Yemen calls on US to stop Houthi attacks on civilians

ADEN

Authorities in Yemen urged the US and the international community Thursday to put pressure on the Houthis to stop attacks against Yemenis, according to local media.

President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi met with new US Special Representative to Yemen Tim Lenderking in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, the official Saba news agency reported.

Hadi accused Iranian-backed Houthis of targeting civilians in defiance of ongoing peace efforts.

“Houthi militias and Iran did not adhere to various peace agreements, the most recent of which was the Stockholm Agreement,” said Hadi.

Underlining that Houthis target civilian settlements not only in Yemen but in Saudi Arabia, Hadi said Houthis attack innocent civilians and displaced people with Iranian missiles.

Lenderking said the US supports the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks.

Underlining the negative Iranian role in increasing tension and conflict in Yemen, Lenderking said: “We are working to reach a lasting agreement to stop the ongoing war and to achieve peace in the country.”

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awadh Bin Mubarak also met with Lenderking to discuss the latest developments, according to Saba.

“We responded positively to US President Joe Biden's call to stop the war in Yemen, but the terrorist Houthi militias responded to the call by firing ballistic missiles at civilians in the northern city of Ma’rib,” said Mubarak.

Yemeni top diplomat urged the US to pressure Houthi militias to halt violations against civilians.

The Yemeni Defense Ministry said Feb.7 that at least three civilians were killed and three injured in a ballistic missile attack by the Houthis in Ma’rib province.

On Feb. 4, Biden formally ended American support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen. He also put a halt to sales of related US weaponry.

Speaking at the State Department in his first major foreign policy address, Biden said he was making the change because of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe that the Saudi offensive greatly exacerbated.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sana’a, forcing President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee the country the following year.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis including civilians are believed to have been killed in the conflict, which has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises with 3.65 million people internally displaced and 15 million in need of immediate humanitarian aid.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz​​​​​​​