Yemen militants capture town in defiance of ceasefire

Militants loyal to Yemen’s fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi have captured a major northern town, taking advantage of the UN-backed ceasefire amid ongoing peace talks on the conflict in the Arab state.

Tribal sources in the province of Jawf said on Friday that pro-Hadi militants seized control of the provincial capital of Hazm.

The operation came in the midst of a seven-day ceasefire that took effect on Tuesday. The truce was announced by the UN to pave the way for Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and representative of the former government to engage in peace talks in the northern Swiss village of Magglinge.

The UN announced on Tuesday that the two Yemeni sides had agreed to halt fighting while Saudi Arabia, a main backer of Hadi, also promised to stop its military campaign against the Yemenis.

The violation comes just a day after pro-Hadi militants, crossing over from the Saudi border where they have been trained and equipped, also seized the town of Harad northwest of Yemen.

Saudi warplanes on also Friday struck a residential neighborhood in the al-Kitaf district of Sa’ada some 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Sana’a, leaving 23 people dead. 

This is while Houthi officials and allied forces have said over the past days that Saudi Arabia has been violating the ceasefire in a bid to solidify the position of the Hadi delegation in the Switzerland talks.

Head of Ansarullah Political Council Saleh Ali al-Sammad said in a statement on Thursday that Riyadh had intensified its bombing of Yemen, taking advantage of the truce. He said Saudi forces had conducted a number of raids against the provinces of Ma’rib, Ta’izz and Jawf.

Meanwhile, reports from the venue of the ongoing talks said Houthi representatives have reportedly said that serious talks cannot continue while the Saudi regime is intensifying its bombing campaign and putting pressure on the negotiators.

The Ansarullah spokesman, Mohammad Abd al Salam, said the group had conveyed its official complaint to the UN over the ceasefire violations and that the priority and focus of the talks should be a cessation of fighting.

The Ansarullah delegation on Friday was in talks with UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmad to express dissatisfaction with the statement he published on agreements between the two conflicting parties a day earlier.

According to Ansarullah sources, while the conflicting sides had agreed on a total removal of blockade on aid delivery across Yemen, Ahmad’s statement only mentioned Ta’izz Province, which is under the control of army forces and allied Houthi fighters.

The statement implies that Ansarullah was blocking aid to Ta’izz, which the sources said is untrue. 

Saudi Arabia started military attacks against Yemen in late March in a bid to undermine Ansarullah and bring Hadi back to power. More than 7,500 people have been killed and over 14,000 others injured, according to Yemeni sources. 

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