Houthis shell Taiz, amid intensifying international efforts to renew ceasefire
Al-Muqalla: Multiple artillery shells fired by the Houthis hit the Yemeni city of Taiz on Tuesday, as international mediators, envoys and aid organizations stepped up efforts to persuade both sides to renew the UN-brokered ceasefire. lamps.
Residents and officials in Taiz said multiple explosions caused by Houthi artillery shook the eastern parts of the city.
Yemeni officials said the attack was the latest in a series of UN-mediated ceasefire violations.
Abdul Basit al-Baher, a Yemeni military officer in Taiz, told Arab News that a Houthi sniper targeted a civilian in the same area east of Taiz, where militia tanks and other heavy artillery targeted residential areas.
“The Houthi heavy fire and sniper attacks have not stopped during the ceasefire,” al-Bahr said, adding that the militia recently deployed more snipers and built new military outposts.
“During last Friday prayers, people did not go to mosques for fear of being hit by Houthi snipers,” Al-Baher said.
The Houthis have taken control of the outskirts of Taiz for the past seven years, and have launched a suffocating siege that has pushed thousands of people into famine.
As part of the ceasefire, discussions between the Yemeni government and the Houthis in Amman to open roads in Taiz have so far failed.
A member of the Yemeni government delegation told Arab News that a new round of discussions were taking place between the two sides on Wednesday.
Al-Baher said that the people in Taiz are not supporting renewing the ceasefire, as the siege had not taken place before.
“We did not get any benefit from the ceasefire. Houthi shelling, mobilization of forces and military operations have not stopped during the ceasefire,” he said.
During the past seven days, people in Taiz have intensified protests and campaigns to draw attention to the impact of the siege and to pressure Yemeni negotiators in Amman to end it.
The two-month ceasefire, which entered into force on 2 April, marked a major drop in fighting and fatalities, the resumption of commercial flights from Sanaa, and allowed at least 12 fuel ships to enter Hodeidah.
The latest Houthi mortar attack on Taiz came as the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, Western diplomats and aid organizations increased pressure on the Yemeni government and the Houthis to renew the ceasefire.
On Tuesday, dozens of international organizations wrote a joint letter to the two sides, urging them to extend the ceasefire into June to avoid further civilian casualties.
The organizations said in the letter, “We, the undersigned agencies, urge you to extend the ceasefire agreement, advance the gains made possible by you over the past two months, and work towards peace for the people of Yemen.” “
It said the ceasefire has had a positive humanitarian impact, including a 50 percent reduction in human casualties, easing fuel shortages and allowing patients to receive medicine outside the country.
“The gift of a better life for the people of Yemen is in your hands. Do not let June become a month where fighting resumes, public services fail, and more innocent lives are lost,” the letter said.
A group of European ambassadors to Yemen landed in the port city of Aden, where they met with government officials to express their support for the Presidential Leadership Council and call for an end to the siege of Taiz, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Awadh bin Mubarak said.
In Muscat, Grundberg discussed with Houthi chief negotiator Mohamed Abdul Salam and Omani officials about opening roads in Taiz, renewing the ceasefire and working on a peace deal to end the war, Grundberg’s office said.
Grundberg discussed similar issues with Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council and his government in Aden on Monday. He said renewing the ceasefire was “important to consolidate the gains made so far and to provide space to move toward a political settlement.”