Eye on Extremism, July 10, 2017

The Washington Post: Iraqi Forces Declare Victory Over Islamic State In Mosul, But Fighting Continues
“Iraq’s prime minister entered the city of Mosul on Sunday to declare victory in the nine-month battle for control of the Islamic State’s former stronghold, signaling the near end of the most grueling campaign against the group to date and dealing a near-fatal blow to the survival of its self-declared caliphate. On a walk through the city’s eastern districts, Haider al-Abadi was thronged by men holding cameraphones as music blared and others danced in the streets. ‘The world did not imagine that Iraqis could eliminate Daesh,’ he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. ‘This is all a result of the sacrifices of the heroic fighters who impressed the world with their courage.’”
New York Times: ISIS, Despite Heavy Losses, Still Inspires Global Attacks
“BEIRUT, Lebanon — Three years ago, a black-clad cleric named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ascended a mosque pulpit in the Iraqi city of Mosul and addressed the world as leader of a new terrorist state. The announcement of the so-called caliphate was a high point for the extremist fighters of the Islamic State. Their exhibitionist violence and apocalyptic ideology helped them seize vast stretches of territory in Syria and Iraq, attract legions of foreign fighters and create an administration with bureaucrats, courts and oil wells.”
Rudaw: Iraqi soldier recalls female suicide bomber with child in arms
“ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – “I never believed a woman detonating herself while cradling her child, but ISIS did all kinds bizarre and strange things,” an Iraqi army soldier said of a woman who blew herself up in Old Mosul district as she and other civilians approached the Iraqi soldiers.”Our forces were heading towards Old Mosul. Tens of families were running and approaching us. We noticed a woman holding a child in her arms having a strange demeanor. As we talked to her, she blew herself up immediately,” Ahmed Amouri, an officer from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) told Rudaw. He was at the spot in western Mosul where a woman detonated explosive belts loaded in a hand bang this weekend.”
Voice Of America: Meet The Mastermind Behind Rebel Violence In The Philippines
“Hapilon’s death or capture would end the direct influence of a man who has helped lead Abu Sayyaf, a group known for kidnapping foreign tourists and beheading some, since 1997. He was recently trying to extend his influence to other Muslim anti-government insurgents in the Philippines to earn respect from Islamic State, some believe. Early on, Hapilon had been deputy head and member of a ‘consultative leadership council’ for Abu Sayyaf, which operates from Sulu Sea islands in the largely Muslim Philippine south, the policy nonprofit Counter Extremism Project says.”
The Times Of Israel: Islamic Terrorists Behead 9 Civilians In Kenya
“Kenyan officials said al-Shabab extremists from neighboring Somalia have beheaded nine civilians in an attack on a village in the southeast. James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating al-Shabab, says the attack early Saturday morning occurred in Jima village in Lamu County. Beheadings by al-Shabab in Kenya have been rare. The attack occurred in the same area where al-Shabab engaged security agencies in a day-long battle three days ago.”
Washington Post: Vehicles as weapons of terror: U.S. cities on alert as attacks hit the West
“Last month, attackers using a vehicle and knives killed eight people and wounded dozens more on London Bridge. A few weeks later in an incident nearby, a man drove into people leaving mosques after Ramadan services, killing one and injuring 10. And in May, a man driving in New York’s Times Square plowed into a crowd during lunchtime, killing one person and injuring 22. While authorities said the incident was not terrorism, the Islamic State, inspired by the crash, used it to warn that more attacks on the nation’s largest city and popular tourist destinations would follow.”
The Jerusalem Post: Iran Seeking Nuclear Weapons Technology, German Intel Says
“Damning German intelligence reports emerged in June and July revealing the Iranian regime’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile technology in defiance of international sanctions and UN resolutions.  A federal intelligence report also said that the Islamic Republic targets Jewish and Israeli institutions with espionage. According to the German state of Hamburg’s intelligence agency: ‘there is no evidence of a complete about-face in Iran’s atomic polices in 2016’ [after the Islamic Republic signed the JCPOA accord with world powers in 2015, designed to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief]. Iran sought missile carrier technology necessary for its rocket program.’”
Politico: Muslim Leaders Begin European Bus Tour Against Terrorism In The Name Of Islam
“Muslim leaders launched a European bus tour in Paris on Saturday to express opposition to terrorism in the name of Islam. Under the banner ‘Muslims’ march against terrorism,’ imams from around Europe and North Africa planned to visit sites of recent terrorist attacks, starting at the Champs Elysees and passing through Germany, Belgium and other parts of France over the next week. ‘Our message is clear: Islam cannot be associated with these barbarians and these murders,’ who kill in the name of Allah, said Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of Drancy, France, according to Le Figaro. The initiative is the brainchild of Chalghoumi and Marek Halter, a French-Jewish writer and intellectual.”
United States
CNN: US And Russia Inch Closer To Cooperating On Syria, But Long Road Lies Ahead
“Both sides have described the meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin in Hamburg on Friday as constructive and businesslike — and both highlighted the possibility of greater cooperation in ending the Syrian conflict. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the two leaders had reached an agreement on curbing violence in Syria. The first step toward that was agreement on establishing a ceasefire and de-escalation zone in southwest Syria, in the province of Deraa and along the Lebanese border. It’s an area that has seen intense combat recently among many competing groups. The US and Jordan have been backing moderate rebel groups in southern Syria against the regime.”
Syria
Reuters: U.S.-Russian Ceasefire Deal Holding In Southwest Syria
“A U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire for southwest Syria held through the day, a monitor and rebels said on Sunday, in the first peacemaking effort of the war by the U.S. government under President Donald Trump.  The United States, Russia and Jordan reached the ‘de-escalation agreement,’ which appeared to give Trump a diplomatic achievement at his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany this week. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said ‘calm prevailed’ in the southwest since the truce began at noon (0900 GMT) on Sunday despite minor violations.”
NBC News: In Battle Against ISIS In Syria And Iraq, Civilians Suffer Most
“Malnourished, injured and emotionally traumatized civilians have been staggering out of Mosul’s Old City as Iraqi soldiers continue to drive the last remnants of ISIS fighters out of the conflict zone. They may be the lucky ones. The sense of urgency by U.S.-led coalition forces to liberate the ISIS strongholds of Mosul, in Iraq, and Raqqa, in Syria, has come at a heavy cost — particularly for the civilians trapped in the two cities. ISIS is known to have used civilians as human shields, and to have shot and killed Iraqi residents trying to flee, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.”
Bloomberg: This Is What Putin Wants From His Syria Deal With Trump
“Russia is hoping that the ‘breakthrough’ Syrian ceasefire deal it brokered this week will align the U.S. with President Vladimir Putin’s plans for the war-torn country. Details of the agreement reached between Putin and President Donald Trump on Friday to create a so-called de-escalation zone in southwestern Syria remain under negotiation. But skepticism abounds as to whether this plan to end a war that has claimed an estimated 470,000 lives can succeed where others failed. Yet something has changed, as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in his comments on the deal, which starts with a preliminary cease-fire in areas along the Jordanian border on Sunday.”
Iraq
The New York Times: Iraqi Prime Minister Arrives In Mosul To Declare Victory Over ISIS
“Dressed in a military uniform, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived here in Mosul on Sunday to congratulate Iraq’s armed forces for wresting the city from the Islamic State. The victory marked the formal end of a bloody campaign that lasted nearly nine months, left much of Iraq’s second-largest city in ruins, killed thousands of people and displaced nearly a million more. While Iraqi troops were still mopping up the last pockets of resistance and could be facing guerrilla attacks for weeks, the military began to savor its triumph in the shattered alleyways of the old city, where the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, put up a fierce last stand.”
Newsweek: Is This The Beginning Of The End For ISIS?
“The Iraqi army, in conjunction with the U.S.-led coalition, has pried the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group’s (ISIS) brutal grasp three years after the militant group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, first declared a caliphate inside a renowned city mosque. Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul Sunday to officially mark the city’s liberation, congratulating ‘the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory,’ his office said in a statement. But what happens now?”
The New York Times: The Islamic State Is Not Dead Yet
“The liberation of Mosul – the Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq — marks a turning point in the war against the world’s most dangerous terrorist group. Daesh, as the Islamic State is known throughout the Middle East, no longer controls significant territory in Iraq where it can harbor foreign fighters or exploit resources, like oil. And its core narrative — building an actual state — is in tatters. But while the Trump administration will be right to celebrate the end of the caliphate as we know it, it is far too soon to feel comfortable, especially in the absence of a strategy for the day after Daesh.”
Turkey
Reuters: Erdogan Says Turkey Will Respond To Any Threats On Its Border
“President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Turkey would not watch passively as weapons are sent to Kurdish fighters on its southern border, saying his country would respond to any threats to national security. The United States has been arming Kurdish YPG fighters taking part in the battle to recapture the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, angering its NATO ally Turkey. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdish PKK group that has waged a long insurgency in southeast Turkey. Turkey, Washington and the European Union have all designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.”
Reuters: Huge Crowd Rallies In Istanbul Against Turkey’s Post-Coup Crackdown
“Turkey’s main opposition leader told a huge protest rally on Sunday that the country was living under dictatorship and pledged to keep challenging the crackdown launched by the authorities after last year’s failed military coup. Addressing hundreds of thousands of people waving Turkish flags and banners demanding justice, Kemal Kilicdaroglu said his 25-day march from Ankara to Istanbul – culminating in Sunday’s rally in Istanbul – was the first stage of a long campaign. ‘We will be breaking down the walls of fear,’ he told the crowd who gathered to welcome him at the end of his 425 km (265 mile) trek from the Turkish capital.”
Egypt
Associated Press: IS Claims Attack In Egypt’s Sinai That Killed 23 Soldiers
“Islamic militants attacked a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire on Friday, killing at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years. After nightfall, the Islamic State group issued a claim of responsibility, saying in an online statement that it had carried out the attack as the Egyptian army was preparing an assault on IS positions in Sinai. The coordinated attack suggested the Sinai-based militants are among the region’s most resilient, after IS in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise. And it underscored the struggles Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.”
Reuters: Egyptian Police Kill 16 Gunmen In Raids Targeting Militants
“Egyptian police officers have shot dead 16 gunmen in two shootouts, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday, adding that most of those killed were fugitive militants linked to recent attacks on security forces in Northern Sinai. Egypt faces an Islamist insurgency led by the Islamic State group in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since 2013. At least two policemen were killed and nine wounded when their armored vehicle was hit by an explosion in the Sinai on Saturday, Egypt’s state news agency MENA said.”
The Washington Post: Egyptian, Palestinian Leaders Meet Amid Likely Gaza Shakeup
“Egyptian and Palestinian leaders met in Cairo on Sunday amid signs of a rapprochement between Cairo and the Islamic militant Hamas group that could shake up Gaza’s political landscape and sideline the Palestinian president. Officials close to Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian leader met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to seek clarifications on what appears to be an emerging power-sharing agreement between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and an exiled Abbas rival, former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan. Under the deal — parts of which have been confirmed by other parties involved — Hamas would retain control over Gaza’s security, while Dahlan would eventually return to Gaza and handle its foreign relations.”
Middle East
The Times Of Israel: Ex-Hamas Members Took Part In Deadly IS Sinai Attack, Israeli General Says
“Four former Hamas members took part in the Islamic State’s attack in the Sinai Peninsula that killed at least 23 Egyptian soldiers, a top Israeli defense official said Saturday. According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the four were previously members of Hamas’s military wing, but had left the group to join terrorists in Sinai. He did not say where the information had come from. Mordechai, in a Facebook post, said this fact showed that Hamas is not actually helping Egypt fight Sinai’s jihadists but rather ‘enabling the free passage of terrorist elements between Gaza and Sinai and vice versa.’”
The Times Of Israel: Hamas Ups Gaza-Sinai Border Security Following Egypt Attack
“The Hamas terror group says it will increase security along the Gaza-Sinai border in the wake of an Islamic State-claimed attack on Egyptian security forces that killed or injured 26 soldiers in the northern Peninsula over the weekend. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, Hamas Deputy Interior Minister Tawfiq Abu Naim says that the group is tightening the border ‘to prevent any cases of wanted fugitives attempting to sneak into Gaza from Egypt.’ IS has been leading a deadly insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and cracked down on his supporters.”
Reuters: Heavy Clashes Break Out East Of Libya’s Capital
“Heavy clashes erupted on Sunday between rival factions on the coastal road east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to a witness and local reports. The clashes broke out when an armed group opposed to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli tried to approach the capital and were confronted by forces that have aligned themselves with the GNA, the witness said. The fighting exposes the GNA’s vulnerability to militias that gained influence during and after Libya’s 2011 uprising.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: Police Cuts ‘Jeopardising Hunt For Potential Terrorists’
“Police capacity for gathering vital intelligence on potential extremists has been jeopardised by cuts to neighbourhood policing teams, former officers have claimed. Since the London and Manchester attacks, questions have been raised about the police’s ability to monitor threats posed by those at risk of radicalisation. Robert Quick, Britain’s former counter-terrorism chief, said government cuts to police funding had damaged attempts to prevent attacks. ‘Counter-terrorism funding is ringfenced, but cuts to the general policing budget has impacted on neighbourhood policing teams in many parts of the country, including London,’ he said. ‘This has reduced the capacity of the police to work in communities building relationships and trust to in turn generate community-based intelligence about persons of concern.’”
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Saudi Arabia Exports Extremism To Many Countries – Including Germany, Study Says
“After the bloody terror attacks in Great Britain, there are an increasing number of studies being conducted on the cause of radicalization. Britain’s Henry Jackson Society, a think tank, has published a report on foreign funding for extremist branches of Islam in Great Britain. Saudi Arabia has been clearly named as one of the greatest supporters. In the past 50 years, Riyadh has invested at least 76 billion euros ($86 billion) in Wahhabi extremism, the ideological basis of extremist and jihadist movements throughout the world. Are you surprised about these findings? The findings do not surprise me at all. It has long been known that Saudi Arabia has been exporting Wahhabist ideology – largely similar to the ideology of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS).”
Reuters: Germany Begins Withdrawing Troops From Turkish Air Base
“Germany began on Sunday to pull its troops out of a Turkish air base where they have supported international operations against Islamic State following a row with Ankara over access, a German defense ministry spokesman said. The withdrawal from the Incirlik base, approved by the German parliament last month, marks a further step in one of many bilateral disputes, ranging from a post-coup clampdown by Ankara to Turkish political campaigning in Germany. German tornado jets were due to keep operating out of Incirlik at least until the end of July as part of a mission providing reconnaissance aircraft to support U.S.-led coalition operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”
Europe
Reuters: Italy Arrests Chechen Man Suspected Of Islamic State Link
“Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a Chechen man suspected of being a militant of Islamic State and involvement in attacks in the Chechen capital Grozny in 2014. The 38-year-old man is accused of crimes of international terrorism and is now in prison in the south Italian town of Foggia, a police statement said. The man, called Eli Bombataliev according to a court document, is believed to be linked with 2014 clashes in the capital of Russia’s southern province of Chechnya, in which media offices and a school were burnt and which left at least 20 dead, the police said. The investigations started out of a collaboration with Belgium, where the man was part of a network of people who recruited foreign fighters.”
Counter-Terrorism
Tahrir News: Egyptian proposal to prevent the use of SUVs by terrorists
“The SUV, which terrorists regard as “their hands and feet” in the war against the Egyptian army, is a desert-camouflage vehicle that carries terrorists and heavy guns. Moving speedily and powerfully on rough roads, it is commonly used by most terrorist organizations in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, despite its prohibitive price. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Orabi, Egypt’s former Foreign Minister and member of Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, spoke again about the great danger posed by SUVs in terrorist operations. He therefore urged the four Arab countries boycotting Qatar to demand that SUV manufacturers convey their chassis numbers to the UN Security Council’s Terrorism Committee, especially in transactions involving several SUVs. In addition, producers will be obliged to divulge information on financiers of the transactions and the locations of delivery. Al-Orabi has already met with the political advisor of the Japanese Embassy demanding that Tokyo place strict restrictions on the export of Toyota SUVs, popularly used by terrorist groups.”
Terror Financing
Albayan: Author: Qatar must stop financing terror
“Mohammad Yousuf, Chairman of the UAE Journalists Association, said that the main issue with Qatar is for it to stop its funding of terrorism, prevent it from sheltering extremists and halt its financing of such terrorist groups as al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Hashd al-Shaabi. He stressed that all the solutions are now in the hands of Qatar, after the countries fighting terrorism presented their demands, in a statement issued a few days ago. He added that the countries have presented no other demands or new proposals. “The demands are clear, and how to implement them is also clear,” Yousuf asserted.”
Al-Qabas: Kuwait: 1750 alerts on money laundering or terrorist financing transactions
“Since its inception in 2013, until the end of the first quarter of 2017, the Kuwaiti Financial Intelligence Unit (KWFIU) has received roughly 1,750 notices relating to financial transactions suspected of being related to money laundering or terror financing. According to a document issued by KWFIU, in light of powers specified in the provisions of Law No. 106 of 2013, the FIU has reported 117 cases to the Public Prosecution. This is due to the existence of reasonable evidence of suspicions that the reported transactions were carried out with funds obtained via money laundering or terror financing crimes. KWFIU said it has conducted a thorough examination of the alerts it received from concerned parties, whether from financial institutions, businesses or non-financial establishment.”
ISIS
Akhbar Alaan: Syria: Considerable displacement after ISIS’s imposition of its currency
“The cities and villages occupied by ISIS in the rural districts of Deir Ezzor have witnessed a marked movement of displacement during the past two weeks. This came after the terror organization imposed its currency on all financial transactions in the region, vowing severe penalties for violators. The organization, which is suffering from great tension and financial crisis following the escape of many of its leaders who embezzled millions of dollars, began to pump large amounts of dinars and dirhams into local markets about three weeks ago. It issued firm instructions forcing civilians to exchange foreign currency in their possession to the dinar and dirham. The new instructions obligate all exchange offices and shops in the region to adopt the golden dinar in transactions and remittances to or from territories under its occupation, in addition to handing over all foreign currencies to ISIS’s “Monetary Authority.” The residents of Deir Ezzor were stunned by the organization’s latest decisions. Despite the siege imposed on them, despite the bombing, air raids and terrible living conditions they are facing, they now have to use ISIS’s currency exclusively. This has led many families and small business owners to flee to the city of Hasaka and its rural districts, as well as towns and villages of Idlib.”
Ennahar: Algeria: How ISIS was financed
“The investigating judge in the first instance of El Harrach Court forwarded the case concerning the ISIS’s recruitment of Algerian youth in the capital, specifically in Baraqi and Eucalyptus, to Algiers Criminal Court. In this case, the Anti-Terrorist Department of Algerian Police along with security forces have detained a 30-year-old man with a criminal record, suspected of recruiting young Algerians to ISIS. During the investigation, the detainee’s identity was revealed only as “Z. M.” He disclosed how he had financed those wishing to join ISIS by raising donations from residents of his neighborhood under the banner of helping the families of prisoners involved in cases related to terrorist groups. He also used electricity and gas bills allegedly belonging to the prisoners’ families for this fundraising. This campaign was carried out without the approval {or knowledge} of the authorities.”
Dotmsr: Review of topmost sources ISIS may utilize to compensate for its financial losses
“A study by the Center for Future for Advanced Research and Studies reviewed the most important sources that ISIS is likely to use to rescue itself, on the heels of the downfall of Mosul and its unprecedented financial and economic losses in the second quarter of 2017. The average monthly revenues of ISIS declined significantly from $81 million in the second quarter of 2015 to $16 million in Q2 of 2017, a nose-dive of 80%. Amid the decline in oil revenues, which once accounted for 88% of the overall financing ISIS’s terrorist operations, the group is now looking for other sources of funding, most notably digital currencies, donations, self-reliance on its members, commercial activity in its financial assets and a search for countries with potential popular support for it such as the Philippines and Libya.”
Muslim Brotherhood
News-ksa24: Source: Muslim Brotherhood represents “most dangerous platform for terror financing”
“The Saudi Ideological War Center, affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, revealed the Muslim Brotherhood’s varied strategies and tactics to expand its influence in the region. It also disclosed the group’s recruitment and concealment methods for promoting its ideology in Arab and Islamic societies to achieve its main goal, known as “al-Tamkin” (empowerment). The Center pointed out that “the Muslim Brotherhood boasts of possessing diverse and flexible tactics for its expansion strategy.” It warned that the Brotherhood is the “most dangerous outlet for terrorist financing.” The Saudi Center stressed that the group “is exploiting the political potential of the country sponsoring it, especially after the global tightening of the grip on the flow of money to terrorists.”
Almesryoon: Egyptian parliament seeks to prosecute Muslim Brotherhood TV channels internationally
Egyptian parliamentarians have begun to take steps to prosecute the Muslim Brotherhood’s media channels in international and criminal courts, to punish their employees and shut them down. Member of Parliament Dr. Aboul Maaty Mostafa from the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee said that in the upcoming days they will take several steps to pursue the Brotherhood channels, which “disseminate poisonous, fallacious and often fabricated news.” He added “The parliament will prosecute these channels in the competent international courts,” pointing out that Egyptian MPs will demand the imposition of severe penalties on those media channels. Mostafa explained that “Parliament, will work to provide evidence for the implication of the Brotherhood’s sites in the incitement of terrorism, dissemination of false news, and support of extremist groups.”
Alwafd: South Yemen bars Muslim Brotherhood branch in Yemen
“Aidaroos al-Zubaidi Head of the Southern Yemen Transitional Council, which was formed by local activists about two months ago, stated in Aden that it had decided to ban the activities of the extremist groups including Muslim Brotherhood its affiliates such as ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Houthis. He stressed that measures will be taken to implement the ban. The announcement came after three headquarters of the Brotherhood-affiliated “Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Al-Islah) were recently attacked in the provinces of Aden and Lahij. Al-Zubaidi claimed that the ban was originally assigned to the Yemeni Reform Party, despite its two declarations of having no connection to the Brotherhood.”
Houthi
Barakish.net: Houthis exploit employees’ ration cards for illicit gains
“Economic sources in Sanaa claimed that the Houthis are conducting “the largest money laundering operations” in the Yemeni capital and areas under their control. This is being done through exploitation of ration cards, worth 50% of their salaries, given to state employees. Employees can use these cards to purchase goods and merchandise. The sources stated that their prices are tripled relative to their real market prices by Houthi-affiliated merchants. It is further claimed that the Houthis hand over these cards to merchants who usually offer poor-quality goods unfit for human consumption. The sources noted that the original expiry dates are replaced with false dates by Houthi-affiliated merchants. According to these same sources, the employee has no choice but to accept this fraud, for which Houthi militias pocket illegal gains. The value of the salaries of employees is estimated monthly at YR44 billion ($176 million), half of which is currently being disbursed by the Houthis in the form of ration cards. The fate of the other half is unknown.”