|
FIERCE fighting and airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition pounded northern Yemen on Saturday, as the two main parties in the country’s conflict continued to violate a cease-fire agreement and undermine already tenuous peace talks in Switzerland.
The clashes in Hajjah Province near the Saudi border between rebel-allied units and pro-government Yemeni forces have killed more than 75 over the past three days, Yemeni security officials and witnesses said. The dead included more than 40 rebels and 35 government troops, with 50 wounded on the rebel side and dozens wounded on the government side. Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, according to the witnesses and security officials, who remain neutral in the conflict that has splintered the Arab world’s poorest country.
The government troops advanced across the border from Saudi territory after training there for months, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Yemen’s fighting pits the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition against the rebels, known as Houthis, who are allied with a former president and backed by Iran. Local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have exploited the chaos to grab land and exercise influence.
According to U.N. figures, the war in Yemen has killed at least 5,884 people since March, when fighting escalated after the Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes targeting the rebels.
On Friday, the Yemeni rebel delegation suspended meetings with the internationally recognized government in protest over its cease-fire violations. The Houthis said they would not resume talks unless the U.N. condemned breaches by government forces.
A member of the Houthi delegation said U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed had “promised to condemn the government and then he did not.”
The U.N. has urged all factions in the conflict to end the violence and is pressing to keep the talks going.
(SD-Agencies)
|
