Saudi-led coalition stroke Houthi’s targets in northern Yemen

A view of Saana, the capital of Yemen A view of Saana, the capital of Yemen Photo by Said Albadni on Unsplash

22 March 2021

Dozens of air raids unleashed by the Saudi-led coalition against several Houthi-controlled targets injured six civilians

The United Nations Mission in Hodeidah (UNMHA) reported that the Saudi-led military coalition has carried out dozens of air raids against alleged Houthi’s military targets in the north of Yemen. The attacks damaged a missile and drone assembly plant in the capital Sanaa and the Salif grains port in the north of Hodeidah, which is part of a UN-brokered neutral zone on the Red Sea as part of the agreement signed in Stockholm in 2018 between the parties. Furthermore, the warehouse and the living quarters of a food production company were also hit. The Sanaa-based al-Masirah television channel also informed about attacks in Marib, which in the last months suffered from heavy fighting amid a Houthi offensive to take the gas-producing region. 

According to the local authorities six workers of the food production company were injured and transferred to medical facilities for treatment. These are only the latest developments in a conflict that started almost six years ago and provoked one of the worst humanitarian crises ever seen in the world: according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since its escalation in 2015, almost 8,000 civilians have been killed, including more that 2,000 children and 900 women. On the top of that, over 4 million people are estimated to have been internally displaced. Besides this,an estimated 47,000 people now likely to be living in a situation of food insecurity or famine-like conditions and a further 16 million living in emergency food security conditions.

Despite several attempts to negotiate a peaceful solution by the United Nations and the international community, the conflict does not seem close to an end. Few days ago the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative to end the war in Yemen, including a national ceasefire and the reopening of air and sea links, such as the Sanaa airport and Hodeidah port, both under Houthi’s control. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he welcomes any move that would boost an inclusive political process and enable to reach a comprehensive negotiated settlement to end the conflict. He also urged the parties involved to “seize this opportunity and work together with the UN Special Envoy on the way forward in good faith and without preconditions”. ...

To learn more please visit:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/22/saudi-led-coalition-intensifies-yemen-air-raids-hits-grains-port

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/saudi-led-coalition-intensifies-yemen-air-strikes-hits-grains-port-idUSKBN2BE0HO?il=0

https://unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/peace-human-rights-and-humanitarian-response/yemen-a-brief-background/

 

Author: Michele Pitta; Editor: Silvia Luminati

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