Fierce Battles in Yemen’s Hajjah as Hodeidah Clashes Threaten UN Truce

[The SC]

Monday, 15 March, 2021 - 06:45

Yemeni forces in Hajjah. (AFP)

Aden - Ali Rabih

Battles continued on Sunday between the national Yemeni army and the Iran-backed Houthi militias in the northwestern Hajjah province.

The fierce fighting coincided with the Houthis firing ballistic missiles and armed drones towards liberated villages in the Taiz province, as well as heavy fighting in Hodeidah, which could threaten the current United Nations truce.

The truce was consolidated through the 2018 Stockholm agreement, which has yet to be fully implemented.

Field sources said the Houthis in the neighboring Ibb province fired a ballistic missile at a school in the al-Kahda region in western Taiz. At least 20 people were killed, including four children. Dozens of people were wounded.

Witnesses confirmed that the Houthis fired another ballistic missile that landed near the town of Jabla near Ibb city.

The parliament condemned the attacks, saying the Houthis’ ongoing targeting of schools, hospitals and other civilian locations are war crimes and flagrant violations of international laws.

It slammed the international community for “shirking its duties to protect the Yemeni people and failing to take clear measures against the Houthi terrorist gangs. (…) Such failures only encourage these gangs to continue their crimes.”

It called on the international community, UN chief and United States to break their silence and condemn the ongoing crimes that are systematically being committed by the Houthis against Yemeni civilians, UN agencies and refugees from the Horn of Africa.

The Houthis should be held accountable for their actions, it demanded.

In Hajjah, military media said that fierce battles were being waged in the Abs district. Several casualties were reported from both sides.

The army, backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, had launched an operation in Hajjah on Friday in an attempt to ease the Houthi offensive in Marib.

The army has so far managed to liberate several villages north of Abs amid a collapse in Houthi ranks.

Meanwhile, in Hodeidah, the Houthis escalated their attacks against villages in the coastal province.

Military media said the army responded to the escalation by targeting their barracks, leaving several militants dead and injured.

The joint forces accused the militias of attacking the Manthar neighborhood with eight katyusha rockets and eight artillery shells, striking terror among the people.


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