Houthis continue violations, shell Hodeidah

Aya Ezz

Again, the Houthi coup group violated the UN truce in the western Yemeni coastal province of Hodeidah, with continuous shelling and targeting of joint forces and residential neighborhoods.

This coincided with an announcement by the Arab coalition in Yemen about foiling an attempt by the Houthis to bomb Hodeidah with a booby-trapped boat.

Pro-government Yemeni forces have also blamed the Houthi rebel group for dispatching military reinforcements toward areas in Hodeidah.

The Houthis established new military sites and barracks in Hodeidah’s southeastern parts, said a statement released by the pro-government Giants Brigades.

Last week, the Houthis fired artillery shells against the residential areas in Tuhyata district of Hodeidah, leaving nine civilians killed and 10 others injured, including women and children.

A Friday Giants Brigades statement also said Houthi militias launched fierce artillery shelling with various weapons at the positions of the joint forces on the outskirts of the Directorate of Duraihmi, south of Hodeidah.

This comes as the Houthis move along the western coast of the Red Sea north of Hodeidah. According to Yemeni reports, there are drones belonging to the Houthis hovering over the coast line off the island of Kamran.

Following these violations, army spokesman Major General Abdo Megal has held the United States responsible for the Houthis non-adherence to the agreement in Sweden and its continuous violations and massacres against Yemeni civilians in Hodeidah.

Megal also added that the Untied Nations is responsible for the current crisis in Yemen because it has not directly condemned the coup militia for killing civilians, not did it pressure the militia to adhere to the Sweden agreement.

He added that the militia did not abide by the ceasefire and continued its violations, taking advantage of the silence of the United Nations, which made it continue to target military and civilian sites, especially in the areas of Tahita, Duraihmi and Faza.

Nizar Haitham, the official spokesperson of the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC), told The Reference in an interview that the Houthi militias do not adhere to any international agreements.

Haitham said the Houthis are nothing but Iranian mercenaries hired to achieve certain aims and do not understand the value of international agreements with major countries.

He further affirmed that the Houthis will not stop with the violations unless the United States decided to sanction it for these violations, and as long as Iran is sponsoring it and funding its terrorism.