Hodeidah governor al-Hassan Taher accused on Friday Houthi militias of recently deploying around 1,000 child soldiers on the northern front of the Yemeni province.
In a telephone call with Asharq Al-Awsat, the governor said that since the arrival of Dutch General Patrick Cammaert in Hodeidah, “government apparatuses have documented a rising level of violations” of the Stockholm Agreement.
Cammaert chairs the Redeployment Coordination Committee tasked with implementing the provisions of the Swedish agreement struck last month between Yemen’s warring sides.
According to the governor, Houthis are bringing new fighters, mainly about 1,000 children, to the city.
“Militias have also worked on redeploying their fighters in several positions in Hodeidah,” Taher said, adding that lately, Houthis have failed to recruit children from the province and the Tihama region, where residents strongly disapprove of the militias’ plans.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni government stressed on Friday its keenness on implementing the Stockholm Agreement.
"This does not mean our support and cooperation are unconditioned, rather it is conditioned by implementing the agreement fully in accordance with correct explanations understood by the whole world and approved by Yemeni law and supported by the UN Security Council," Director of the Presidential Office and Deputy Head of the Government Delegation in Sweden Consultations, Dr. Abdullah al-Alimi said, according to the Saba news agency.
He made it clear that 37 days after the declaration of the Stockholm Agreement and 32 days after the arrival of Commaert to Yemen, the situation has not changed.
"Until now, we have not got any timetabled mechanism for implementing the agreement," Alimi said.
He stressed that continued military mobilization by the insurgents, digging trenches, hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid and daily arrests of opponents are clear signs that Houthis reject peace efforts.
