demonstrators, killing at least 52 people and
injuring hundreds in the crowd demanding the ouster of the
autocratic president. The total dead after about a month of protests
was raised to 80.
(AP, 3/18/11)(AFP, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 19, In Yemen a brutal
crackdown failed to stop massive protests against the US-backed
president, who attacked a protest camp in the south's main city but
couldn't halt demonstrations there or in the capital.
(AP, 3/19/11)
2011 Mar 20, In Yemen tens of
thousands of people joined a funeral procession for protesters
killed by government gunmen and the president's own tribe called on
him to step down, robbing the embattled US-backed leader of vital
support.
(AP, 3/20/11)
2011 Mar 21, In Yemen rival
tanks deployed in the streets of Sanaa after Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen
al-Ahmar, a powerful regime insider who commands the army's powerful
1st Armored Division, and at least 18 other senior commanders
defected to a movement calling for the ouster of the US-backed
president, leaving him with virtually no support among the country's
most powerful institutions.
(AP, 3/21/11)(SFC, 3/22/11, p.A3)(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 22, Yemen's embattled
US-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh pledged to step down more
than a year early but refused to immediately resign, infuriating
tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding his ouster. More
military and political defections increased the pressure on Saleh to
step down.
(AP, 3/22/11)(AFP, 3/22/11)
2011 Mar 23, Yemen's parliament
enacted sweeping emergency laws after the country's embattled
president asked for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship
to quash a popular uprising demanding his ouster.
(AP, 3/23/11)
2011 Mar 24, The leader of
Yemen's largest tribe sided with opponents of the embattled
president, calling for Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down immediately
and refrain from further violence against protesters. Fresh clashes
in the southeast left three wounded.
(AP, 3/24/11)(AFP, 3/24/11)
2011 Mar 24, Dubai police said
the Gulf emirate has seized thousands of small arms being smuggled
in a sea cargo shipment bound for Yemen. The weapons were discovered
in a Dubai warehouse about two weeks ago. The shipment originated in
Turkey.
(AP, 3/24/11)
2011 Mar 25, Yemen's President
Ali Abdullah Saleh told tens of thousands of supporters that he's
ready to step down but only if he can leave the country in "safe
hands," while anti-government protesters massed for a rival rally.
(AP, 3/25/11)
2011 Mar 26, The ruling party
of Yemen's embattled President Saleh said he should serve out his
term until 2013, after he offered to hand over power but only to
"safe hands." In the south the army killed six suspected Al-Qaeda
members.
(AFP, 3/26/11)
2011 Mar 27, In Yemen Islamic
militants seized control of a weapons factory, a strategic mountain
and a nearby town in the southern province of Abyan, as a political
stalemate in the capital causes security to unravel around the
country.
(AP, 3/27/11)
2011 Mar 28, In southern Yemen
a powerful blast at a factory making explosives and weapons killed
as many as 150 people after the facility was briefly taken over by
Islamic militants and then looted by residents of the area.
(AP, 3/28/11)(SFC, 3/29/11, p.A3)(Econ, 4/2/11,
p.22)
2011 Mar 30, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands of anti-government protesters packed the streets of
several cities to demand the president's ouster and denounce a
munitions factory blast that left at least 100 people dead.
(AP, 3/30/11)
2011 Apr 1, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands packed a square in the capital and marched in villages
and cities across the nation in what appeared to be the largest
demonstrations in more than a month of demands the country's
longtime ruler step down.
(AP, 4/1/11)
2011 Apr 2, In Yemen thousands
of anti-government protesters hurled stones at anti-riot police
backed by tanks in the southern province of Aden.
(AP, 4/2/11)
2011 Apr 3, In southern Yemen
thousands of people took to the streets to demand that their
president step down. Police attacked the demonstrators with tear
gas, batons and bullets. Police killed one anti-government
demonstrator in Taez and wounded scores more. 13 people were shot
and wounded in Hudaydah, as police clashed with thousands of
demonstrators marching on the Red Sea city's main local government
building.
(AP, 4/3/11)(AFP, 4/4/11)
2011 Apr 4, Yemeni police and
armed men in civilian clothes opened fire on demonstrators in the
cities of Taiz and Hudaida killing at least 17 and wounding more
than 30, as the drive to oust veteran President Saleh gathered pace.
At least 97 demonstrators have been killed since protests began on
Feb 11.
(AFP, 4/4/11)(AP, 4/4/11)(SFC, 4/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 5, In Yemen tribesmen
loyal to Pres. Saleh clashed with a group of soldiers whose
commander has sided with the opposition. Fighting in a suburb of
Sanaa left 3 tribesmen dead. In Taiz dozens of protesters were
treated from breathing problems after police fired tear gas as
thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for a 3rd consecutive
day. Security forces shot dead two protesters in the western city of
Hudaydah during demonstrations.
(AP, 4/5/11)(AFP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 6, In Yemen tens of
thousands of protesters, defying a deadly government crackdown,
poured into the streets of Taiz in ongoing protests against longtime
president Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least 24 people were killed over
the last 24 hours.
(AP, 4/6/11)(AFP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 7, The Yemeni
opposition welcomed an offer by Arab Gulf states to mediate between
the president and opposition protesters who have demanded Ail
Abdullah Saleh step down after 32 years in power.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 8, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands converged in the capital for rival demonstrations, with
some demanding the president's ouster and others showing their
support. Four demonstrators were shot dead in Taez.
(AP, 4/8/11)(AP, 4/10/11)
2011 Apr 9, In Yemen security
forces shot and wounded 30 people in Sanaa, while 80 others suffered
injuries from beatings with batons. At least one anti-regime
protester died following clashes, while three other people were
killed, including an intelligence officer and a soldier, in violence
in Abyan province. An intelligence officer was killed in a drive-by
shooting outside his home in the Loder area of Abyan. A soldier and
a militant were killed in a clash between security forces and
suspected Al-Qaeda fighters in Jaar, also in Abyan.
(AFP, 4/10/11)
2011 Apr 10, The Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional bloc of oil-rich Arab nations,
called on Yemen's president to step down as part of a deal with the
protest movement demanding for his ouster after 32 years.
(AP, 4/10/11)(AFP, 4/10/11)
2011 Apr 11, Yemen's Pres.
Saleh welcomed a proposal by GCC Gulf Arab nations for him to step
down to end the country's political crisis, but indicated he would
do so only when his term ends in 2013. Protesters had already
rejected this, calling for his immediate exit.
(AP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 12, In Yemen tens of
thousands demonstrated in major cities across the country rejecting
a mediation proposal by neighboring Gulf countries because it does
not provide for trying the president. Four policemen died as the
security forces traded fire with automatic weapons and
rocket-propelled grenades.
(AP, 4/12/11)(AP, 4/13/11)
2011 Apr 13, Yemeni security
forces clashed with thousands of protesters who hurled rocks and
burned tires in the southern port city of Aden. Soldiers shot dead
two anti-regime protesters and wounded nine others in different
sectors of the port city of Aden. Police attacked an army checkpoint
in Amran province," 170 km (105 miles) north of Sanaa, killing one
officer and wounding two soldiers.
(AP, 4/13/11)(AFP, 4/13/11)
2011 Apr 15, Opponents of
Yemen's president stepped up a campaign to force him out, but Ali
Abdullah Saleh was defiant as he addressed thousands of supporters
and urged the opposition to join peace talks. Loyalists in Sanaa
rallied in his support. Saleh said in a speech that the mingling of
men and women at "Change Square," where daily anti-government
protests take place in the capital, was against Islamic law.
(Reuters, 4/15/11)(AP, 4/16/11)
2011 Apr 17, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands of people demonstrated in cities across the country,
denouncing embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his remarks
against women taking part in protest rallies.
(AP, 4/17/11)
2011 Apr 18, In Yemen several
top figures and lawmakers who defected from Saleh's ruling Congress
Party set up a new opposition party. Yemeni police reportedly fired
tear gas and live ammunition at protesters calling for the ouster of
the country's longtime president, injuring 45 people in the southern
port town of al-Hudaydah.
(AP, 4/18/11)
2011 Apr 19, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in Taiz, the second
largest city, killing at least 3. Tens of thousands took to the
streets in the capital Sanaa later in the day and thousands
demonstrated in Aden, Ibb, al-Hudaydah and other cites where most of
the shops were closed in support of the protesters. The UN
children's fund said that at least 26 children have been killed
during the protests over the last two months.
(AP, 4/19/11)(SFC, 4/20/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 20, In Yemen gunmen on
motorcycles sped by and opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators
camped out in the early hours of the morning in the Yemeni port city
of Hodeida, killing one and wounding several protesters.
(AP, 4/20/11)
2011 Apr 22, Yemeni authorities
arrested several officers moving against military figures who
defected from the camp of the country's embattled president to join
the opposition. A sea of hundreds of thousands of anti-government
protesters swelled along a five-lane boulevard reaching across
Yemen's capital in the largest of two months of demonstrations.
(AP, 4/22/11)
2011 Apr 23, Yemen’s Pres.
Saleh agreed to the proposal for him to hand power to his vice
president within 30 days of a deal being signed in exchange for
immunity from prosecution for him and his sons.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 24, In Yemen thousands
of anti-government protesters held their ground in the capital's
Change Square despite the president's acceptance, a day earlier, of
an Arab proposal to leave office under certain conditions after 32
years in power.
(AP, 4/24/11)
2011 Apr 25, In Yemen forces
loyal to the embattled president attacked protesters calling for his
ouster in Ibb and Bayda, injuring dozens. 2 people were killed and
dozens wounded.
(AP, 4/25/11)(SFC, 4/26/11, p.A3)
2011 Apr 26, Yemen's opposition
parties said they will soon sign a deal mediated by neighboring Gulf
countries for the president to step down, possibly defusing the
months of deadly government protests across this impoverished
country.
(AP, 4/26/11)
2011 Apr 27, Yemeni residents
in scores of cities and towns across the nation launched a civil
disobedience campaign to bring down the country's long-serving
president. 12 protesters were killed in Sanaa.
(AP, 4/27/11)(AP, 4/28/11)
2011 Apr 28, In Yemen tens of
thousands are rallying across the country, denouncing the killing of
12 protesters the previous day in the capital Sanaa and insisting
the country's long-time ruler step down.
(AP, 4/28/11)
2011 Apr 29, Yemeni activists
said police in plainclothes opened fire at protesters calling for
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster in the western port city of
Hodeida ahead of mass demonstrations nationwide.
(AP, 4/29/11)
2011 Apr 30, Yemeni forces with
heavy weapons drove hundreds of anti-government protesters out of a
square they had been camping for months in the southern city of
Aden. Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's leader of 32 years, told the GCC
secretary general in a meeting in Sanaa that he had asked a senior
aide to represent him in the signing ceremony in Riyadh.
(AP, 4/30/11)(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 1, A deal mediated by
a Gulf bloc to end Yemen's political crisis was thrown into doubt by
the country's leader saying he would not personally sign it.
(AP, 5/1/11)
2011 May 2, In Yemen thousands
of protesters took to the streets across the country to press Pres.
Saleh to step down. Police gunshots in Aden killed at least one
bystander. At least 140 people have been killed in the government’s
crackdown on protesters.
(SFC, 5/3/11, p.AA2)
2011 May 4, In Yemen an
explosion ripped through a military vehicle in Zinjibar killing 5
soldiers. 4 other civilians died in an ensuing firefight.
(SFC, 5/5/11, p.A2)
2011 May 5, Yemeni security and
tribal officials said a suspected US drone has fired a missile at a
car in Shabwa province, killing two brothers thought to be al-Qaida
militants.
(AP, 5/5/11)
2011 May 6, Hundreds of
thousands of Yemenis flooded a boulevard on the western edge of the
capital, releasing colorful balloons to press their demand for
President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, while he denounced his
opponents as "terrorists" in a speech to supporters nearby.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 7, In Yemen residents
in several cities, including Aden, Saada and Hodeida, observed a
one-day shutdown of offices and businesses as part of a civil
disobedience campaign called by the opposition to pressure President
Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. One protester was killed in the
town of al-Maafir, Taiz province.
(AP, 5/7/11)(SSFC, 5/8/11, p.A5)
2011 May 8, Yemeni security
forces backed by army units opened fire on protesters demanding the
ouster of the longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh. One protester
was killed in the western port of Hodeida, and two were killed in
the southern city of Taiz.
(AP, 5/8/11)
2011 May 9, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on demonstrators and launched rocket-propelled
grenades at an office building as they cracked down on a protest in
the flashpoint city of Taiz in the country's south. Three people
were reported killed.
(AP, 5/9/11)
2011 May 11, Yemeni security
forces killed two protesters in Taiz and wounded dozens as mass
rallies demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh
paralyzed two major cities. Two others were killed in the town of
Dhamar and the city of Hudayda. In Sanaa at least 13 people were
killed and hundreds wounded as security forces and plainclothes
gunmen fired at protesters.
(Reuters, 5/11/11)(AP, 5/11/11)(AP, 5/12/11)(SFC,
5/12/11, p.A2)
2011 May 12, Yemeni police
trying to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in
Al-Bayda and Taiz killed 2 people and injured 45, including some of
them by gunfire. In one of the cities, protesters took over an Oil
Ministry building.
(AP, 5/12/11)(AP, 5/13/11)
2011 May 12, Qatar pulled out
of an effort to mediate an end to Yemen's political crisis, blaming
the country's embattled president for the impasse and potentially
leaving his regime even more isolated among his neighbors.
(AP, 5/13/11)
2011 May 13, In Yemen 7
soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in the cities of Marib
and Shabwa. Anti-government demonstrators rallied in 15 cities. Tens
of thousands of Saleh supporters gathered at a main square in Sanaa,
calling it "Unity Friday." Security forces opened fire at a protest
march in Ibb killing 3 people.
(AP, 5/13/11)(SFC, 5/14/11, p.A2)
2011 May 14, In Yemen gunmen
killed six soldiers and wounded a seventh in a central province.
Police clashed with protesters in the southern city of Taiz,
injuring 15 during a rally calling for President Ali Abdullah
Saleh's ouster.
(AP, 5/14/11)
2011 May 18, Yemen's president
and opposition, pressed by Western and Gulf mediators, agreed to
sign a deal for a transition of power that would end the rule of Ali
Abdullah Saleh within a month.
(AP, 5/18/11)
2011 May 20, Yemen's Pres. Ali
Abdullah Saleh called for early presidential elections, ignoring an
earlier promise to sign a deal that would end his decades-long rule.
(AP, 5/20/11)
2011 May 21, Yemeni Pres. Ali
Abdullah Saleh condemned a US-backed proposal by Gulf Arab nations
that he step down, calling it "a coup over legitimacy," and warning
of an al-Qaida takeover if he leaves office. The deal would give
Saleh immunity from prosecution if he steps down within 30 days.
(AP, 5/21/11)
2011 May 23, Yemeni security
forces battled in the streets of Sanaa with fighters from the
country's most powerful tribe, which has joined the opposition, in
an eruption of violence after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused
to sign an agreement calling on him to step down.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 24, In Yemen shelling
in Sanaa killed 24 supporters of Sheikh al-Ahmar, a powerful
opposition chieftain, as clashes intensified between embattled
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces and the tribesmen. 14
soldiers were also killed and another 20 were missing.
(AFP, 5/24/11)(SFC, 5/25/11, p.A4)
2011 May 25, Yemen's embattled
President Ali Abdullah Saleh issued messages of hard-line defiance
even as intense battles raged in the heart of the capital for a
third day. Gun battles erupted again in Sanaa. At least 44 people
have been killed in the recent fighting.
(AP, 5/25/11)
2011 May 26, In Yemen intense
battles spread across Sanaa between government forces and opposition
militiamen from powerful tribes. At least 28 people were killed as
the four-day death toll neared 110. Explosion in a weapons' storage
in west Sanaa killed 28 people.
(AP, 5/26/11)
2011 May 26, In Yemen intense
battles spread across Sanaa between government forces and opposition
militiamen from powerful tribes. At least 28 people were killed as
the four-day death toll neared 110. Explosion in west Sanaa killed
28 people.
(AP, 5/26/11)
2011 May 27, In Yemen fighting
that rocked Sanaa for the past five days spread beyond the capital
as tribesmen opposed to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh
seized a Republican Guard military camp in battles that left at
least 18 dead and prompted airstrikes by government warplanes.
(AP, 5/27/11)(SFC, 5/28/11, p.A4)
2011 May 28, Yemen's government
and armed tribesmen seeking President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster
agreed to a temporary cease-fire to allow for negotiations after
five days of clashes that killed at least 124 people. The truce was
to expire in the evening.
(AP, 5/28/11)
2011 May 29, In Yemen Islamist
militants tightened their grip on the coastal town of Zinjibar while
in the capital Sanaa a truce was holding to end nearly a week of
deadly street fighting that threatened to ignite a civil war.
(Reuters, 5/29/11)(SFC, 5/30/11, p.A5)
2011 May 30, Yemeni warplanes
carried out airstrikes on Zinjibar, a southern town seized by
hundreds of Islamic militants over the weekend, as the political
crisis surrounding the embattled president descended into more
bloodshed. Shelling killed at least four of the fighters. 21 Yemeni
soldiers were killed in the clashes in Zinjibar. Hundreds of
soldiers from the Republican Guard stormed a protest camp in Taiz,
firing on crowds and bulldozing a field hospital set up in
anticipation of such an attack. Forces loyal to the embattled Yemeni
president killed some 5o protesters as they dispersed a sit-in in
Taiz.
(AP, 5/30/11)(AFP, 5/30/11)(Reuters,
5/31/11)(Econ, 6/4/11, p.58)
2011 May 31, In Yemen street
fighting raged across Sanaa after a tenuous truce broke down between
tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh,
edging the impoverished Arab country closer to civil war.
(Reuters, 5/31/11)
2011 Jun 1, In Yemen 14
soldiers were killed in overnight fighting with the tribesmen. Fresh
fighting killed at least 41 people including combatants from both
sides.
(Reuters, 6/1/11)(AP, 6/1/11)
2011 Jun 2, In Yemen forces
loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh battled with tribal fighters
in Sanaa in overnight clashes that killed dozens as US envoy John
Brennan envoy flew around the region to try and stop a civil war.
(Reuters, 6/2/11)
2011 Jun 3, In Yemen shells
struck Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace in Sanaa.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded. 11 guards were killed and
seven top officials were also wounded. More than 370 people have
been killed, at least 155 of them in the last 10 days, since a
popular uprising against Saleh began in January.
(Reuters, 6/3/11)(AP, 6/3/11)(SFC, 6/9/11, p.A4)
2011 Jun 4, Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in an attack in his compound, was
reported by al Arabiya television to have left for Saudi Arabia, but
a Yemeni official and Saudi source denied he had gone. 10 tribesmen
were killed and 35 injured in overnight fighting in the Hassaba
neighborhood, headquarters of opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar.
Nearly 400 people have been killed since a popular uprising against
Saleh began in January.
(Reuters, 6/4/11)
2011 Jun 5, In Yemen tens of
thousands of people took to Sanaa's streets, hailing what they said
was the end of Yemen's regime after President Ali Abdullah Saleh
(65), wounded in a blast, left for treatment in Saudi Arabia. Gunmen
in Taiz clashed with security forces leaving at least 2 gunmen dead.
Saleh was burned over 40% of his body and his wounds were far worse
than initially reported.
(AFP, 6/5/11)(SFC, 6/6/11, p.A3)(AP, 6/7/11)
2011 Jun 8, Yemeni security
officials said opposition tribesmen have taken control of Taiz.
(SFC, 6/9/11, p.A4)
2011 Jun 10, In Yemen, more
than 100,000 protesters took to the streets in the main square of
Sanaa, as demonstrators continued to call for the resignation of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The president, who is still in a
hospital in Saudi Arabia, has stated he has no plans of stepping
down.
(AP, 6/10/11)
2011 Jun 11, In Yemen clashes
between soldiers and Islamic militants around Lawdar and Zinjibar
left 21 militants dead as well as 19 soldiers.
(SSFC, 6/19/11, p.A6)
2011 Jun 14, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands protested in several major cities calling for the
creation of a transitional presidential council and demanding that
Pres. Saleh and his relatives face trial.
(SFC, 6/15/11, p.A4)
2011 Jun 15, In Yemen up to 200
militants from the Al-Qaida linked group Ansar al-Shariah launched a
surprise attack on Houta killing one soldier and wounding 3. They
pulled out of the city in the afternoon and took positions on the
southern outskirts.
(SFC, 6/15/11, p.A2)
2011 Jun 19, In Yemen military
and medical officials said government artillery shelling of an area
on the Dufas area in Zinjibar, Abyan province, has killed 12
al-Qaida-linked militants and wounded three others.
(AP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 20, In Yemen tens of
thousands took to the streets of the capital, demanding that the
president's sons leave Yemen as pressure rose for the wounded leader
being treated outside the country to step down. Six Yemeni soldiers,
including two officers, were killed in clashes with Al-Qaeda-linked
militants near the gunmen-held southern city of Zinjibar overnight.
Airstrikes overnight killed 20 militants in the southern province of
Abyan.
(AP, 6/20/11)(AFP, 6/20/11)(AP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 21, In Yemen battles
raged between the army and suspected Al-Qaeda militants for control
of the southern city of Zinjibar, as the number of soldiers killed
passed the 100 mark. Two militants were killed in the southern
province of Abyan.
(AFP, 6/21/11)(AP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 22, Yemeni security
officials said 57 militants, mostly from al-Qaida, tunneled their
way from the Mukalla jail in southern Yemen.
(AP, 6/22/11)
2011 Jun 24, Yemeni security
forces opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters at a funeral
in southern Yemen, killing at least one demonstrator. A car bomb,
believed to have been set off be a suicide attacker, killed three
security personnel in the southern city of Aden.
(AP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jun 26, In Yemen tens of
thousands demonstrated in the streets of the major cities demanding
that the president's sons and other aides leave the country.
(AP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jun 28, In Yemen a
roadside bomb killed an army colonel in Aden.
(AP, 6/29/11)
2011 Jun 29, A Yemeni air force
jet mistakenly bombed a bus in Zinjibar, controlled by Islamic
militants and suspected al-Qaida members, killing four people.
Clashes at a football stadium on the city's outskirts left 48 people
dead including 30 soldiers and 4 civilians. Government warplanes
were called in and bombed the stadium. In Republican Guards shelled
anti-Saleh protesters camped out at a central square, killing one
and wounding four demonstrators.
(AP, 6/29/11)(AFP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jun 30, In Yemen 5
soldiers were killed in fresh fighting with alleged Al-Qaeda
militants in the restive southern city of Zinjibar.
(AP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jul 1, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands of protesters staged huge rallies across the country
calling for the departure of all figures in the regime of President
Ali Abdullah Saleh. An armed member of the Southern Movement, a
group seeking autonomy, was killed in an attack on an army position
north of Aden. Military officials said Ahmed Saleh, the son of Pres.
Saleh, has led a crackdown arresting dozens of military officers
suspected of turning against his wounded father.
(AFP, 7/1/11)(SFC, 7/2/11, p.A2)
2011 Jul 2, The Yemeni military
said some 50 soldiers were missing after battling Islamic militants
around the southern city of Zinjibar. Yemeni air strikes targeting
suspected Al-Qaeda militants near Jaar killed two civilians and
wounded three.
(AFP, 7/2/11)
2011 Jul 3, A Yemeni cabinet
official said Pres. Saleh, in hospital in Riyadh, will not cede
power until he returns to oversee a transition. Some 15 militants
and 10 soldiers were killed and dozens injured during clashes
outside a military base near Zinjibar. Tribesmen have blockaded
oil-producing areas of Maarib province, costing the government
millions of dollars a day in lost exports and sparking a severe fuel
crisis, hours-long power outages, and rocketing prices.
(Reuters, 7/3/11)
2011 Jul 4, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands rallied in Sanaa and several other major cities,
demanding the quick ouster of the country's president and
criticizing proposals for a gradual transfer of power.
(AP, 7/4/11)
2011 Jul 5, Yemeni state news
said at least 40 militants have been killed in two days of air
strikes and clashes with government forces. Authorities arrested the
head of a Shiite opposition party, Hassan Zaid, at Sanaa airport as
he was headed for the Saudi city of Jeddah. 4 civilians and 6 gunmen
were killed in a series of air raids that targeted extremists who
have taken control of most of Yemen's southern city of Zinjibar,
where the home of the deputy head of the parliament, Mohammed Ali
al-Shadadi, was hit by an air strike that killed three family
members and injured seven. 4 fighters were killed in an air raid
that targeted them in the nearby town of Jaar. Another raid on the
road linking Jaar to Zinjibar killed two other militants.
(AFP, 7/5/11)(SFC, 7/6/11, p.A3)
2011 Jul 6, In Yemen clashes
between security forces and Islamist fighters near a southern town
left seven militants dead along with one soldier near Zinjibar. Two
soldiers were also killed in clashes with armed tribesmen near the
opposition stronghold of Taiz. Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed
10 soldiers in an ambush north of the city of Loder, Abyan province.
(AP, 7/6/11)(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jul 7, Yemen’s Pres. Saleh
appeared on state TV late in the day, a first since flying to Saudi
Arabia a month ago to treat wounds sustained in an attack on his
palace. The video showed the leader with casts on his arms and
visibly weakened after a series of operations, reinforcing
speculation that he won't return to Yemen soon.
(AP, 7/9/11)
2011 Jul 8, In Yemen President
Ali Abdullah Saleh's supporters opened fire, leaving at least 11
people dead after their leader's first television appearance since
his injury last month. 5 people died from gunshots in the capital
Sanaa, 4 in the town of Ibb, and at least 2 others elsewhere. Most
of the shooting was in celebration of Saleh's appearance, but it was
unclear if all the deaths were accidental.
(AP, 7/8/11)
2011 Jul 10, Government-backed
Yemeni tribesmen for the first time joined the fight against
al-Qaida-linked militants in a lawless southern province. One
militant was killed, and four were wounded in clashes in Lawder and
Modya. 4 militants were killed and two wounded in fighting in
Zinjibar that also left one soldier killed. In Taiz random artillery
shelling of positions held by opposition tribesmen killed two
people.
(AP, 7/10/11)
2011 Jul 12, A Yemeni security
official said a government air strike killed 5 militants in the
south between the towns of Jaar and Zinjibar.
(SFC, 7/13/11, p.A2)
2011 Jul 14, In southern Yemen
a US warplane attacked a police station overrun by Islamic
militants, killing three of the fighters. Fighting broke out at
night between the Guards, loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and
tribesmen, allied with demonstrators in Taez. 2 people were killed
and at least 22 others wounded.
(AP, 7/14/11)(AFP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 15, In Yemen tribesmen
killed a colonel and two of his aides in an ambush on their convoy
in the Sharab al-Rona area of Taez. Tens of thousands of anti-regime
protesters prayed at University Square. Tens of thousands of regime
supporters also turned out. A security official said 7 civilians
were killed and 30 wounded in Republican Guards shelling in Taez.
(AFP, 7/15/11)(AP, 7/15/11)(SFC, 7/16/11,
p.A2)(AFP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 16, In Yemen senior
protest figures announced the formation of a shadow government they
say will prepare to run the country should the embattled regime of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh collapse. The 17-member body included a
number of former ministers, one former prime minister, business
people and civil society leaders.
(AP, 7/16/11)
2011 Jul 17, In Yemen hundreds
of thousands of protesters flooded streets across the country to
demand the ouster of President Saleh. Thousands of the embattled
leader's supporters staged counter rallies to celebrate the 33rd
anniversary of his rule.
(AP, 7/17/11)
2011 Jul 18, In Yemen Hassan
Basonbol (alias Abu Issa), a suspected Al-Qaeda leader in Abyan
province, was killed in fighting with the army in Zinjibar.
(AFP, 7/19/11)
2011 Jul 19, In Yemen residents
of Jaar, overrun by radical Islamists, said government shelling has
killed more than 20 militants in the past two days. Ayed
al-Shabwani, a senior leader of Yemen's al-Qaida branch, was killed
in fighting near the town of Zinjibar. One of the leader's cousins,
Awad al-Shabwani, was also killed in the fighting.
(AP, 7/19/11)(AP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 20, Yemeni police
officials said a British man was killed when his car blew up in what
was likely a bombing in the port city of Aden.
(AP, 7/20/11)
2011 Jul 21, Yemeni Republican
Guards shot dead one protester and wounded three in the
second-largest city of Taez. 10 soldiers were killed and 33 wounded
in fighting against militants at al-Code area, near Zinjibar, over
the past 24 hours.
(AFP, 7/21/11)(AP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 22, Shelling by Yemeni
security forces killed a young girl and her mother in Taiz. Army
forces fought with Islamists near Zinjibar in clashes that killed
four combatants.
(AP, 7/23/11)
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