A Saudi Arabian-led coalition resumed air strikes against Yemen’s Houthi militia in Aden overnight, hours after the expiry of a truce meant to facilitate badly needed humanitarian aid, a Reuters eyewitness said. The witness said explosions could be heard near the southern city’s airport and the districts of Khor Maksar and Crater shortly the five-day ceasefire expired. Since Tuesday Saudi-led forces and Yemen’s Houthi militias had largely observed a ceasefire meant to allow delivery of food, fuel and medical supplies to millions of Yemenis caught in the conflict since the alliance began air strikes on March 26.
We welcome the call by the UN envoy to Yemen … regarding the extension of the truce and the need to deliver humanitarian aid to citizens.
Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman
Relief groups say that the five days were hardly enough to allow sufficient supplies to reach the country of 25 million. Impoverished and strife-torn even before the war, Yemen is now mired in a humanitarian catastrophe, as 300,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. Saudi Arabia has said that extending the truce depended on how the Houthis and their ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, complied with the ceasefire. The world’s top oil exporter has accused the Houthis of violating the truce but said it would exercise self-restraint to allow the delivery of badly needed supplies to Yemenis. Aid flights have started from the United Arab Emirates to the capital Sanaa, which is under Houthi control and has faced air strikes but no ground fighting. The United Nations said aid ships had docked at ports in Hodeida and Aden.
We need flexibility, we need open minds… and we need them to come with an open mind and no preconditions.
Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed