Yemen – Saudi offensive after rebels’ ceasefire announcement

Riyadh said after the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen announced a unilateral three-day ceasefire on Saturday-Sunday night in areas controlled by Houthi rebels.

The war that has ravaged Yemen, a poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, for more than seven years is a battle against pro-government forces, backed by the coalition, against Houthis and rebels backed by Riyadh’s rival Iran. At midnight on Saturday, the coalition announced that it had carried out “airstrikes on (military) camps and strategic areas in Sana’a,” the capital of the rebel-held capital, the Saudi state television channel, since 2014. Al-Ekbariya. There was no immediate word on possible deaths in these trials.

The coalition has stepped up attacks on Houthi rebel-held areas, including Sanaa (north) and southern Hodeidah (west), in response to a new round of insurgent attacks on Saudi Arabia on Friday. One of them – a major fire at an oil field in Jeddah (west) near the Formula 1 circuit run by Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix – caused no casualties. But the next day, the rebels announced a two-day ceasefire in their homeland and in Saudi Arabia.

Mahdi al-Mashad, a senior Houthi official, said the ceasefire would become “permanent” if Saudi Arabia lifted the “siege” on Yemen, halted its airstrikes and withdrew its “foreign forces” from the country. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, the office of the UN special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grantberg, announced that it would continue its efforts for a ceasefire during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in April this year. “He reiterated his call for a reduction in severity and welcomed all steps taken by the parties in this direction,” he said. On Twitter.

On Saturday, the UN. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the recent clashes in Yemen, condemning both the “airstrikes carried out by the Houthis on Friday” and the “subsequent coalition airstrikes on Sanaa”. According to the UN, the attacks could have killed “eight civilians, including five children and two women.” The fact is that the majority of the population is unable to support themselves, “said a UN official.

With nearly 380,000 people dead and millions displaced, the war has caused one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world in Yemen, with most people facing severe famine and sometimes even famine, according to the United Nations.