Yemen: The War The World Ignored HT

 

Where’s the It’s a chaos that’s not being heard. >> There are sounds of destruction, of shelling, of shouts and cries, but no one hears them. >> Try to imagine the sound of someone shouting, groaning, screaming loudly. The shouting is loud. The pain and the groaning are very strong. But people walk by and they don’t want to hear.

War is a country that you can’t hear. It’s not that it doesn’t make any noise. It’s just that you can’t hear it. >> That’s Yemen in my opinion. At the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, a long way from the rest of the world, Yemen is counting its dead. More than 10,000 of them, and those displaced run into millions.

There’s cholera, famine, and for many, exile. Yemen is at war. Not many people from outside set foot in this previously happy part of the peninsula to find out more about it. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has come to visit this exhausted and divided country. He’s one of the few people authorized to observe a conflict which has been reduced to wretched internal hostilities.

Your seat belt hasn’t His trip is a difficult one to say the least. He’ll be starting in the south of Aiden and finishing 350 km further north in Sana, the two cities that have been the country’s capitals on and off for years. Halfway between the two in the heart of the Highlands, he’ll be visiting Taes on the front line.

Since my first visit to Yemen two years ago, I think that the international community has significantly underestimated the degree of destabilization, of pain, and of suffering caused by the war in Yemen and they’ve tried to relegate the situation to the second or third rank of international conflict. So that’s why I’ve returned here determined to try and redress the imbalance to some extent between the lack of international attention and the huge humanitarian needs.

>> Peter Mara is one of the few people today who is able to talk with all the protagonists in the conflict from the recognized political leaders down to the militias of all spectrums. During this journey from the south to the north, the war will go silent as if put on hold or suspended. Six full-on days with no restbite.

traveling to the heart of a conflict that we know so little about. It all started on September 21st, 2014. To everyone’s surprise, the Houthis, a Shiaileled religious, political, armed movement, took control of the capital, Sana. Their declared aim was to lead a revolution against government corruption and injustice.

The battle lines were clear because the Houthis were supported by forces who’d stayed loyal to ex-president Ali Abdalisi. He’d found allies to help him avenge all those who had forced him to leave office during the Arab Spring of 2011. The newly elected president Mansu Hadi lost control of the situation. He was forced to flee to the south.

The rebels gained ground throughout the rest of the country. On March 25th, 2015, following a request from President Hadti, Saudi Arabia put together a military coalition and launched Operation Decisive Storm. Its objective was to reinstate the president and quill the insurgency. Yemen is now divided into at least two territories.

 The first, held by rebel Houthis, is situated in the north and on a large part of the Red Sea coast to the west. The second controlled by loyalist forces and the Saudi coalition is in the south and the east of the country. The front line between the two is in the highlands of Tes. Alqaeda and other militant Islamist groups have taken advantage of the political turmoil to reinforce their own positions.

Aiden has officially become the provisional capital of the government in exile. Violent fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi coalition has disfigured this large southern connibation. >> The defeated rebels have had to retreat to the north of the country. >> Interesting. In Aiden, the war has been on standby for months, but the city’s basic facilities are still in the process of being repaired.

like this main water treatment plant for example. >> The distribution system is it still relatively intact or are there a lot of damages? They have uh damages and the main problem here local population don’t have financial to repair >> to repair the >> because of the political crisis. >> Yeah. >> What about >> this plant has been hit by rocket fire and a lot of the water that it distributes is still not fit to drink.

>> Aiden is situated on the edge of the Indian Ocean. All options are on the table as to how to get safe drinking water to its 1 million inhabitants on a regular basis. >> So tell me again now desalination is it an option you are seriously considering now? They they uh they have a study by NWH there is one consultant >> who has the technology for desalination who who is going to build that the Emirati or the Saudis.

>> They have in the plan but they don’t decided if they will go for theation or not >> that they haven’t study about this but still they didn’t decide about that one. >> Okay. >> And we don’t know who will sponsor for that one. Still a lot is open. >> Shall we? >> Yeah, >> sure. >> The battle of Aiden lasted four months.

There was fighting in the streets and both aerial and naval bombardments. Aiden has started reconstruction. And now the effects of the war play out in the clinics and hospitals of the city. Very nice meeting you. >> The front line is situated several hundred kilometers away to the north. >> But the destruction of basic sanitary facilities means that the wounded have to be brought here to Aiden to be treated.

>> Breathe in. >> What? Breathe in. >> Breathe in. People where are they coming from? >> From more from the front line we have in the government and >> and sometimes in more less in >> but more than more winded is >> and you have unexloded ordinance mines as well. >> Yes, we have a mines, we have the blast and we have the gunshots.

 This is the free time we we receive from front line. >> And what is an average that uh of patients emergency patients coming in >> by weekly? We have like 250 cases. >> Yeah. >> Every week. >> Yeah. >> It’s a lot. Yeah. Groups of popular resistance sprang up at the onset of the war in order to fight the Houthi rebels alongside the armed forces.

>> At the beginning, we led an attack against the Houthis. We fought them and thanks to God, >> defeated them. Glory be to God. >> And so we were advancing gradually towards their village. I climbed onto the top of the car. We were going down into the valley, getting closer to them, and then the car hit a mine >> which exploded.

I broke my leg and my friends were all injured. >> I’ve been fighting the Houthi since 2015 and God willing, I’ll fight them to my last drop of blood. I’ll fight the Shia for the honor of our religion. Yemen has always kept itself away from religious conflicts, but this war has changed everything. The Sunni Muslims of Saudi Arabia suspect Iran, their sworn enemy, of supporting the Shia Houthi rebels.

>> And so Yemen has reluctantly become the fighting ground of these two regional powers. And the conflict has taken a totally unexpected religious twist. >> I’m fighting the Houthis because they’re Shia Muslims. They’ve insulted the prophet and his companions. I’m prepared to go and fight them in their stronghold in Sada.

>> They started the war, but we’ll hit back twice as hard. They were the ones who came to us. They started the rebellion in Yemen. They came out of their caves, but we’ll send them back there, God willing. >> So, it’s a struggle between Sunnis and Shia. I’m fighting against them because they are Shia. >> So, it’s just a religious war.

>> We’re fighting in the name of religion and for land. We’re fighting them to defend our religion, our lands, and our honor. >> Even if I leave here on crutches, I’ll go back to fight with the help of God. Either I help kick the Houthis out of here or I die as a martyr. as you know.

 I visited Aiden two years ago. So, I have mixed feelings returning here. The signs of war are still extremely visible. You can tell when you listen to the patients that there’s still a lot happening on the front line that it’s getting closer to Aiden and that each day the hospital receives more and more wounded. Not just injured soldiers, but injured civilians, too.

 And people from both sides of the conflict turn up at this hospital, making the fighting seem ever closer. Away from the hospital, the sights and sounds of the front line are less present. Aiden has taken on the appearance of a ghost town. This is because the government, which has been recognized by the international community, prefers to operate from the safe distance of Saudi Arabia.

 Under the control of their powerful ally, the Yemeni authorities are trying to manage what’s left of the country. Life is gradually getting back to normal. You could almost forget that there was a war on. We’re certainly not saying that things have got 100% better. As long as weapons are easily accessible, there’ll be problems.

But certain efforts are being made by the heads of security, local authorities, ministers. They’re all trying very hard to improve the situation here so that we can feel safe again. But thanks to God, even if we’re still lacking many things, our situation is infinitely better than elsewhere, when you look at Aiden.

 And then when you see what’s happening in other parts of the country in Aban, Lash, Alis, Sana, and so on, you can see that here in Aiden, we’re not doing too badly. >> In your opinion, who holds the power at the moment in Yemen? It varies. There’s political power and military power. The military power is divided.

 There’s the resistance, the Republican Guard, and the Presidential Guard. There are many different groups involved in political security. On the political side, it’s the same. It’s very divided. For example, in Aiden, there isn’t really any political force. There’s no political party. But there is a resistance. And in the north, it’s the same thing.

There’s no real political force. There are rebels who control everything, but there’s no political party. Absolutely not. A political force that controls Yemen. There isn’t one. There are just military and tribal groups. But as of now, no political force. If there was one, the balance would swing in favor of one side or the other.

 But it’s just not the case >> in Yemen. The strong are not really strong, nor are the weak completely powerless. And this almost invisible government is now being accused of all sorts of wrongdoing such as weakness and corruption. Even though the war looks like it could be coming to an end, new tensions could well surface.

Tais is less than 200 km north of Aiden. Different landscapes roll by from the semi- desert of Laj to the foothills of Turba in the distance. The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross is intending to go right into the heart of the front line, one of the most violent of its type at the present time.

He wants to bring his support to a besieged population cut off from everything. I strongly believe that it’s important for me to see for myself complexities on the ground. These include the difficulties encountered by different actors on the front line like negotiating access of getting through to tais and within tais and with all the different groups involved in the conflict along with Aleppo in Syria and with Mosul in Iraq.

 Taiz is one of those cities which is an emblem of the front line of conflict. At an altitude of nearly 1500 m, the province is recognizable for its cultivated hillsides. >> Tais is just a few kilometers away. But the convoy suddenly comes to a halt. >> Director of security. Very nice meeting you. Hello.

>> Everyone who controls the city >> both officially and unofficially is here. >> Thank you. Good to see you. >> Hello. >> Because all Yemen’s different combatants are present. Red berries and black scarves. It’s surreal. Crowding around this public figure who’s come to witness the conflict for himself.

 There are members of al-Qaeda and of so-called Islamic State as well as Salifist militia. A few other soldiers complete the picture. This is the state of Yemen today. An unnatural alliance of fighters and jihadists who have one enemy in common, the Houthis. This bizarre team is now escorting the convoy towards the center of the city.

The journey has required weeks of preparation. A truce had to be called. Nobody knows whether it will last several hours or several days. There’s still an element of risk. It only needs a sniper’s bullet or some rocket fire. The silence of the front line could be broken at any moment. TA has been under severe fire for 2 and a half years,

hemmed in by both aerial strikes from the Saudi coalition >> and street battles. Hello. Come on. There’s nothing left of the city but rubble, burning rubbish, and stray dogs. Civilian facilities just like everywhere

else in the country have been destroyed or at best extremely badly damaged. And this was the only electricity station >> and you were not able to rehabilitate and re help. >> Yeah. Yeah. Of course. as as you say now. Yeah. Every everyone is burnt. >> Both militia men and jihadists stick close to the Red Cross delegation.

They’re demonstrating their strength by showing themselves in public. It’s been hit by shells. >> Still under control of now. Yeah. >> Under the control of the resistance and the army he was leader of. Yeah, >> he was the leader of >> the siege of Tis has indeed been partly lifted, but the Houthis still control the mountainous areas to the north.

The fighting is not far away. For safety’s sake, it has to be a lightning visit. There’s no time to waste. T used to be the country’s capital of education and culture. It’s now become a strategic focal point of the war. >> Holding on to the city means maintaining direct access to both the north and south of the country.

Destitution and squalor rain. >> Many of the inhabitants are living on charity or are forced to rumage for food in the debris. Peter Mara is driving through the heart of the destroyed areas, but mustn’t go off the beaten track. Landmines can still be found in side roads and small mounds of earth. >> He’s not here to make promises.

 He’s just here to observe and listen. My son was killed in the bombing. >> We’re under siege. We have to stay at home day and night. >> It’s a bit better now. Neither God nor the prophet can accept what’s going on. >> So the I swear we have no water to drink. So >> only rain water drinking water >> and we’re trapped inside now. Thank God.

Thanks to God. >> The situation is getting a bit better. >> But we still under the shield. >> How long have you been in this situation? >> I haven’t been out at all, nor have my daughters. We haven’t been outside since the beginning of the war. A bomb fell on our house and killed my son. >> May God bless you and may he be with you.

>> This is what it’s like for Yemen’s third city. Partly cut off from the outside world. It’s in the hands of fighters from al-Qaeda, so-called Islamic State, and Salafi militia men. These groups are working hand in hand. They seem united. But for how long? TA could so easily fall into clan warfare. The delegation didn’t get much sleep.

They’ve only spent a few hours on the front line under safe escort with instructions to stay inside. In the early hours of day three of the trip, the president and his delegation set out for Sana, the rebel stronghold, and their final stop. >> This is also for uh Sana. It’s a long trip, lots of driving. It wouldn’t be so long if there wasn’t this front line, which we obviously have to cross, but in a roundabout way.

So, that’s going to add 4 hours onto the journey, which would normally take 5 minutes. That’s the reality here on the ground. After crossing several checkpoints and in order to avoid the active front line, the delegation has to skirt around the south of Tais, then continue up into the mountains on the eastern side of the city.

Cars squeeze by each other on tracks generally frequented by goats and mules. They have to drive slowly and carefully, anticipating the sharp bends or oncoming trucks. Rain is a constant threat. It can cause the muddy tracks to flood within minutes, causing landslides and trapping those in the vicinity by surprise.

see to level up. >> What’s the problem? >> There’s a car in the middle of the road. problem. >> Yeah. >> A courier in charge of helping them get through leads the way. Put them down. >> Okay. So, we’re at one of the last

checkpoints on this side and then we’ll pass over to the other side. >> All right. The other side is the stronghold of the rebels. >> Everything’s okay. >> It’s a couple one or two and then we cross over. But you won’t see any difference because they dress the same way in anyway. >> Will we be able to film? >> No. No. Not at the checkpoint.

>> Or at least be really careful. >> See what Adnan says. Adnan will tell you whether you can go for it or not. You’ll see whether it feels right when the time comes. Okay. This is where the courier has to leave them. >> The delegation is leaving the zone controlled by government forces. >> This is enough. Enough.

>> Lower the camera. They get through with no alarms and drive past the green and red slogans of the rebels. >> God is great. Death to America. Death to Israel. >> Opponents have to choose between silence or exile. So here we’re entering one of Yemen’s capitals. Everybody knows that in Yemen there are the official capitals and unofficial ones >> and also political capitals.

>> Sana is still a very important capital in the country. As president of the CICR, I have to be very careful not to give the impression of recognizing one or other of the capitals as the main capital. Last time I came, I started my trip in Sana and finished in Aiden. This time I’m doing it the other way around for the sake of impartiality.

for impartiality and a sort of logistics, but especially for humanitarian purposes. format for other TV. This is Peter Mara’s last stop on his journey. After having talks with exiled government representatives in Aiden and then speaking with war chiefs in Tais, now he must hold discussions with Houthi rebels.

But we won’t find out anything about what was said during any of these discussions because one of Peter Mau’s strong points is his total discretion. This is where the war started in this city perched 2,300 m up in the mountains. After lightning quick strikes, the rebels took control of all the government departments.

In the eyes of the elected regime, this was pure and simply a coup d’eta. For the rebels, it was an armed revolt against government corruption. Bab al Yemen, the thousand-year-old gate at the center of the old town of Sana is adorned with hooti slogans. Pictures of those who helped form an unlikely alliance to overthrow the elected president Hadi can be found on the market stalls like a collection of relics.

Abdul Malik al-Houti the rebel chief and Ali Abdali the ex-president ousted by the revolution in 2011. They both made a claim for power but refused to share it and the alliance fell apart. The ex-president’s political career ended on December 4th, 2017 when he was found in the back of a pickup truck with a fractured skull.

The Houthis carried on alone and far from wavering, they went from strength to strength, controlling nearly 30% of the northern part of the country. Abdul Malik al-Houti, the head of the rebellion, is loved and hated in equal measure. >> But beyond the eternal debates over revolution or coup d’eta, what everyone fears most is the same thing, being shelled by the coalition.

One more. Look at all that’s been destroyed. >> They bombed us at quarter to 10 in the morning. >> Just when everyone was going to work, everyone who was down there, those who were over there, those who were working on the building site, the workers who were on the roof, they all died. People were running in all directions.

>> We were sick with fear. We didn’t even know if we would make it back home or not. Sick with fear. Bombs were falling all around. Look at this building. It was hit at the top and the rest just fell apart. >> I saw it happen from over there and I nearly died. I was underneath the balcony and I nearly choked in the dust of all the debris and stones.

>> The pain is unbearable. It’s so sad. Death is everywhere. >> Why did the Saudis shell here? >> How do I know? >> There are women and children here. That’s all. There aren’t any missiles here. People are dead. Innocent people, women, and children. They even bombed at midnight. We were shelled by planes of the American Saudi assault.

armed rebels or civilians. Aerial strikes are indiscriminate. Civilians make up half the victims of this war. You can still see the traces of the shelling on that building over there. The whole neighborhood was destroyed. We had to remove many corpses just here. There were people dead or wounded, including women and children.

Some of them were so afraid that they came running out of their houses undressed and fled. Here’s what’s left of the attack. >> These are bombs. And this is another one here. >> Are you worried about another air strike? >> It’ll be even worse. They’ve already hit places like the markets, the infrastructure, the building project everywhere.

 They’ve hit every building in Yemen. >> What have we done to them? Did we do something wrong? Did we attack them in some way? What do they want from us? Have we leave our homes and the city? We’ve suffered. We fled and now we’ve come back to our homes. We’re very weak and we’re very poor. What can you do to help us? I want them to wake up.

>> What are you hoping for from the international community? >> I want them to wake up to the plight of the Yemeni people and to look at us with humanity for a start. But along with many other Yemeni, I don’t feel that the eyes of the world are upon us. It’s as if we didn’t exist. Yemen is not going to be headline news anytime soon.

It’s just the political reality. The only crises that make the headlines are the ones that affect the world’s powerful nations and what’s happening in Yemen. only partially affects these world’s powers and that’s why there’s only partial coverage in the international community. >> The war is dragging on.

 There doesn’t seem to be any solution. It’s been a merciless conflict. On top of the endless noise of fighter jets overhead, a silent but deadly disease which the Yemenes thought had been eradicated long ago has returned. Are these all chalera patients? >> Yes. Colora. They’ve all tested positive for chalera. Positive.

 Severe dehydration. Yes. All chalera. Positive. Because of food. Just food. >> Yes. >> Because the food wasn’t washed properly. and >> and they didn’t drink clean water >> not >> because these patients are all poor and people in Yemen are poor >> the situation in Yemen with the war in Yemen nothing is done for the people >> no money no salary nothing nothing >> and no medicine either when the patients come to the hospital.

>> We don’t have medicine for them because of the war >> and no supplies for people are getting in from the outside >> for people. >> When the bombs fell, I thought I was going to die. I had a serious condition. I had severe diarrhea. I came here for treatment. I was already ill before that and I’d gone home of my own accord and then I came back.

 They took care of me and thank God I’m all right. Is there a connection between the war and Kolera? >> Of course, the war has brought all these problems on us. Everyone has been affected, young and old. We’re particularly affected by the smoke from the missiles which we breathe in. >> It gets inside our nostrils and the pain is unbearable.

>> What do you think, doctor? It’s not the bombing, is it? >> I guess it’s >> not bombing. >> I tell him that it’s not the bombing causing kalera. >> But everyone thinks that it comes because of the war. Everything that’s happening in Yemen >> is because of the warn. >> A million people are infected by kolera.

>> It’s the world’s largest epidemic. >> The health administration doesn’t have anything. If I want any drugs or medicine, they tell me that they don’t have any. Nobody is supporting us in the health ministry. Also, >> they have nothing. They can’t help us. >> Do you feel alone? >> Yes. >> Yes, >> we are alone. You know that.

 Nobody is helping us. We need help. We need help for Yemen. Please, >> we need help in all the wards. >> Look at the Yemen people. How long is the war going to carry on? Yemen is being destroyed. It’s having to face the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War. Sadly, every square meter of Yemen bears testimony to what happens when the systematic violation on all sides of human rights takes place.

Civilians are the first to suffer, infrastructures are destroyed, as well as health systems and social care systems. When all these things break down, everyone suddenly seems surprised that there’s a chalera epidemic and then a problem of global migration. The causes of these things are very simply the violation of the basic principles of international human rights and also the unchecked violence which destroys societies in its wake as the war lingers on.

As the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross prepares to leave Yemen, Sana is hit by at least four coalition air strikes.