The Saudi-led Arab coalition stressed on Monday that military operations against the Iran-backed Houthi militias were ongoing on all open fronts.
Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that the Yemeni legitimate government had not approached the alliance about holding a truce to coincide with the start of UN-sponsored consultations on Thursday.
“We all remember how the militias violated more than five previous truces, which the coalition respected at the request of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi,” he continued.
The Houthis exploit such ceasefires in order to regroup, he added.
The coalition is ready to facilitate any truce should it be approached about such an issue, Maliki said.
“We support the political course of action to exert military pressure on the Houthis on all fronts,” he stated.
In addition, he stressed that the coalition was presenting aid to the Yemeni people through the Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations plan.
Commenting on the halt in military battles on some fronts, including Hodeidah, he explained that this does not mark an end to operations against the Houthis.
“The halt in operations stemmed from humanitarian considerations and to give way for the political solution,” Maliki explained.
The political solution remains the best way to end the conflict, he added.
Furthermore, he reiterated criticism against relief agencies operating in Yemen, saying that they needed to be impartial in their work.
UN agencies should avoid double standards in their statements, he demanded.
Last week’s report by the Group of Regional and International Eminent Experts on Yemen was the latest example of biased coverage of the Yemen conflict, he charged.
Moreover, Maliki revealed that since early 2018, the joint forces, in cooperation with Yemeni security agencies, seized more than 1,700 kilograms of cannabis that were being transferred to the Houthis in Sanaa.
The narcotics bore labels of a Lebanese drugs network, he said, which is evidence of the Houthis’ ties to the Iran-backed “Hezbollah” group in Lebanon.
