Latest Blog Posts

The Security Belt in Aden: Interview

July 21, 2019 at 11:55 am

The Security Belt Forces (Quwat al-Hizam al-Amni) has emerged as one of the key internal security forces in parts of southern Yemen that are outside of Houthi control, including the important port city of Aden. The Security Belt Forces has been supported by the United Arab Emirates. To learn more about the Security Belt Forces and its importance in Aden, I conducted an exclusive interview on 19 July 2019 with Wadah Omar Abd al-Aziz, who is the head of the Security Belt Forces in Aden.

Q: What is the Security Belt Forces?

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A Muhajir in al-Sham: Interview

July 21, 2019 at 7:22 am

Many muhajireen of different origins remain in the field in northwest Syria. In my view it is important to hear their perspectives on the current situation amid the intense airstrikes and the fighting on a number of fronts. Below is an interview I conducted on 19 July 2019 with a non-Arab muhajir who came to Syria a couple of years ago.

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Q: So my first question is how do you assess the state of jihad in al-Sham today? Many brothers think the jihad has suffered a strategic defeat because the regime and its allies now control the most important cities in Syria.

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Sa'sa': Interview

July 19, 2019 at 8:51 pm

Continuing in the series on ordinary life in various localities in Syria, we turn to Sa'sa' in Damascus countryside, located in proximity to Bayt Tayma and Beit Jann. To learn more about Sa'sa', I interviewed the outlet Sa'sa' al-Youm.

This interview was conducted on 15 July 2019. It is slightly edited and condensed for clarity. Any parenthetical insertions in square brackets are my own.

Q: First can you tell me a little about Sa'sa' generally?

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Military Formations in Yemen: Interview with Kata'ib al-Hamdi

July 17, 2019 at 7:27 pm

Much discussion on Yemen is framed in terms of counter-terrorism or debating the morality about the overall nature of the intervention of the Arab coalition states in the country. Though these topics are important, the discussion should also be informed by objective information on neglected topics. For example, what is the nature of the various Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis? Such a question is important because it is too easy to frame everything in Yemen simply in terms of proxy warfare between foreign powers and obscure local dynamics.

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Hurras al-Din: Interview (II)

July 16, 2019 at 6:41 am

[Update 17 July 2019: this interview has been removed at the request of the interviewee. Contact the author for enquiries].

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