Houthi military moves… Yemen’s truce violation warning

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak warned of the collapse of the truce with the Houthis, which he said was threatened by violations by the Houthi terrorist militia.

Yesterday, Mubarak said via his Twitter account: “The truce has been largely welcomed, but it is threatened by Houthi violations”.

Bin Mubarak accused the Houthis of “continuing to deploy militarily, strengthening their positions with personnel and vehicles, firing artillery shells and carrying out raids with drones”.

The Yemeni minister asked the international community to preserve what has been achieved, without elaborating.

Pro-Iranian militias have not commented on the violations.

The Yemeni minister’s warning came hours after the UN Security Council welcomed a call by UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg to declare a two-month truce, during which he urged Yemeni parties to seize the truce to find a comprehensive settlement to the conflict, with an earlier welcome from the Saudi-led Arab coalition, government forces and the Houthis.

Since 2015, Yemen has witnessed several ceasefires sponsored by three former UN envoys, punctuated by violations amid accusations by both sides of the conflict that they are hindering their success.

Local sites had circulated information about a Houthi military move and the push for significant combat reinforcements to Marib and Hajjah governorates.

The joint forces said that clashes broke out in the al-Barah axis in Maqbanah district in western Taiz province (south) following escalating violations by Houthi militias.

The joint forces said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency that Houthi militias triggered medium-machine gun clashes on the combat axis in the latest escalation on the ground against the humanitarian truce, which entered its third day.

On the first day of the truce, the Joint and Southern Resistance Forces and the Yemeni army had detected more than 54 Houthi violations, including a ground attack on a frontline in Marib, in the east of the country.