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Bulletins and International News Discussion from September 14th to September 20th, 2026 - Ansarallah Takes Red Sea Coastline and Islands, Takes Out Saudi East-West Pipeline (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 days ago* by to c/news@hexbear.net
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A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like "in Minecraft") and comments containing it will be removed.

Image depicts a destroyed Saudi pipeline pumping station.

My weekly preamble is in spoiler tags below.

preambleIf last week has had a geopolitical main character, it was Ansarallah in Yemen. In under 24 hours, they managed to seize a very large amount of territory to their west from Saudi-backed mercenary groups. Tens of thousands of enemy soldiers fled, thousands more were captured, and hundreds of combat vehicles and all sorts of military equipment and ammunition are now in Ansarallah's hands. The entire Red Sea coast of Yemen is now under their control, as well as some of the islands in and around the Bab el-Mandab, which is the narrow strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, which then goes on to connect to the Arabian Sea.

While Ansarallah had a pretty good grip on the Red Sea beforehand and could blockade it to the extent that traffic through the Red Sea plummeted in 2024 and 2025 and remain subdued to this day, it is now capable of much more direct control. And the strait is considerably narrower than Hormuz, meaning there is little hope for any covert operations like those of which the US regularly tries and fails to do over there. The only alternatives for the enemies of Ansarallah both now and in the future are the route all the way around Africa, which becomes even less attractive than usual as fuel prices rise into daily record highs, or the newly inaugurated Northern Sea Route under the firm control of Russia.

While Ansarallah is likely to continue their territorial acquisitions to an extent - with Marib looking like an obvious target - how things will continue from this point seems likely to be increasingly diplomatic. Yemen was once divided between North Yemen (which is, really, western Yemen) and South Yemen (which is, really, eastern Yemen), and this division reflects several genuine historical differences between the populations. Ansarallah has repeatedly stated that they have no intention to militarily occupy the south, and indeed, they ended this most recent offensive at approximately the historical border. Nonetheless, the government in once-South Yemen's capital of Aden is considered the sole internationally recognized government of Yemen, which doesn't sound sustainable for the future, so we'll just have to see how the situation develops geopolitically from here, even if it's unlikely to be militarily in the case of the southern and eastern territories.

While all this has been going on, Ansarallah was additionally applying major pressure on Saudi Arabia itself, by bombing their military airfields and, even more critically, their oil transportation and production facilities. These strikes were mostly limited to the port facilities in e.g. Yanbu and Jazan, and the Western air interceptor famine has meant that these strikes were mostly unopposed and caused substantial losses. However, Ansarallah has now destroyed some pumping stations for the East-West pipeline that spans Saudi Arabia, bypassing Hormuz for some (but not all) of Saudi Arabia's oil production to the tune of around 4 million barrels per day, which is, in a happy numerical coincidence, about 4% of pre-2026 oil production. I've seen several wildly varying estimates for how long it might take to repair the stations, with some saying a few days and others stating at least a month; the damage does look pretty gnarly on the images. Of course, it might not really matter, because Ansarallah can easily just fire another missile at a station once it's repaired, unless and until the Saudis give in to Ansarallah's demands and end the war.

Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on the Zionists' destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.

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[–] 33 points 2 days ago (5 children)

What's the mood like in these countries for independence? Do you think referendums in the near future are likely?

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  • [–] 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    No. There's limited political will to actually demand a referendum, despite this MOU. Plaid is on power for the first time ever so, as with any party newly incumbent to power, they won't try anything big because power for it's own sake is the ultimate goal.

    SNP has fuck all spine to try another referendum alone. Sturgeon had years to call a 2nd referendum after winning multiple elections on that mandate, then effectively handed it all over to Labour after sitting on the issue (Westminster said no :/// ).

    NI is the closest with Sinn Féin being somewhat politically motivated towards the end goal of reunification. And even then, the risk of sectarian violence can be a very strong tempering force for those on the fence.

    I don't think it will happen by way of a vote, unfortunately. The British state has no constitution and effectively holds total power over when and where these referenda happen, if at all. It constructs the best scenario to let the voters spaff their energy into affirming the status quo (2014, tho 2016 was an oopsie). The state will not legislate itself away, especially under a hardline govt like the one that will follow Labour (well, likely to follow).

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  • [–] 7 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    I'd say not only that but they're almost certainly carrying out active intelligence operations against these kinds of things after the relatively close call with Scotland. They will blackmail, manipulate, bully, bribe, and coerce politicians and others to ensure these things are smothered or stillborn. The tactics they've been using against Ireland for reunification after the open violence died down will almost certainly be applied elsewhere.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 day ago*

    Sturgeon was likely coerced by some intelligence op to that extent. She had cops rummage through her home, a cordon set up, then "nothing found" when she steps down? Sounds like the usual state blackmail/harassment of a political figure.

    Which is why I don't think there's necessarily the political will to move towards a unilateral secession from the English state. She was the most popular secessionist by far, and politically the SNP was more entrenched into the Scottish political system than either of its pan-Celtic equivalents. Despite that, the attempts at a 2nd referendum was easily stalled by Westminster, and her personal role in the movement was shuttered with state pressure anyway.

    🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Plaid Cymru (pr. "Ply-d Cum-Ree") is run by a similar brand of progressive neoliberals as Leanne Wood unfortunately stepped down years ago😮‍💨 Not only that, but the recent trans NHS controversy shows us just how limited their reach into the Welsh proto-state really is. A single Tory AS (Aelod o'r Senedd, pr. "A-lod or Sen-ev"), whose party was almost wiped out by Reform UK in 2025, was able to eliminate NHS surgical care for trans people overnight. Like like an assistant manager to the assistant manager making mass layoffs.

    Plaid has yet to reverse the policy, despite the NHS being a "devolved issue" - one of the few areas where the Senedd can legislate independently of the English state. I also don't believe Plaid is necessarily 100% down for a protracted trans rights spat that the English-owned press can smell the blood in the water over (hell, a few of their sitting AS are transphobes), but it says a lot about how much freedom the Welsh proto-state has, and how much the sitting govt. is willing to push against English-imposed policy-by-proxy.

    Finally, it must be noted that Plaid is a minority govt. in Wales, and would either need to win bigger in 2030 (could go either way as Reform has momentum also) or achieve support from the English-owned parties. A few Labour AS are pro-secession, as Labourism was/is endemic to Welsh politics, but only the Green Party is pro secession on principle, and only has 2 of the 10 seats needed to close the current gap.

    🇮🇪 Sinn Féin is probably the closest to some sort of secession, or similar to Scotland but on an upwards trajectory. They also have the most political will to take things towards militancy - not necessarily insurgency, but in terms of establishing dual power over the English state. There's isn't much that the "We were the first colonies" rhetoric of Wales and Scotland has done better for secessionism versus the barrel of British rifles pointed at children.

    That being said, sectarianism is deeply ingrained into the North, and the British state will gladly stoke the flames if it paralyses the NI assembly more than it has been already. The assembly itself has sectarianism designed into it through the (self-)designation of members by "nationalist" and "unionist" identity.

    How much can SF bet on Scotland and Wales to support it should self-defense become necessary? I would put money on the British state being more willing to engage in 2nd round of botched counter-insurgency over peacefully conceding even a square mile of their colonial spoils.

    That being said, this is simply a memorandum. of course there is likely and understanding of this current material reality within Belfast, Cardiff, and Edinburgh. This is something which will unfold over many years to come.

    In my semi-informed opinion as a Welshman engaged with the movement when I lived in Wales, is that the trajectory is still heading towards a dismantlement of the United Kingdom, unilateral or otherwise. And not in a "history leans towards liberation" hopium way, but because the British state is nothing but centuries of blood, lead, and asbestos formed into an acidic sludge that is eroding its hold on global imperialism, let alone its ability to govern domestically.

    However, I am tempering my spirits - on the understanding that no empire leaves its fortifications without violence, and said violence would likely exceed the levels endured in the Occupied 6. No doubt the same is said of capitalism itself, but fascism will be the final guard dog of this rotten monarcho-potemkin "democracy".

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  • [–] 20 points 2 days ago

    no referenda until 1-2 elections out, they all hinge on westminster being dogshit. these are all social democrat parties who compete with labour, which has a better outlook right now. if labour shit the bed and reform get in we might see a rush to organize referenda--especially if farage goes after devolution, which at least the wales branch of reform was doing last election.

    so uhh, check back in a year and a few grains

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