Yemen: Houthi Militias Escalate, Government Accuses Them of Undermining Peace Efforts
The Yemeni government accused the Houthi militias of continuing to violate all the agreements and undermine the pacification efforts at the behest of Iran. It demanded naming the Houthi militias as responsible for thwarting the implementation of the truce articles and obstructing the extension of the truce, calling for immediate action to classify them as a terrorist group.
Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani said on Sunday night that “the international community continues to put pressure on the government to make concessions as it is the ‘state’, and the party that is keen to start a dialog to end the war and put an end to the suffering of citizens, and appeasement of the Houthi militias as a ‘loose gang’, a policy that has failed in past years to push the peace process in Yemen.”
In a press statement, al-Eryani said that the Houthi militias, under Iranian instructions, continued to violate all the agreements, undermine the truce efforts and use it to gain time, and adopted the language of violence and terrorism in an attempt to impose their coup project by force of arms, reap material gains, and continue to act as a tool to implement the Iranian agenda, without any concern for the humanitarian situation.
“What agreements have the Houthi militias implemented since their inception? Have you adhered to the Stockholm Agreement regarding the situation in Hodeidah, the siege of Taiz and the exchange of prisoners and abductees on a one-for-one basis? What about the terms of the UN truce, the opening of roads and the allocation of imports from Hodeidah port to pay employees’ salaries?”
Al-Eryani said the government has made concessions over the years of war, and has dealt positively and responsibly with all initiatives to affirm its commitment and absolute belief in the principle of dialog and support for efforts to achieve calm and establish peace in accordance with the three conditions.
He called on the international community to realize that its policies have led to the exacerbation of the crisis and prolonged the war, and with it the suffering of the Yemeni people, who he said “are now feeling betrayed, and are paying a heavy price for Houthi’s crimes and violations”, stressing that continuing this approach will not be limited to Yemen, and will have future risks for security and peace in the region and the world.
Al-Eryani called on the international community, the United Nations, and its envoy to Yemen to review the way they deal with Houthi militias, clearly identify them as the party responsible for thwarting the implementation of the truce, obstructing the extension of the truce, undermining pacification efforts, aggravating the humanitarian situation, and immediately classify them as a terrorist group.
Despite international and United Nations efforts to pressure the Yemeni parties to agree to an extension of the humanitarian truce for months to come, which would help turn it into a peace process, the Iranian-backed Houthi militias escalated their military actions by launching Operation Siege War against Legitimacy and the Saudi Arabia-led Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy, calling for large-scale mobilization operations in areas under their control.
Well-informed sources in Sanaa said that through this operation, the militias are trying to escape the conditions that are under their control, which have reached the point of collapsing into revolutions and demonstrations in protest against the living conditions and restricting freedoms, which have reached a dangerous stage.
Houthi militias have deployed guided-missile launchers and other bases to launch drones in areas under their control in Hodeidah, and are preparing for a sea-borne assault on the liberated areas of the coast.
