New Houthi attack threatens peace revival efforts in Yemen… Details
As regional and international efforts accelerated to revive the peace process in the country, Houthi militias launched a fierce attack on Tuesday on the positions of the Yemeni army and forces loyal to the legitimate government, on the fronts of Marib province, northeast of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
“According to Yemeni media, the offensive resulted in clashes between government forces and Houthi militias after Houthis attempted to attack government-held positions on the Jadaan, Raghwan, and Kassara fronts in the northwest province of Marib.”
“The Houthi attacks in the northwest of Marib follow days of attacks and artillery shelling by militias on government forces in the southern front of the oil province,” Yemen’s Armnews reported, citing military sources.
This new escalation coincides with the efforts made by the Saudi and Omani delegations in the talks with the Houthis in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in parallel with the international moves aimed at reaching an agreement for a new truce to pave the way for reaching a political process to end the Yemeni crisis.
Al-Masirah.net website, which is affiliated with the Houthis, published Tuesday evening a statement by Jalal Al-Ruwaishan, the deputy prime minister for defense and security affairs in their government, in which he said, “Sanaa’s conditions for peace are clear and do not need shuttle dialogs.” He considered the presence of the Saudi delegation to Sanaa “a courageous step,” according to the website.
Muammar al-Eryani, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism in the legitimate Yemeni government, said the statements of Houthi leaders and their political and media rhetoric since the arrival of the Saudi and Omani delegations in Sanaa “reveal ignorance, political shallowness, a moral breakdown, an inability to understand reality and absorb changes, and a continued disregard for pacification efforts and the establishment of peace”.
Al-Eryani said in a tweet, “These statements reaffirm to everyone that the Houthi terrorist militias are just a rogue gang that does not understand political principles and has no vision towards peace. They rely on war, invest in it, and use it as a tool to impose their extremist ideas, a means of illicit enrichment, and justify their crimes and violations against the Yemeni people.”
Al-Eryani said the Houthis’ irresponsible statements “revealed anew to the international community and the Yemeni people the truth about the Houthi militias. Their stance is a stumbling block to efforts to pacify, end the war, and establish peace, and their disregard for the humanitarian catastrophe and the aggravated suffering of the majority of Yemenis as a result of the war these militias have unleashed.”
“Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric, at a press conference, expressed optimism about the discussions in Sana’a between the Saudi and Omani delegations on the one hand, and the Houthis on the other.”
“We don’t participate in every discussion, we don’t need to be,” he said. What is important is that all these parties are working for the relevant Security Council resolution, and the talks that are provided by the UN,” he said.
A Saudi and an Omani delegation arrived in Sanaa on Sunday to discuss a roadmap for peace in Yemen. The truce would be extended to include salary payments, the resumption of oil exports, the lifting of restrictions on airports and ports, and steps on a negotiating track leading to a lasting peace.
