Shiite Houthi rebels have seized a large area south of the city of Honda, where a ceasefire has been in place since 2018, sources close to government forces said on Friday.
The advance of the Iranian-backed Houthis came as forces from the internationally recognized Saudi-led government and military alliance left their positions in the sector, according to the same sources, who gave no explanation. French Agency for the reason why this happened.
However, a statement from the UAE-backed forces quoted by Reuters news agency said they saw no reason to maintain positions in the western Yemeni city due to the 2018 UN-mediated ceasefire in Sweden.
These forces “recognized the mistake of remaining in defensive fortifications, failing to engage in battle under the international agreement, at a time when various fronts need support,” the text said.
Hondaida is Yemen’s main port, through which most of the humanitarian aid and imported goods enter the country.
Under the agreement reached in the agreement, the warring parties would withdraw their troops deployed around the city, but the implementation of this aspect of the truce froze in 2019.
The ceasefire has been repeatedly violated.
The United Nations has said it is closely monitoring the situation around Honda.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians in and around areas where the front lines are changing,” Farhan Huck, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters.
On the front of Marib, the capital of the oil-rich province of the same name, the Houthis insist on saying they are coming. The alliance under Riyadh, for its part, announces daily that it is inflicting heavy losses on the guerrillas.
It is unclear whether the withdrawal of government forces from Honda is linked to the redeployment of Saudi troops to southern Yemen.
Since the outbreak of war in Yemen in 2014, the Houthis have progressively taken over most of the northern part of the country, including the capital Sanaa, but not Marib.
The conflict of more than seven years in the poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, the vast majority of civilians, and displaced millions more, according to international aid organizations. For the UN, the worst humanitarian disaster in the world in recent years is unfolding in Yemen, with most of the population facing the specter of famine.
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