Yemen’s internationally recognized government on Tuesday confirmed that the fight against Iran-backed Houthi militias is an existential one that can’t end except in victory.
This coincided with Houthis stepping up attacks in Marib and al-Jawf governorates.
To this date, the West and the international community have been trying to reboot peace negotiations and put an end to hostilities in Yemen.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths expressed concern over the resumption of attacks by Houthis on Marib “especially at a time of renewed diplomatic momentum to end the war in Yemen and resume the political process.”
“A negotiated political settlement that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people is the only sustainable solution to end this conflict,” the UN envoy tweeted.
In the past two days, the Houthis have launched a large-scale ground offensive and missile attacks on several front lines around Marib. All attacks were repelled by the government forces, according to a government statement reported by the Yemeni official TV.
At least 20 Houthi fighters were killed in an ambush by the government forces in the area of Al-Makhdara in Marib, a military source said.
Separately, the forces launched artillery shelling against Houthi positions, inflicting heavy losses on the militias, according to the source.
Early on Sunday, they repelled a massive Houthi assault on their positions in the district of Serwah, the army's information center said.
Yemeni ministers, during a cabinet meeting in Aden, discussed a number of local and world developments.
Apart from tackling the Houthi escalation in Marib, the ministers also reviewed the group’s targeting of civilians and displaced persons with ballistic missiles and drones.
They also went over the Houthis’ failed yet persistent attempts to target the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“This escalation, which coincides with international mobilization to bring peace to Yemen, is not new. It confirms that these militias do not believe in peace and do not care about the suffering of the Yemeni people,” the cabinet said.
“Houthi militias do not control their own decisions, they are merely a tool for their supporters in Tehran who are moving in the service of the Iranian regime's sabotage and destructive agenda that targets the Gulf, the Arab region and the whole world,” it explained.
The Yemeni government called on the United Nations and its Security Council to “shoulder their responsibilities and not be satisfied with pressuring towards a peace that does not meet any objective conditions, while the Houthi militia and its supporters in Tehran obstruct all efforts” for peace.
