At least 10 soldiers killed in Yemen as renewed fighting hinders peace efforts
Issued on: 22/03/2023 – 08:26
Modified: 22/03/2023 – 08:27
From left, Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, head of the Houthi delegation in Geneva; Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen; and Yahya Mohammed Kazman representing Yemen’s government shake hands after the seventh meeting of the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees Exchange Agreement for Yemen at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Monday, March 20, 2023.
From left, Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, head of the Houthi delegation in Geneva; Hans Grundberg, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen; and Yahya Mohammed Kazman representing Yemen’s government shake hands after the seventh meeting of the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees Exchange Agreement for Yemen at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Monday, March 20, 2023. © Salvatore Di Nolfi, AP
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At least 10 soldiers were killed in renewed fighting in Yemen, military sources told AFP, despite diplomatic efforts to halt the long-running war in the Arab world’s poorest country.
The clashes took place in oil-producing Marib province, one of the main battlegrounds and the scene of sporadic fighting even during a lull in hostilities over the past year.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a mountainous area and have been engaged in a build-up of forces in the region, two military sources told AFP.
“The Houthis launched an attack on hills overlooking Harib district, south of Marib, and made progress on that front, causing the displacement of dozens of families,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“At least 10 soldiers were killed, in addition to an unknown number of attackers,” the source added. The details of the clash were confirmed by a second military official.
The fighting comes a month after at least four soldiers were killed in the same district, and dents new optimism after Saudi Arabia and Iran, who back opposing sides in what amounts to a proxy war, agreed to restore diplomatic ties.
>> Détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia raises hopes for steps towards peace in Yemen
An exchange of hundreds of prisoners was agreed this week and Hans Grundberg, UN secretary general’s special envoy for Yemen, has said “intense diplomatic efforts” are underway to strike a peace deal.
The Houthis seized control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year and fighting that has left hundreds of thousands dead, through direct and indirect causes, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
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But a UN-brokered ceasefire that took effect last April brought a sharp reduction in hostilities and even though the truce expired in October, fighting has largely remained on hold.
On Monday, after talks in Switzerland, the Huthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government agreed to exchange 887 prisoners — 181 held in Houthi prisons and 706 rebels.
During a Security Council meeting last week, UN officials said the detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran — welcomed by both the Houthis and the Yemeni government — should offer momentum toward peace.
However, it is unlikely to solve all Yemen’s problems. The influence of the two regional powers is only one dimension of a complex conflict in a country fractured along confessional, regional and political lines, analysts warn.
(AFP)
